David Bowie to Reissue "Space Oddity" For 40th Anniversary

Forty years ago, David Bowie released his eponymous first album, or Man of Words/Man of Music as it was known in the States. Soon after, the LP adopted the name of its biggest hit, Space Oddity. Now, four decades later, the Thin White Duke will reissue his debut album as a double-disc collection due out this October. The first disc features the album as it was originally presented in 1969, plus a second disc full of demos, B sides and other unreleased recordings, Bowie's official site announced this weekend.

Unlike previous reissues, the upcoming Space Oddity 40th Anniversary Edition features the interlude "Don't Sit Down" fused together with "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed," as opposed to being separated into two tracks. Great lengths were made to ensure that the album's original tapes were used in the reissue, to mirror the sound of the album when it was first released on vinyl. The original fade-outs and gaps between tracks have also been preserved.

As for the bonus disc, eight of the 15 tracks are previously unreleased, highlighted by demo versions of "Space Oddity" and "A Occasional Dream" plus the full-length studio version of "Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola," an Italian version of "Space Oddity" that Bowie recorded. Multiple versions of the album's epic closing track "Memory of a Free Festival" are also on the disc, including an unreleased alternate mix. The album will also feature liner notes with rare photos as well as other ephemera from the era.

As Rock Daily reported last month, Bowie also released the Space Oddity EP to iTunes, featuring four versions of the track plus the song stems to allow for fan remixing.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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