Music journalist Jordan Runtagh dives deep into every detail of David Bowieâs life, lovers, psychology, and creative process in his podcast Off the Record: David Bowie. In this episode, he focuses on the making of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars album, from Bowieâs introduction to Andy Warhol, to orchestrator Mick Ronson quickly finishing arrangements on the toilet minutes before recording, to their history-making performance on Britainâs Top of the Pops. Thanks to Jordanâs expert storytelling, vivid detail, and evocative language, itâs easy to picture the âhip and beautiful version of hellâ that was iconic nightclub Maxâs Kansas City, where Bowie met Iggy Pop for the first time; the onstage antics of The Stooges and Alice Cooper; the âbomb of bad tasteâ that was Andy Warholâs performance piece Pork; and the enraptured stares of kids all over the UK watching Ziggy Stardust point directly at them on TV, saying, âI had to phone someone, so I picked on you.â
When the band started recording the Ziggy Stardust album in 1971, there wasnât so much a plot as a loose collection of songs that just sounded good together. But the studio wanted a single, so Bowie âwrote one to order,â creating âStarman,â a âperfect pop songâ that carries elements of T. Rex, the Supremes, and even Judy Garland. With that, the narrative fell into place: âA visionary poet named Ziggy attempts to save earth from destruction, only to be deified and ultimately destroyed by ego and rock ân roll excess,â Jordan sums up. It was âa comment on rock as an art form and simultaneously perfected the art form.â And it rolled up all of Bowieâs passions into one, from A Clockwork Orange to T.S. Eliot to Little Richard to The Quartermass Experiment, a BBC sci-fi show he watched as a kid.Â
It also provides a peek into his headspace at the time: His longing for fame and his fear of its effects on his sanity. Heâd watched rock stars crash and burn before, and it was a time where a lot of frontmen were leaving their bands, including Syd Barrett and Brian Wilson; Lou Reed had left The Velvet Underground to live in self-imposed exile with his parents, working as a typist for $40 a week. It was a tricky gig, fame and fortune â but David wanted it. The first Ziggy tour was far from glamorous â Jordan describes them âhauling their own gear and peeing in pub kitchen sinksâ â until July 1971, when they appeared on Top of the Pops. When they arrived at BBC Studios, their glam jumpsuits and spiky hair got them mistaken for extras on the sci-fi series Doctor Who. But they would change lives with their performance that night. Hear the entire fascinating story on this episode of Off the Record: David Bowie.
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