Moonage Daydream

The release

Bowie was working on a side project around the time we rejoined him, a band called Arnold Corns, whose name was inspired by Pink Floyd’s ‘Arnold Layne’. It was fronted by a clothes designer and gay friend of Bowie’s called Freddie Burretti. In hindsight, Freddie was supposed to be a sort of proto-Ziggy Stardust. The B&C label had released Arnold Corns’ awful single – versions of ‘Moonage Daydream’ and ‘Hang On To Yourself’ – in May 1971, and it disappeared without trace. That track had been recorded in February.

This first recording version was first released on compact disc in 1990, as a bonus track on the Rykodisc reissue of The Man Who Sold The World.

The song was also included on 2002’s 30th anniversary reissue of The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars.

In 2015 it was included on the Re:Call 1 compilation, in the Five Years (1969–1973) box set. This version restored the spoken introduction – “Whenever you’re ready” – which had been omitted from previous reissues.

The more familiar Bowie version was released on the album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars on 16 June 1972.

The 30th anniversary reissue of the album also included a New Mix version of ‘Moonage Daydream’. This was created by Alan Moulder, and originally used in a 1998 advertisement for Dunlop tyres.

In early 2003 Ken Scott remixed the Ziggy Stardust album for an SACD reissue. This version was included in the Five Years (1969-1973) box set in 2015.

A 40th Anniversary Edition was released in June 2012 by EMI/Virgin. It was remastered by Ray Staff, who had engineered the album at Trident Studios. This version was released on CD, vinyl, and a DVD which contained Staff’s remaster, along with stereo and 5.1 remixes made in 2003 by Ken Scott. These also included Scott’s remixes of ‘Moonage Daydream’ (instrumental), ‘The Supermen’, ‘Velvet Goldmine’, and ‘Sweet Head’.

In concert

‘Moonage Daydream’ was performed often during David Bowie’s long-running Ziggy Stardust Tour.

During the initial UK leg of the tour, Mick Rock directed his first film with Bowie, which was soundtracked by a live version of ‘Moonage Daydream’.

That was the first video I ever did with David. It was shot on a Bowlex 16mm camera in April of 1972. It was a collage of live footage. I can’t remember if it’s ever been publicly shown, nbut I’m sure that at some point in the not-too-distant future it will get seen.

More live recordings of the song from the tour can be heard on the albums Live Santa Monica ’72 and Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture. The latter also appeared on the soundtrack of Brett Morgen’s 2022 film Moonage Daydream.

‘Moonage Daydream’ was also performed during the Diamond Dogs Tour, as heard on the David Live and Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles ’74) albums.

Bowie mothballed the song until 1995’s Outside Tour. A live version recorded on 13 December was included on the ‘Hallo Spaceboy’ single.

The song was subsequently included in the Earthling and Heathen tours. The final live performance was on 12 October 2002 at St Ann’s Warehouse in New York, where it was the first song in the encore.