BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983
“Major Tom (Coming Home)” (German: Major Tom (völlig losgelöst), translation: “Major Tom (totally disconnected)”), is a song by singer Peter Schilling from his album Error in the System. With a character unofficially related to “Major Tom”, the theme of David Bowie’s 1969 album Space Oddity, the song is about the character being caught in an accident in space.
The song was originally recorded in German, and released in West Germany on January 3, 1983. It reached #1 in West Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The English version was first released in the United States on September 24, 1983. It reached #1 in Canada, #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart in late 1983, and #4 in South Africa. The English-language version of the song also reached number two on the dance chart in the U.S.
SIDE A:
Major Tom (Coming Home) (English Version) 5:00
Written By [English] – David Lodge
Major Tom (Völlig Losgelöst) (German Version) 5:00
SIDE B:
Major Tom (Coming Home) (Special Extended Club Version) 8:05
Remix – John Luongo
Engineer [Remix] – Jay Mark
Written By [English] – David Lodge
Major Tom (Coming Home) (Special Instrumental Version) 4:47
Remix – John Luongo
Engineer [Remix] – Jay Mark
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Major Tom (Coming Home) | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #14 |
| 1983 | Major Tom (Coming Home) | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play | #2 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Elektra – 0-66995
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1983
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Art Direction – Karen Katz
Music By – Peter Schilling
Photography By [Front Cover] – Brian Hagiwara
Producer – Armin Sabol, Peter Schilling
Written-By – Peter Schilling
NOTES:
From the forthcoming album “ERROR IN THE SYSTEM”
Find The 12″ On DISCOGS
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Speed Control: Pro-Ject Speed Box S
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removeal: ClickRepair (DeClick Level 3)
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
Please reup this album….Thanks
Oh man!!! I’m a ‘child of the 80s’ and this still ranks as my all-time favorite track and…..”download no longer available”. Please please please, would you consider re-uploading this?
Yes,please reup in 24bit/96kHz or higher.
Greetings
Such a wonderful song, thank you for this! Do you think there is any way you might be able to hunt down the 1983 US 7″ 45 which has the 3:57 edit of the English version of the song, the one that was played on US radio and which was also used for the video (although I guess the fadeout was a bit longer on the video)? As far as I can tell that version has never been released on CD and the audio of the video on Youtube (one on there currently, and several that have been yanked) is… Read more »
Gracias Dj Paul, no se que decirle, estos temas no tienen valor ni en el espacio ni en el tiempo…Gracias..! Mérida-Venezuela..
Gracias por subir este maxi, Paul! Keep Burning The Ground!
obrigadasso por postar
Danke Paul. I’m glad to catch up and see you are including some of the post-Kraftwerk synthpop greats of Deutschland. Peter was an early favorite of mine, as was Peter Godwin, but bands like Alphaville and Camouflage were more prolific and had me spending even more cash on imports. They only spurred me to seek out more obscure bands like Celebrate The Nun and Cetu Javu. German friends then recommended me Deine Lakaien and (Munchener) Freiheit which I also came to love and appreciate in German. However, I happen to love Michael Cretu’s work with Schilling best in his career.… Read more »
Hi Paul!
thanx for this rip! used it as source material for a new mix – an extended german version of this track: https://soundcloud.com/dreamtimemix/major-tom-dreamtime-mix
thanx!
Awesome song! I love the 80’s but only heard this song recently as Gale Boetticher’s Karakoe video from Breaking Bad!
Excellent post, as usual. Funny note about this song: there’s a pretty good cover version made two years ago by William Shattner (the album is called “Seeking Major Tom”, and it is made entirely of songs about space like Duran Duran’s “Planet Earth”).
Cheers and thanks!
Paul, what a great post. Once again, your vinyl rips are superior to most CD versions of 12″ singles. I have the Special Extended Club Version from a CD collection called “80s/12″ The Extended Collection” and it sounds absolutely horrific compared to your pristine rip. I applaud you – and thank you as always for sharing. You are one of a kind.
This looks very interesting. Thanks Paul!
Hola Pablo, I love this classic. You hit the nail with this.
Gracias por quemar tan bien el suelo!
Vielen Dank, Paul!
This song reminds me of my first year at school. We children were obsessed with Peter Schilling, we really loved to sing “Vöööölig losgelöst von der Erde!”. For hours!!! 🙂
(And he was such a very good looking guy too, wasn’t he?)
Thanks a lot and greetings from Munich!
P
Thank you Paul for this great maxi-single!
Can’t remember this song, but after few listening, it’s just great 🙂
“Four Three Two One!” This is such a great post and a wonderful flashback to 1983, when it cracked the Top 40. It was a great week for debuts, when seven new singles entered. Major Tom was the third highest debut at #32, behind Big Country’s In A Big Country (#30) and Rufus feat Chaka Khan’s Ain’t Nobody (#29). Olivia made her entrance at #38 but would end up with the biggest hit of the seven when Twist Of Fate hit the Top 5. Thanks Paul for your rip, as these mixes I don’t think are ever on CD. Even… Read more »
A big thanks from me.
You’re very welcome VanceMan 🙂
The cool thing about this release is, that the german to english “translation” is not an accurat translation, it’s more sort of a free homage to to lyrics…Someone was lazy and didn’t bother too much, which is cool in a way. The major knows it only has to SOUND right …use google translator and have a smile
Hi Frank yeah I noticed that english writing credits differ from the German. I’ll stick it in Google translate and see what happens 🙂
I don’t think it was laziness, so much as the fact that as a general rule, “accurate” 1:1 translations between languages fare pretty badly when it comes to poetry or song lyrics. (Then again, literal translations of anything are always a bit dodgy, really!) Song lyrics are especially bad because the translated line may not have enough syllables, or too many, to fit the meter of the music, or it might end up forCING you TO put the stress ON the wrong sylLABles to match THE rhyTHM. 😀 Generally, it’s better if you do a loose translation that retains the… Read more »
Nice little new wave tear you’re on. Meant to comment on yesterday’s post but oopsy! Homosapien and Major Tom… bona fide club classics in upstate NY where I’m from. Cheers and keep on keepin’ on from Charelston, SC!
Joe (from Buffalo)
Hi Mothloop hope you are keeping warm in Buffalo. I t was definately in heavy spin here as well :
I’m reliving my youth courtesy of you Paul. Thanks for these audio trips down memory lane. You really are the best in what you do. And I love John Luongo so very, very, VERY MUCH!!! Your site always gives the best information and credit to these past mix-meisters. So many times on CD compilations they leave off all the great liner notes of the 12-inch. This is why record labels need you to help them with remastering and finding great song choices. It’s a labour of love you do Paul and we love you for it.
Jeff
It is a labour of love Jeff and I appreciate you for taking the time to post your comments. I appreciate them so much 🙂
Thanks for sharing this with us!!! I never get tired to tell you that I’m aware all the time and work that quality vinyl rips like yours require.
Thanks DJ PaulT!!!!
Thank you Partytimeboy I appreciate that 🙂
DJPaul strikes again… Thanks so much for this been looking for this since the day it was release. (the record store in my area never had anything good. LOL) We appreciate everything you rip and upload, i know it isnt easy. Keep up the great work DJPaul
your friend,
Brian
I know how you feel my friend. My local stores never had anything good either because I bought it all up lol. 🙂
ha ha well if they’re the ones you’re sharing here, then im glad you did!!
keep up the great work buddy 🙂
Classic!!! Thank you.
You’re welcome Guss 🙂
Thanks again Paul! I have to correct my FB post. The 8 minute long mix I did used the German and English versions combined. I would play it to the packed dance floor and everyone would be singing…then the 2nd chorus would drop (in German) and everyone had no clue!
You’re welcome my friend. I can imagine that mix was really cool. Would have loved to dance to that one 🙂
WOW…. great post Paul.
Thank you for this great post!
You’re welcome Ziv 🙂
You know, I just bought the two album cd of Error in the System this week and was thinking about how cool it would be to have this to go along with it. Are you psychic, my friend? this is AWESOME! Thank you.
Oh, and how cool is it that they used FIESTAWARE on the cover! LOL
Lol I used to have some fiesta ware 🙂
OMG, I have tons of it. I love it and it seems to never break.
At last I have a decent vinyl rip of this through you Paul. Thanks so much. Any Thompson Twins on the horizon ?
Hi Omar yeah I do have TT on the horizon just bought some stuff 🙂
Yes! Great choice! Thanks!
You’re welcome Mike 🙂
Great cut. Never was aware that John Luongo did a US remix. Curious to find that out.
In the Netherlands we were treated with the German version on single, but because we are neighbours and almost everyone in the Netherlands understands and speaks (a bit of) German, WEA never bothered to release the English version here, I think. And Germans speaking English in German style can sometimes spoil the fun as well, so.. 🙂
It’s been a while I’ve haerd this one, so in a moment I will be völlig losgelöst I guess. Off we go.
Hope you enjoy it Stefano 🙂
That’s a fantastic post Paul! Great tune.. Can’t wait to listen to all these versions.
Thank you very much 🙂
You’re welcome Lacatuantrophy 🙂