Commander Chris Hadfield's amazing "Space Oddity" video recorded on-board the International Space Stationpriorto his return to Earth has captured the imagination of millions this week.
The cover of Bowie's classic has struck an enormous chord across the world, its apt lyrics combined with the stark yet beautiful video imagery in the confines of the International Space Station orbitting the Earth, deliver an extremely poignant experience.
YouTube link:http://youtu.be/KaOC9danxNo
As a result the video went viral this week, with currently 12 million views on YouTube and coverage on every major news outlet including the BBC, Sky, and all the daily press.
Prominent in the video is a little Larrivée parlour guitar delivered to the International Space Station in 2001 via the Space Shuttle Discovery. Since then the guitar has orbited the Earth tens of thousands of times, making it undoubtedly the world's most travelled travel guitar.
But it is the coverage this week that has taken everyone by surprise and highlighted the Larrivée brand to millions.
The Larrivée was recorded on the Space Station along with Commander Hadfield's vocals, and sent back to Earth to be mixed in the track. The guitar itself is a now discontinued P-01 model, the current equivalent being a P-03 all-solid wood parlour (RRP £899). In response to unprecedented requests, Larrivée are hoping to put the discontinued P-01 back into production for a limited edition run.
Whilst Commander Chris Hadfield returned safely to Earth on Wednesday after his four month stint on the I.S.S., the Larrivée guitar remains on-board and continues its epic journey.
Nonetheless, it's arguably the most stellar piece of publicity for one little guitar ever! Given the estimated real cost of delivering and keeping this guitar in space, it's unlikely to be repeated any time soon.
Larrivée Guitars are distributed in the UK /ROI by Sound Technology Ltd who can be contacted on01462 480000, www.soundtech.co.uk/larrivee
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