David Bowie wrote this song when he was just 23 as a follow-up to his first hit Space Oddity, with Marc Bolan on guitar.

It was recorded in January 1970, with Marc on electric guitar, and released in March that year as a follow-up to Space Oddity, which reached no.5 in the UK charts.

Far more of a romantic ballad than the uptempo version on Aladdin Sane three years later – with acoustic guitar and strings framing Bowie’s lovelorn vocals – it was not a success, supposedly selling fewer than 800 copies.

I had always been told the song was about Bolan, his friend and fellow Glam superstar, but I now learn that Bowie wrote the song for his American girlfriend Angie, supposedly singing it down the phone to her as part of his marriage proposal.

In tribute to her Cypriot roots, the rhythm and tempo of the song, if you listen hard enough, is supposedly in the style of a Greek dance called hasapiko.

The recording session, produced by Tony Visconti – it was his idea to bring in Bolan – had been going well until Marc’s wife June informed Bowie that Bolan was too good for him and shouldn’t play on his record.

It’s a mystery why the single sold so poorly but Bowie re-recorded it at the end of 1972 and included it on Aladdin Sane, with Mick Ronson recreating Bolan’s guitar part pretty much note for note. And it’s always been in my top ten favourite Bowie tunes.

Here is the better-known album version with Ronno on guitar, plus backing vocals and handclaps: