Ziggy Stardust encyclopedia topics

Conception and inspiration

The album presents the story, albeit vaguely, of "Ziggy Stardust," a Martian who comes to Earth to liberate humanity from banality. Ziggy Stardust is the definitive rock star: sexually promiscuous, wild in drug intake and with a message, ultimately, of peace and love; but he is destroyed both by his own excesses of drugs and sex, and by the fans he inspired. The real-life inspiration for Ziggy was chiefly Vince Taylor.

Bowie claimed that the name came from a tailor's shop in London called Ziggy's. Bowie later told Rolling Stone it was "one of the few Christian names I could find beginning with the letter 'Z'." "Stardust" comes from one of Bowie's labelmates, a country singer named Norman Carl Odam, The Legendary Stardust Cowboy. Bowie covered a Legendary Stardust Cowboy song, "I Took a Trip (On a Gemini Spaceship)" thirty years later on Heathen.

Production

The Ziggy Stardust sessions began just a few weeks after Hunky Dory was released. The first song of the album, the cover "It Ain't Easy," was recorded in September 1971. The first session in November produced "Hang on to Yourself," "Ziggy Stardust," "Rock 'n' Roll Star" (later shortened to "Star"), "Moonage Daydream," "Soul Love," "Lady Stardust," and "Five Years."

Also recorded during the November Ziggy Sessions were two more cover songs intended for the as-yet untitled album. They were Chuck Berry's "Around and Around" (re-titled "Round and Round") and Jacques Brel's "Amsterdam" (re-titled "Port of Amsterdam"). A re-recording of "Holy Holy" (first recorded in 1970 and released as a single, to poor sales, in January 1971) was initially slated for Ziggy, but was dropped in favor of "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide." "Round and Round" was replaced by "Starman" and "It Ain't Easy" replaced "Amsterdam" on the album's final running order. All three were eventually released as b-sides.

"Velvet Goldmine," first recorded during the Hunky Dory sessions, was also intended for Ziggy, but was replaced by "Suffragette City." RCA released it in 1975 as the b-side to the UK re-release of "Space Oddity" after having it remixed and mastered without Bowie's approval.

After recording some of the new songs for Sounds Of The 70s with Bob Harris (which appear on Bowie at the Beeb) as the newly-dubbed Spiders from Mars in January-February 1972, the band returned to Trident. They recorded "Starman," "Suffragette City," and "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" by the end of the month.

"Starman," released as a single in April (and not intended for the final album at first), has never appeared in its original "loud" mix on CD. It differs somewhat in that it "features a subdued 'morse code' section between the verse and the chorus" compared to the original released in 1972. "Starman"'s b-side, "Suffragette City," was mastered for the album with a three-note coda leading in from "Ziggy Stardust" to make the songs sound linked. They were never played as such by Bowie in concert.

Recorded and released during the ensuing Ziggy tour were two other songs. The first, "John, I'm Only Dancing," was recorded at Trident in late June and released (in the UK only) in September. "The Jean Genie," recorded at RCA Studios in New York in early October at the start of the American tour, was released in the U.S. in November. The song was remixed for Aladdin Sane.

Rock keyboardist Rick Wakeman was given the opportunity to play keyboards on the album but Rick opted to join the progressive rock group Yes instead.

Styles and themes

Many of Bowie's songs are homages to his favorite musicians, frequently with chords and styles taken and reinterpreted in a glam rock fashion. "Star" begins similarly to The Who's "Pinball Wizard" (off Tommy), while surf rock (such as The Beach Boys) influenced "Suffragette City." Most of the other songs are pure glam rock, influenced by T. Rex, Ray Davies, The Stooges and The Velvet Underground, among others.

Many of the songs on this album show Bowie's habit of inserting powerful exhalations, usually nothing more than a "ha" or "ah" shouted with great intensity. One more complex (and memorable) example is on "Suffragette City" where the most memorable line, the frantically shouted "wham, bam, thank you ma'am" was an improvised replacement for "one more time," and was a homage to the song of a similar title ("Wham Bam Thank You Mam") by Small Faces. In addition, simple two-syllable phrases provide the spine for "Suffragette City" ("hey man"), "Hang on to Yourself" ("come on"), "Lady Stardust" ("all right"), and "Five Years" ("five years").

Of particular note is "Five Years," the album's opener, where the title is hoarsely shouted repeatedly, each time more and more powerful as though Bowie were having a breakdown in the studio. "Star" is a memorably pure rock and roll song, describing the beauty of being a rock star; it is Ziggy's dream, ending with the prophetic "just watch me now," taken from the Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane." "Starman," the album's single, has been described as a cross between mod and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" with an exhilarating chorus of Ziggy sending a message to Earthlings via the radio, warning them that he will come to liberate their minds if they are ready for it. "Soul Love" is notable for Bowie's pioneering and original use of a jazzy saxophone.

Release and aftermath

Upon its release on 6 June 1972, Ziggy Stardust reached number five in the UK and number seventy-five in the US. The album was eventually certified platinum and gold in the UK and US respectively. The only single from the record, "Starman", charted at number ten in the UK while peaking at the sixty-fifth spot in the US.

In 1997 Ziggy Stardust was named the 20th greatest album of all time in a 'Music of the Millennium' poll conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM. In 1998 Q magazine readers placed it at number 24 and Virgin All-time Top 1000 Albums ranked it at number 11, while in 2003 the TV network VH1 placed it at number 48. It was named the 35th best album ever made by Rolling Stone on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2000 Q placed it at number 25 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2004 it was placed at number 81 in Pitchfork Media's Top 100 Albums of the 1970s. In his 1995 book, "The Alternative Music Almanac," Alan Cross placed the album in the #3 spot on the list of '10 Classic Alternative Albums'. In 2006, the album was chosen by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 best albums of all time.

Track listing

All tracks written by David Bowie except as noted.

"Five Years" – 4:43
"Soul Love" – 3:33
"Moonage Daydream" – 4:35
"Starman" – 4:02
"It Ain't Easy" (Ron Davies) – 2:56
"Lady Stardust" – 3:20
"Star" – 2:47
"Hang on to Yourself" – 2:37
"Ziggy Stardust" – 3:05
"Suffragette City" – 3:19
"Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" – 2:57

Bonus tracks (1990 Rykodisc/EMI)

"John, I'm Only Dancing" (previously unreleased mix) – 2:43
"Velvet Goldmine" (single b-side of from the 1975 RCA re-release of "Space Oddity; Original recording from the Hunky Dory sessions, 1971) – 3:09
"Sweet Head" (previously unreleased outtake) – 4:14
"Ziggy Stardust" (demo) – 2:35
"Lady Stardust" (demo) – 3:35

Personnel

David Bowie – vocals, acoustic guitar, saxophone, piano
Mick Ronson – guitars, piano, backing vocals, string arrangement
Trevor Bolder – bass
Mick Woodmansey – drums

Additional personnel

Dana Gillespie – backing vocals on "It Ain't Easy"
Rick Wakeman – harpsichord, keyboards
Lindsay Scott – violin on 12

Technical personnel

Ken Scott – producer, recording engineer, mixing engineer
David Bowie – producer
Dr. Toby Mountain – remastering engineer (for Rykodisc release)
Jonathan Wyner – assistant remastering engineer (for Rykodisc release)
Peter Mew – remastering engineer (for EMI release)
Nigel Reeve – assistant remastering engineer (for EMI release)

Compact disc releases

Ziggy Stardust was first released in on compact disc by RCA. The digital master recording was made from the equalised master tapes used for the LP release.

1990 Rykodisc/EMI

Dr. Toby Mountain at Northeastern Digital, Southborough, Massachusetts, remastered Ziggy from the original master tapes for Rykodisc, who released it with five bonus tracks.

1999 EMI/Virgin

The album was remastered by Peter Mew at Abbey Road Studios without bonus material, with the same track listing as the 1984 CD release.

2002 EMI/Virgin

In 2002, a 2-disc version was released by EMI/Virgin. The first in a series of 30th Anniversary 2CD Editions, this release included a newly-remastered version as its first CD. The second disc contains twelve tracks, most of which had been previously released on CD as bonus tracks of the 1990-92 reissues. "Sweet Head" is the same version as on the 1990 reissue, but with extended studio banter in the beginning. The new mix of "Moonage Daydream" was originally done for a 1998 Dunlop television commercial.

The remaster on this edition reverses the left and right stereo channels on the first disc and many of the songs have been edited. Among other things, the three-note bridge between "Ziggy Stardust" and "Suffragette City," and the count-in to "Hang on to Yourself" are missing.

At the same time, an SACD version which includes both stereo and 5.1 mixes (both with 96KHz/24 bit resolution) was released.

Bonus CD (2002 EMI/Virgin)

All tracks written by David Bowie except as noted.

"Moonage Daydream" (Arnold Corns version) – 3:53
"Hang on to Yourself" (Arnold Corns version) – 2:55
"Lady Stardust" (demo) – 3:34
"Ziggy Stardust" (demo) – 3:38
"John, I'm Only Dancing" – 2:49
"Velvet Goldmine" – 3:14
"Holy Holy" (1972 re-recording) – 2:26
"Amsterdam" (Jacques Brel, Mort Shuman) – 3:25
"The Supermen" (alternate version, recorded for the Glastonbury Fayre in 1971, originally released on Glastonbury Fayre Revelations - A Musical Anthology, 1972 and on CD on 1990's Rykodisc/EMI ''Hunky Dory) – 2:41
"Round and Round" (Berry) – 2:44
"Sweet Head" – 4:53
"Moonage Daydream" (new mix) – 4:47

Personnel

(only on tracks where it differs from album)

David Bowie – vocals on 1 2, guitar on 1 2 4, piano on 1 2 3
Freddi Burretti – vocals on 1 2
Peter De Somogyl – bass on 1 2
Mark Carr Pritchard – guitar on 1 2
Tim Broadbent – drums on 1 2
Lindsay Scott – violin on 5

Release history (selected)

Region	Label	Format	Catalog
United Kingdom (UK)	RCA Victor	LP	SF 8287
United States (U.S.) / Canada	RCA	LP	LSP 4702
UK reissue	RCA	LP	INTS 5063
U.S. / Canada reissue	RCA	LP	3843
U.S.	MFSL	LP	MFSL 1-064 (mfd. in Japan)
Worldwide	RCA	CD	PD 4702 (mfd. in W. Germany) PCD1-4702 (mfd. in Japan)
U.S.	Rykodisc	CD	RCD 10134
Worldwide (except U.S.)	EMI	CD	CDP 79 4400 2
U.S.	Rykodisc	Gold CD (Rykodisc Au20 series)	RCD 80134
Worldwide	EMI/Virgin	CD	7243 521900 0 3
Worldwide	EMI/Virgin	2 CD 30th Anniversary Edition	72435 39826 2 1