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Ziggy Stardust

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (often shortened to Ziggy Stardust[1]) is the fifth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 16 June 1972 in the United Kingdom through RCA Records. It was co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott and features Bowie's backing band the Spiders from Mars, comprising Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey. Most of the songs were written around the same time as Bowie's previous album Hunky Dory (1971). After that album was completed, recording for Ziggy Stardust commenced in November 1971 at Trident Studios in London, with further sessions in early February 1972.

Described as a loose concept album and rock opera, Ziggy Stardust concerns Bowie's titular alter ego Ziggy Stardust, a fictional androgynous and bisexual rock star who is sent to Earth as a saviour before an impending apocalyptic disaster. In its story, Ziggy wins the hearts of fans but suffers a fall from grace after succumbing to his own ego. The character was inspired by numerous musicians, including singers Vince Taylor and Iggy Pop. Most of the album's concept was developed after the songs were recorded. The glam rock and proto-punk musical styles were influenced by Pop, the Velvet Underground, and Marc Bolan of T. Rex, while the lyrics discuss the artificiality of rock music, political issues, drug use, sexual orientation and stardom. The album cover, photographed in monochrome and recoloured, was taken in London, outside the home of furriers "K. West".

Preceded by the single "Starman", Ziggy Stardust peaked at number 5 in the UK and number 75 in the United States. It initially received favourable reviews from music critics; some praised the musicality and concept while others were unable to comprehend it. Shortly after its release, Bowie performed "Starman" on Britain's Top of the Pops in early July 1972, which propelled him to stardom. The Ziggy character was retained for the subsequent Ziggy Stardust Tour, leaving Bowie unable to differentiate between Ziggy and himself. Not wanting Ziggy to define him, Bowie created a new character for his next album Aladdin Sane (1973), which Bowie described as "Ziggy goes to America". Performances from the tour were later released on a concert film of the same name with an accompanying live album (1983) and Live Santa Monica '72 (2008).

Retrospectively, Ziggy Stardust is considered one of Bowie's best works and has appeared on numerous lists of the greatest albums of all time. Bowie had ideas for a musical based on the album, although this project never came to fruition; ideas were later used for Diamond Dogs (1974). Ziggy Stardust has been reissued several times and was remastered in 2012 for its 40th anniversary. In 2017, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry, being deemed "culturally, historically, or artistically significant" by the Library of Congress.

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Glam rock

proto-punk

The Spiders from Mars

The Spiders from Mars were rock singer David Bowie's backing band in the early 1970s, and initially consisted of Mick Ronson on guitars, Trevor Bolder on bass guitar, and Mick Woodmansey on drums.[1]

The group had its origins in Bowie's earlier backing outfit the Hype, which featured Ronson and Woodmansey, but Tony Visconti on bass. They were briefly signed as a band on its own, known as Ronno. With Bolder taking over bass, they were subsequently named via the landmark 1972 Bowie concept album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and were billed as such on the accompanying large-scale Ziggy Stardust Tour. Bowie had originally wanted keyboardist Rick Wakeman to join the band (Wakeman had played piano on Bowie's second album and on Hunky Dory and was active with the band The Strawbs); however, Wakeman declined and instead joined progressive rock band Yes.[2] Wakeman would feature uncredited on the album, and would collaborate with Bowie again on "Absolute Beginners". The Spiders from Mars were present again on Bowie's 1973 album, Aladdin Sane. Another leg of the tour followed that year, with the final show captured in the film, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.[3]

The group joined Bowie's stage persona, Ziggy Stardust in the theatrical style of the material's presentation. Ronson's guitar and arranging during the Spiders from Mars era not only fit into this style, but also provided much of the underpinning for later punk rock musicians.[4]

In 1975, Bolder and Woodmansey reformed the band without Ronson, and were joined in this lineup by Mike Garson, Dave Black, and Pete McDonald. Their self-titled album, released in 1976, was their only album before the group disbanded.

The band's name came from the UFO sighting on 27 October 1954, where a stadium crowd thought they had witnessed Martian spacecraft which cast off a thin filament material, later hypothesized to be webs from migrating spiders. The band's name did not come, as sometimes believed by Bowie fans, from the Martian areographic features often labelled as 'spiders' and 'baby spiders'.

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