From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Oh! You Pretty Things" is a song written by David Bowie in 1971 for the album Hunky Dory. It opens with only Rick Wakeman's piano and Bowie's vocal, before entering the catchy refrain. The simple piano style is often compared to Paul McCartney's "Martha My Dear".^{[1][2 ]} Thematically, the song has been seen as reflecting the influence of occultist Aleister Crowley and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche,^[1][3] and heralding "the impending obsolescence of the human race in favour of an alliance between arriving aliens and the youth of the present society".^{[2 ]}

The song was first released by Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits, in a single on which Bowie played piano. It became a #12 hit in mid-1971. Noone replaced Bowie's line "The Earth is a bitch" with "The Earth is a beast", in a performance that NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray called "one of rock and roll's most outstanding examples of a singer failing to achieve any degree of empathy whatsoever with the mood and content of a lyric".^[4]

Live versions

• Bowie played the song at the BBC show Johnny Walker Lunchtime Show on May 22, 1972. This was broadcast in early June the same year and in 2000 was released on the album Bowie at the Beeb; it was also issued as a promo single in France in 2000.
• A live version recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, on July 3, 1973 was released on the album Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture in 1983. This version of the song was a part of a medley with "Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud" and "All the Young Dudes".

Other releases

• It appeared on the compilations:
  • The Best of David Bowie (Japan 1974)
  • ChangesTwoBowie (1981)
  • The Singles Collection (1993)
  • The Best of 1969/1974 (1997)
• It was also recorded for a whistle test on the BBC, but released over 10 years later. An outtake, in which Bowie stumbles over the lines and gets them wrong on several occasions, is hidden on the Best of Bowie DVD.

Cover versions

• Harvey Danger – Live version released on the 2006 EP Little Round Mirrors
• Seu Jorge – Portuguese version for the 2004 film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
• Peter Noone – Single (1971)
• Dylan Roth - Hero: The Main Man Records Tribute to David Bowie (2007)
• Au Revoir Simone - Life Beyond Mars: Bowie Covered (2008)

Notes