After his February 1971 US tour being influenced by music in America David Bowie started working on 2 albums. The first album "Hunky Dory" (read more about that one here) and "The Rise & Fall Of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars". "Hunky Dory" was not suitable enough to perform live so they needed another album to do on stage. Bowie declared his intention to create a character "who looks like he's landed from Mars". Bowie explained that the "Ziggy" part came from a tailor's shop called Ziggy's that he passed on a train. But it also sounds a lot like the name of Iggy Pop. The "Stardust" surname was a tribute to the "Legendary Stardust Cowboy". Who was a performer known for making the worst single "Paralyzed" in history and wearing a cowboy outfit. The legendary stardust cowbow played many instruments including guitar which he couldn't play and he couldn't sing clearly. Anyway Bowie's strange way of dressing and the name Stardust inspired Bowie to create the character: Ziggy Stardust.
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| Original single cover |
The album "The Rise & Fall Of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars" would become a fusion between his albums "The Man Who Sold The World" (heavy rock) and "Hunky Dory" (lighter pop music). Bowie entered the world of glam rock. The first single was a direct hit reaching #10 in the UK after the appearance in Top Of The Pops. The non-album single "John, I'm Only Dancing" (UK #12) and the song Bowie wrote for Mott The Hoople called "All the Young Dudes" (UK #3) were very successful in the UK. His contributions to other artists continued with Lou Reed's album "Transformer". The following year Bowie co-produced and mixed the Iggy & Stooges' album "Raw Power". The "Ziggy Stardust" album reached #5 in the UK and #21 in the US. Bowie toured through the UK and then US again being introduced as Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders from Mars instead of David Bowie. They dressed up with costumes primarily designed by Kansai Yamamoto. They were: David Bowie (vocals/guitar), Mick Woodmansey (drums), Mick Ronson (guitar) and Trevor Bolder (bass).
During a concert on July 3th 1973 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London Bowie ended his band Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders from Mars and that was the last live performance of the band. With the line-up of this band he recorded one more album "Pin Ups" in 1973 which was an entire album consisting of covers. Bowie continued his career without the Spiders from Mars in 1974.
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| Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders from Mars |
OUTTAKES
A lot of songs were written for the album and different tracklistings were suggested before the album was finally released. The outtakes "Velvet Goldmine" and "Sweet Head" did fit the narrative, but both contained provocative lyrics, which likely contributed to their exclusions. Another unused song is a remake of "Holy Holy" which was released in 1971 as a single for "The Man Who Sold The World". Besides "It Ain't Easy" (Ron Davies) two other covers were considered: "Round and Round" (Chuck Berry) and "Amsterdam" (Jacques Brel).
Below is the legendary earlier album title and tracklisting that was finally released on LP only in 2024 for Record Store Day.
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| Album cover from 2024 |
Waiting in the Sky (Before The Starman Came to Earth) (2024)
Five Years / Soul Love / Moonage Daydream / Round and Round / Amsterdam / Hang On To Yourself / Ziggy Stardust / Velvet Goldmine / Holy Holy / Star / Lady Stardust
SONGS
- Five Years - About a news broadcast that announced the world has five years before it ends because of an apocalypse
- Moonage Daydream - Ziggy introduces himself
- Starman - Ziggy tells the youth that he will come to rescue them from the acopolypse
- Lady Stardust - Was originally a song titled "A Song for Marc". About Marc Bolan who Bowie worked with earlier. It was tranformed into a song about gender bender.
- "Ziggy Stardust" - Shows the character's rise and fall in a very human manner
- "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" - Ends the album where the character kills itself on stage
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| Bowie in the phone box at the back of the album |
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| Alternative pose for the album |
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| Heddon Street nowadays |
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| Original album cover |
Rock'n'Roll Suicide
Velvet Goldmine
Moonage Daydream