Bob Dylan on the Moon landings, 1969

The commentary was going to be done by a USAF commander at Nasa HQ, but that was considered a touch dull, given the epic achievement of having a man walk on the Moon. So they asked Bob Dylan to be "guest commentator"; the only stipulation was that he had to say, "That's one small step for a man - one giant leap for mankind," which had been approved at the highest level.When the corkscrew-haired visionary arrived in his dark glasses, it was clear there might be trouble. His opening words, "I was ridin' on Apollo 11 when I thought I spied some land" did not augur well, nor did his conviction that among the personnel piloting the landing craft were a juggler, a clown, a gambler, a jingle-jangle percussionist and a melancholy woman from the Lowlands.Pressed to describe the lunar landscape, he told the NBC audience: "The mystic spattered mist lies bleeding in the night/ where the cowboy junkie rides the tattered freight train." The producers looked at each other. As Neil Armstrong placed his foot on the Moon's surface, Dylan was prompted to say the famous line. "It's a small step for a man..." he began, "Down the ladder he does go/ He's come a long long journey/ from Desolation Row." They fired Dylan and got Armstrong to do it again, saying the line himself. He ballsed it up as well.