"Oh! You Pretty Things" is a song written by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, released on his 1971 album Hunky Dory. It was the first song he wrote for the album. Bowie recorded the song as a demo before giving it to singer Peter Noone, lead singer of Herman's Hermits, who decided to release it as his debut solo single. Featuring Bowie on piano, Noone's recording was produced by Mickie Most and featured structural and lyrical differences from Bowie's later version. Released by RAK Records in April 1971 under the title "Oh! You Pretty Thing", the single peaked at number 12 in the UK, becoming Bowie's biggest success as a songwriter since his own single "Space Oddity" two years earlier.
Bowie recorded his own version at Trident Studios in London during the sessions for Hunky Dory between June and July 1971. Co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott, it featured the musicians who would later become known as the Spiders from Mars: guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder and drummer Mick Woodmansey. Bowie played piano, although Rick Wakeman, who played piano on the rest of the album, contended in 2017 that he contributed. Similar to other tracks on the album, the themes of "Oh! You Pretty Things" are dark, reflecting ideals of the occultist Aleister Crowley and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, while making literary references to Arthur C. Clarke's 1953 novel Childhood's End and Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1871 novel The Coming Race.
"Oh! You Pretty Things" is considered by music critics as one of the best songs on Hunky Dory and by some publications as one of Bowie's best songs. Bowie performed the track multiple times for BBC radio programmes between 1971 and 1972 and once on the Ziggy Stardust Tour in 1973. Bowie's version has appeared on numerous compilation albums, while Noone's was included on a 2006 compilation named after the track. Other covers have been recorded by Seu Jorge and Au Revoir Simone.
Background and writing
Upon completing a promotional tour of America in early 1971, David Bowie returned to his home at Haddon Hall in Beckenham, London. After Tony Visconti moved out of Haddon, Bowie acquired a piano for the building, which he used to write songs. It was a first for Bowie, who previously composed songs primarily on acoustic guitar. In total, he composed over three-dozen songs at Haddon, many of which would appear on his next album Hunky Dory and its follow-up The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
The first song Bowie wrote for Hunky Dory was "Oh! You Pretty Things". The song came to him in the early hours of a morning in January 1971. He recalled: "I couldn't sleep... this song was going 'round in my head. I had to get out of bed and just play it... so that I could get back to sleep again." He requested studio time from his music publisher Chrysalis, whose partner Bob Grace booked time at London's Radio Luxembourg Studios to record a demo. Bowie recorded the demo sometime between February and March 1971. Paul Trynka states that it featured him on solo piano, his only accompaniment being "the jangling of the bracelets he was wearing". According to biographer Marc Spitz, Bowie's demos of "Oh! You Pretty Things" and other Hunky Dory tracks "Life on Mars?" and "Andy Warhol" inspired Bowie's new manager, Tony Defries, to look into securing a new record contract for Bowie, eventually signing him with RCA Records.
After recording its demo, Bowie gave the tape to Grace, who showed it to producer Mickie Most, the most well-known independent producer in the UK at the time. He chose Most due to his popularity, having produced numerous hits for bands such as the Animals and Herman's Hermits, telling Record Collector magazine years later: "The most sure-fire way of getting a hit in those days was if you got Mickie Most to produce your song." Most liked the song and contacted Herman's Hermits' singer Peter Noone, who believed the song would be Noone's first solo hit. Noone recalled, "[Most] only played the intro and I said, 'That's it, it's perfect!