David Bowie & the Story of Ziggy Stardust Page #3
- Year:
- 2012
- 60 min
- 172 Views
for the pop-star
Peter Noone in July 1971.
Its strange lyrics were inspired
by the German philosopher
Frederick Nietzsche.
Does make you wonder,
did Peter Noone have any idea
what he was singing about?
# Let me make it plain
# You gotta make way
for the Homo Superior. #
MUSIC:
"Oh! You Pretty Things"by David Bowie
Bowie's own version,
recorded a few months later,
revealed the song's
compositional brilliance.
His songwriting
had shifted up a gear,
and Oh! You Pretty Things
was to be just one classic track
on a genius pop album, Hunky Dory.
# Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strain
# Ch-ch-changes... #
Listening to the demos
over at the house one evening,
the lightbulb went on
at the top of my head.
This guy could actually be someone.
The talent was coming through.
It was so very different from what
he'd done in the past and just,
"This guy's good."
Bowie brought back
two of the musicians
from The Man Who Sold The World
to play on Hunky Dory.
Guitarist Mick Ronson
and drummer Woody Woodmansey.
When Bowie was left short of a
bass player for a radio session,
Mick and Woody suggested their
mate from Hull, Trevor Bolder.
Herbie Flowers was
supposed to be on it,
and Herbie didn't turn up,
so I was dragged into learning
something like 12 songs or something
in an afternoon, then straight
after that we did Hunky Dory.
MUSIC:
"Life On Mars?"by David Bowie
Bowie didn't know it yet, but the
Spiders from Mars had just formed.
He now had in place the musicians
who could help him realise
his future Ziggy Stardust dream.
Hunky Dory also provided the
perfect platform for Mick Ronson
to really show off his
extraordinary musical abilities.
Mick was a very talented musician
apart from being
a dynamic guitar player.
He was instrumental in arrangements.
He'd been classically trained.
# Is there life on Mars? #
He was one of the great rock
musicians in history ever,
as an arranger, piano player as well.
It must have been like
having Stravinsky in your band.
On its release in November 1971,
Hunky Dory was widely
praised by the music press,
in both the UK and America.
But with little publicity,
it failed to chart.
Bowie's manager
was actually very keen
that Hunky Dory
should not be a success
because if Hunky Dory was a huge
album then it would not be possible
for Bowie to transform
himself into Ziggy Stardust.
We only had a two-week break between
Hunky Dory and starting Ziggy.
It was all kind of written
and ready to roll,
and we just had a break
and went straight into Ziggy.
I said, "You've got to be crazy."
and he says, "Management company
want me to do another album,"
and he said, "You're not going
to like this one." I said, "Why?"
He said, "Cos it's rock 'n' roll.
It's more like..."
I can't remember if he said
Iggy Pop and the Stooges
or Velvet Underground.
It wouldn't have mattered
because I didn't know of either
of those acts at that point anyway.
The Velvet Underground influence
can clearly be heard on Queen B*tch,
the one track on Hunky Dory that
links the album to Ziggy Stardust.
When Bowie performed on the
BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test
in February 1972, he might
have played songs from Hunky Dory
but the transformation into his
alien alter-ego had already started.
# Well, I'm up on the 11th floor
And I'm watching the cruisers below
# You know my heart's in a basement
My weekend's at an all-time low... #
By the time Hunky Dory
was completed,
Bowie had his Ziggy Stardust
album already written.
He had drawn on nearly
a decade of experience
to create the record that
would finally make him famous.
And this time he got it spot on.
Ziggy turned Bowie into stardust.
Ziggy Stardust was the thing that
really catapulted him into the universe.
It's an extraordinary record
and it still sounds amazing.
He revolutionised the music
business.
It is the greatest record of
the 1970s for me.
It is one of my favourite LPs still.
It lit the blue touch paper of imagination
and creativity for a lot of people.
# I can make it all worthwhile
as a rock 'n' roll star...
The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders
from Mars was David Bowie's first hit album.
The record that made him
a superstar.
It tells the story of a doomed alien
who takes human form as a rock star.
It inspired me.
It was an album that had a beginning and an
end and told a story. It was like a rock opera.
This superstar is killed by his own
fans. Rock 'n' roll suicide.
He's eaten alive by their energy that he's
fed them with. It was a brilliant idea.
It was an idea that suited
the dystopia of the period.
There had been economic chaos in the
late 60s and so the Conservatives came in
with the idea of battening down the hatches.
The short, sharp shock for everybody.
London was extremely poor and, in many ways, it
was still in the shadow of the Second World War.
In 1972, there were bombs sites still
everywhere. There was a recession.
There was the Cold War as well
and I think what David and Ziggy were offering
was a creature of fantasy come to save us.
He sang, "There's only five years
left of the Earth,"
and actually in 1972, you did believe
there was probably only five years.
# We've got five years
stuck on my eyes
# Five years
# What a surprise
# We've got five years
# My brain hurts a lot
# (Five years)
# That's all we've got...
The album was made at London's
Trident Studios,
previously home to recording sessions
by The Beatles and Elton John.
It was the job of the Spiders from Mars
to turn Bowie's demos into rock 'n' roll.
What he used to do for us was play a song on
acoustic guitar and we'd quickly go through the chords
and then we'd play the song.
Trevor and I would be going, is
there a chorus next? What comes after?
Does it end on chorus, what?
You know.
So you've only just got the bare bones of it in
your head and then he's going, OK, let's go for it!
You were on the edge
and you knew from experience
that he didn't like going
more than three takes.
You only had three shots
and then, wooh!
Then, what shall I say?
The atmosphere might change.
# Come on, come on
# If you think we're going to make
it, you better hang on to yourself. #
As a performer,
I haven't come across anyone better.
him was one take from beginning to end.
It was amazing.
# Well, the bitter comes out
better on a stolen guitar
# You're the blessed
# We're the Spiders from Mars...
quite lively and almost improvised.
It sounds like a group who's excited to be there.
It's not ponderous. It's very light on its feet.
# You better hang onto yourself... #
Bowie based the Ziggy character on an
eclectic group of his favourite singers
from the early rock 'n' roll of Little Richard
to the theatrical chansons of Jacques Brel.
The album was influenced by The Velvet Underground,
it was influenced by a lot of early rock 'n' roll.
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"David Bowie & the Story of Ziggy Stardust" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/david_bowie_%2526_the_story_of_ziggy_stardust_6412>.
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