1972 Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Lou Reed “Transformer”

sfilzen — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:42:16 +0000

Lou Reed “Transformer” released 50 years ago today, November 8th, 1972. Lou Reed’s second solo LP after leaving Velvet Underground in ’70 was produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson. It went to #29 in the US and to #13 in the UK and is considered one of the most important glam rock records ever released and ranks among the greatest albums of any genre (NME, Rolling Stone, Q). While “Walk on the Wild Side” gets most of the attention on Transformer (massively controversial still to this day for its content referencing transgender people and oral sex; it went to #16 in the US, #10 in the UK and reentered the charts after Reed’s death in 2013 at #14 in the US on the Hot Rock & Alternative chart), I’m really partial to the record’s opener “Vicious.” “Vicious” is a cocky, swaggering rocker that was quite literally inspired by Andy Warhol who told him to write a song titled “Vicious.” I also love “Perfect Day,” partially because Duran Duran covered it on their 1995 LP Thank You but also because it’s simply a very sweet song (though it’s said that the subtext is about heroin addiction – which is not sweet). “Satellite of Love” (#119 US) is fabulous: Bowie provides backing vocals and it’s a really Bowie-flavored track overall. Both Morrissey and U2 have successfully covered that track as well – Morrissey‘s went to #1 in the US after Reed’s death in 2013. Also notable are the glam-rockers “Wagon Wheel” and “I’m So Free.”

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Mott the Hoople “All the Young Dudes”

sfilzen — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 18:30:18 +0000

Mott the Hoople “All the Young Dudes” released 50 years ago today, September 8th, 1972. Their 5th studio LP, All the Young Dudes made Mott glam rock superstars. The record was produced and arranged by David Bowie; he also sang lead vocals on “Soft Ground” and most famously wrote the title track “All the Young Dudes.” That single, released a couple of months before the album, hit #3 in the UK and made a respectable showing the US, going to #37; it’s been described as the glam rock “ultimate ’70s glittered” anthem. Other notable contributors to All the Young Dudes also include Mick Ronson, who played strings and brass plus arranged “Sea Diver” and rock photographer Mick Rock who designed the LP cover. Besides the title track, my favorite song is Mott’s cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane” – it was released as a single in the North American market and parts of Europe but not the UK. I also like “One of the Boys,” another 70’s anthemic track, which was originally the b-side to “All the Young Dudes” and then released as a single in North America.

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David Bowie “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”

sfilzen — Thu, 16 Jun 2022 12:56:56 +0000

David Bowie “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” released 50 years ago today, June 16th, 1972. Since I’ve written about this amazing album before, I’ll quote myself here (slightly edited from the original post):

Bowie is one of my favorite artists of all-time, the influencer of diverse musicians – from Darby Crash of the Germs to Duran Duran – and he apparently was the glue that held our universe together. I’ve been obsessed with “Starman” for years, such an amazing groove and so very otherworldly Bowie. I’ve had equally intense obsessions with “Five Years” (especially after reading the Darby Crash biography Lexicon Devil in which I read that Crash pretty much modeled his rock-n-roll career and death on the song), “Suffragette City” (around 1988 while in high school I got in some trouble for writing “wham, bam thank you ma’am” on the cafeteria windows) and the title track “Ziggy Stardust.” However, the entire record is glam rock perfection and I’m sure I’ll go through “Soul Love” and “It Ain’t Easy” obsessions soon.

Ziggy Stardust was Bowie’s biggest album to that point in his career; after entering the charts at #10, it reached #5 in the UK and hit #75 in the US. Considered one of the greatest records ever, it is included in the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. The single “Starman” (with its b-side “Suffragette City”) hit #10 in the UK and #65 in the US. The other single released from Ziggy Stardust, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide,” just went to #22 in the UK after its belated release in 1974, a move RCA made in anticipation of Bowie’s upcoming Diamond Dogs LP.

In June 2019 we made a musical pilgrimage to London and one of our must-visits was the alley where the cover of Ziggy Stardust was photographed. It looks a lot different now, of course, but I had Joe replicate it to the best of my ability. There’s also a plaque that helpfully shows pilgrims like ourselves the exact spot (honestly the alley, or more specifically 14-18 Heddon St. just off of Savile Row, wasn’t that easy to find, at least for us).

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