10 Bizarre Reasons Songs Were Banned From The Radio
2. Coinciding With The Moon Landing - Space Oddity
Space Oddity was released on 11 July 1969. The Apollo 11 capsule was launched into orbit on 21 July 1969. Due to the close time-frame in which both events occurred, its easy to see how the two events could be linked in the public eye.
The BBC (who else?) also caught on to the connection, and decided to temporarily ban the song until the crew of astronauts safely made their way back to Earth. The logic behind this was that the company felt it would be improper to have an upsetting song about space travel present in the charts in case anything did indeed happen to the Apollo 11 crew.
The song itself details the experience of the fictional Major Tom, who sets off on a mission into space, only for a disaster to occur that leaves him stranded without any hope of return. After another listen, it would seem inappropriate for this bleak track to become popular after a major incident had occurred, which only goes to show the large amount of tension that surrounded the moon landing at the time.
The BBC may not have been able to predict the fate of the Moon Landing, but they did predict that a single David Bowie song could top the charts.