Hallo Spaceboy

"Hallo Spaceboy" (Pet Shop Boys remix)
Single by David Bowie featuring Pet Shop Boys
from the album Outside
B-side
Released19 February 1996 (1996-02-19)
Recorded
  • 1994
  • January 1995
Studio
Genre
Length
  • 5:14 (album)
  • 4:25 (Pet Shop Boys mix)
Label
Songwriters
Producers
  • David Bowie
  • Brian Eno
David Bowie singles chronology
"Strangers When We Meet"
(1995)
"Hallo Spaceboy" (Pet Shop Boys remix)
(1996)
"Telling Lies"
(1996)
Music video
"Hallo Spaceboy" on YouTube

"Hallo Spaceboy" is a song by the English musician David Bowie from his 20th studio album, Outside (1995). It originated as an instrumental by Reeves Gabrels called "Moondust", which Bowie and Brian Eno stripped down and used to form the final track. An industrial rock and electronica track influenced by artists such as Nine Inch Nails, the song features synthesisers, loops and distorted guitar lines. The lyrics were influenced by the sound poet and painter Brion Gysin, and contain images of apocalypse and continue the androgynous lyrics of former Bowie songs such as "Rebel Rebel" and "Boys Keep Swinging".

For its release as the third and final single from Outside in February 1996, "Hallo Spaceboy" was remixed by the Pet Shop Boys, who added a disco sound and lyrics referencing the Major Tom character from Bowie's "Space Oddity". The single reached number 12 in the UK and charted in other European countries. Its accompanying music video, directed by David Mallet, mixes shots of both Bowie and Pet Shop Boys with footage of science fiction clips, atomic bomb testing footage and television advertising clips. Both versions of "Hallo Spaceboy" have been positively received and have appeared on lists of Bowie's best songs. Bowie performed "Hallo Spaceboy" frequently on his concert tours, recordings from which have appeared on live albums.