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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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Bauhaus “Ziggy Stardust”

sfilzen — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 22:16:36 +0000

Bauhaus “Ziggy Stardust” released October, 1982. 12″ single on Beggar’s Banquet. The masters of goth’s 8th single was a tribute to the master of glam – they were huge Bowie fans – and is close to perfection; it went to #15 on the UK singles chart. According to Far Out Magazine the video for “Ziggy Stardust” was shot in the catacombs of Camden Market (actually just a series of tunnels but that’s what the locals call them) and features a full mock-gig set up with complete backline and riotous fans. It would act as a catapult for the band, eventually landing them a spot on the acclaimed show Top of the Pops. Fittingly, I picked up this 12″ in Camden a couple of months ago (or maybe it was in Islington, possibly SoHo. I can’t remember). Also on this 12″ is a Bauhaus original, “Party of the First Part” which is really weird and seriously creepy (perfect for Halloween season), a swinging little number with dialogue from the cartoon The Devil and Daniel Mouhaus. Side B has the Brian Eno-penned track “Third Uncle” that is Peter Murphy’d and Daniel Ash’d up (dark and slinky vocals, a sinister screaming, vaguely industrial guitar; it also appears on Bauhaus’ 1982 LP The Sky’s Gone Out) and a fairly rough live cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Waiting for the Man,” recorded in October 1981 at Fagin’s in Manchester. Nico herself joined Bauhaus on stage for the song. Southern Death Cult (later, just The Cult) was the supporting act and Ian Astbury said about the scene, “Nico just ended up in Manchester on heroin. Southern Death Cult supported Bauhaus at Salford University when she did ‘Waiting for the Man’ with them, and Pete Murphy had to hold her up, she was so smacked out!” And Peter Murphy stated, “Nico was gothic, but she was Mary Shelley gothic to everyone else’s Hammer horror film gothic. They both did Frankenstein, but Nico’s was real.” (from dangerousminds)

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David Bowie “Starman”

sfilzen — Mon, 17 Jun 2019 17:09:22 +0000

David Bowie “Starman” 1989 comp from the Soviet Union on Melodia Records. Joe was in Finland last week and scored this weird little gem at one of the eight record stores he managed to find in one single day as he meandered around Helsinki. The entire sleeve is in Russian (though the song tracks are also listed in English) so I have no clue what is written but am guessing it’s mostly description about the tracks included on the comp. On Side A: Bowie’s first big hit, “Space Oddity” (from his second LP David Bowie, 1969), “God Knows I’m Good” (also on David Bowie), “All the Madmen” and the excellent, glammy, T-Rex-ish “Black Country Rock” both from The Man Who Sold the World, 1970 (US)/1971 (UK). Side B is all cuts from 1972′s Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (which celebrated its anniversary release date yesterday, June 16th): “Five Years,” “Soul Love,” “Moonage Daydream,” one of my all-time Bowie faves “Starman,” and “Lady Stardust” (which is supposedly about T-Rex’s Marc Bolan – its original title was “He Was Alright (A Song for Marc).”)

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

sfilzen — Tue, 09 Jan 2018 01:12:55 +0000

David Bowie “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” 1972. Today, January 8th, is David Bowie’s birthday (b. 1947, d. 2016). 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. The past month or so I’ve had “Starman” on heavy repeat, such an amazing groove and so very otherworldly Bowie. In the past 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” binges 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.

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