For all practical purposes, the Space Age began on October 4, 1957, with the Soviet launch of Sputnik-1, and peaked with American astronauts walking on the Moon in the years 1969-72. It clearly had its influence on popular culture, including the rock music scene. Public interest in the space program may have dimmed a bit, but our fascination with space, itself hasn't.
80s Synth-pop musician Peter Schilling scored a hit in 1983 with his sequel to David Bowie's Space Oddity. The song Major Tom ended on a happier note with Major Tom coming home instead of being lost in space.
Described by some as the greatest hard rock album of all time, Machine Head was recorded under some difficult circumstances (as told in the song "Smoke On the Water"), and is a testament to the talents of the bandmembers and their production crew. Space Truckin' is a top Space song.
The song Space Oddity is one of the best known Bowie songs, alongside Changes, Let's Dance and Fame. Whether it was inspired by the plight of the Apollo 8 astronauts or by Bowies own drug use and desire to simply "let go" of the world, the song is still very popular.
Passage includes a cover of a song originally performed by Klaatu, a Canadian band whose name id from a character in the 1951 sci-fi movie classic "The Day The Earth Stood Still". "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" is the recognized anthem of World Contact Day. An event organized by UFO investigators to attempt contact with alien presences. The Carpenters won a grammy for their cover.
Although this album was not as commercially successful as the group may have hoped for, it produced one of the Byrd's best known songs, "Eight Miles High." It also contains a 2 1/2 minute version of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.
Pink Floyd began life in 1965 as a group called Sigma-6. Through several years of personnel and name changed, they metemorphed into the mystique laced rock group we associate with the name today. Perhaps one of the most successful "concept" albums in history, Dark Side of the Moon had and continues to have a profound impact on the Rock Music world. Top Space Songs; Brain Damage/Eclipse.
In 1997 novelty rock group, Smash Mouth burst on the music scene with their hit, the '50s-influenced "Walkin' on the Sun." Since then, they have continued to demonstrate their talent with a number of other excellent hits.
On the 1969 song, "It Came Out of the Sky" Creedence Clearwater Revival asked a question about what would happen if an alien actually landed on Earth. That same year, on the album, Green River, there is another celestial CCR song, Bad Moon Rising.
In 1977, an electronic disco musician by the name of Meco Monardo shocked the world when he topped the chart for 2 weeks with his version of the Star Wars Theme and Cantina Band. The original theme music from Star Wars, composed by John Williams, had also enjoyed success on the radio.
In 1972, Elton John sang, "All this science I don't understand. It's just my job 5 days a week." The song, Rocket Man, may have been an indication that our fascination with astronauts was dimming. That was also the last year that NASA astronauts, or anyone for that matter, visited the Moon.
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