Ground Control to Major Clown! (Sorry, that one was a gimme.) There aren’t a lot of people who can sing the songs of David Bowie almost as well as the man himself, but I’d like to think that if he’d had a choice of who might carry on his torch, he’d have hoped it would be a mostly silent seven-foot tall party clown with the voice of an angel. Enter Puddles Pity Party to make the magic happen with a minimalist, disco-like cover that stays true to the original’s sad spirit.
Puddles Pity Party, depending on how deeply you want to get into the gimmick, is either the stage name or the mysterious friend of Big Mike Geier. Based in Atlanta, he first became big on the Internet after performing a cover of Lorde’s “Royals” with Postmodern Jukebox that went viral with 17 million views. He’s now a cult figure who’s performed all over the place, including Paul F. Tompkin’s Varietopia show in Los Angeles (where he also once performed “Space Oddity” with Tompkins, the rapper Busdriver, Maria Bamford, and Kristin Schaal on vocals), the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Sleep No More in New York City, the 2015 Festival Supreme with Jack Black, and more.
If you like this version of David Bowie’s classic 1969 track, you can also grab this cover as a single pretty much wherever you find music—Spotify, iTunes, what have you. Is this your favorite cover Puddles Pity Party’s ever done? Let us know if you’ve got a different one, and let’s turn the comments into a Puddles Praising Party. Eh? Ehhh? (I’ll see myself out)
Image: Puddles Pity Party/YouTube
