| "Hallo Spaceboy" (Pet Shop Boys remix) | ||||
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| Single byDavid Bowie featuringPet Shop Boys | ||||
| from the albumOutside | ||||
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| Released | 19 February 1996 (1996-02-19) | |||
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| "Hallo Spaceboy" onYouTube | ||||
"Hallo Spaceboy" is a song by the English musicianDavid Bowie from his 20th studio album,Outside (1995). It originated as an instrumental byReeves Gabrels called "Moondust", which Bowie andBrian Eno stripped down and used to form the final track. Anindustrial rock andelectronica number influenced by thePixies andNine Inch Nails, the song contains a hypnotic sound, withsynthesisers,loops and distorted guitar lines. Lyrically influenced byBrion Gysin, the song contains images of apocalypse and continues the androgynous conundrums of former Bowie songs such as "Rebel Rebel".
For its release as the third and finalsingle fromOutside in February 1996, "Hallo Spaceboy" wasremixed by the duoPet Shop Boys, who added adisco edge and lyrics referencing theMajor Tom character from Bowie's "Space Oddity". The single reached number 12 in the UK and charted elsewhere across Europe. Its accompanying music video, directed byDavid Mallet, mixes shots of both Bowie and Pet Shop Boys with footage of science fiction clips, atomic bomb testing footage and television advertising clips. Both versions of "Hallo Spaceboy" have been positively received and have appeared on lists of Bowie's best songs. Bowie performed "Hallo Spaceboy" frequently on his concert tours, recordings from which have appeared onlive albums.
Written byDavid Bowie andBrian Eno,[1] "Hallo Spaceboy" developed from anambient instrumental piece written by guitaristReeves Gabrels called "Moondust".[2][3] Initial work on the track began during a recording session atMountain Studios in Montreux in 1994, shortly after the main sessions for theLeon project concluded.[4] Bowie biographersNicholas Pegg and Chris O'Leary point to the influence of poet and artistBrion Gysin, who developed a cut-up technique withWilliam S. Burroughs that Bowie had, on several occasions, utilised for song lyrics. During the recording, Bowie spoke the "If I fall, moondust will cover me", reportedly Gysin's final words before his death in 1986.[1][4] Work halted on the track following the session, as Bowie believed "there wasn't anything special going on with that piece".[1]
The track resurfaced on 17 January 1995 during theOutside sessions in New York City atThe Hit Factory.[4] Eno wrote in his diary that it was "stripped down to almost nothing [before] I wrote some lightning chords and space and suddenly, miraculously, we had something."[3] The final track features Bowie, Eno, Gabrels, guitaristCarlos Alomar, bassistYossi Fine, pianistMike Garson and drummerJoey Baron.[1] After finishing the track, Bowie said "I adore that track. In my mind, it was likeJim Morrison meetsindustrial. When I heard it back, I thought, 'Fuck me. It's likemetalDoors.' It's an extraordinary sound."[5] Gabrels later expressed disappointment in not receiving a co-writing credit for the song.[1]
Characterised by commentators asindustrial rock andelectronica,[3][6][7] Pegg describes "Hallo Spaceboy" as "a hardcore maelstrom of sci-fi noise, hypnotic high-speed drumming and an insistent, speaker-hopping four-note guitar riff".[4] The song's influences range from thePixies andPornography-eraCure toNine Inch Nails andthe Smashing Pumpkins;[4][8] Bowie himself reportedly stated he was aiming for a Nine Inch Nails-type sound.[5] Featuringsynthesisers,loops and distorted guitar lines,[1] a few reviewers compared the song's sound to Bowie's 1974 albumDiamond Dogs and his work with the rock bandTin Machine.[4][3][7] AuthorDave Thompson argued that the song would not have felt out of place as a bonus track on that album.[9] Lyrically, Pegg states that "Hallo Spaceboy" captures the "millennial angst" of theOutside album and continues the androgynous conundrums of songs such as 1974's "Rebel Rebel" and 1979's "Boys Keep Swinging" with the line "Do you like girls or boys? / It's confusing these days".[4][8][10] Some of the words and ideals, such as "chaos", "dust" and "hallo", and visions of ascience fiction apocalypse were recycled from Tin Machine's "Baby Universal" (1991).[11]
"Hallo Spaceboy" was released as the sixth track onOutside on 25 September 1995.[12] Bowie featured the song prominently on the 1995Outside Tour, often together with Nine Inch Nails on the US leg and after as the closing number.[4][8] Bowie intended "Hallo Spaceboy" to be his next single after "Strangers When We Meet", performing the song twice in Birmingham and again onJools Holland'sLater... in late December the same year.[13] Both Birmingham performances were later released on the live albumNo Trendy Réchauffé (Live Birmingham 95) in 2020.[14]
Believing that in its original state, "Hallo Spaceboy" was uncommercial as a potential hit single in 1996, Bowie commissionedNeil Tennant of thePet Shop Boys toremix the song for release as the third single fromOutside.[15] Tennant, a lifelong Bowie fan, stripped the song's anger with electronics and added Pet Shop Boys' signature backing vocals to the mix. Combined with the original only containing a single verse, and a lyric including feelings ofalienation, Tennant and bandmateChris Lowe added lyrical fragments from Bowie's 1969 song "Space Oddity", using a Gysin-style cut-up technique, to create a second verse: "Ground to Major, bye bye Tom / dead the circuit, countdown's wrong / Planet Earth is control on?"[1][15][16] O'Leary states the additions turned the song's cry of "this chaos is killing me" into a plea from an astronaut "strung out in heaven".[1]
Bowie himself initially expressed reservation about the additions when Tennant told him during a telephone conversation, but later agreed that they worked well.[4][17] Tennant toldNME in a 1997 interview that he and Lowe, working alongside Bowie, had completed what Tennant called the "Major Tom trilogy", in reference to the fictional astronaut who first appeared in "Space Oddity" and later appeared in 1980's "Ashes to Ashes". Tennant explained, "I said to [Bowie], 'It's like Major Tom is in one of those Russian spaceships they can't afford to bring down,' and he said, 'Oh wow, is that where he is?'"[16] Compared to the original version, the remix features adisco edge.[18][19]
Released on 19 February 1996,[20] the single was released through several formats, including a 7" single throughBMG/RCA, aCD single throughArista/RCA[21] and a 12" promo in the US throughVirgin.[22] The CD single was packaged with a reissue of "The Hearts Filthy Lesson" and live renditions of "Under Pressure" and "Moonage Daydream",[4][22] recorded on the Outside Tour on 13 December 1995 in Birmingham.[23] The single was a success across Europe,[8] reaching number 12 in the UK, becoming Bowie's highest charting single since 1993's "Jump They Say".[4] On top of a number 1 placement in Latvia,[4] the remixed "Hallo Spaceboy" charted in Australia (36),[24] Austria (37),[25] BelgiumFlanders (48) andWallonia (30),[26][27] Finland (8),[28] Germany (59),[29] Ireland (21),[30] the NetherlandsTop 40 andSingle Top 100 (24 and 33, respectively),[31][32] Scotland (10) and Sweden (12).[33][34]
The music video for "Hallo Spaceboy" was directed by longtime Bowie directorDavid Mallet, mixing shots of both Bowie and Pet Shop Boys into a rapid-fire montage ofCold War era retro-footage of science fiction film clips, atomic bomb testing footage and television advertising clips.[4] Bowie performed the song with Pet Shop Boys at the 1996Brit Awards on 19 February 1996,[35][36] and again onTop of the Pops on 1 March.[4] According to O'Leary, Bowie "thrashed around" during these performances while Tennant sang calmly.[1]
The Pet Shop Boys remix replaced "Wishful Beginnings" on theOutside – Version 2 album,[4] and is included on some editions of thecompilation albumsBest of Bowie (2002),[37]Nothing Has Changed (2014) andLegacy (The Very Best of David Bowie) (2016).[38][39] The remix was later included onRe:Call 5, released as part of theBrilliant Adventure (1992–2001)box set in 2022.[40] Four additional remixes, excluding the single one, were compiled on the 2004 two-disc edition ofOutside.[4] An extended Pet Shop Boys remix is included on their 2007remix albumDisco 4.[41]
Both versions of "Hallo Spaceboy" have received positive reviews from music critics and biographers. Discussing the original, biographerMarc Spitz called it Bowie's "most convincing rocker" since "Rebel Rebel",[42] and David Buckley said the track is "quite daring, with a hard, industrial menace and a great use of dynamics".[10] Some have recognised the original as a highlight of theOutside album.[8][21]AllMusic's Christian Huey said that the song was "the most successful spin since [1980's]Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) on his recurring 'urban nightmare' motif."[21]Alexis Petridis ofThe Guardian called the original "pummelling, chaotic and hypnotic".[43]Paul Lester fromMelody Maker said, "'Hallo Spaceboy', drenched in the theatrical mockneyisms that begatDamon Albarn andBrett Anderson, istrip hoppy (dub it up,Portishead!)"[44] Roger Morton fromNME declared it as "a viscerally thrilling glassed-guitar'n'driller rhythm rocker".[45] Gareth Grundy fromSelect wrote, "'Hello Spaceboy''s sci-fi pop is a new, quasi-industrial 'Space Oddity'".[46]
Reviewing the Pet Shop Boys remix,Simon Price fromMelody Maker said that "this sounds like the Pet Shop Boys without anything you could call a chorus. The bit where Bowie's gin-and-lemon voice mixes with Neil Tennant'sAmaretto Disaronno on the lineDo you like girls or boys? It's confusing these days... is one to hoist aloft around the room on a red velvet cushion, though."[47] A reviewer fromMusic Week rated the song four out of five, writing that the song "has been transformed into ahi-NRG anthem with chart appeal to the max".[48]Mojo magazine writer Mark Paytress opined that adding Pet Shop Boys was a "masterstroke".[7] Huey called the remix a success, with "less uncompromising" drama and "less disturbing" results.[21]
"Hallo Spaceboy" has appeared on lists ranking Bowie's best songs byFar Out (number 21),[19]The Guardian (number 40) andMojo (number 70).[7][43] In 2016,Ultimate Classic Rock placed the single at number 79 (out of 119) in a list ranking every Bowie single from worst to best.[49]
"Hallo Spaceboy" featured regularly on Bowie's setlists throughout 1996 and 1997, and made return appearances during his 2000summer shows, 2002Heathen and 2003–2004A Reality tours.[4] A version recorded on 18 July 1996 at thePhoenix Festival in England appeared on theBBC compilationPhoenix: The Album in 1997.[4] A July 1997 recording from theEarthling Tour was also released on the live albumLook at the Moon! in 2021,[50] and 2 November recording inRio de Janeiro from the same tour appeared on the live albumLiveAndWell.com in 2000 (re-released in 2021).[51][52] Pet Shop Boys also performed their own version of "Hallo Spaceboy" during their residency at London'sSavoy Theatre in 1997.[4]
At Bowie's fiftieth birthday concert in New York in January 1997, the song was performed together withFoo Fighters.[53][54] Three years later, he performed it at theGlastonbury Festival on 25 June 2000,[55] released in 2018 asGlastonbury 2000.[56] Bowie performed the song live atBBC Radio Theatre, London, on 27 June 2000, and a recording of this performance was included on the bonus disc ofBowie at the Beeb in 2000;[4][57] the full concert later appeared onBrilliant Adventure (1992–2001).[58] A November 2003 performance from the A Reality Tour is included on the 2004A Reality Tour DVD,[59] and the 2010A Reality Tour album.[60]
According to Chris O'Leary:[1]
Technical
| Chart (1996) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[24] | 36 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[25] | 37 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[26] | 48 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[27] | 30 |
| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[28] | 8 |
| Germany (GfK)[29] | 59 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[30] | 21 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[31] | 24 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[32] | 33 |
| Scotland (OCC)[33] | 10 |
| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[34] | 12 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[61] | 12 |
| USDance Club Songs (Billboard)[62] | 40 |
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