# Who played the Stylophone on David Bowie’s 1969 masterpiece ‘Space Oddity’?

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/who-played-the-stylophone-on-david-bowies-1969-masterpiece-space-oddity/
- Published: 2026-11-08T14:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-08T14:23:06+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/who-played-stylophone-david-bowie-1969-smash-space-oddity/
- Topics: Space, Technology

## Key points

- Bowie played the Stylophone on both versions of ‘Space Oddity’.
- Its buzzing tones helped shape the song’s space-age sound.
- A licensed Bowie edition of the instrument launched in 2021.

## Summary

David Bowie played the Stylophone himself on both 1969 versions of ‘Space Oddity’, giving the small electronic instrument its most famous role in rock and pop. Its buzzing sound helped evoke the song’s isolated space setting and lift-off countdown, while bringing an unusual new sound to a hit single.

The Stylophone was a portable, toy-like instrument made by Drubeq, played by touching a wired stylus to its metal keyboard. Bowie reportedly tried it after a suggestion from Marc Bolan; Rick Wakeman played Mellotron on the track, and producer Tony Visconti left the recording to Gus Dudgeon. A licensed Bowie edition of the Stylophone followed in 2021.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.