65. "Major Tom" by Peter Schilling
One of the perks of living in the basement hallway my senior year in high school was that I had pretty much full control over the downstairs stereo. So I placed the two speakers on both sides of my bed so that I could listen to records and FM stations while laying in my bed at night with the lights off. This song is one that I distinctly remember hearing while lying in my stereophonic bed. It was especially exciting to hear one of the special versions of this song that would rarely get air time. There was dance club extended version that went on for over 8 minutes, and there was this German version that let me not only enjoy the music but also triggered pleasurable memories of sitting next to Tammy Baker in German class. Achtung Baby!
It was only after I developed a liking to this song that the David Bowie "Major Tom" also became a favorite song. It also made me like Elton John's "Rocket Man" a little more. Having been a fan of the original Star Trek series and the Star Trek cartoons, there was no way I could resist the driving bass notes of this outer space rock 'n roll. And apparently, I'm not the only one. Hundreds have covered this song over the last 30+ years. Among the best of the worst of these are...
Plastic Bertrand (French Version)
Jay del Alma featuring Peter Shilling (Spanish Version)
Jonas Warnerbring (Swedish version)
Shiny Toy Guns (Shameless commercial sellout version)
William Shatner (What the HELL?! version)
The Space Lady (Slightly saner than Shatner version)
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