In the early 1980s, numerous new wave musicians sought to mirror David Bowie’s approach, but Peter Schilling extended the connection further still. He issued the synth pop single “Major Tom (Coming Home)” in 1983, presenting a narrative retelling of the British artist’s 1969 classic “Space Oddity.” The song registered as Schilling’s lone appearance on U.S. charts and left him widely perceived in America as a one-hit wonder.
Born on January 28, 1956, in Stuttgart, Germany, Schilling spent his teenage years undecided between pursuing soccer and pursuing music. He ultimately selected music, and his debut album, Error in the System, arrived in 1983. The single “Major Tom (Coming Home)” registered strongly across international markets, its video receiving repeated MTV airplay; however, Schilling could not duplicate that breakthrough. In 1989 he worked with Enigma’s Michael Crétu on “Different Story (World of Lust and Crime),” an effort to modernize his sound and reenter the American charts. A 1994 techno treatment of “Major Tom” gained traction in clubs, and a year later Schilling assembled the Space Pilots with Catyana Schilling, J. Feifel, and P. Magnet to record Trip to Orion.
