Oh ! You Pretty Things - wikipedia Oh ! You Pretty Things `` Oh ! You Pretty Things '' Song by David Bowie from the album Hunky Dory Released 17 December 1971 Recorded Trident Studios, London, early summer 1971 Genre Glam rock Length 3 : 12 Label RCA Songwriter ( s ) David Bowie Producer ( s ) Ken Scott, David Bowie Hunky Dory track listing `` Changes '' ( 1 ) `` Oh ! You Pretty Things '' ( 2 ) `` Eight Line Poem '' ( 3 ) David Bowie `` Oh ! You Pretty Things '' ( 1971 ) 19 second sample from David Bowie 's `` Oh ! You Pretty Things ''. Problems playing this file ? See media help. `` Oh You Pretty Thing '' Single by Peter Noone B - side `` Together Forever '' Released 1971 Format 7 '' single Genre Pop Length 3 : 04 Label RAK Songwriter ( s ) David Bowie Producer ( s ) Mickie Most `` Oh ! You Pretty Things '' is a song written by David Bowie in 1971 for the album Hunky Dory. It opens with only piano and Bowie 's vocal, before entering the catchy refrain. The simple piano style is often compared to The Beatles ' `` Martha My Dear ''. Thematically, the song has been seen as reflecting the influence of occultist Aleister Crowley, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, and Edward Bulwer - Lytton 's hollow earth novel The Coming Race, 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 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 opined to be `` 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 ''. Contents 1 Personnel 2 Live versions 3 Other releases 4 Cover versions 5 References 6 External links Personnel David Bowie : lead vocals, piano Rick Wakeman : piano Mick Ronson : backing vocals Trevor Bolder : bass guitar Woody Woodmansey : drums Live versions A performance of the song by Bowie and Mick Ronson as a duo, broadcast on the BBC show Sounds of the 70s : Bob Harris in September 1971, was released on the Japanese edition of the 2000 release Bowie at the Beeb and on the 2016 vinyl version of that album. Bowie played the song at the BBC show Johnny Walker Lunchtime Show on 22 May 1972. This was broadcast in early June the same year and in 2000 was released on 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 3 July 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 The song appeared on the compilations : The Best of David Bowie ( Japan 1974 ) Changestwobowie ( 1981 ) The Singles Collection ( 1993 ) The Best of David Bowie 1969 / 1974 ( 1997 ) Best of Bowie ( 2002 ) The Platinum Collection ( 2006 ) Nothing Has Changed ( 2014 ) Bowie Legacy ( 2016 ) It was also recorded on 8 February 1972 for The Old Grey Whistle Test on the BBC, though the performance was not broadcast until over 10 years later. This performance is available on the Best of Bowie DVD. An outtake from the same session, in which Bowie stumbles over the lines and gets them wrong on several occasions, is hidden among easter eggs on the same DVD. Cover versions Peter Noone -- Single ( 1971 ) 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 67 Special -- The Devil May Care ( 2007 ) Au Revoir Simone -- Life Beyond Mars : Bowie Covered ( 2008 ) Tedeschi Trucks Band -- Let Me Get By ( Deluxe Edition ) ( 2016 ) Lisa Hannigan -- `` Chapter 6 '' of FX series Legion ( 2017 ) References ^ Jump up to : David Buckley ( 1999 ). Strange Fascination -- David Bowie : The Definitive Story : p. 115 ^ Jump up to : Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray ( 1981 ). Bowie : An Illustrated Record : pp. 40 - 41 Jump up ^ David Sheppard ( 2007 ), MOJO 60 Years of Bowie : p. 24 Jump up ^ Pegg, Nicholas ( 27 Sep 2011 ). The Complete David Bowie. California : Titan Books. ISBN 9780857682901. Retrieved 11 July 2016. Jump up ^ Carr & Murray ( 1981 ) : p. 117 Jump up ^ http://www.uncut.co.uk/news/rick-wakeman-reveals-played-piano-david-bowies-oh-pretty-things-98931 Jump up ^ http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38627868 Jump up ^ `` Bowie At The Beeb vinyl box out now ''. davidbowie.com. 2016 - 02 - 26. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 27. Jump up ^ Harvey, Michael ( 2007 - 01 - 19 ). `` The Old Gray Whistle Test - 8 February 1972 ''. The Ziggy Stardust Companion. Retrieved 2011 - 01 - 29. External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics David Bowie singles 1960s `` Liza Jane '' `` I Pity the Fool '' `` You 've Got a Habit of Leaving '' `` Ca n't Help Thinking About Me '' `` Do Anything You Say '' `` I Dig Everything '' `` Rubber Band '' `` The Laughing Gnome '' `` Love You till Tuesday '' `` Space Oddity '' `` Ragazzo solo, ragazza sola '' 1970s `` The Prettiest Star '' `` Memory of a Free Festival '' `` Holy Holy '' `` Moonage Daydream '' `` Hang On to Yourself '' `` Changes '' `` Starman '' `` John, I 'm Only Dancing '' `` The Jean Genie '' `` Drive - In Saturday '' `` Time '' `` Life on Mars '' `` Let 's Spend the Night Together '' `` Sorrow '' `` Rebel Rebel '' `` Rock ' n ' Roll Suicide '' `` Diamond Dogs '' `` 1984 '' `` Knock on Wood '' `` Rock ' n ' Roll with Me '' `` Young Americans '' `` Fame '' `` Golden Years '' `` TVC 15 '' `` Suffragette City '' `` Stay '' `` Sound and Vision '' `` Be My Wife '' `` ' Heroes ' '' `` Beauty and the Beast '' `` Breaking Glass '' `` Boys Keep Swinging '' `` DJ '' `` Yassassin '' `` Look Back in Anger '' `` John, I 'm Only Dancing ( Again ) '' 1980s `` Alabama Song '' `` Crystal Japan '' `` Ashes to Ashes '' `` Fashion '' `` Scary Monsters ( And Super Creeps ) '' `` Up the Hill Backwards '' `` Under Pressure '' `` Wild Is the Wind '' `` The Drowned Girl '' `` Cat People ( Putting Out Fire ) '' `` Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy '' `` Let 's Dance '' `` China Girl '' `` Modern Love '' `` Without You '' `` White Light / White Heat '' `` Blue Jean '' `` Tonight '' `` This Is Not America '' `` Loving the Alien '' `` Dancing in the Street '' `` Absolute Beginners '' `` Underground '' `` As the World Falls Down '' `` Magic Dance '' `` When the Wind Blows '' `` Day - In Day - Out '' `` Time Will Crawl '' `` Never Let Me Down '' `` Under the God '' `` Heaven 's in Here '' `` Tin Machine '' / `` Maggie 's Farm ( live ) '' `` Prisoner of Love '' 1990s `` Fame ' 90 '' `` You Belong in Rock n ' Roll '' `` Baby Universal '' `` One Shot '' `` Real Cool World '' `` Jump They Say '' `` Black Tie White Noise '' `` Miracle Goodnight '' `` The Buddha of Suburbia '' `` Ziggy Stardust '' `` The Hearts Filthy Lesson '' `` Strangers When We Meet '' / `` The Man Who Sold the World ( live ) '' `` Hallo Spaceboy '' `` Telling Lies '' `` Little Wonder '' `` Dead Man Walking '' `` Seven Years in Tibet '' `` Pallas Athena '' `` I 'm Afraid of Americans '' `` I Ca n't Read '' `` Without You I 'm Nothing '' `` Thursday 's Child '' `` The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell '' 2000s `` Survive '' `` Seven '' `` Slow Burn '' `` Everyone Says ' Hi ' '' `` I 've Been Waiting for You '' `` Shadow Man '' `` New Killer Star '' `` Just for One Day ( Heroes ) '' `` Never Get Old '' `` Rebel Never Gets Old '' 2010s `` Where Are We Now ? '' `` The Stars ( Are Out Tonight ) '' `` The Next Day '' `` Valentine 's Day '' `` Love Is Lost '' `` ' Tis a Pity She Was a Whore '' `` Sue ( Or in a Season of Crime ) '' `` Blackstar '' `` Lazarus '' `` I Ca n't Give Everything Away '' `` Life on Mars ? ( 2016 Mix ) '' Discography Book : David Bowie Book : Bowie singles and songs Category : David Bowie Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oh!_You_Pretty_Things&oldid=774803340 '' Categories : David Bowie songs 1971 songs Songs written by David Bowie Song recordings produced by Ken Scott Song recordings produced by David Bowie 1971 singles Song recordings produced by Mickie Most Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from April 2013 Use British English from April 2013 Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Italiano Nederlands Norsk nynorsk Русский Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 10 April 2017, at 19 : 24. 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Question: who played piano on oh you pretty things
Answer: Bowie