It wasn’t the first time the BBC had decided to ban a song. Prior to the “Space Oddity” ordeal, they’d banned “Lola” by the Kinks, as well as “The Monster Mash” by Bobby Pickett. Though “Space Oddity” didn’t contain anything overtly obscene, the major media outlet thought it went against public optimism, which had hoped for a successful moon landing. “It was a song that tried to talk about the downsides, of the despair and loneliness that might come from [Major Tom] being so far from home,” Heller continued in his book, stating that the song was struck “because it was kind of a killjoy.”
Nonetheless, the ban didn’t last long. As soon as the Apollo 11 mission was declared a success and Neil Armstrong returned home with his crew in one piece, “Space Oddity” hit radio waves and record store shelves. Sadly, the ban hindered the song’s initial success, but it went on to become a number one hit in the U.K. upon re-release in 1975 (per BBC).
