Space Race (Billy Preston song)

"Space Race"
Single by Billy Preston
from the album Everybody Likes Some Kind of Music
B-side	"We're Gonna Make It"
Released	September 1973
Genre	Funk
Length	3:21
Label	A&M
Songwriter	Billy Preston
Producer	Billy Preston
Billy Preston singles chronology
"Will It Go Round in Circles" (1973) "Space Race" (1973) "You're So Unique" (1974)
Official Audio
"Space Race" on YouTube

"Space Race" is an instrumental track by Billy Preston, released as a single in 1973 on the A&M label. It was taken from Preston's 1973 album Everybody Likes Some Kind of Music , and "Space Race" was awarded a gold record. ^[1]

Chart performance

The single, a sequel to his 1972 hit, "Outa-Space", reached number one on the R&B chart for one week and number four on the Pop Singles chart. ^[2]

Personnel

• Billy Preston – vocals, keyboards, bass guitar, producer
• David T. Walker – guitar
• Hubert Heard, Kenneth Lupper – keyboards
• Paul Riser – string and horn arrangements
• Manuel Kellough – drums
• Tommy Vicari – engineer

Popular culture

• The instrumental proved popular enough that the musical variety show American Bandstand used it as the song for its mid-broadcast break from the mid-1970s until the show completed its run in 1989. ^[3]
• The song can also be heard in a party scene in the 1979 film When a Stranger Calls.^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. "A&M Records records".
2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 468.
3. White, Adam; Bronson, Fred (1993). The Billboard Book of Number One Rhythm & Blues Hits. Billboard Books:Watson-Guptill Publications, New York. p. 125. ISBN   9780823082858. Archived from the original on July 7, 2023.