Hallo Spaceboy

"Hallo Spaceboy" is a song by David Bowie from his 1995 album Outside. The track was re-recorded the following year, and issued as a remix featuring Pet Shop Boys as guest artists. Bowie and Brian Eno co-wrote the original album version of the song.

"Hallo Spaceboy"
Single by David Bowie featuring Pet Shop Boys
from the album Outside
B-side"Under Pressure (live)"
Released19 February 1996[1]
RecordedMountain Studios, Montreux, January–February 1995
GenreIndustrial rock (album version)
Alternative dance (single version)
Length5:14
4:25 (Pet Shop Boys mix)
LabelBMG/Arista Records
74321 35382 2
Songwriter(s)David Bowie, Brian Eno
Producer(s)David Bowie, Brian Eno, David Richards
David Bowie singles chronology
"Strangers When We Meet"
(1995)		 "Hallo Spaceboy"
(1996)		 "Telling Lies"
(1996)
Music video
"Hallo Spaceboy" on YouTube

Song development

Bowie wrote the song in mostly-improvised sessions with his band in 1995, and intentionally wrote it with a Nine Inch Nails-like vibe.[2] Of the track, Bowie said "I adore that track. In my mind, it was like Jim Morrison meets industrial. When I heard it back, I thought, 'Fuck me. It's like metal Doors.' It's an extraordinary sound.[2]"

Remixes
titlemix/additional productiondurationadditional credits
Pet Shop Boys RemixPet Shop Boys4:25additional vocals by Neil Tennant, programming by Pete Gleadall
12" RemixPet Shop Boys6:42additional vocals by Neil Tennant, programming by Pete Gleadall
Double Click MixBall & Vauk7:47produced by Pet Shop Boys, additional vocals by Neil Tennant, programming by Pete Gleadall
InstrumentalBall & Vauk7:41produced by Pet Shop Boys, programming by Pete Gleadall
Lost in Space MixBall & Vauk6:29produced by Pet Shop Boys, programming by Pete Gleadall

Pet Shop Boys

The commercial (i.e. non-promo) version of the single featured a remix by Pet Shop Boys as the lead track, not the original album version. In contrast to the original, the single remix was disco-oriented and featured additional lyrics sung by Neil Tennant. The introduction was sampled from the opener to Outside, "Leon Takes Us Outside".

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe of Pet Shop Boys commented on this remix to journalist Mark Beaumont, writing for the NME, in February 2017. Tennant remarked that they regarded being asked by Bowie to work on the single as a "career high-point" for them. Tennant explained that since the original song had only a single verse, Lowe suggested using lyrical fragments from Bowie's 1969 song "Space Oddity" to create a second verse.[3] Bowie initially expressed reservation about the additions when Tennant initially told him during a telephone conversation, but later agreed that they worked well.[4]

Tennant told Beaumont that he and Lowe, working alongside Bowie, had completed what Tennant called the "Major Tom trilogy", in reference to a fictional character who first appeared in Space Oddity and who had later recurred in Bowie's 1980 song "Ashes to Ashes". Tennant explained:

I said to David 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?"[5]

Bowie, Tennant and Lowe performed a live version of the remixed song at the Brit Awards in February 1996.[6] The 12" Remix also surfaced on Pet Shop Boys' remix collection Disco 4, which was released by EMI in October 2007 (2007-10).

Ball and Vauk

The three remixes by Dave Ball (known as the instrumentalist of Soft Cell) and Ingo Vauk are based on the Pet Shop Boys Remix, but only Double Click Mix uses Neil Tennant's vocals. Instrumental is an instrumental version of Double Click Mix. Except the single mix, all remixes were initially released only on promo 12" singles. In 2004 they were included on the bonus disc of the re-released Outside album.

Track listing

All live tracks were recorded 13 December 1995 in Birmingham, England during the Outside Tour.[7]

CD: BMG-Arista / 74321 35383 2 Europe
  1. "Hallo Spaceboy (Pet Shop Boys remix)" – 4:25
  2. "Under Pressure (live)" (Mercury, Deacon, Taylor, May, Bowie) – 4:07
  • released in a card sleeve

CD: RCA-BMG 74321 35384 2 United Kingdom
  1. "Hallo Spaceboy" (Pet Shop Boys remix) – 4:25
  2. "Under Pressure" (live) (Mercury, Deacon, Taylor, May, Bowie) – 4:07
  3. "Moonage Daydream" (live) (Bowie) – 5:25
  4. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson" (Radio Edit) (Bowie, Eno, Gabrels, Kızılçay, Campbell) – 4:56

CD: BMG-Arista / 74321 35382 2 Europe
  1. "Hallo Spaceboy" (Pet Shop Boys remix) – 4:25
  2. "Under Pressure" (live) (Mercury, Deacon, Taylor, May, Bowie) – 4:07
  3. "Moonage Daydream" (live) (Bowie) – 5:25
  4. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson" (Bowie Mix) (Bowie, Eno, Gabrels, Kızılçay, Campbell) – 4:56

CD: BMG-Arista / BVCA-8820 Japan
  1. "Hallo Spaceboy" (Pet Shop Boys remix) – 4:25
  2. "Under Pressure" (live) (Mercury, Deacon, Taylor, May, Bowie) – 4:07
  3. "Moonage Daydream" (live) (Bowie) – 5:25
  4. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson" (Rubber Mix) (Bowie, Eno, Gabrels, Kızılçay, Campbell) – 4:56

UK 7" version
  1. "Hallo Spaceboy (Pet Shop Boys remix)" – 4:25
  2. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Radio edit)" (Bowie, Eno, Gabrels, Kızılçay, Campbell) – 3:33

12": BMG-Arista / SPACE 2 Europe
  1. "Hallo Spaceboy" (12" remix) – 6:34

12": BMG / SPACE 3 United Kingdom
  1. "Hallo Spaceboy" (Double Click mix) – 7:47
  2. "Hallo Spaceboy" (Instrumental) – 7:41
  3. "Hallo Spaceboy" (Lost in Space mix) – 6:29

12": Virgin / SPRO-11513 United States
  1. "Hallo Spaceboy" (12" remix) – 6:45
  2. "Hallo Spaceboy" (Pet Shop Boys remix) – 4:25
  3. "Hallo Spaceboy" (Double Click mix) – 7:47
  4. "Hallo Spaceboy" (Lost in Space mix) – 6:29
  • US promo

Production credits

Live versions
  • Bowie performed the song with Pet Shop Boys at the 1996 Brit Awards.[8]
  • In the autumn 1995, Bowie performed this song together with Nine Inch Nails.
  • A version recorded in 1996 at the Phoenix Festival in England was released on the various artist compilation Phoenix Festival in 1997 and on the live album LiveAndWell.com in 2000.
  • At Bowie's 50th Birthday Bash in New York January 1997, the song was performed together with Foo Fighters. This version featured Zachary Alford,[9] William Goldsmith and Dave Grohl on three different drum sets and Nate Mendel and Gail Ann Dorsey on two bass guitars.
  • Bowie's 25 June 2000 performance of the song at the Glastonbury Festival was released in 2018 on Glastonbury 2000.
  • Bowie performed the song live at BBC Radio Theatre, London, on 27 June 2000, and a recording of this performance was included on the bonus disc accompanying the first releases of Bowie at the Beeb in 2000.
  • A November 2003 live performance from the A Reality Tour is included on the A Reality Tour DVD, released in 2004, as well as the A Reality Tour album, released in 2010.
  • Bowie performed the song live on Jools Holland's 'Later' (Series 6) in December 1995.

<https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/b76e164f-7a2c-4458-81ac-47724387a4e2>

Other releases
  • The Pet Shop Boys remix was released as an additional track on Outside – version 2 and is included on some editions of the compilation albums Best of Bowie (2002), Nothing Has Changed (2014), and Bowie Legacy (2016).
  • Several of the remixes (mostly from the 12" promo singles) were released on the 2004 limited 2CD edition of Outside.
  • The extended Pet Shop Boys remix of "Hallo Spaceboy" is included on the Pet Shop Boys album Disco 4, released on 8 October 2007.

Chart performance
Chart Peak
position
Australia Singles Chart[10] 36
Austria Singles Chart[10] 37
Belgium Singles Chart[10] 48
Finland Singles Chart (Suomen virallinen lista)[11] 8
Holland Singles Chart[10] 33
Israel Singles Chart[10] 1
Sweden Singles Chart[10] 12
UK Singles Chart[12] 12

Cover versions
  • Pet Shop Boys performed the song live with Sylvia Mason-James singing the Bowie part. This was released on the video Somewhere – Live at the Savoy (1997).
  • Blackened death metal band Behemoth recorded the song during their Thelema.6 recording session. This was released on the Antichristian Phenomenon EP in 2001
  • Indie band First of June recorded their version of the song for the tribute album Spiders from Venus: Indie Women Artists and Female-Fronted Bands Cover David Bowie in 2003.
  • Norwegian power/progressive metal band Pagan's Mind covered the song on their 2007 album God's Equation.

Music video

The music video for "Hallo Spaceboy" was directed by David Mallet, mixing shots of both Bowie and the Pet Shop Boys into a rapid-fire montage of Cold War era retro-footage of science fiction film clips, atomic bomb testing footage, and television advertising clips. [13]

References
  1. Nothing Has Changed (CD liner notes). David Bowie. Columbia. 2014. 88875030972.CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. Paul, George A. (1995), "Bowie Outside Looking In", Axcess Magazine, 3 (5): 60–62
  3. "Pet Shop Boys: Exclusive interview with VO5 NME Awards 2017 Godlike Geniuses". NME. 17 February 2017.
  4. "Loving the Alien". Record Collector: 42–44. 2006.
  5. "Pet Shop Boys: Exclusive interview with VO5 NME Awards 2017 Godlike Geniuses". NME. 17 February 2017.
  6. "The Score 1996 (February)", Q magazine: 32, February 1997
  7. "David Bowie's 'Ouvrez Le Chien' Live Album Set for Streaming Release". 25 June 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  8. McKie, John (20 February 1996). "Bowie and Blair band together". London: The Independent. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  9. Discogs - Zachary Alford - (profile & discography)
  10. Australian Charts: David Bowie: Hallo Spaceboy (Single), retrieved 23 October 2013
  11. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava.
  12. DAVID BOWIE | Artist | Official Charts, retrieved 11 August 2014
  13. Pegg, Nicholas (2011). The Complete David Bowie (6 ed.). London: Titan Books, Publishing Group. p. 95. ISBN 9780857682901.
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