David Bowie & the Story of Ziggy Stardust Page #3

---

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...

It sounds quite first takey,

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.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes