David Bowie will release a special 40th anniversary edition of the Space Oddity album on 12th October. The releaese follows on from that of the Space Oddity EP. The album will come out on double CD, digital download and 180 -gram heavyweight vinyl with a special booklet featuring rare photos, memorabilia and sleeve notes.
The original album was released on November 14th, 1969 on the Philips label in the UK as ‘David Bowie’, and the Mercury label in the U.S. as ‘Man Of Words/Man Of Music’. The album was then re-titled as ‘Space Oddity’ when re-issued on RCA in 1972, resulting in a UK album chart peak of no. 17 in November of that year.
The album, produced by Tony Visconti (bar ‘Space Oddity’ itself which was produced by the late Gus Dudgeon), was a giant leap forward in terms of songwriting for Bowie compared to his eponymous debut, and can be considered as the first truly essential David Bowie album. Noted for a list of collaborators, including session players Herbie Flowers, Tim Renwick, Terry Cox and Rick Wakeman, the album delves into psychedelic folk-rock, as well as prog, with its genre-defying template creating a blueprint of what would become over the next decade and more, one of the most inimitable British artists.
The CD tracklisting reads as follows:
CD 1:
1. Space Oddity
2. Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed
3. Letter To Hermione
4. Cygnet Committee
5. Janine
6. An Occasional Dream
7. Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud
8. God Knows I'm Good
9. Memory Of A Free Festival
CD 2:
1. Space Oddity (demo)*
2. An Occasional Dream (demo)*
3. Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (single B-side)
4. Let Me Sleep Beside You (BBC Radio session D.L.T. Show)
5. Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed (BBC Radio session D.L.T. Show) *
6. Janine (BBC Radio session: D.L.T. Show)
7. London Bye Ta-Ta (stereo version)
8. The Prettiest Star (stereo version)
9. Conversation Piece (stereo version) *
10.Memory Of A Free Festival (Part 1) (single A-side)
11.Memory Of A Free Festival (Part 2) (single B-side)
12.Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (alternate album mix) *
13.Memory Of A Free Festival (alternate album mix) *
14.London Bye Ta-Ta (alternate stereo mix) *
15.Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola (full length stereo version) *
*previously unreleased