Released on Friday 11 July 1969, Space Oddity hit number 48 on the UK charts (September 6) and dropped out again.
Two weeks later on Saturday 20 September it re-entered at 39. The following week it entered the Top 30 at 25. It made a gentle climb to peak at No.5 fifty years ago today.
When RCA hit Ziggy pay dirt the re-release topped the UK charts on November 8 1975. Six years and a week after it’s previous peak.
From Wikipedia:
Produced by Gus Dudgeon, the album version of “Space Oddity” (5:15) was recorded at Trident Studios on 20 June 1969 (with overdubs a few days later) and used the in-house session player Rick Wakeman (Mellotron), who was later to achieve fame with the progressive rock band Yes, as well as Mick Wayne (guitar), Herbie Flowers (bass), and Terry Cox (drums).[14] Bowie sang lead and harmony vocals and played acoustic guitar and the Stylophone.[15] Differing edits of the album version were released as singles, in the UK (mono, 4:33), the US (mono and stereo, 3:26), and several other countries. The original UK mono single edit was included on Re:Call 1, part of the Five Years (1969–1973) box set, in 2015.
