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David Bowie FAQ:Music:Albums:
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
In 1972, Bowie released The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From
Mars, a concept album about the science fiction hero he had invented, whom he
described as 'my Martian messiah who twanged a guitar'. This is Bowie's most
influential and famous album. It was named the most influential album of the
seventies by Melody Maker, and was #6 on Rolling Stone's list of the best albums
of all time.
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The album was released June 6th and stayed on the US charts for 72 weeks, never
getting higher than #75.
In the UK charts, the album reached #5, and spent 106 weeks on the chart.
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The first single from the album, Starman, reached #10 on the UK charts and #65
on the US charts. Bowie told a Radio 1 DJ that Starman was based on Somewhere
Over The Rainbow from Wizard Of Oz.
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Two tracks, Moonage Daydream and Hang Onto Yourself were released under the name
Arnold Corns (the name was inspired by the Pink Floyd song Arnold Layne) in '71,
along with two other tracks which have not yet been officially released, "Man In
The Middle" and "Looking For A Friend" (both tracks have however been
extensively bootlegged). The Clothing designer Freddi Burette was supposedly the
lead singer. These tracks were later reworked for the album Ziggy Stardust.
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The phone booth that appears in one of the photos on the cover of Bowie's album
'The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars' was torn from
its place and was sold to an American fan in the late seventies. There was
nothing special about that phone booth (other than the fact that Bowie had been
in it). Another phone box was recently erected in the street in question.
The picture for the cover of Ziggy Stardust was taken in Heddon Street in Soho.
The K. West sign shown on the cover of Ziggy Stardust was stolen by a Bowie
fanatic, never to be found. K. West was an agent/theatrical supplier.
Writer Mark Paytress in his "Classic Albums" book for Ziggy suggests that the
cover scene was inspired by a weird avant garde short film called "Peeping Tom".
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Like many other Bowie albums, "The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The
Spiders From Mars" has enjoyed excellent long term sales and chart successes. It
was released as a cut-price vinyl album by RCA in 1981, and spent a further 62
weeks on the chart (peaking at #33).
In 1990, EMI and Ryko re-issued it on CD, with four bonus tracks, John I'm Only
Dancing (originally released as a single in 1972), Velvet Goldmine (a B-side),
Sweet Head (previously unreleased), and two previously unreleased demo versions
of Ziggy Stardust and Lady Stardust. The re-issue spent 4 weeks on the UK
charts, peaking at #25, and 9 weeks on the US charts (peaking at #93).
According to the MRIB in 1998, the album is the biggest-selling Bowie album of
all time in the UK.
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