Starman (song)
| Starman | |
|---|---|
| David Bowie | |
| publication | April 14, 1972 |
| length | 4:16 |
| Genre (s) | Glam rock , pop rock |
| text | David Bowie |
| music | David Bowie |
| album | The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars |
Starman ( German : Sternenmann ) is a song by the British musician David Bowie from 1972.
background
During the recording of the concept album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars , Bowie realized that none of the intended and mostly already recorded songs would have had the potential for a hit. RCA's Dennis Katz convinced Bowie that Starman would do just that, and he was right.
The inclusion of Starman took place on February 4, 1972 in the Trident Studios in London . Originally a cover version of Chuck Berry's Around And Around was planned for the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars , which was also recorded under the changed title Round And Round .
According to Bowie, Starman should be part of an originally planned album between Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars . The songs He's A Gold Mine , Bombers , Round And Round and Something Happens would also have been released in this untitled album . Three of these five tracks were still in the planning for the Ziggy Stardust album, but ultimately only Starman was used.
content
The song is about Ziggy Stardust, who sends the young people of the threatened earth the hope that an alien named Starman will be able to save the world. The story is told from the perspective of a youngster listening to Ziggy on the radio. Bowie explained in 1973 to William S. Burroughs of Rolling Stone magazine that Ziggy Stardust was not Starman himself, but only his earthly mouthpiece. However, this does not fit with repeatedly published drawings showing Ziggy as an alien.
Starman follows the style of the recently released album Hunky Dory , recognizably musically inspired by Judy Garlands Over the Rainbow from the film The Wizard of Oz . The octave jump in the chorus for the word Starman is identical to that in Somewhere Over The Rainbow .
Bowie himself said: “'Star ... man' is in fact '' some ... where over the Rainbow 'and I just went from there and just took it somewhere else to be ... It became a blueprint for that. .. Anything I touch always kind of gets perverted out of all acceptable form. That's half the fun of it. Taking a system and throwing a spanner into it “(Eng .: 'Star… man' is actually 'some… where over the Rainbow' and I just went from there and took it somewhere else… it became the blueprint for that… everything what I touch is somehow changed, away from all recognizable forms. That's half the fun. Taking a system and throwing a spanner in the works).
reception
From a commercial point of view, Starman became a milestone in Bowie's career and his first hit since Space Oddity in 1969. In the New Musical Express , critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray reported that it was believed to be Bowie's first recording since Space Oddity and at the same time the continuation of that.
Initially, the single sold moderately despite positive reviews. The popular English radio presenter John Peel described it as "a classic, a gem" (German: a classic, a jewel). Only after Bowie's appearance on the TV music show Top of the Pops did sales pick up. His performance was recorded on July 5, 1972 and broadcast the following day. A live appearance on Independent Television's TV show Lift Off With Ayshea three weeks earlier received less attention . Bowie's performance with the Spiders, however, became famous. The author David Buckley wrote, "Many fans date their conversion to all things Bowie to this Top of the Pops appearance" (Eng .: Many fans date their turn to Bowie on this appearance). It brought Ziggy Stardust into the consciousness of a nation and put Starman at number 10 and at the same time the album, released a month before, at number 5. The track stayed in the UK charts for 11 weeks. The Top of the Pops appearance is included on the DVD edition of Best of Bowie .
In the US, it was Bowie's first single on the Billboard Hot 100 , peaking at number 65 in August 1972.
Bowie also played the song on May 22, 1972 on a BBC radio show , Johnny Walker Lunchtime Show . The recording aired in early June 1972 and finally released in Bowie at the Beeb in 2000 .
In February 1999 the readers of the British Q Magazine voted the title one of the 100 best singles of all time.
Artistic use by Starman
- In the comic series Starman , author James Dale Robinson tells the story of an alien named Mikaal Tomas who used the alias 'Starman' while on Earth. In the introduction to the story, Mikaal mentions that the people on earth gave him this name because of the similarities between his life and Bowie's song.
- The song was used in the 2015 movie The Martian - Save Mark Watney .
- A cover version by actor John C. Reilly was featured in the 2007 comedy film Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story .
- In 2015, the song is played in the animated series The Simpsons in the episode "The Musk That Fell From The Sky".
- The US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders used the song during his 2016 election campaign.
- In the science fiction TV series Torchwood in the episode "Random Shoes" the song is played while one of the main characters remembers previous events.
- Also in the credits of the first episode of the second season of Life on Mars - Trapped in the 70s , the song is played throughout the series because of the various references to David Bowie.
- The title can be heard in the background of the advertising for the Audi R8 during Super Bowl 50 2016.
- During the first flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket in February 2018, an electric sports car was launched into space. In the vehicle sat a spaceman dummy named Starman , alluding to the David Bowie song.
B side
Suffragette City is a song by Bowie that was also released on the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars . When the compilation ChangesOneBowie started on sale in 1976, it was released as a single, which, however, could not be placed.
The song was recorded on February 4, 1972 towards the end of the recordings for the album Ziggy Stardust . "Suffragette City" includes a piano riff that is heavily influenced by Little Richard and a textual reference to the book and movie Uhrwerk Orange (the word "droogie" means "friend").
Before Bowie recorded the song himself, he offered it to the band Mott the Hoople if they would refrain from breaking up. The group did without and instead used Bowie's "All the Young Dudes".
occupation
- David Bowie : vocals, guitar, piano, violin arrangement
- Mick Ronson : guitar, organ
- Trevor Bolder : bass guitar
- Mick Woodmansey : drums
production
- Ken Scott - producer
- David Bowie - producer
Charts
| Year | single | Chart | position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | "Starman" | Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) | 55 |
| 1972 | "Starman" | France (SNEP) | 27 |
| 1972 | "Starman" | Italy (FIMI) | 41 |
| 1972 | "Starman" | Great Britain (Official Charts Company) | 10 |
| 1972 | "Starman" | USA (Billboard Hot 100) | 65 |
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Starman. 5years.com, fansite for the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars . Retrieved October 23, 2016.
- ^ A b Kevin Cann: Any Day Now: David Bowie: The London Years: 1947-1974. Verlag Adelita Ltd., Croydon 2010, ISBN 0-955-2017-7-2 , p. 242.
- ^ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray: Bowie: An Illustrated Record , Avon Eel Pie Publishing, London 1981, ISBN 0-906-00825-5 , p. 8.
- ^ The Release. ( Memento of the original from August 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 5years.com, accessed October 23, 2016.
- ↑ Lift-Off With Ashyea. 5years.com. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
- ↑ Starman (English edition), Volume 2, p. 28.
- ↑ Chris Payne: David Bowie's' Starman 'Closes Bernie Sanders' Iowa Caucus Speech. Billboard . February 2, 2016, accessed October 23, 2016.
- ↑ Audi USA: Audi R8 Big Game Commercial - Commander - Extended Cut. YouTube . February 3, 2016, accessed October 23, 2016.
- ↑ By Frank Wunderlich-Pfeiffer: Falcon Heavy: With David Bowie into the solar system . In: golem.de , February 6, 2018.
- ↑ David Roberts: Guinness Rockopedia , publishing Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1998, ISBN 0-851-12072-5 , S. 242nd
