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“Starman”
“Starman” cover
Single by David Bowie
from the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
B-side "Suffragette City"
Released 14 April 1972
Format 7" single
Recorded Trident Studios, London
3 January 1972
Genre Glam rock
Length 4:16
Label RCA Records
2199
Producer David Bowie, Ken Scott
David Bowie singles chronology
"Changes"
(1971)		 "Starman"
(1972)		 "John, I’m Only Dancing"
(1972)

"Starman" is a single by David Bowie, released in April 1972. David Bowie (ˈboʊiː born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 is an English Musician, actor producer, and arranger. A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of 7 inch Vinyl records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s “ Suffragette City ” is a single by David Bowie. Recorded towards the end of the Ziggy Stardust sessions “Suffragette City” is a trademark piece Events 43 BC - Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieging Julius Caesar 's assassin Decimus Junius Brutus in Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Trident Studios was a British recording facility, located at 17 St London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Events 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Glam rock (also known as glitter rock) is a sub-genre of Rock music that developed in the UK in the post- Hippie early 1970s which was "performed by In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music RCA Records (originally The Victor Talking Machine Company, then RCA Victor is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. In the Music industry, a record producer or music producer has many roles among them controlling the recording sessions coaching and guiding the musicians organizing David Bowie (ˈboʊiː born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 is an English Musician, actor producer, and arranger. Ken Scott (born April 20, 1947 in London) is an influential English Record producer and Recording engineer. David Bowie (ˈboʊiː born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 is an English Musician, actor producer, and arranger. " Changes " is a song by David Bowie, originally released on the album Hunky Dory in December 1971 and as a single in January 1972 " John I’m Only Dancing " is a single by David Bowie, released in September 1972 David Bowie (ˈboʊiː born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 is an English Musician, actor producer, and arranger. The song was a late addition to The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, included at the insistence of RCA’s Dennis Katz, who heard a demo and loved the track, believing it would make a great single. RCA Records (originally The Victor Talking Machine Company, then RCA Victor is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. [1] It replaced the Chuck Berry cover "Round and Round" on the album. Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry (born October 18 1926 in St " Around and Around " is a rock song written by Chuck Berry. [2]

Contents

Music and lyrics

The lyrics describe Ziggy Stardust bringing a message of hope to Earth's youth through the radio, salvation by an alien 'Starman'. The story is told from the point of view of one of the youths who hears Ziggy. According to Bowie himself, speaking to William S. Burroughs for Rolling Stone magazine in 1973, Ziggy Stardust is not the Starman but merely his earthly messenger – contrary to received opinion which often paints Ziggy as an extraterrestrial. William Seward Burroughs II ( – ˈbʌroʊz was an American Novelist, Essayist, Social critic, painter and Spoken word Rolling Stone is a United States -based Magazine devoted to Music, Politics, and Popular culture that is published Extraterrestrial life is Life originating outside of the Earth. [2] The song has inspired interpretations ranging from an allusion to the Second Coming of Christ,[3] to an accurate prediction of the plot for the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). In Christianity, the Second Coming is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven to earth an event that will fulfill aspects of Messianic Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 Science fiction film directed and written by Steven Spielberg. [4]

The music is in a gentle pop rock vein, featuring prominent acoustic guitar and a string arrangement by Mick Ronson, not dissimilar to the style of Bowie's previous album Hunky Dory (1971). Pop rock is a hybrid of Pop music and Rock music that uses catchy pop style with light lyrics over top of guitar-based songs A steel-string acoustic guitar, is a modern form of Guitar descended from the Classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter louder sound A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a Musical instrument that produces Sound by means of Vibrating strings In the Hornbostel-Sachs Mick Ronson (26 May 1946 &ndash 29 April 1993 was an English Guitarist, Composer, Multi-instrumentalist, Arranger and producer Hunky Dory is the fourth album by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1971 (see 1971 in music) The chorus is loosely based on Judy Garland's song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from the film The Wizard of Oz. Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10 1922 – June 22 1969 was an American actress and singer " Over the Rainbow " (sometimes mistakenly known as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" is a Song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical - Fantasy film mainly directed by Victor Fleming and based on the 1900 children’s Other influences cited for the track are the T. Rex songs "Telegram Sam" and "Hot Love" (the "boogie" references and "la la la" chorus) and The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (the morse code-esque guitar and piano breaks). TRex (occasionally spelled T Rex or T-Rex) were an English rock band fronted by guitarist singer and songwriter Marc Bolan. Telegram Sam was the third UK number one single for the British rock group T " Hot Love " is a UK number one song by the British rock band T The Supremes were an American female singing group that first formed as a quartet called The Primettes " You Keep Me Hangin' On " is a 1966 hit song originally recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label Morse code is a Character encoding for transmitting telegraphic information using standardized sequences of short and long elements to represent the letters numerals [1]

Release and aftermath

From a commercial point of view, "Starman" was a milestone in Bowie’s career, his first hit since 1969's "Space Oddity" three years before. This article is about the song For the album which includes this song see Space Oddity (album. NME critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray reported that "many thought it was his first record since 'Space Oddity'", and assumed that it was a sequel to the earlier single. The New Musical Express (better known as the NME) is a Popular music Magazine in the United Kingdom which has been Roy Carr is an English Music Journalist. He joined the New Musical Express (NME in the 1960s and has edited NME, Charles Shaar Murray (born 1951 is an English Music Journalist. [5]

The single initially sold steadily rather than spectacularly but earned many positive reviews, John Peel for example calling it "a classic, a gem". John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004 known professionally as John Peel, was an English Disc jockey, radio [6] Its turning point came when Bowie scored a place on Top of the Pops in July 1972. Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, was a long-running British music chart Television programme, made and broadcast His performance with the Spiders became famous; according to author David Buckley, "Many fans date their conversion to all things Bowie to this Top of the Pops appearance". [3] It embedded Ziggy Stardust in the nation’s consciousness, helping push "Starman" to #10 and the album, released the previous month, to #5. The single remained in the UK charts for 11 weeks. In the US it peaked at #65.

In February 1999, Q magazine listed the single as one of the 100 greatest singles of all time, as voted by readers. Q is a Music Magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom, with a circulation of 130179 as of June 2007

Track listing

  1. "Starman" (Bowie) – 4:16
  2. "Suffragette City" (Bowie) – 3:25

Production credits

Other releases

Cover versions

Appearances in popular culture

Notes

  1. ^ a b Nicholas Pegg (2000). Nicholas Pegg is a British actor director and writer His acting work in the theatre includes productions for Nottingham Playhouse, Scottish Opera, The Complete David Bowie: p. 203
  2. ^ a b Nicholas Pegg (2000). Ibid: pp. 276-277
  3. ^ a b David Buckley (1999) Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story: pp. 148-151
  4. ^ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Roy Carr is an English Music Journalist. He joined the New Musical Express (NME in the 1960s and has edited NME, Charles Shaar Murray (born 1951 is an English Music Journalist. Bowie: An Illustrated Record: p. 44
  5. ^ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Ibid: p. 8
  6. ^ "David Bowie and His Four-Minute Gem" cited at The Ziggy Stardust Companion

References

Pegg, Nicholas, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, ISBN 1-903111-14-5

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