Saturday, April 21, 2012

Musical Interlude: Major Tom (Coming Home)(1983)

In 1969, David Bowie told the story of Major Tom in "Space Oddity", and didn't return to the character until 1980's "Ashes to Ashes". Three years after that, German singer-songwriter Peter Schilling decided to finish the story that Bowie started.

"Major Tom (Coming Home)" was the only major single to chart in the US from Schilling's album, "Error In The System". It was released in both English & German, but the English version, understandably, is the one most viewers will remember. 

2 comments:

magicdog said...

This song is still one of my favorites of all time.

Shilling's version is the best IMO, as Bowie's tends to drag too much for my taste.

For some reason, Natalie Merchant's version has been getting more airplay lately in my market.

hobbyfan said...

Oh? Is that who's covering Major Tom? Natalie hasn't been heard from in who knows when.

As I said, Schilling recorded what is considered a sequel to Bowie's original, something Bowie himself has never really done. ("Ashes to Ashes" isn't a sequel, BTW)