Punk Rock Colleague & Historian and Professional Consultant
Hudley Flipside
Woke up with this all on my mind. And had to pull it through my soul and up it came, like a river breaking through a dam, releasing everything it had held back.
It was unexpected, yet somehow familiar, as if it were sharing narratives I have heard before, yet it resonated with a fresh intensity that I couldn’t ignore.
Other dimensional.
The Illustrated Man
Rod Steiger
“I slept again, with the little vial of magical dust in my pajama pocket,
over my beating heart.”
~ Ray Bradbury. The Rocket Man 1951
“The song was inspired by Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Rocket Man” in The Illustrated Man, about a professional astronaut whose work keeps him away from his anguished family for months at a time. It echoes the theme of David Bowie’s 1969 song “Space Oddity” (both recordings were produced by Gus Dudgeon).
Gus Dudgeon
Taupin has denied that the Bowie song was an inspiration but has acknowledged borrowing from Pearls Before Swine’s 1970 “Rocket Man”, written by Tom Rapp, which was also influenced by the Bradbury story. According to an account in Elizabeth Rosenthal’s book His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John, the song was inspired by Taupin’s sighting of either a shooting star or a distant aeroplane.”
“Angus Boyd “Gus” Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John’s most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, “Your Song”. Their collaboration led to seven US No. 1 albums, and established John as one of the most successful singles artists of the 1970s.
Dudgeon also produced Chris Rea’s first hit, the US chart topping “Fool (If You Think It’s Over)”, and David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”, and steered many other artists to chart success, including Joan Armatrading and Elkie Brooks.
The Guinness Book of Records cites Dudgeon as being the first person to use sampling in music production. He was a founding member of the Music Producers Guild.”
Decca, The Rocket Record Company
