"Out on the Street" is a 1974 single by New Zealand band

Space Waltz Space Waltz are a New Zealand glam rock band formed in 1974 by frontman Alastair Riddell. In 1974, they had a number-one hit in New Zealand with "Out on the Street". Career In 1974, Alastair Riddell (vocals/guitar), Greg Clark (guitar), Eddi ...

. The song peaked at number one in the New Zealand singles chart in October 1974, becoming the first glam rock song to achieve this distinction. The Bowie-influenced song was largely responsible for Space Waltz winning the "Best New Artist" award at the following year's New Zealand RATA Music Awards.

Background

Space Waltz was chosen as an entrant is the

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...

talent series ''New Faces'', and the single, written by lead vocalist

Alastair Riddell Alastair Riddell is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Background Riddell is a musician and a film maker. He has a singing style that was likened to a combination of Bryan Ferry and David Bowie. Prior to 1974, he was in a band called Orb with Eddi ...

was recorded as part of this. Space Waltz went on to reach the final of the series, but were unsuccessful. The single, however, had caught the public's attention, and raced to the top of the charts. Riddell's

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

influence was clear, but the song was also largely influenced by the writer's interest in science fiction. It was also a nod to the colourful street-life of Auckland's Queen Street, and particularly the street's transsexual community.

Awards

As part of

APRA APRA or Apra may refer to: Places *Apra, Punjab, a census town city in Jalandhar District of Punjab, India * Apra Harbor, the main port of Guam Acronyms * American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana), a Peruvi ...

's 75th anniversary, its members chose New Zealand's 100 greatest songs of all time. "Out on the Street" was voted into 44th place.

Track listing

# "Out on the Street" (Riddell) # "Angel" (Riddell)

Charts

References

Bibliography

*Dix, J. (1988) ''Stranded in paradise: New Zealand rock'n'roll 1955–1988.'' Wellington: Paradise Publications. *Sweetman, S. (2012) ''On song: Stories behind New Zealand's pop classics.'' Auckland: Penguin New Zealand. {{ISBN, 978 0 143 56816 2 1974 singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Space Waltz songs 1974 songs EMI Records singles