Spaceman (Babylon Zoo song)

"Spaceman"
Single by Babylon Zoo
from the album The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes
B-side "Blue Nude"
"Metal Vision"
"5th Dimension Remix"
"E Before I Remix"
Released 15 January 1996
Format CD, Cassette, 12"
Recorded 1995
Genre Space rock, alternative rock, Grunge
Length 5:41 (album version)
Label EMI
Songwriter(s) Jas Mann
Producer(s) Jas Mann
Steve Power
Arthur Baker
Babylon Zoo singles chronology
"Spaceman"
(1996)		 "Animal Army"
(1996)

"Spaceman"
(1995)		 "Animal Army"
(1996)

"Spaceman" is a song by the English rock band Babylon Zoo, released in January 1996 as the lead single from their debut album, The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes (1996). Featuring heavily distorted guitars and metallic, robotic sounding vocals, it entered the UK Singles Chart at number one on 21 January 1996, after being featured in a popular Levi's jeans television advertisement in December 1995, and became the fastest selling single in the United Kingdom in over 30 years, since "Can't Buy Me Love" by The Beatles.

"Spaceman" was the seventh song to reach number one in the UK after being featured in an advert for Levi's.[1]

Song history

Promotional copies of "Spaceman" had been distributed, and the Arthur Baker remix was chosen to tie in with the release on 1 December 1995, of a new United Kingdom Levi's advertisement titled "Planet", which was directed by Vaughan Arnell and Anthea Benton.[2] The advertisement concentrated on Baker's speeded-up vocal section at the beginning and end of the song, featuring an alien neighbourhood inspired on the 50's years with an alien parents waiting the comeback of their teen daughter. Russian model Kristina Semenovskaya played the daughter, wearing Levi's jeans.[3][4]

The initial intro to "Spaceman" on the promotional copies, before it was used for the advert, featured Mann's whispering vocals of "I killed your mother, I killed your sister, I killed you all."[3] These lyrics were later taken out of the song and replaced with the more radio friendly Arthur Baker introduction. The "I killed you all" lyric remains buried in the mix. There was a lower budget video made for this version.

In 2006, "Spaceman" featured on trailers for Ant and Dec's film Alien Autopsy, the BBC's children's channel, CBeebies for the animated preschool series Lunar Jim, and Network Ten's advertisement for Battlestar Galactica. "Spaceman" is also used in Eesti otsib superstaari (Pop Idol Estonia). "Spaceman" is also featured in E4's My Mad Fat Diary, in the episode "Ladies and Gentlemen", during the scene where Rae and Finn begin their drive to Knebworth.

Music video

Following the release of the single, a music video was produced. It features a black-and-white prologue with Jas Mann as a night driver who has a close encounter of the third kind with aliens appearing from fog on the road; meanwhile the vocals are sped up. When the vocals decelerate and return to normal pitch, the video alternates between the band playing in an underground place full of young people dancing, and the band playing alone in a blue-colored desert landscape, with Mann singing to camera. Finally the vocals speed up again, during a black-and-white epilogue where aliens go missing in the fog but one of them turns in front of the camera pointing to the night sky, showing that he's the night driver, turned into another alien.[5]

Critical reception

Writing in Select, Ian Harrison described the song as a "bin-lid dancey metal effort with a weakness for vintage Bowie-isms (done like Bauhaus with synths) and a suspected humour deficiency".[6] Conversely, Chuck Eddy at Entertainment Weekly described the song's "futuristic kitsch" as "both funny and seductive."[7]

Retrospectively, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called the song a "bizarre, tuneless collage of hip-hop rhythms, techno keyboards and alternative guitars", that despite sounding distinctive, lacks "any tangible hook to make it memorable".[8] A Scotsman journalist wrote that the Arthur Baker remix, which brought the track to public attention through its use in a Levi's commercial, was "much more fun to listen to than the dirgey original".[9] Writer Tim Moore attributed the "rambling, dirge-like" song's success to the Baker remix and Levi's advert exposure, and wrote that "only failure and embarrassment" followed.[10]

MTV UK ranked "Spaceman" as the #24 single of the 1990s.[11] "Spaceman" was voted number 31 in a 2006 Channel 4 poll of the 50 best songs by one-hit wonders.[12]

Commercial performance

The single charted at No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart,[13] selling 420,000 copies in its first week.[14][15] It became the fastest selling single in the United Kingdom in over thirty years, since The Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love".[16] "Spaceman" became a number one chart hit in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom.[17] As of November 2012, "Spaceman" was the 74th best selling single in the history of the United Kingdom, selling 1.14 million copies.[18]

Cover versions

  • Katie Melua has performed an acoustic version of this song live.[19]
  • Metal band The Kovenant covered this song in their album Animatronic.
  • Cinema Bizarre covered this song both live and in a studio recorded track.
  • DJ Kambel and MC Magika remixed and covered this song as Dream State (Spaceman) in the 2001 eurodance compilation Dancemania Speed 7.
  • Romanian metalcore band Goodbye to Gravity recorded a cover of the song in 2015, originally intended for their album Mantras of War, although it was later removed. After the Colectiv nightclub fire killed four of the five band members, the cover version was included on the tribute album Back to Life – A Tribute to Goodbye to Gravity.
  • Gothic rock band Rosetta Stone recorded a cover of the song - it is one of six hidden tracks on their 1998 album Chemical Emissions.

Track listing

CD Promo Single 1995 WEA (YZ925CDDJ)

  1. "Spaceman" (radio version) — 3:50
  2. "Spaceman" (Arthur meets the spaceman) — 5:56

CD Promo 1995 EMI (CDEMDJ 416)

  1. "Spaceman" (zupervarian mix) - 3:50

7" Single

  1. "Spaceman" (zupervarian mix) - 3:50
  2. "Spaceman" (the 5th dimension) — 5:09

CD Single 1996 EMI (CDEM 416)

  1. "Spaceman" (zupervarian mix) — 3:50
  2. "Metal Vision" — 3:48
  3. "Blue Nude" — 2:09
  4. "Spaceman" (the 5th dimension) — 5:09

CD Single ('The Only Original Remixes') 1996 EMI (7243 8 82721 2 4)

  1. "Spaceman" (zupervarian mix) — 3:50
  2. "Spaceman" (the 5th dimension) — 5:09
  3. "Spaceman" (Arthur meets the spaceman) — 5:56
  4. "Spaceman" (E before I) — 6:37

Charts and certifications

References

  1. ↑ "I was a sex symbol the moment I popped out of the womb". Daily Record. The Free Library. 23 January 1996. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  2. ↑ "Rock of Ages". Liverpool Echo Archived at The Free Library. 23 January 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  3. 1 2 Sloan, Nicola (6 January 2013). "Babylon Zoo". morethanthemusic.co.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  4. ↑ Spaceman Levi's Commercial on Youtube
  5. ↑ Babylon Zoo - Spaceman video on Youtube
  6. ↑ Harrison, Ian (February 1996). "New Albums". Select. p. 89. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  7. ↑ Eddy, Chuck (12 April 1996). "Music Review - Spaceman (1996)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  8. ↑ The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes review. AllMusic.
  9. ↑ "What's happened to Babylon Zoo?". The Scotsman. The Scotsman Publications. 15 February 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  10. ↑ Moore, Tim (2012). You are Awful (but I Like You): Travels Through Unloved Britain. Vintage. pp. 157–158. ISBN 0-224-09011-9.
  11. ↑ The Official Top 100 Singles of The 90's
  12. ↑ "50 Greatest One Hit Wonders". 100 Greatest. 7 May 2006. Channel 4. Channel Four Television Corporation.
  13. 1 2 "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  14. ↑ "For The Record". The Mirror Archived at The Free Library. 20 March 2002. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  15. ↑ "Entertainment - Will Blur spear Britney?". BBC. 22 February 1999. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  16. ↑ Krewen, Nick (23 May 1996). "The keeper of Babylon Zoo". Toronto Star. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  17. ↑ "Babylon Zoo". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. 21 August 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  18. ↑ "UK's million-selling singles: the full list". The Guardian. 4 November 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  19. ↑ "My week: Katie Melua". The Daily Telegraph. 4 February 2006
  20. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Babylon Zoo – Spaceman". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  21. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Babylon Zoo – Spaceman" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  22. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Babylon Zoo – Spaceman" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  23. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Babylon Zoo – Spaceman" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  24. ↑ "Hits of the World: Denmark (IFPI/Nielsen Marketing Research)". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. 108 (13): 55. 30 March 1996. ISSN 0006-2510.
  25. ↑ "Babylon Zoo: Spaceman" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  26. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Babylon Zoo – Spaceman" (in French). Les classement single.
  27. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Babylon Zoo – Spaceman". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  28. ↑ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (NR. 159 Vikuna 2.3. - 8.3. '96)" (PDF) (in Icelandic). Dagblaðið Vísir. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  29. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Spaceman". Irish Singles Chart.
  30. ↑ "Hit Parade Italia - Indice per Interprete: B". Hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
  31. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 7, 1996" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40
  32. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Babylon Zoo – Spaceman" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  33. ↑ "Charts.nz – Babylon Zoo – Spaceman". Top 40 Singles.
  34. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Babylon Zoo – Spaceman". VG-lista.
  35. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  36. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  37. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Babylon Zoo – Spaceman". Singles Top 100.
  38. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Babylon Zoo – Spaceman". Swiss Singles Chart.
  39. ↑ "1996 Australian Singles Chart". aria. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  40. ↑ "1996 Austrian Singles Chart" (in German). Austriancharts. Archived from the original on 14 June 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  41. ↑ "1996 Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  42. ↑ "1996 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  43. ↑ "1996 French Singles Chart" (in French). Disqueenfrance. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  44. ↑ "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  45. ↑ "Single top 100 over 1996" (PDF) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  46. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 1996" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  47. ↑ "End of Year Charts 1996". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  48. ↑ "1996 Swiss Singles Chart" (in German). Swisscharts. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  49. ↑ "Top 100 Singles 1996". Music Week. 18 January 1997. p. 25.
  50. ↑ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles 1996". The Australian Record Industry Association Ltd. Archived from the original on 2 November 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  51. ↑ Austrian certifications ifpi.at Archived 11 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved 5 January 2009)
  52. ↑ French certifications Disqueenfrance.com Archived 14 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved 5 January 2009)
  53. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank ('Spaceman')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  54. ↑ Swedish certifications Ifpi.se Archived 11 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved 5 January 2009)
  55. ↑ UK certifications Bpi.co.uk Archived 13 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved 5 January 2009)
  56. ↑ Ami Sedghi (4 November 2012). "UK's million-selling singles: the full list". Guardian. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
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