I will need to tread very carefully. There are people out there who are as passionate about David Bowie as I am about Bob Dylan. They'll be sitting in the bushes reading this, ready to take me down with a single shot if I say one word out of place, distort one fact, misquote one lyric or disparage him in any way.
Like so many others, my first exposure to Bowie was in 1969 through 'Space Oddity'. It wasn't his first single - that happened in 1964 with 'Liza Jane' as Davie Jones and the King Bees. It wasn't on his first album - that was 'David Bowie' in 1967 (not to be confused with his 1969 album of the same name which DID include 'Space Oddity'). It was his first UK #1 hit though, but not at the time. When it was released it made it to #5. It was only when it was re-released in 1975 that it cracked the coveted #1 spot.
I had a few other Bowie albums over the years, but as a total entity this was always my favourite, followed closely by his set of covers on 'Pin-Ups'. I think my go-to Bowie song has to be the sparse, minimalistic 'Sound and Vision'.
So, to this featured album. I love all of it, in total or in part. I can listen to it as a whole or cherry-pick songs and jump around the tracks. This belies what a lot of reviewers and critics say - that this is some form of concept album and that the character of Ziggy appears almost throughout.
'Five Years' is a dystopian song of a limited time left before the world is no more. Reviewers say that Ziggy is indirectly introduced on this track, presumably in the verse ..
"I think I saw you in an ice-cream parlor,
Drinking milk shakes cold and long
Smiling and waving and looking so fine,
Don't think you knew you were in this song"
The song itself starts with what has been described as a 'heartbeat' drum-beat with a controlled vocal setting the scene. By the end, Bowie is screaming out a warning, his voice breaking in panic and emotion, almost a sob in the final pleading. Amazing.
'Soul Love' is gentler, talking of love, but with an undercurrent. Don't be fooled by the pleasantry and imagery of some early verses ..
"New love, a boy and girl are talking
New words, that only they can share in
New words, a love so strong it tears their hearts
To sleep through the fleeting hours of morning"
Bowie plays a very creditable saxophone solo in the middle break. Always love a sax solo.
'Moonage Daydream' is full on Ziggy, clearly telling us in the second line with no doubt ..
"I'm the space invader, I'll be a rock 'n' rollin' bitch for you"
'Starman' is obviously a Ziggy song, a 'Starman' bringing hope to Earth through the T.V. and radio. The funny thing is though, the song nearly didn't make it on the album. The Chuck Berry cover 'Round and Round' was meant to be there but the RCA head wanted a releasable single so Bowie wrote this. I don't know how 'Round and Round' would have fitted in and more to the point how could Ziggy exist without this narrative.
Having said that, the track 'It Ain't Easy' IS a cover song, written and sung originally by Ron Davies and this song definitely, literally and unequivocally has nothing whatsoever to do with the Ziggy story. Odd.
'Lady Stardust' switches from the female 'lady' to telling us the singer was a boy in bright blue jeans and long black hair.
"People stared at the makeup on his face
Laughed at his long black hair, his animal grace
The boy in the bright blue jeans
Jumped up on the stage
And lady stardust sang his songs
Of darkness and disgrace"
The popular thinking is that the song was about Bowie's contemporary, Marc Bolan, particularly as the working title was 'Song For Marc'. Pretty much confirms it really. The great Marc Bolan. LOVE Marc Bolan.
Doing a 'Readers Digest' version of the next 2 songs combined with this one, according to the biographer Nicholas Pegg, they string together " 'Lady Stardust' presents Ziggy being recalled by the audience, 'Star' shows him only singing to a mirror, and 'Hang On to Yourself' puts him in front of the crowd."
The eponymous track 'Ziggy Stardust' gives Ziggy's life story starting and ending with the same line .. "Ziggy played guitar" but in between it chronicles the size of his penis, his drug use and how he got a bit too big for his boots.
"Came on so loaded man, well hung and snow white tan"
The best thing about doing these posts isn't just recalling my impressions of an album or artist, or re-listening to the songs and getting back some of the thrill I got from first playings - it's also finding out new things. Obviously I don't know everything about everything so I do the odd bit of research here and there and I love it when I find out new things.
For instance, looking behind the scenes on this recording I discovered that Bowie wrote 'All The Young Dudes' recorded by Mott The Hoople. Apparently, he offered them the song that became the next track on this album, 'Suffragette City', but they went for 'Dudes' instead. I'm sure everybody but me already knew that, but I'm so pleased I found out.
'Rock 'n' Roll Suicide' ends the album, metaphorically and physically. Last track and the last thoughts and words of Ziggy himself.
A great album. Really, nothing short of a great album. Take it out, dust it off, let's all hope we have more than 'Five Years' left.
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