Space Oddity
Posted by Moonage | Filed under Interpretations, Sound, Vision
It just suddenly struck me that in my desire to “interpret” some of my favorite Bowie tunes, I’ve forgotten probably his signature song, Space Oddity. If you don’t know the lyrics to this one by heart, you’re probably not hanging out here much. My interpretation is it’s a song about isolation, about being totally alone floating around Earth. However, another interpretation is Scott Carpenter, the astronaut, went into space about that time and did some very odd things while there, like reciting poetry and such. A lot of people credit this event as being the inspiration to Space Oddity. I believe it’s a combination of both. Regardless, there are MANY versions of this song, some better than others. But, it was this song that got me hooked on Bowie around 1975 or so when he appeared on The Midnight Special. Here is what I saw then:
It was basically the final farewell as Mick and David wouldn’t perform together for nearly two decades. The original demo to Space Oddity is a riot. But, it just doesn’t seem quite right here. So, I’ll save it for later. For reasons beyond my comprehension, the 1980 Floor Show has never been released in any capacity. Bowie would quickly ditch Ziggy after this show for the Young American and his glam days were over. But, boy, did he go out with a bang. More on that later.
Tags: 1980-Floor-Show, david bowie, Interpretations, mick ronson, scott-carpenter, Sound, space-oddity, Vision
Screwtube and old old memories.
Posted by Moonage | Filed under Vision
I just love the advent of (anything but) Youtube and the like. When I was about 11 or 12 years old or so, I got into watching an old show called The Midnight Special. Now, ya gotta understand, this was WAY before MTV or VH1 existed. Music videos were still in their infancy and used primarily to promote songs. They weren’t intended to be stand-alone products. As such, they were usually just clips of the performers singing their song. Also, 1973 was a period of transition socially as the flower-power children were giving way to newer trends. As such, just about everyone performing wore jeans and tie-dye t-shirts. Needless to say, it was usually boring. As such, you watched the live rock shows hoping to catch some great new tunes. Imagine my shock and amazement when sandwiched in between some Byrds performances, I saw THIS:
It was a clip of Time from David’s 1980 Floor Show. Eventually I’d get to see the entire show as a rerun, and from that point on rock was never the same for me. I went probably 20 years without getting to see that special performance as neither Bowie nor Midnight Special saw fit to package it or make it available to the general public. With the demise of Midnight Special, I figured that show was lost forever. Now, most all of it’s back, and viewable. The internet has become what I thought it could be, a special place that preserves all history by people who just care about stuff. This is so cool!
Sphere: Related ContentTags: 1980-Floor-Show, david bowie, Midnight-Special, time, Vision