A quote from Newsweek October 1972 by Hurbert Saal. "Bowie grew up in Brixton, South London. The child of middle-class parents, he wanted to be a commercial artist before becoming what has been called the Lauren Bacall of Rock. Perhaps his freakiness is an antidote for his self-confessed emotional numbness. "Offstage I'm a robot. Onstage I achieve emotion. It's probably why I prefer being Ziggy to David. Who's David Bowie? I can't seem to understand the 'why' of things, like 'why are we'." His world-weariness does not seem at all affected".(see links page)

Oh! You Pretty Things, Changes and Life on Mars were big hit singles from the album Honky Dory. The picture of Bowie in a dress on the album cover was a sensation and the start of a new and exiting time. This album preceded The Rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars which drew much critical acclaim. I have played this album every month since its release and can never tire of it. The first of Bowie's creations was unleashed, ZIGGY STARDUST.

A quote from Rolling Stone magazine by John Mendelssohn in April 1971 (see links page) "LOS ANGELES - in his floral-patterned velvet midi-gown and cosmetically enhanced eyes, in his fine chest-length blonde hair and mod nutty engineer's cap that he bought in the ladies' hat section of the City of Paris department store in San Francisco, he is ravishing, almost disconcertingly reminiscent of Lauren Bacall, although he would prefer to be regarded as the latter-day Garbo".

Boy? Girl? Man? Woman? Who cared? We were taken on a fantastic journey through space and time. Bowie became a super star, wowing audiences all over the world with his unique brand of music. The hard hitting guitar riffs, singalong melodies, poetic lyrics and memorable tunes were excellently produced and performed. Bowie changed rock music forever and the world of music would never be the same again.

A quote from Richard Cromelin of the Rolling Stone Magazine July 1972 (see links page) "David Bowie has pulled off his complex task with consummate style, with some great rock & roll (the Spiders are Mick Ronson on guitar and piano, Mick Woodmansey on drums and Trevor Bolder on bass; they're good), with all the wit and passion required to give it sufficient dimension and with a deep sense of humanity that regularly emerges from behind the Star facade. The important thing is that despite the formidable nature of the undertaking, he hasn't sacrificed a bit of entertainment value for the sake of message. I'd give it at least a 99".

By 1972 Bowie was well established in Europe and much loved in Japan. Bowie took Ziggy to America. Amongst numerous venues across the States, the performance in Carnigie Hall, New york was one of the most celebrated. The tickets for the Carnigie Hall gig were sold out in days, everybody who was anybody attended to witness a new world wide phenomenon. Bowie didn't just do gigs and one could never say they were just rock concerts they were theatrical extravaganzas!

The images that Bowie created were inspired by fashion designers and photographers. The people on Bowies same wave length were designer Kansai Yamamoto and photographer Sukita. Bowie wore many of Kansai's creations as both Ziggy and Aladinsane. Some of the images here are from these collections. Other inspirations came from Lou Reed of Velvet Underground and Iggy Pop. Bowie later produced Reeds album, Transformer. Lindsay Kemp also influenced Bowie teaching him mime which was an important part of the Ziggy character and the stage show. Bowie in return has influenced many pop and rock artists some of which Bowie has written songs for. Mott the Hoopleowe much thanks when Bowie wrote and produced their biggest hit "All the Young Dudes". Other artists have covered Bowies work,Lulu's version of "The Man Who Sold The World" was a big hit and more recently, Culture clubs "Starman".

The Spiders From Mars were the group behind the characters Ziggy and Aladinsane. Drummer-Woody Woodmansy, bass guitar-Trevor Bolder and lead guiter-Mick Ronson. There was a forth member , Mike garson who played piano. I believe that the piano music on the Aladinsane album was ingenious, so well written and perfect for the mood of the piece. These musicians were, as far as i'm concerned, some of the best in the business.

For more info go to links page

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