The David Bowie single Tony Visconti says is like “a Swiss Watch” – and the unlikely song that inspired it

David Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes” drew on the unlikely inspiration of “Inchworm”, a song from the 1952 musical *Hans Christian Andersen*. The 1980 single revisited Major Tom, the character from Bowie’s breakthrough hit “Space Oddity”, while marking a move beyond his Berlin period and into a new decade.

Producer Tony Visconti compared the intricate arrangement to a Swiss watch, with many small musical parts working together towards a clear result. Recorded in New York with guitarist Carlos Alomar, bassist George Murray, drummer Dennis Davis, pianist Roy Bittan and guitar-synth player Chuck Hammer, it became Bowie’s second UK No. 1 single after “Space Oddity”.