Bowie: A Biography - JFK247

eally made an impression on an audience.”
Calvin Lee got his way, and ultimately Bowie
signed a very modest deal with Mercury Records
(without John Hutchinson, who would once again be
called away by family obligation). Pre–“Space
Oddity,” Bowie was so marginalized that his deal
had to go through the label’s New York offices. He
was an English singer/songwriter who could not even
get a proper deal with the United Kingdom–based
parent company of his American label. The first
order of business was to record a proper studio
version of “Space Oddity” for release as a single.
Bowie assumed that Tony Visconti would be the
producer of “Space Oddity” and was disappointed
when his friend passed. Although he has since
revised his opinion, Visconti apparently thought the
track was a cynical means to cash in on the
excitement surrounding the NASA launch, essentially
a novelty record. Gus Dudgeon, a sound engineer
affiliated with Cordell and Essex, had worked on
smashes like the Zombies’ “She’s Not There” and
quickly realized that a potential new one was within
his reach. He jumped at it, dismissing Visconti’s
wariness. “Well, he’s mad,” Dudgeon said at the
time.
“During the session, dear Gus was quaking in his
boots. It might have been the first thing he ever
produced,” Herbie Flowers, who plays bass on the
single, said. “And I know he only booked me
because of my name. Gus and I were from a jazzier
background; we were more into Miles Davis and