The 20th of February 1973
Official U.K. Albums Chart results from Sunday the 18th to Saturday the 24th of February 1973
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 17th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 18th,
announced on Tuesday the 20th,
and broadcast on B.B.C. Radio 1 on Sunday the 25th of February 1973.
David Bowie
Space Oddity
At No.37, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on my 1st Birthday, is David Bowie with “Space Oddity”.
Back in 1994, I watched a documentary on Pink Floyd…
…where some guest artists had contributed their thoughts and memories of the group.
Brett Anderson from Suede made a comment regarding the era of Pink Floyd between the departure of Syd Barrett and the music leading up to the “A Saucerful of Secrets” album.
He said “…that’s always quite a charming thing in music, when you can tell that an artist is kind of reaching beyond what they actually know how to do, to do something else..”
I know what he means, I’ve hyper-focused on many musical artists in my past, fascinated by how they went from one path onto something different, and I think this album by David Bowie is one such album.
Originally released back in 1969,..
…this second album, the first released on the Philips label, and also confusingly his second eponymous one at that, found David, who up until that time had focused more on a music-hall type of sound, now making a conscious decision to move into something more unknown to him, and explore other avenues.
Led by the successful “Space Oddity” single, which, due to it being released just as the hype for the upcoming moon landing project was at fever pitch, had earned David his first Top 10 hit.
The album itself was released shortly after but, probably due to other factors, such as poor backing from the promotional team, it failed to chart.
Now though, with David’s current alter-ego Ziggy Stardust causing major disruption to both the Single and Album charts, his new record label RCA decided that the time was right to re-package that 1969 album for his new found followers to discover how David reached beyond himself.
The album now went by the name of the lead single, and new artwork was commisioned to bring it inline with David’s current look.
The move worked.
“Space Oddity” the (same 1969) album,..
…had entered the chart back on the 19th of November the previous year of 1972 at No.31, and would stick around the mid-chart area until it left after the 6th of January 1973.
A couple of weeks later, the album was back again, from the 14th of January 1973, behaving the same as it did the first time, until leaving again after this weeks placing.
After this, it will go on to cause a few week long blips.
The first at No.40 from the 4th of March.
The second at No.47 from the 25th of the same month.
The third at No.36 from the 8th of April,
and the 4th at No.41 from the 6th of May.
As the Summer of 1973 takes hold, so does more interest in the album, as it enters again at No.34 and climbs slowly over the next 5 weeks to reach it’s peak position of No.17 for 2 weeks from the 6th of August.
It will then slip back to bouncing around in the middle of the chart until it leaves again after a further 19 weeks, after the 24th of November.
There will be one other week, when it gets to No.40 from the 13th of January the following year of 1974, but that will be it for the 1970’s, and as it will turn out, for David’s lifetime here on earth.
The repercussions of David’s passing will bring the record buying public back to this album once again.
With the U.K. Chart now fully expanded up to the Top 100, this album re-enters at No.95 on the 15th of January 2016, climbs to No.62, drops back to No.79, and leaves once again after the 4th of February.
No.77 will be the position for the final couple of visits this album will make so far. The first of those will be a week from the 22nd of November 2019. The second will be a week from the 26th of June the following year, until it leaves after the 2nd of July 2020.
I’ve created my own separate playlists for Sides 1 and 2 of this LP with (I hope) the correct versions and the original track sequencing order for the U.K. release.
Side 1
Side 2
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear the tracks, so that together we can experience both sides of this album release, as it was intended, once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channel:
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the week of my 1st Birthday:
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the day I was born:
Grab Your Binoculars, Come Follow Me
What is it…?
Why am I…?
How do I…?
When am I…?
