David Bowie's 'The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars' 40th anniversary edition featuring the newly remastered audio. Out 4th June 2012. http://www.davidbowiecatalogue.com/?utm_campaign=ziggystardust&utm_medium=web_link&utm_source=yt_sampler

I'm a big David Bowie fan and can't wait to hear the remastered tracks in 5.1 surround!

I even wrote and recorded a Bowie tribute a couple of years back, first as an instrumental, and than a friend wrote and recorded lyrics for it. Bowie heard it and sent me a nice note. I have to find/import the track and upload later.

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Tony Houston

One of the top 10 albums of the 70s in my opinion, and an example of why it was such a glorious decade for popular music. My musical heroine (and a young) Kate Bush attended the Hammersmith showing of the legendary Ziggy tour and she cites it as one of the visual inspirations for her own gob smackingly brilliant "Tour of Life" shows later on in that decade. Regretably her only tour. So yet another reason for my affection for Ziggy..)

As for Bowie, it was his peak and it was downhill from there, but no doubt many will disagree!

I may well treat myself to this anniversary Stardust package so thanks to thouston for the info..

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

Just for shucks, since I've got the photo handy in my Photobucket album, I wonder if you can tell where I'm standing in this picture? The location has changed a fair bit in nearly four decades but...







Hm. Looks like someone disagrees...

Cheers - C

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I remember queuing at the barbers for the David Bowie "Ziggy" haircut
That place has cleaned up Ceri eh, not one sign of decadence evident, miles away from what it used to portray on the Album cover...cool pic

Pix, please!



Can you tolerate one more? This claims to be the self-same phone box as on the back of the album. Since the invention of mobile phones we have very few public call boxes left in London, and almost none of these old style ones (you can buy them from BT for about a grand, I believe. They're solid iron and heavy).

They took the Ziggy phone box away briefly, but public outrage led to them putting it back, smartish. There's often a long line of tourists waiting to get their photo taken in it:



And for those who are still wondering, yer 'tis:





Cheers - C

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Wow, that is so cool! Do you know what happened to the 'K West' sign?



Yeah, I disagree, I didn't listen to 'Ziggy' until years after it came out. I was part of a 'music consultant' group when WVUD was still a indie college radio station, and was given a copy of 'Space Oddity' to listen. The single 'Space Oddity' was quite a lot on the station, but I didn't care much for the rest of the album.

I remember buying 'Aladdin Sane' and didn't listen to it much, or liked it. By that time I was playing guitar, and listened to mostly P-Funk. For some reason I still brought 'Diamond Dogs', and one day I came home from work, and my (than)wife said "Smoke this, and listen to this album.".

Well, I was 'blown' away by the whole concept of the album, this led me back to listen to 'Aladdin Sane' (which is a pun on 'A Lad Insane'), and I was hooked.

Than Bowie released 'Young Americans', and was on 'Soul Train' and the Dick Cavett show, I was really a big fan by that time. We saw two of the 'Thin White Duke' shows, and shows they were. I've attended many great concerts over the years, those shows are close to the top of my list.

Than, he started releasing the 'Berlin Trilogy' albums 'Station to Station', 'Low' and 'Heroes'.

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Tony Houston

Had that queuing only been yesterday Ceri , I know one existed but where it is after all this time is anyones guess

Not to drift my own post, but I was excited about 'Tin Machine', I caught the Cleveland show.

I was really impressed with Reeves Gabrels http://reevz.net/, and surprised recently to read a local post on CL from his bassist/booking agent look for a gig in this (Dayton, OH) area. They had a gig in Toledo, and wanted another gig close, he was even offering the band as a 'opening' act!

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Tony Houston

Hi Tony: well, so happens I have a book called London's Rock Landmarks which informs us K West was a firm of furriers, long gone, but that the sign is still there. My photo was taken two or three years ago: the sign must have been yards from where I'm standing but I must admit I don't remember seeing it. I go past that spot now and again and will definitely double-check!

...BTW: it is Heddon Street, right in the middle of town, easy to find for anyone who's visiting my city and feels like getting a pic of themselves pretending to be Bowie. Camo-catsuits only, please!

Nice thread.

Cheers guys - C

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I used to listen to that album alot when it came out,I was living in the Hot'Lanta area at the time.
Cool location pics Ceri!

Gotta say, it took a thick skin, standing there posing with a guitar with a bunch of Japanese tourists giggling heartily behind my wife as she took the picture. She took a lo-o-o-ong time composing the shot - "C'mon, Missus: let's wrap it up and get outta here!"

Back to the thread...

Cheers - C

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Someday Ceri,since I know you're a fan of Duane Allman,I'll get around to scanning some pics of me and family and friends at the locations where Duane and the original band members were photographed in Macon,Ga.,especially at Rose Hill Cemetery where Duane and Berry are buried....several of those shots on the first album were in the cemetery.
No matter what anyone thinks,there's something cool about standing in places where pics were made of our musical heroes.

I found my Bowie inspired/tribute track titled 'From A Distant Star'.

The story behind this track, was that while watching Bowie's 'The Man Who Fell to Earth' movie, there was about 25sec music clip that played in the background during a scene, more of a one chord vamp. I always have my ZOOM H2 recorder handy and re-wound that scene and recorded the music clip.

Later I expended on what I thought the chord progression should be and that track is here http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=7735038, which I titled 'Starman' (I forgot that Bowie already had a 'Starman' title to a song).

There is a songwriter's forum that I posted the above track, and a member asked if he could write lyrics to the track. I write lyrics, but never intended to have lyrics for this song. John did, and recorded the vocals. I added a solo guitar, and the 'choir' soft-synth.

We re-named the track 'From A Distant Star' http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=8636892.

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Tony Houston

Ha! Cool Ceri..

For the nerve to pose at that spot I'll give you a straight 10, but that Duster coat gets you the big eyeballs..

I just think that Ziggy has a consistency that his later albums never had. Be it the Thin White Duke, (pretentious? moi?) or the so called and (heroin addicted) Berlin phases. Tin Machine era was OK but tried a bit hard to prove he was still vital, though the youth - in reality - was long gone. One day he's just going to have to accept his Elder Statesman status! But I have to qualify by saying that some of his later works were sublime. "Heroes" for instance is just magnificent (and made me go out and buy an Ebow) as is "Ashes to Ashes" (good to know that old Major Tom is still tripping out there somewhere..) "This Is Not America" with Pat Metheny is another stone cold classic.

Just one person's opinion of course.

HOWEVER.. I can't believe we got this far into the thread and no-one has mentioned Mick Ronson..

With his stripped down, fellated Les Paul blazing away, the glory of Ziggy is as much his as it was Bowies

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!