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"Oh! You Pretty Things" is a song written by David Bowie
David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and Arrangement. Active in five decades of rock music and frequently reinventing his music and image, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s....
 in 1971 for the album Hunky Dory
Hunky Dory

Hunky Dory is the fourth album by English people singer-songwriter David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1971 . It was Bowie's first release through RCA, which would be his label for the next decade....
. It is a pop tune opening with only Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman

Richard Christopher Wakeman is an England keyboard player best known as the keyboardist for progressive rock group Yes . Originally a classically trained pianist, he was a pioneer in the use of electronic keyboards and in the use of a rock band in combination with orchestra and choir....
's piano and Bowie's vocal, before entering the catchy refrain. The simple piano style is often compared to Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney Member of the Order of the British Empire is a multiple Grammy Award-winning England singer-songwriter, poet, composer, multi-instrumentalist, entrepreneur, record producer, film producer, Painting, and Animal rights....
's "Martha My Dear
Martha My Dear

"Martha My Dear" is a Beatles song written by Paul McCartney , which first appeared on the double album The Beatles ....
". Thematically, the song has been seen as reflecting the influence of occult
Occult

The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g....
ist Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley, born Edward Alexander Crowley , , was a United Kingdom occultist, writer, mountaineering, poet, and yogi. He was an influential member of several occult organizations, including the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the A?A?, and Ordo Templi Orientis , and is best known today for his Works of Aleister Crowley, especi...
 and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th century philosophy Germans philosophy and classical philology. He wrote critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy, and science, using a distinctive German language style and displaying a fondness for metaphor and aphorism....
, and heralding "the impending obsolescence of the human race in favour of an alliance between arriving aliens and the youth of the present society".

The song was first released by Peter Noone
Peter Noone

Peter Noone is an English people singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist and actor, best known as "Herman" of the successful 1960s rock group Herman's Hermits....
 of Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits

Herman's Hermits were an England pop band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as 'Herman & The Hermits'. The group's management and producer Mickie Most emphasized a simple, non-threatening and clean-cut image, although the band originally played Rhythm and blues numbers ....
, in a single on which Bowie played piano.






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Encyclopedia


"Oh! You Pretty Things" is a song written by David Bowie
David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and Arrangement. Active in five decades of rock music and frequently reinventing his music and image, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s....
 in 1971 for the album Hunky Dory
Hunky Dory

Hunky Dory is the fourth album by English people singer-songwriter David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1971 . It was Bowie's first release through RCA, which would be his label for the next decade....
. It is a pop tune opening with only Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman

Richard Christopher Wakeman is an England keyboard player best known as the keyboardist for progressive rock group Yes . Originally a classically trained pianist, he was a pioneer in the use of electronic keyboards and in the use of a rock band in combination with orchestra and choir....
's piano and Bowie's vocal, before entering the catchy refrain. The simple piano style is often compared to Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney Member of the Order of the British Empire is a multiple Grammy Award-winning England singer-songwriter, poet, composer, multi-instrumentalist, entrepreneur, record producer, film producer, Painting, and Animal rights....
's "Martha My Dear
Martha My Dear

"Martha My Dear" is a Beatles song written by Paul McCartney , which first appeared on the double album The Beatles ....
". Thematically, the song has been seen as reflecting the influence of occult
Occult

The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g....
ist Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley, born Edward Alexander Crowley , , was a United Kingdom occultist, writer, mountaineering, poet, and yogi. He was an influential member of several occult organizations, including the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the A?A?, and Ordo Templi Orientis , and is best known today for his Works of Aleister Crowley, especi...
 and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th century philosophy Germans philosophy and classical philology. He wrote critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy, and science, using a distinctive German language style and displaying a fondness for metaphor and aphorism....
, and heralding "the impending obsolescence of the human race in favour of an alliance between arriving aliens and the youth of the present society".

The song was first released by Peter Noone
Peter Noone

Peter Noone is an English people singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist and actor, best known as "Herman" of the successful 1960s rock group Herman's Hermits....
 of Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits

Herman's Hermits were an England pop band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as 'Herman & The Hermits'. The group's management and producer Mickie Most emphasized a simple, non-threatening and clean-cut image, although the band originally played Rhythm and blues numbers ....
, 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
NME

The New Musical Express is a popular music magazine in the United Kingdom which has been published weekly since March 1952. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, which first appeared in the 14 November 1952 edition....
 editors Roy Carr
Roy Carr

Roy Carr is an England music journalist. He joined the New Musical Express in the 1960s and has edited NME, VOX and Melody Maker magazines....
 and Charles Shaar Murray
Charles Shaar Murray

Charles Shaar Murray is an England music journalist.His first experience in journalism came 1970 when he was asked to contribute to the satirical magazine Oz ....
 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".

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
    Bowie at the Beeb

    Bowie at the Beeb is a compilation album by David Bowie, first released in 2000. Originally, it came in a three CD set, the third, bonus CD being a recording on the at the Broadcasting House BBC Radio Theatre....
    ; it was also issued as a promo single in France in 2000.
  • A live version recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon
    Hammersmith Apollo

    The 'HMV Apollo' is a major entertainments and concert venue located in Hammersmith, London, England. Designed by Robert Cromie in Art Deco style, it opened in 1932 as the 'Gaumont Palace' cinema....
    , London
    London

    London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
    , on July 3 1973 was released on the album Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture
    Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture

    Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture is a live album by David Bowie, corresponding to the Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars . The music was recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on , although the album was not issued by RCA Records until 1983 ....
     in 1983. This version of the song was a part of a medley with "Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud
    Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud

    "Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud" is a song written by David Bowie in 1969 and first released as B-side to his single "Space Oddity". It was later included in his second eponymously-titled album ....
    " and "All the Young Dudes
    All the Young Dudes (song)

    "All the Young Dudes" is a song written by David Bowie, originally recorded and released as a single by Mott the Hoople in 1972. NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray have described the track as "one of that rare breed: rock songs which hymn the solidarity of the disaffected without distress or sentimentality"....
    ".


Other releases


  • It appeared on the compilations:
    • The Best of David Bowie (Japan 1974)
    • ChangesTwoBowie
      Changestwobowie

      ChangesTwoBowie, released in 1981, was a David Bowie compilation album issued by RCA Records. Its title and packaging followed the format of RCA's first Bowie compilation, Changesonebowie in 1976....
       (1981)
    • The Singles Collection
      The Singles Collection (David Bowie album)

      The Singles Collection is a compilation album by David Bowie, released in 1993 in the United Kingdom and as The Singles 1969 to 1993 in the United States....
       (1993)
    • The Best of 1969/1974
      The Best of 1969/1974

      The Best of David Bowie 1969/1974 is an album by David Bowie, released by EMI Records in 1997. The US release of the album was pulled from the stores because of a large number of inaccuracies in the credits and liner notes....
       (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
    Harvey Danger

    Harvey Danger is a rock and roll musical band that formed in Seattle, Washington, Washington in 1992, and rose to prominence in 1998 with the single "Flagpole Sitta"....
     – Live version released on the 2006 EP
    Extended play

    An extended play is a vinyl record, Compact disc, or music download which contains more music than a Single , but is too short to qualify as an LP album....
     Little Round Mirrors
  • Amorette – On the tribute album .2 Contamination: A Tribute to David Bowie (2006)
  • Seu Jorge
    Seu Jorge

    Seu Jorge is a Brazilian musician, singer/songwriter and actor. Born Jorge M?rio da Silva, he was raised in a favela in the city of Belford Roxo in the Baixada Fluminense region of Rio de Janeiro ....
     – Portuguese
    Portuguese language

    Portuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and Portugal. It is derived from the Latin language spoken by the Romanization Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago....
     version for the 2004 film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
    The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

    The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is Wes Anderson's fourth feature length film, released in the United States on December 25 2004. It was written by Anderson and Noah Baumbach and was filmed in and around Naples, Ponza and the Italian Riviera....
  • Peter Noone
    Peter Noone

    Peter Noone is an English people singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist and actor, best known as "Herman" of the successful 1960s rock group Herman's Hermits....
     – Single (1971)
  • Au Revoir Simone
    Au Revoir Simone

    Au Revoir, Simone is an electronic indie pop band from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, that formed in late 2003. The group is composed of Erika Forster , Annie Hart , and Heather D'Angelo ....
     - On "Life Beyond Mars: Bowie Covered" (2008)