As if being the Commander of the International Space Station (ISS) wasn’t impressive enough, a Canadian astronaut can now be credited with an intergalactic first – the first music video to be recorded in space.
Commander Chris Hadfield is headed back to Earth tomorrow (May 14th) after spending five months off-planet on the ISS. The musically inclined astronaut has made a number of space-theme recordings previously, including one to celebrate Christmas shortly after his arrival on the space station where he carried out scientific experiments and operate the Canadarm2 to perform robotics tasks and research in December 2012, before becoming the first Canadian Commander of the ISS in March this year.
But as Pitchfork reports, the 53-year-old astronaut’s final parting gift is a music video featuring a highly appropriate cover recorded on the space station, and using visuals in a highly stylised music video.
Displaying his impeccable taste (and sense of occasion) Cmdr. Hadfield recorded a version of David Bowie’s breakthrough 1969 single ‘Space Oddity’, tweeting:
With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here's Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the World. http://t.co/DMnMc8qC7f
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) May 12, 2013
Taking Bowie’s space-age lyrics and giving them a literal spin as he ‘floats in a tin can far above the world’, without the aid of fancy special effects, Cmdr Hadfield’s final video from the space station was part of his ongoing social presence (through his 70,000+ Twitter followers, Youtube, and Facebook) co-ordinated by his son Evan Hadfield and a production team.
The astronaut also tweeted his “huge thanks in the making of the video” to the “talented trio” of musician Emm Gryner, music producer/mixer Joe Corcoran, and film producer/editor Andrew Tidby for making him the (semi-literal) star in his intergalactic music video cover.
David Bowie has yet to offer his take on the song, but certainly showed his appreciation and support by pointing towards Hadfield’s outer-space cover on both his Twitter and Facebook accounts, the latter detailing the involvement of fellow Canadian musician Emm Gryner, herself a part of Bowie’s live band for a 1999/2000 tour, who writes of how she helped record the astronaut’s rendition of ‘Space Oddity in her blog:
The task was in front of me. I came up with a piano part. i then enlisted my friend, producer and fellow Canadian Joe Corcoran to take my piano idea and Chris’ vocal and blow it up into a fully produced song. Drums! mellotrons! fuzz bass! We also incorporated into the track ambient space station noises which Chris had put on his Soundcloud. I was mostly blown away by how pure and earnest Chris’ singing is on this track. Like weightlessness and his voice agreed to agree.
And voila! And astronaut sings Space Oddity in space! I was so honoured to be asked to be a part of this. You wouldn’t get too many chances to make a recording like this and not only that, to make music with someone who – through his vibrant communications with kids in schools to his breathtaking photos to his always patient and good-humoured demeanour – has done more for science and space than anyone else this generation. Planet earth IS blue, and there’s nothing left for Chris Hadfield to do. Right. Safe travels home Commander! ”
While Cmdr. Hadfield is departing from the International Space Station, another musical ambassador has arrived, in the form of electro-emo rockers 30 Seconds To Mars, who recently launched their own music into space and greeted by astronaut Tom Marshburn at the ISS.
A recording of 30 Seconds To Mars’ latest single – appropriately titled ‘Up In The Air’ – was placed in the Falcon 9 rocket that launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida and headed for the ISS, with the band’s frontman Jared Leto recently discussing the ‘bucket list’ moment in our Tone Deaf video interview, while confirming a 2013 Australian Tour from the band.
Meanwhile, Bowie’s own music video-making has reached headlines. The 66-year-old is not only at the centre of the first ever music clip recorded in space, but also at the centre of controversy over the touchy religious imagery in the clip for his latest single, The Next Day.
The clip earned an Adults Only warning after first being removed from YouTube for its taboo subject matter; the musical chameleon is depicted as a messianic singer in a sleazy bar of equally sleazy priests, including the lead ‘padre’ played by Hollywood actor Gary Oldman, courting French actress Marion Cotillard, whose character experiences a rather messy bout of stigmata.
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