Today, Ziggy Stardust Turns 40
Went it first came out in June 1972, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, was just another example of the spaced-out oddity that was David Bowie. However, in the months and years that followed, the record (and its subsequent UK tour) began its rise to mythical status.
This wasn’t just rock. This was theatre, rock’n’roll played out in a way no one had ever seen before. Ziggy was a manufactured alter-ego presented as a doomed polysexual alien. For a brief period–about 360 days in 1972 and 1973–Bowie and Ziggy were one, completely indistinguishable. As Ziggy, Bowie wielded far-reaching cultural power.
The fact we’re still talking about Ziggy forty years later should tell you everything you need to know. The impact was so profound that Ziggy’s influence reverberated through music for years to come, touching everything from punk and post-punk to techno-pop to New Romantics, industrial, Goth and beyond.
The non-music cultural impact was immense. Fashion, of course, is involved–I mean, that haircut!–but there was a more meaningful bit of fallout. Up until just a few years earlier, homosexuality was a criminal offence in the UK and many people were still afraid to admit their sexuality. Bowie–through Ziggy–gave many the courage to come out.
And let’s not forget that the Sex Pistols might not have got going had it not been for Ziggy. Steven Jones and his friends broke into the London Hammersmith Theatre and ripped off a bunch of the Spiders’ mics and amps, gear that formed the foundation of the Pistols’ kit.
If you don’t have a copy of the album, EMI has just released a newly remastered disc in a 5.1 mix. There’s also a high-res DVD and the obligatory vinyl version.
I could go on and on talking about this album–hell, there are PhD dissertations on the influence of Ziggy. Instead, though, let me refer you to an interview with producer Ken Scott.