Background and recording David Bowie wrote "The Prettiest Star" as a
love song for
Angie Barnett, reputedly playing it down the telephone as part of his proposal to her on Christmas 1969. Following the release of his second studio album
David Bowie (Space Oddity), it was the only new song he wrote over the winter of 1969. Commentators noted the lyric "you and I will rise up all the way" anticipated the couple's fame during the next decade. Set in the
key of
F major, the song is in the style of the Greek
hasapiko dance as a tribute to Angie's Cypriot ethnic origin. Similar to Bowie's other compositions of the time, it was musically influenced by the songwriter
Biff Rose's ''
The Thorn in Mrs. Rose's Side'' (1968), particularly the track "Angel Tension", which contains a similar tempo, phrasing, chord changes and lyrics to "The Prettiest Star" (Bowie's "staying back in your memory" compared to Rose's "going back in memory"). The author
Paul Trynka describes the track as "languid, uncharacteristically simple" and "an almost unique [addition] to Bowie's canon". The biographer Chris O'Leary finds the song "hummable, warm and sweet", although felt "its dragging tempo made its sentimentality leaden". Recording for the song began at
Trident Studios in London, in tandem with a new version of Bowie's
Deram-era track "London Bye Ta-Ta", on 8 January 1970—Bowie's 23rd birthday—and completed on 13 and 15 January. It was produced by
Tony Visconti, who hired the drummer Godfrey McLean and the bassist Delisle Harper of Gass, a
funk Santana-like band, for the session; he had produced Gass's recent single, although he found Harper's playing inadequate and
overdubbed a bass part himself. Visconti also brought
Marc Bolan to guest on guitar, having produced Bolan's works with
T. Rex; Bowie and Bolan would spend the next few years as rivals during the
glam rock era. Bolan rehearsed his part extensively beforehand, as he wanted to showcase his newfound
electric guitar skills. The recording atmosphere was reportedly fraught, Bolan being jealous at the success of "
Space Oddity". Bowie recalled of the session: "I don't think we were talking to each other that day. I can't remember why, but I remember a strange atmosphere in the studio. We were never in the same room at the same time. You could cut the atmosphere with a knife." The guitarist was accompanied by his wife June, who voiced her disapproval, saying "the only good thing about this record is Marc's guitar". The couple left the studio shortly after.
Release and aftermath After its recording, Bowie premiered "The Prettiest Star" live at a
BBC radio session on 5 February 1970. To the displeasure of his manager
Kenneth Pitt, Bowie chose the song as his next single, Pitt favouring "London Bye Ta-Ta"; it ultimately marked the end of Pitt's influence on the artist. Bowie's label,
Mercury Records, hoped the song would demonstrate Bowie's range as a songwriter. Issued as the follow-up single to "Space Oddity" in the United Kingdom only on 6 March 1970, with "
Conversation Piece" as the
B-side, its release coincided with
The World of David Bowie compilation, which collected several songs and unreleased material from Bowie's time with Deram. The single received praise from music journalists. The
NME hailed it as "a thoroughly charming and wholly fascinating little song... the self-penned lyric is enchanting, if somewhat enigmatic – and the melody is haunting and hummable... I like it immensely".
Music Business Weekly described it as "an immediately infectious number and a very strong follow-up",
Record Mirror commended "a melodic and interesting production", and
Disc & Music Echo found it "a lovely, gentle, gossamer piece... the most compact, catchy melody I've ever heard. A hit indeed." Despite its acclaim, the single sold fewer than 800 copies and failed to chart. Bowie later said, "I think a lot of people were expecting another 'Space Oddity'." With the assistance of
Space Oddity's photographer Vernon Dewhurst, he sent a promotional copy to French singer
Sacha Distel, whose hit "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" was high in the charts, in hopes he would cover "The Prettiest Star", although he declined. Two weeks after the single's release, Bowie and Angie married on 19 March 1970. When the single flopped, Mercury suggested he rerecord the
Space Oddity track "
Memory of a Free Festival" for release as his next single, although this also failed to chart. By April, he began recording his next studio album, the
hard rock and
heavy metal-influenced
The Man Who Sold the World (1970). In subsequent decades,
AllMusic's Ned Raggett opines that while "The Prettiest Star" itself does not stand as one of Bowie's best compositions, the recording itself is notable as the only properly recorded and released collaboration between Bowie and Bolan. The original mono single was included in the
Sound + Vision box set in 1989 and on
Re:Call 1, part of the
Five Years (1969–1973) compilation, in 2015. An alternative mono mix, prepared for promotion in the US market by Tony Visconti but which went unused, was released for the first time in 2021 on the box set
The Width of a Circle, along with a 2020 stereo mix of the original single by Visconti. A 1987 stereo mix by Tris Penna first appeared on
The Best of David Bowie 1969/1974 in 1997, and was later included on the 2003 reissue of
Sound + Vision and the 2009 expanded edition of
Space Oddity. Apart from Bowie compilations, the original recording of "The Prettiest Star" was included on the 2002 career-spanning Bolan box set
20th Century Superstar, the 2007 compilation
The Record Producers: Tony Visconti and the soundtrack of the 2005 film
Kinky Boots. ==
Aladdin Sane version==