David Bowie’s Rare ‘Starman’ Single Sells for Almost $2,000

Two dozen bidders recently battled for a rare, Angola-made David Bowie 45 featuring 'Starman' and 'Suffragette City.' The winner ended up laying down $1,996.21 on eBay for the record.

The A-side was a very late addition to 1972's 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars' album. It was included at the insistence of a label executive who believed that it would make a great single.

And it was ... at least in the U.K., where it reached the Top 10 and stayed on the charts for nearly three months, becoming Bowie's first hit since 'Space Oddity' three years earlier. It also helped introduce Bowie's new persona.

But in the U.S., 'Starman' peaked at No. 65. However, its B-side, 'Suffragette City,' eventually became a classic-rock radio staple a few years later, when the song was issued to promote the 1976 greatest-hits LP 'Changesonebowie.'

A limited-edition seven-inch picture disc of the 'Starman' single was released last year, as part of Record Store Day 2012.