57 years ago today, David Bowie released ‘Starman’ into the world and rock music was forever changed.
The lead single from his album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, ‘Starman’ was recorded at the request of RCA executive, Dennis Katz, who said the album needed a true single. Inspired by ‘Over the Rainbow’ from The Wizard of Ozand songs ‘Hot Love’ and ‘Telegram Sam’, the rock song is positioned as Ziggy Stardust (Bowie’s androgynous alien rock star alter ego created for the concept album) sending a message of hope through the radio to listeners. The story of the song is told from the perspective of one of the young people on Earth hearing Ziggy’s message of salvation possible through Starman.
Speaking to Rolling Stone in 1973 about the song Bowie said, “Ziggy is advised in a dream by the infinites to write the coming of a starman, so he writes ‘Starman,’ which is the first news of hope that the people have heard. So they latch onto it immediately.”
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‘Starman’ rose to the 41st spot on the UK charts upon its initial release, resulting in Bowie being invited to peform on the BBC program, Top of the Pops. The performance, which took place on July 5th, 1972, solidified the Ziggy Stardust persona of Bowie’s as an icon, and pushed ‘Starman’ to number 10 on the charts. Many other musicians have cited the performance as a huge source of inspiration including Boy George, Morrissey, Duran Duran, and Bono.
The song was a massive hit and career milestone for Bowie, the first of his since ‘Space Oddity’ three years prior. ‘Starman’ is largely considered by music critics and fans alike to be one of Bowie’s best songs in his entire catalog.
In recent times, the song has become associated with “Hopemaxxing,” meaning to maximize the about of positivity and hope one has for an outlook on life. It was also (appropriately) used in the 2015 film, The Martian.
Related: Magazine Editors Reveal the Best David Bowie Song of All Time
