Early on Wednesday, the Indian Space Research Organisation announced that its Mars probe had locked into orbit around the red planet. Shortly after, television channels and social media outlets went berserk retailing details about the mission and the planet that it seeks to study.

To add to the noise, here are five classic tunes about Mars.

Life on Mars David Bowie



From the 1971 album Hunky Dory, this chart hit by the British pop star has been described as a "cross between a Broadway musical and Salvador Dali painting".

Fireball XL 5 Theme Don Spencer



The staple of Indian childhoods in the 1980s, this song opened the puppet-driven sci-fi show about the adventures of  Colonel Steve Zodiac of the World Space Patrol.

Blues On Planet Mars Sun Ra & His Astro-Solar-Infinity Arkestra



As his name suggests, the eccentric jazz genius who called himself Sun Ra had a wide interest in matters inter-galactic.

Mission To Mars Ennio Morricone



The soundtrack to Brian De Palma's 2000 film was composed by the Italian musician Ennio Morricone, best remembered for his work on a string of spaghetti Westerns.

Mars, the Bringer of War Gustav Holst



The English composer Gustav Holst wrote the seven-part suite The Planets between 1914 and 1916.  It has since become one of the world's most widely recognised pieces of Western classical music. This rendition is by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by James Levine.