And Ziggy……Played Guitar

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

The greatest Bowie album. One of the best albums ever released by any artist.

Or is it?

In any Bowie lists, it’s usually No.1. It invariably features in Top 100 albums lists, especially in magazines such as Rolling Stone, Uncut or Classic Rock, etc. Everybody knows it. It’s obvious, isn’t it? Well, let’s dive in.

April 1972: I had pre-ordered a copy of Starman which was due for release. Very few of my mates had even heard of Bowie. I had regaled anyone within earshot of the genius, this new bloke Bowie and this amazing new record, ‘Starman.’

June 1972: I went down to the nearest major town to pick up the album, but did the unthinkable. I bought a copy of James Taylor’s ‘Mud Slide Slim (and the Green Horizon)’ instead. It’s a consummate record, with no duds on it. My innate quality control had started to kick in. Anyway, I already had ‘Starman’ and one of Ziggy’s best rockers was on the b-side, ‘Suffragette City’ which I had played to death. The fact it was a b-side was in itself sacrilege. A b-side. Bowie must have some material if this is confined to the flip. Ho-hum!

I didn’t buy a copy for a few years actually. It may even have been five!

So, Ziggy played guitar. In that case he’d better have a guitarist to back up the bragging rights…….and did he get one!

The incomparable Michael Ronson. It’s no dispute that he was a stage-equal to Bowie’s performance of the Ziggy character.

Bu no means a typical sidekick, Ronson was the absolute crutch on which every aspect of Bowie’s career hung.

Don’t think Mick got any writing credits. His craft at the end of Rock ‘n Roll Suicide is exceptional and better than the main structure of the song by a mile. The album could have done with more moments like that. He also played delightful piano.

The album, then. Well, it’s a bit of a structural mess in reality. When it was originally presented to RCA, there was no obvious single. Consequently it was revised and Bowie, to his enormous credit, just pulled a rabbit out of the hat with ‘Starman.’ Recording reconvened and the release pushed back. Also, there was no coordinated thread through the album. There was an apocalyptic song and a batch of songs with the word star in the title, but seemingly disconnected. There was a track about a fictional rock star called Ziggy, but one the star tracks was about dreaming of stardom and its feet were firmly planted in the awful present, since “Tony went to fight in Belfast & Suzy stayed at home to starve.” It was hardly sci-fi or a narrative about anthropological turmoil (‘Five Years’ was the exception). It wasn’t a concept album. Even Bowie said so, though he would have enjoyed there to have been one. He did have a cache of material up his sleeve, based on his ‘Black Holes’ ideas. It’s a shame they never came to fruition. Also, there was supposed to have been a rock ‘n roll album sandwiched between Hunky Dory and Ziggy. Again, we can only wonder why.

Critique of album

The first point to make, despite the album’s insistence that it “should be played at maximum volume,” is that it’s not a rock production. Ken Scott is still at the helm and the production is smooth and polished, with some wonderful string arrangements adorning some tracks. It’s amazing how much Ronson is restrained on the album. Live, and even on the Peel sessions, he’s like a man possessed. For instance, on ‘Hang On To Yourself’ (a tune dedicated to onanism) it’s approached like a Cochrane tribute and is more akin to the Arnold Corns version than the explosive opening to the Ziggy live concerts. There it is full-on punk, with Ronson wailing. Here it’s quite tame, though Dave encourages us to “Come On.”

‘It Ain’t Easy’ doesn’t even belong here. It was recorded during the Hunky Dory sessions, with Dana Gillespie on backing vocals. ‘Amsterdam’ was also recently cut, but can you imagine that on Ziggy? It didn’t make it to ‘Pin Ups.’

‘Round and Round’ was done, but omitted for ‘Starman.’ Told you it was a structural mess. Somehow this arbitrary approach formed the blueprint for Ziggy.

Ok, you may be forgiven for thinking I don’t like the album much. You couldn’t be more wrong. I do, always have. It’s just that its reception is so over-the-top. I still think it could have been so much better. That’s the case with many of Bowie’s albums, though. But the good stuff is often brilliant.

“I’m an alligator!” Bowie sings the intro to “Moonage Daydream,” perhaps the most iconic of all Ziggy’s songs and of Bowie’s entire catalogue. What Scott, Bowie and especially Ronson pull off here is quite exceptional. Live, it became central to the whole show. Ronson’s performance projected him into the elite of rock guitarists in the 70s. He could switch instantly from a melodic feel, based on his violin training, to a Beck-inspired maelstrom of histrionics and marshall mayhem. His hearing was badly damaged fro leaning so closely to his stacks. Mad. But what a player! His string arrangements were also top-notch and he was pretty neat on the old ivories. “Lady Stardust” is a superb ballad in his hands. It’s also one of my favourite Bowie compositions. If I’ve had enough real ale at our annual Xmas night out, I still get on the piano to play the intro to the song. It’s very West Side Story. Bowie was every bit Musical as he was music.

Moonage Daydream appears to be the closest we get to a rocker, but the solo is ‘constructed’ in such a way as to fit the cinematic feel of the composition.

After ‘Star’ the second side flows seamlessly without track breaks until the end of ‘Suffragette City’ offering the glimpse of a three-piece suite (sofa & a couple of chairs?). There’s a bit more Ronno in these three, but hardly a rock-out. Ziggy, itself, seems to borrow heavily from Bolan’s ‘Life’s A Gas’ for its opening riff. It’s a fairly restrained performance from Michael, too.

‘Suffragette City’ bounces along, but it had already been released as the b-side of the only single from the album, ‘Starman.’ So, it had already gained considerable familiarity with me and my mates by the time the album was released. It was all rather tantalising, especially when you consider the amount of really good material left on the shelf, unrecorded.

‘Rock ‘n Roll Suicide’ has the grand title, but is a damp squib of a finale. Ronson’s writing contribution toward the end is the best bit , as is the ‘Gimme Your Hands’ but the start a la Oddity is a tad lame. It’s all a bit of a mishmash of stuff, with songs dropped and others added, etc. I wonder what it would have been like with ‘The Shadowman’ and ‘Black Holes.’ We did get ‘Hole in the Ground’ eventually on ‘Toy,’ but that’s another story.

Live was a powerhouse

Nicky Graham (Peel - Bowie in the line up as a normal human being)

Matthew Fisher (Procul)

Robin Lumley

Pictured here a couple of covers displaying the typical set-lists from this period which show the Spiders borrowing from a variety of Bowie albums for the tours. As the tour progressed and gathered momentum additional musicians were added, particularly for the later parts of the USA and Japan legs. (Of course, the Japanese leg also ‘benefited’ from the inclusion of new material from Aladdin Sane).

For the early UK legs of pubs, nightclubs(!) and town halls three pianists were used. When John Peel reminisced about the Spiders a few years later, he played their original session for him, remarking that Bowie was listed like a normal human being then as part of the lineup. The pianist for this session was Nicky Graham.

Matthew Fisher (of Procul Harum fame) was another brought into the fold temporarily. Robin Lumley (yep, related to the nauseating Joanna) also enrolled but couldn’t do the States. Therein lies a tale. Consequently, in New York Mick Ronson auditioned the unlikely Michael Garson for the American tour. After a run of one line from, I think, ‘Changes’ Mick offered him the job on the spot. Garson had never heard of them. Such serendipity.

Note: in the above track-list there isn’t a hint of any Aladdin Sane material. That would evolve six months later while touring the States. Bowie relied on his back catalogue at this stage, throwing in a dash of Velvet Underground and Jaques Brel.

The live Bowie worked a treat. The band was a powerhouse and got better and better as the tours progressed, seemingly forever. The band also grew in number, being supplemented with additional instruments. Attention was paid to sound technology and costume and lighting. The benefits were obvious. Bowie and his band were aurally and visually spectacular. Even Bolan remarked that Bowie and Ronson were riveting. The album pales into comparison with the live shows. The Peel Sessions reveal a real rock band, with Ronson in his element giving the new tunes a much harder edge.

Below is an image of one of my books, the excellent Ziggy companion. However, there is not even an image of Ziggy on the cover (apart from the album) which is bizarre (though, unfortunately, typical of many publications). Any old Bowie image will suffice. Ironically, the main image is from 1974, a full year after Bowie had decommissioned Ziggy in July 1973 (and broken up the band, just as in the tune). The Spiders no longer existed as a band. Ronson was by now being promoted as a Mainman solo artist in his own right. The image is from Dutch TV, when Bowie had conjunctivitis. No he wasn’t a new character, Pirate Dave!

The lack of attention to detail is irritating and a concern, where history is often rewritten or narrative altered to fit opinions. Paytress confesses to never having witnessed many of the events about which he often writes. It shouldn’t be an issue, but problems do occur when facts become wildly inaccurate. Conventional wisdom (hegemonic narratives) replaces what did happen.

The cover of the book has strange images of Bowie: top left is one from around 1975, when he filmed The Man Who Fell To Earth, after the release of Young Americans. The right-hand image could be construed as a Ziggy image, but appears to be from the last part of the 73 tour, when he adorned his Aladdin Sane forehead and displayed his new Japanese gowns. The central image, as mentioned above, has nothing to do with the contents of the book, whatsoever! Bizarre.

There must be thousands of images of Bowie as Ziggy floating about.

However, the book is a good read (check out my book review section of the site).

Colworth’s book is one of the best rock books ever. It’s certainly the best Ziggy-related book. I would put it right up there with some of the best books I have ever read on Bowie. Maybe because it’s so unbelievable. Buy it!

Above is the rear of one of the best bootlegs of the Ziggy period. The sound quality is exceptional for its age. It’s also a fair leap from the album, with songs plundered from anywhere to fit the live concept. It’s ridiculous that a proper live recording of the Spiders has not been released to this day. Scandalous.

Finally, here’s the poster (with a proper image of Ziggy) advertising the autumn dates of the 72 tour, where Bowie & the Spiders were still playing nightclubs. I have an awful recording of the Locarno in Bristol, where they play the Beatles’ ‘This Boy.’

The Rainbow shows sound much better, but are remembered for their support act, none other than Roxy Music, who had just debuted their first album. They didn’t receive much of a welcome from the Bowie crew and don’t have fond memories of their experience. The attempted musical theatre spectacle, with its three-tier platforms, did little to enhance the clumsy performance.