Space Oddity was the wider public’s first brush with Bowie’s songwriting talent
Though Bowie’s first record featured several indications, thematically, of what was to come, it was looked back upon by Bowie as an embarrassing early stumble, “Argh, that Anthony Newley stuff, how cringey,” Bowie remarked when reflecting on his debut album in a 1990 interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
Bowie’s 1969 moon-landing tie-in single, Space Oddity, was the first concrete evidence of his genius. It’s a timeless, dazzling composition with a spectacular arrangement that also provided Bowie with his first bona-fide chart hit, placing him firmly on the public’s radar at last.