Major Tom (Coming Home)

"Major Tom (Coming Home)"
"Major Tom (Coming Home)"
Single by Peter Schilling
from the album Error in the System
B-side	"Völlig Losgelöst" (NA); "The Noah Plan" (UK);
Released	24 March 1983
Recorded	1983
Genre	Neue Deutsche Welle, new wave, synthpop, space rock
Length	4:33 (German edit); 5:00 (English version); 8:02 (extended version);
Label	Elektra; WEA Records;
Songwriter(s)	Peter Schilling
Producer(s)	Armin Sabol; Peter Schilling;
Peter Schilling singles chronology

"Major Tom (Coming Home)" (German: Major Tom [völlig losgelöst], 'Major Tom [completely detached]') is a song by Peter Schilling from his album Error in the System. With a character unofficially related to "Major Tom", the protagonist of David Bowie's 1969 song "Space Oddity", the song is about the character breaking off contact with ground control and traveling off into space.^[1]

The song was originally recorded in German and released in West Germany on 3 January 1983. It reached No. 1 in West Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The English version was first released in the United States on 24 September 1983. It reached No. 1 in Canada, No. 4 in South Africa and peaked at No. 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart the week of 24 December 1983.^[2] The English-language version of the song also reached No. 2 on the dance chart in the US. In 1994, Schilling made and released a remixed version along with Boom-Bastic, titled "Major Tom 94". Other remixes were released in 2000, titled "Major Tom 2000", and in 2003, titled "Major Tom 2003".

On March 24, 2024, a petition was initiated to make "Major Tom" the new anthem for the German national football team for the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship.

Charts[edit]

Chart (1983–1984)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[3]	57
Austrian Singles Chart	1
Belgian Singles Chart^[4]	3
Canadian Singles Chart^[5]	1
Dutch Singles Chart^[6]	2
French Singles Chart	2
German Singles Chart	1
Irish Singles Chart	22
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[7]	13
Bolivian Chart^[8]	1
South African Chart	4
Swiss Singles Chart	1
UK Singles Chart^[9]	42
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	14
US "Billboard" Dance/Disco Top 80^[10]	2
U.S. Cash Box Top 100^[11]	10

Year-end chart (1983)	Rank
Austrian Singles Chart^[12]	13
Belgian Singles Chart^[13]	43
Dutch Singles Chart^[14]	22
German Singles Chart^[15]	1
Swiss Singles Chart^[16]	4

Year-end chart (1984)	Rank
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)^[17]	96
American Top 40 Top 100 songs of 1984	97

Certifications[edit]

Certifications for "Major Tom"
Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)^[18]	Gold	50,000^{^}
Germany (BVMI)^[19]	2× Platinum	1,000,000^‡
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone. ^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions[edit]

Plastic Bertrand released a French language cover of the song in 1983 from the album Chat va?...Et toi?.^[20]
English singer-songwriter Jonathan King released a mashup of "Major Tom (Coming Home)" together with David Bowie's "Space Oddity" titled "Space Oddity / Major Tom (Coming Home)". This release reached No. 77 on the UK Singles Chart in May 1984.^[21]
A cover version by Shiny Toy Guns, was released in 2009; an advertising commercial for the Lincoln MKZ, featured this cover.^[22]
American hard rock band Heaven Below released a cover in 2009 on their debut album Countdown to Devil and included a live recording on its companion album Reworking the Devil that same year.
Actor William Shatner released a cover in 2011 on the space-themed album Seeking Major Tom.
Apoptygma Berzerk released an EP in 2013 titled Major Tom that contains a cover and several remixes.^[23]
The outsider artist The Space Lady also covered the song on the 2013 release "Major Tom/Radar Love".^[24]
In 2016, Jay Del Alma released a Spanish-language remake titled "Vuela (Major Tom)" with Schilling on vocals.^[25]
Another remix was published in 2020 by Spinnin' Records alongside Austrian DJ LUM!X and German DJ duo Hyperclap.
Ava Max interpolated the chorus melody in the chorus of her 2020 song "Born To The Night".

In popular media[edit]

The song was used as the theme song for the TV show series Deutschland 83.
The song was used in AMC's Breaking Bad, in a scene where Hank Schrader, Walter White, and Walter Jr. watch a video of the drug chemist Gale Boetticher singing the song at a karaoke bar on a vacation to Thailand.^[26]
In season 2, episode 5 of the Netflix original series The Umbrella Academy, the song was used when Pogo, the chimpanzee character on the show, was traveling into outer space and back to earth.^[27]
The song was used in the Car Escape scene in Atomic Blonde (2017) when Lorraine Broughton, played by Charlize Theron, fights off would be assailants inside an Audi V8 D1 Typ 4C after arriving in Berlin.^[28]
It was also used in the 4th season of the show The Americans.
An instrumental version of the song was used during the 1980s as the introduction music of the San Diego Sockers (1978-1996).
The German version was used in the series The Blacklist Season 2 Episode 14 T Earl King VI.^[29]^[30]
Was a part of supposed communication with aliens in Season 1 of the Invasion - an original series by Apple.
The English version was used in season 1, episode 2 of the 2023 Netflix original series Wrestlers

References[edit]

^ Major Tom (Völlig losgelöst) lyrics
^ "Major Tom (Coming Home)" by Peter Schilling (Hot 100) – Billboard.
^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
^ "Charts". Ultratop (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-03-28.
^ "Collectionscanada.gc.ca". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
^ Top 40 Hit dossier 1956-2001 ISBN 90-257-3349-2
^ "charts.nz Peter Schilling "Major Tom (Coming Home)"" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
^ "Canciones más populares en Bolivia". La Opinión (in Spanish). 16 June 1984. p. 11.
^ "OfficialCharts.com". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 228.
^ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending JANUARY 14, 1984". Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 2017-08-20.. Cash Box magazine.
^ "Jahreshitparade Singles 1983" (in German). Retrieved 2023-03-28.
^ "Jaaroverzichten 1983". Ultratop (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-03-28.
^ "Jaaroverzichten - Single 1983" (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-03-28.
^ "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts" (in German). Retrieved 2023-03-28.
^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1983" (in German). Retrieved 2023-03-28.
^ "Talent Almanac 1985: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 96, no. 51. December 22, 1984. p. TA-19.
^ "Canadian single certifications – Peter Schilling – Major Tom". Music Canada. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Peter Schilling; 'Major Tom')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
^ "Major Tom by Plastic Bertrand - Samples, Covers, Remixes". Whosampled.com. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
^ "Space Oddity/Major Tom (Coming Home) | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
^ [1] Archived January 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
^ [2] Major Tom EP on Discogs
^ [3] Major Tom/Radar Love single on Discogs
^ TNT Productions - Jay Del Alma feat. Peter Schilling - "Vuela (Major Tom)" (in German)
^ Breaking Bad S4- Gale (Major Tom) on YouTube. Access date, Jan 31, 2021
^ The Umbrella Academy Season Two’s Most Ridiculous Soundtrack Choices, Ranked - Meslow, Scott. Aug 6, 2020
^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Atomic Blonde (2017) - Car Escape Scene (1/10) | Movieclips" – via YouTube.
^ "Every song from S2E14 - the Blacklist, "T Earl King VI"".
^ "The Blacklist - Season 2 Soundtrack".

[1] Major Tom (Völlig losgelöst) lyrics

[2] "Major Tom (Coming Home)" by Peter Schilling (Hot 100) – Billboard.

[3] Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

[4] "Charts". Ultratop (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-03-28.

[5] "Collectionscanada.gc.ca". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2018.

[6] Top 40 Hit dossier 1956-2001 ISBN 90-257-3349-2

[7] "charts.nz Peter Schilling "Major Tom (Coming Home)"" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 14 May 2017.

[8] "Canciones más populares en Bolivia". La Opinión (in Spanish). 16 June 1984. p. 11.

[9] "OfficialCharts.com". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 May 2017.

[10] Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 228.

[11] "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending JANUARY 14, 1984". Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 2017-08-20.. Cash Box magazine.

[12] "Jahreshitparade Singles 1983" (in German). Retrieved 2023-03-28.

[13] "Jaaroverzichten 1983". Ultratop (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-03-28.

[14] "Jaaroverzichten - Single 1983" (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-03-28.

[15] "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts" (in German). Retrieved 2023-03-28.

[16] "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1983" (in German). Retrieved 2023-03-28.

[17] "Talent Almanac 1985: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 96, no. 51. December 22, 1984. p. TA-19.

[CanadaPeter_SchillingMajor_TomsingleCertRef-18] "Canadian single certifications – Peter Schilling – Major Tom". Music Canada. Retrieved 3 August 2023.

[GermanyPeter_SchillingMajor_TomsingleCertRef-19] "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Peter Schilling; 'Major Tom')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 16 June 2022.

[20] "Major Tom by Plastic Bertrand - Samples, Covers, Remixes". Whosampled.com. Retrieved July 30, 2022.

[21] "Space Oddity/Major Tom (Coming Home) | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.

[22] [1] Archived January 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine

[23] [2] Major Tom EP on Discogs

[24] [3] Major Tom/Radar Love single on Discogs

[25] TNT Productions - Jay Del Alma feat. Peter Schilling - "Vuela (Major Tom)" (in German)

[26] Breaking Bad S4- Gale (Major Tom) on YouTube. Access date, Jan 31, 2021

[27] The Umbrella Academy Season Two’s Most Ridiculous Soundtrack Choices, Ranked - Meslow, Scott. Aug 6, 2020

[28] Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Atomic Blonde (2017) - Car Escape Scene (1/10) | Movieclips" – via YouTube.

[29] "Every song from S2E14 - the Blacklist, "T Earl King VI"".

[30] "The Blacklist - Season 2 Soundtrack".

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v t e Peter Schilling
Studio albums	Error in the System (Fehler im System) (1983) Things to Come (120 Grad) (1985) The Different Story (World of Lust and Crime) (1989)
Songs	"Major Tom (Coming Home)" "The Different Story (World of Lust and Crime)"

v t e Major Tom
Songs	"Space Oddity" (1969, David Bowie) "Rocket Man" (1972, Elton John) "Ashes to Ashes" (1980, David Bowie) "Major Tom" (1983, Peter Schilling) "Major Tom, Part II" (1983, Peter Schilling) "Hallo Spaceboy" (1995, David Bowie) "Mrs. Major Tom" (2003, K.I.A.) "Blackstar" (2015, David Bowie)
Albums	Seeking Major Tom (2011, William Shatner)
Video	Love You till Tuesday (1984, David Bowie) "Bowie's in Space" (2007, Flight of the Conchords) ISS expedition 35 Space Oddity (2013, Chris Hadfield)