History Music / SpaceOddity

* LongTitle: "Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed".

** "Memory of a Free Festival" was re-recorded in the spring of 1970, shortly before the recording sessions for ''Music/TheManWhoSoldtheWorld'', for its single release, which splits it across the two sides of a 7" record. This take is more rock-oriented, featuring guitar parts by future Spiders from Mars member Mick Ronson. Both parts of the single version were later included on the 1990 remaster as bonus tracks.

''David Bowie'' is the second studio album by Music/DavidBowie, released in 1969. Shifting away from the heavily rockist sounds of Bowie's non-album singles throughout the decade and the art hall pop of [[Music/DavidBowie1967 his debut album]], ''David Bowie'' presents the eponymous musician performing [[ProgressiveRock progressive]] [[FolkRock folk]] and PsychedelicRock influenced primarily by the works of Music/BobDylan and the then-Music/SydBarrett-fronted Music/PinkFloyd.

Like its predecessor, ''David Bowie''/''Space Oddity'' was supported by two singles: the TitleTrack and "Memory of a Free Festival" (split into two parts on the single release).

** The 1972 Creator/RCARecords release features a [[TrendCovers trend cover]] photograph of Bowie as the title character of ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars'', intended to cash in on the popularity of that album. A similar technique was used for the label's concurrent reissue of ''Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld''. In both cases, this trend cover would be replicated on RCA's CD reissues of the albums. The RCA reissue of this album also retitles it to ''Space Oddity'', thus making the opening song a retroactive TitleTrack. This variant of the cover is also maintained on the 1990 Creator/{{Rykodisc}} remaster.

* FolkRock: The album shows clear influences of Music/BobDylan, the harmonica sounds in "Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed" being a dead give-away. "God Knows I'm Good" is another example.

** Astronaut Chris Hadfield released a video of himself performing "Space Oddity" in the International Space Station. As mentioned above, the song... does not have a happy ending. The DownerEnding verses were changed/removed[[note]]Major Tom gets his orders to land, and does so safely[[/note]], but still, it's sort of TemptingFate to sing that song when you're actually in space. Hadfield, for his part, acknowledged this; when he appeared on ''Series/{{Conan}}'' to talk about it, he said he expressed concern about singing the song up there in space due to how dark the lyrics are, and he only agreed to do it were they modified.
* LastNoteNightmare: The cacophonic ending of "Space Oddity", representing Major Tom's plunge into the depths of space, doomed to never return home.
* LongTitle: "Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed".

* MinisculeRocking: "Don't Sit Down", if it's treated as a separate track.

** Going the other way, Naked Snake's MissionControl, Zero, takes on the codename "Major Tom" during [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater the Virtuous Mission and Operation: Snake Eater]].

* RefrainFromAssuming: "Space Oddity" is not called "Major Tom". Peter Schilling's new-wave sequel to Bowie's song, on the other hand, was titled "Major Tom" despite there being no mention of Tom in the chorus. It's sometimes referred to as "Coming Home". To add to the confusion, Peter Schilling has two "Major Tom" songs. One takes the themes of the Bowie song and runs with them -- "Major Tom (Coming Home)", the second one is "Major Tom, Part 2" Or, in the original German version, as "Major Tom (völlig losgelöst)"; the parenthetical part features very prominently in the chorus.

* VariantCover: The album had several different covers across different releases.
** The 1969 Creator/PhilipsRecords release in the UK features a portrait of Bowie by photographer Vernon Dewherst, laid among a pattern of circles and squares designed by Hungarian op-artist Victor Vasarely.
** The 1969 Creator/MercuryRecords release in the US features a similar portrait of Bowie against a blank navy blue background, with the subtitle "Man of Words/Man of Music" appended to it; fans typically refer to this release by the subtitle for clarification's sake.
** The 1972 Creator/RCARecords release features a [[TrendCovers trend cover]] photograph of Bowie as the title character of ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars'', intended to cash in on the popularity of that album. A similar technique was used for the label's concurrent reissue of ''Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld''. In both cases, this trend cover would be replicated on RCA's CD reissues of the albums. The RCA reissue of this album also retitles it to ''Space Oddity'', thus making the opening song a retroactive TitleTrack. This variant of the cover is also maintained on the 1990 Creator/{{Rykodisc}} remaster.
** The 1999 EMI remaster restores the original 1969 UK cover, but appends the RCA reissue's ''Space Oddity'' title to the bottom.
** Finally, the 2019 mix [[https://img.discogs.com/wSF51nwFzv8YkwFYnVBqYJnJ8mg=/fit-in/500x500/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-14399083-1573740088-5278.jpeg.jpg features]] a textless variant of the 1969 UK cover against a navy blue background, packaged in a die-cut navy blue slipcase that exposes only Bowie's face; the slipcase is spot-varnished to feature the same pattern of circles, and includes the artist name and album title in a simple sans-serif AllLowercaseLetters font.