Space Oddity / Ashes to Ashes / Major Tom (Coming Home)

A 1969 UK picture sleeve of the Philips single.

Today, I'm going to have to tell you one story just so I can tell you another. That's just how things unfold sometimes.

I've always found it interesting how certain fictional characters can take on a life of their own over the course of several unrelated works by different artists. Today's case in point is one Major Tom, who we first heard of in David Bowie's breakthrough song, "Space Oddity", from all the way back in 1969. For those unfamiliar with Bowie's narrative, Major Tom was an astronaut who, by accident or intent, has a malfunction with either his spacecraft or his tether during a spacewalk outside the ship, and is doomed to drift in space with no hope of returning to Earth. The song was very timely as the first moon landing occurred in July of 1969.

As for subsequent appearances, Bowie himself revisited the character in the song "Ashes To Ashes" from his 1980 album "Scary Monsters", but only in the form of a distant memory. Instead of an astronaut who casually slips the bonds of this world to journey beyond the stars, "Ashes..." describes Major Tom as a "junkie, strung out in heaven's high, hitting an all-time low". This lyric can be interpreted as a play on the title of Bowie's 1977 album "Low", which charted his own withdrawal inwards, following his cocaine excesses in America a short time before; a reversal of Major Tom's original withdrawal outwards towards space.

The final lines, "My mother said, to get things done, you'd better not mess with Major Tom", have been compared to the verse from a nursery rhyme, "My mother said, that I never should, play with the gypsies in the wood" Interviewed in 1980, Bowie described the song as "...very much a 1980's nursery rhyme". Years later, Bowie said that with "Ashes to Ashes", he was "wrapping up the seventies really, for myself, and that seemed a good enough epitaph for it".

Although Bowie would give another brief passing nod to the character in his 1995 song, "Hallo Spaceboy", the story of Major Tom had received more significant development back in 1983 from Peter Schilling in his international hit "Major Tom (Coming Home)", which was featured on his 1983 album, "Error In The System". Although the song was originally recorded in German as "Major Tom (Völlig Losgelöst)", translation: "totally disconnected", the hit version was sung in English. The song would remain Schilling's only visit to the upper reaches of the Pop charts, riding Bowie's coattails all the way to #14 on the American Hot 100.

Although that song has been recorded numerous times by the diverse likes of Plastic Bertrand, MXPX and Hilary Duff, the one that sticks is the version done recently by Shiny Toy Guns. Their synth-based sound and theatricality, along with a glittery stage production, really launches the song into the 21st century. I have to say I find it interesting that as up to date as Shiny Toy Guns sound, even a cursory listen to most of their songs shows an obvious lineage to the 80's band, Berlin. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if Shiny Toy Guns were to release a cover of "The Metro" sometime. While I'm not a fan of the blatant corporate sponsorship that is seen at the end of this video, I understand that a band's gotta do what they've gotta do if they want to play at the national level, even if that means doing a cover tune for a car commercial. For some, getting that commercial is the big break.

Pugwash

A lot of musical Bowie devotees have covered his songs, and it seems that many of them tend to specialize in darker genres like Goth, Emo, Techno and Electronica. Many of those covers are either too morose or soulless for me, although lyrically, Bowie hasn't been the most chipper chap when it comes to subject matter. But a good song always proves itself when it stands up well under a sparse acoustic treatment, such as this rendition of "Ashes To Ashes" by Irish pop wunderkinds, Pugwash, whose own original work is startlingly musical and refreshing. Here's Pugwash front man Thomas Walsh in a live performance with The Section Quartet.

And just when you think that this party has had all it can handle, in strolls William Shatner, of all people.

Shatner says in the liner notes to his 2011 album "Seeking Major Tom", that he and producer Adam Hamilton would often think "Is this absurd or is this awesome? Or is this absurdly awesome?". The basic premise was that Shatner had been presented, yet again, with the notion of recording some science-fiction related songs, which was of little interest to him, until he stumbled onto the character of Major Tom and wondered whether there was more of the good Major's story to be told. Shatner had apparently been long fascinated with the concept of the Major Tom character and his motivations. And so, Shatner and producer Hamilton went about vetting songs that might flesh out the tale of Major Tom, however speculative or vaguely referential they might be.

I'm just gonna say that every musical instinct in my being is telling me that I should loathe and despise this ham sandwich of an album. Like some other recent overblown concepts, this may have been successful as an EP of 5 to 7 songs. But as the concept quickly wears thin, 20 songs over 2 CD's is overkill, and ultimately buries the project under its own weight. But to be fair, sometimes performers do things that aren't intended to have much artistic merit. They do them because they're fun things to do. Like karaoke. Which is what this recording mostly is: Shatner-ized karaoke, and that has its own special charm, I suppose.

Which brings us full circle to William Shatner's renditions of both "Space Oddity" and "Major Tom (Coming Home)", the 1-2 punch that opens this album. I'm surprised that Shatner's producers didn't have him do "Ashes To Ashes" while they were at it. Guess they were too busy having him throw buckets of aural tempura on masterworks like "Bohemian Rhapsody" and yes, "Iron Man", which is worse than it sounds. Take it away, Shat-man.

If you are overcome with curiosity, or just want it because it's weird, you can find this wretched album, and other amusements by William Shatner at Amazon. Having said that, I will happily recommend his 2004 album, "Has Been", as it's overseen by Ben Folds and features musical guests like Joe Jackson and Henry Rollins, who bring a far better level of quality to the proceedings. It's everything "Seeking Major Tom" could have been. I understand that his latest musical exploration, "Ponder The Mystery", is a significant improvement, as Shatner is paired with more progressive musicians and new original music. I'll check it out when the mood permits. For all you Trekkies, Shatner's 1968 pop culture classic, "The Transformed Man", is back in print and a new copy can be yours for less than 3 bucks! It's kitschy, but worth it for the hilarious "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" medley.

As you might guess, music from Shiny Toy Guns and Peter Schilling is also available through Amazon. However, STG's version of "Major Tom" is currently available only as an Mp3 download single from Amazon. If all you want from Schilling is "Major Tom", then get thee to the excellent, 5 volume, 80's comp series, "Living In Oblivion" from EMI/Capitol, which contains many lost gems of the 80's, and can be obtained, used, for a mere pittance.

Music from the mighty Pugwash is available spottily only as pricey imports, as the band has no US label and only tours in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the UK. For the curious, I will recommend their most recent effort, "The Olympus Sound", which is also likely the most affordable of their difficult to find catalog. Pugwash is working on their 6th album, due out next year.

And yes, there's more career-spanning music by David Bowie at Amazon than anyone would ever know what to do with. But do indulge. His 70's work is inarguably essential.