Chris O'Leary, "Pushing Ahead of the Dame" (http://bowiesongs.wordpress.com/) blog: "At a London press conference in the summer of 1972, just as 'Ziggy Stardust' broke, Bowie seemed unnerved by his success, though he had been trying to be a pop star for nearly a decade. Something disturbed him about his rise, he said, along with Lou Reed's new prominence ('Walk on the Wild Side' would hit the Top 10) and the 'Glam' boom.
"Once there had been well-groomed boys in matching suits on 'Top of the Pops'. Now there was 'Roxy Music', who looked like extraterrestrials in a witness relocation program, or 'Slade' and Roy Wood, hill trolls in Halloween costumes, or 'The Sweet', a bubblegum group who leered at their audience and seemed to be sharing a private joke. It was a sign that modern civilization had reached the point of absurdity - its entertainments had become bizarre and sordid, even menacing.
"'People like Lou [Reed] and I are probably predicting the end of an era. Any society that allows people like Lou and me to become rampant is pretty well lost. We’re both pretty mixed-up, paranoid people—absolute walking messes. If we’re the spearhead of anything, we’re not necessarily the spearhead of anything good.' Bowie, 1972.
"In Waugh's [essay, 'The War and the Younger Generation', 'The Spectator' 1929], ridiculous young people dress up in costumes, sleep with each other, have treasure hunts on city streets at midnight, drink and drug themselves to oblivion; it ends on a battlefield. 'Aladdin Sane' was Bowie's parallel sequel; a premature epitaph for his own lost generation.
"Though this time the party would end with a nuclear holocaust (hence the song's (1913-1938-197?) subhead - Bowie seemed to really think that the world would end before 1980). There's a sadness and frailty to 'Aladdin Sane', set in B minor, with its lyric a meagre collection of fragmented images - glissando strings, bouquets of faded roses. It's as though Bowie realised the decadence of Waugh's era had a panache his own time lacked.
"Bowie had just come off a months-long rock tour of America in 1972, and had endured/enjoyed the debauchery, the loud fashions, the noise, the bad food. It was a flyblown existence and Bowie wanted a nobler victim; in 'Aladdin Sane', he invented a more glittering world to snuff out." Staying at No. 1 for 5 weeks in the UK (in a mammoth 47-week run), and making No. 17 on the US Billboard 200 chart in 1973, the album "Aladdin Sane" was a fitting post-script to his classic "Rise and Fall.....".
@ian38018 Garson was the icing on the cake for the Spiders' sound. Before that, Wakeman stood in sporadically (not touring); otherwise, Ronno abandoned his sweet axe to tinkle the ivories, and Bowie filled in on guitar. Or Mick kept his natural instrument, and Bowie plunked away on the piano keys. And none of those solutions were truly satisfying. Until that avant garde jazzman Mike Garson came along. A perfect fit. (And he transcended the Spiders, staying with David by request subsequently.)
@kompani101 Me too. Salisbury City Hall, Wiltshire, June 14th 1973. Less than a month before that fateful "rock 'n' roll suicide" smashed my world apart. Yah sucks.
16 Comments (since 19 Dec 2014)
leejohnson
Chris O'Leary, "Pushing Ahead of the Dame" (http://bowiesongs.wordpress.com/) blog: "At a London press conference in the summer of 1972, just as 'Ziggy Stardust' broke, Bowie seemed unnerved by his success, though he had been trying to be a pop star for nearly a decade. Something disturbed him about his rise, he said, along with Lou Reed's new prominence ('Walk on the Wild Side' would hit the Top 10) and the 'Glam' boom.
leejohnson
"Once there had been well-groomed boys in matching suits on 'Top of the Pops'. Now there was 'Roxy Music', who looked like extraterrestrials in a witness relocation program, or 'Slade' and Roy Wood, hill trolls in Halloween costumes, or 'The Sweet', a bubblegum group who leered at their audience and seemed to be sharing a private joke. It was a sign that modern civilization had reached the point of absurdity - its entertainments had become bizarre and sordid, even menacing.
leejohnson
"'People like Lou [Reed] and I are probably predicting the end of an era. Any society that allows people like Lou and me to become rampant is pretty well lost. We’re both pretty mixed-up, paranoid people—absolute walking messes. If we’re the spearhead of anything, we’re not necessarily the spearhead of anything good.' Bowie, 1972.
leejohnson
"In Waugh's [essay, 'The War and the Younger Generation', 'The Spectator' 1929], ridiculous young people dress up in costumes, sleep with each other, have treasure hunts on city streets at midnight, drink and drug themselves to oblivion; it ends on a battlefield. 'Aladdin Sane' was Bowie's parallel sequel; a premature epitaph for his own lost generation.
leejohnson
"Though this time the party would end with a nuclear holocaust (hence the song's (1913-1938-197?) subhead - Bowie seemed to really think that the world would end before 1980). There's a sadness and frailty to 'Aladdin Sane', set in B minor, with its lyric a meagre collection of fragmented images - glissando strings, bouquets of faded roses. It's as though Bowie realised the decadence of Waugh's era had a panache his own time lacked.
leejohnson
"Bowie had just come off a months-long rock tour of America in 1972, and had endured/enjoyed the debauchery, the loud fashions, the noise, the bad food. It was a flyblown existence and Bowie wanted a nobler victim; in 'Aladdin Sane', he invented a more glittering world to snuff out." Staying at No. 1 for 5 weeks in the UK (in a mammoth 47-week run), and making No. 17 on the US Billboard 200 chart in 1973, the album "Aladdin Sane" was a fitting post-script to his classic "Rise and Fall.....".
leejohnson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin_Sane_%28song%29
merchiston2
Fabulous article - thanks for sharing.
marissapicone
I agree...great arcticle :)
leejohnson
I strongly urge any Bowie fanatics to bookmark Chris's work of art at http://bowiesongs.wordpress.com/. A must.
kompani101
Perfection. I was lucky to see him as Ziggy Stardust live back in the day, unbelievably good.
ian38018
Go Mike Go !!
hsmagnet
bejeweled canines, pubescent yanks and then.... comes The Thin White Duke ...
leejohnson
@ian38018 Garson was the icing on the cake for the Spiders' sound. Before that, Wakeman stood in sporadically (not touring); otherwise, Ronno abandoned his sweet axe to tinkle the ivories, and Bowie filled in on guitar. Or Mick kept his natural instrument, and Bowie plunked away on the piano keys. And none of those solutions were truly satisfying. Until that avant garde jazzman Mike Garson came along. A perfect fit. (And he transcended the Spiders, staying with David by request subsequently.)
leejohnson
@kompani101 Me too. Salisbury City Hall, Wiltshire, June 14th 1973. Less than a month before that fateful "rock 'n' roll suicide" smashed my world apart. Yah sucks.
lynn200
you have given me so many new Bowie tracks...its an adventure...thank you.