MUSIC

1950s

Welcome to a time where space travel was new and exciting. Space songs of the 1950s were full of aliens, galactic joyrides, and rock 'n' rolling on Mars! Sputnik was not just the start of it all but also one of the few space terms the average person was familiar with so many of these songs include words like "rocket", "satellite", and of course, "Sputnik".  

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Beyond the Blue Horizon -The Ames Brothers

The Boppin' Martian -Dick Robinson

Blast Off -Alden Holloway

Blast Off -Tyrone & the Tyrone Trio

Cape Canaveral -Monte Mead

Destination Moon -The Ames Brothers

Get on the Moon Baby -Julian

First Man on Mars -Jackie Fautheree

Flying Saucer Boogie -Eddie Cleatro

Flying Saucers Rock and Roll -Billy Lee Riley

Ghost Satellite -Bob & Jerry

Honeymoon on a Rocket Ship -Hank Snow

I Got a Rocket in My Pocket -Jimmy Lloyd

I'm Shooting High -The Ames Brothers

It's Only A Paper Moon -The Ames Brothers

Knocked Out Joint on Mars -Buck Trail

The Little Green Men -Billy Lee Reiley

The Little Martian -Jan Amber

The Little Moon Men -George Lee

Little Space Girl -Jesse Lee Turner

The Martian Band -The Wild Tones

Moon Beat -The Fabulous Imperials

Moon Rocket -Lynn Vernon

Move Over Buddy -Billy Jack Hale

The Orbit Song -J. D. Jarvis

Planetary Run -Joe Montgomery

The Purple People Eater -Sheb Wooley

Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor -Joe South

Raiders from Outer Space -The Raiders

Rocket -Joe Bennet & the Sparkletones

Rocket to the Moon -Joe Johnson

Rockin' in the Orbit -Jimmie Haskell

Rock and Roll Mister Moon -Harold Shutters & His Rocats

Rock It On Mars -Terry Dunavan

Rock Old Sputnik -Nelson Young

Rock on the Moon -Jimmy Stewart

Satelite -The Rocks

Satellite Baby -Skip Stanley

Satellite No. 2 -Carl Mann

Satellite Rock -Jimmy Copeland & the J-Teens

Satellite Rock -Joe Tate

Satellite Rock -The Rebelaires

Shake it Over Sputnik -Billy Hogan

Space Walk -The Bel-Aires

Sputnik -Al Jacobson

Sputnik -Conway Twitty

Sputnik (The Satellite Girl) -Jerry Engler

Sputnik Baby -Roosevelt Sykes

The Sputnik Story -Bill Thomas

Trip to the Moon -Wesley Reynolds

Two Little Men in a Flying Machine -Ella Fitzgerald

When You See Those Flying Saucers -The Buchanan Brothers (actually released in the 1940s)

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1960s

With the launches of the first men in space in 1961, space themed songs of the 1960s became more realistic. This decade lasted from the first moments in space during the Mercury and Vostok programs to men walking on the moon during Apollo. Music changed a lot during the 1960s, and that's evident even in songs about space. Popular subjects were the flight of John Glenn in 1962 and the first moon landing in 1969. If you're interested in which half of the decade a particular song was released, the main pop culture page divides the list at 1965.

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2000 Lightyears from Home -The Rolling Stones

Armstrong. Aldrin and Collins -The Byrds

Astronomy Domine -Pink Floyd

Blue Moon -The Marcels

Blue Moon -Frank Sinatra

Count Down -Men of Chantz

The Epic Ride of John H. Glenn -Walter Brennan

Everyone's Gone to the Moon -Jonathan King

Fly Me to the Moon -Frank Sinatra

Friendship Seven -Joey Delmar

Friendship Seven -Sunny Harris

Happy Blues for John Glenn -Lightnin' Hopkins

Hello, Wally -Jack Jones

I'm the Little Space Girl's Father -Jesse Lee Turner

In the Year 2525 -Zager & Evans

Interstellar Overdrive -Pink Floyd

I Wish I Was a Spaceman -Barry Gray

Jim 'n' I, Him 'n' I, Flying in the Gemini -The New Christy Minstrels

Magic Star -Kenny Hollywood

Man from Mars -Butch Paulson

The Martian Hop -The Ran-Dells

Mighty John Glenn -Peter Colombo

Mister Glenn -Little Willie John

Monkey on the Moon -Gene Hall

Mr. Spaceman -The Byrds

Orbit With Me -Sonny Sheater

Rocket Man -The Spotnicks

Rocket to the Moon -Sheldon Allman

Rocket Trip -Jackie Lowell

Rock to the Moon -Gale Davis 

Shooting for the Moon -Carl Norman

Sleepy Cape Canaveral Moon -Sherman & Larsen

Space Needle -The Starfires

Space Oddity -David Bowie

Space Odyssey -The Byrds (based off Arthur C. Clarke's short story "The Sentinel")

Telstar -The Tornados

These Seven Men -Kingston Trio

The Walk of Ed White

Wernher von Braun -Tom Lehrer

X-15 Johnny Bond

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1970s

Space travel experienced a decline in national interest in the 1970s, as well as people becoming more aware of the sacrifices that go into the exploration of space. However, the novelty had not quite worn off yet thanks to Skylab, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, and the dawn of the mighty Space Shuttle program.

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Armstrong -John Stewart

Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft -Carpenters

Life on Mars? -David Bowie

Moonage Daydream -David Bowie

Rocket Man -Elton John

Rockin' Rocket -Long Tall Ernie & the Shakers

Satellite of Love -Lou Reed

Spaceman -Harry Nilsson 

Spaceship Superstar -Prism

Space Truckin' -Deep Purple

Starman -David Bowie

Supersonic Rocket Ship -The Kinks

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1980s

The United States is once again the leader of space exploration with the Space Shuttle. The country was again made aware of the sacrifices and hardships of space travel with the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. 

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Blast-Off Columbia -Roy McCall

Flying for Me -John Denver

Galaxy Song -Monty Python

Major Tom -Peter Schilling

Spaceman -Journey

There's a Moon in the Sky (Called the Moon) -The B-52's

Ticket to the Moon -ELO

Under the Milky Way -Starfish

Walking on the Moon -The Police

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1990s

Spaceflight had become increasingly commonplace and after the brief resurgence of national interest following the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, overall interest was on the decline yet again.

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Man on the Moon -R.E.M.

Surfin' on Jupiter -Psychefunkapus

The Space Race -Destroyer

The Space Race is Over -Billy Bragg

Valentina -Komputer

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2000s

Space songs by this point were not about space as much as they simply alluded to it. Tribute songs about particular astronauts such as Alan Bean and Bill Anders were beginning to pop up. 

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Alan Bean -Hefner

Bill Anders -Dick Jonas

Drops of Jupiter -Train

I Took a Trip on a Gemini Spaceship -David Bowie

Saturn 5 -Inspiral Carpets

Shoot the Moon -Hugh Blumenfeld

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2010s

Reflecting on the past fifty years of manned spaceflight, most songs from this decade are tributes to those historic missions and pioneering astronauts. 

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Michael Collins -The Boy Least Likely To

Michael Collins -John Craigie

One Small Step (Song for Michael Collins) -Space Donkey & the Moonbouncers

Space Oddity -Chris Hadfield

The Rocket That Grandpa Rode -Jimmy Buffett

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