David Bowie released his first single in June 1964 as Davy Jones and the King Bees but he didn't score a hit until 1969 when Space Oddity became a top 5 hit. However, despite the success of the song, chart success eluded him throughout 1970 and 1971 and he didn't score a hit again until Starman became a top 10 single in 1972. As a result of his lack of success during the 60s and early 70s, Bowie gave away several songs to other artists in order to get some royalty money.