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Ziggy Stardust 30th Anniversary
jonerik writes "Any short list of influential rock albums of the '70s is likely to include David Bowie's 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars,' the story of a futuristic alien rock star and his demise during the Earth's final years. Originally released in June 1972, Ziggy is celebrating his 30th anniversary this year in fine style. First of all, the album is being reissued today in a limited edition 2-CD set. Secondly, the 1983 documentary, 'Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars,' directed by filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker ('Don't Look Back,' 'Monterey Pop') is being re-released this month and John Cameron Mitchell has an interesting interview with Pennebaker about the re-release in this week's Village Voice."
I was four years old when my older siblings played Ziggy Stardust, Alladin Sane, and Space Oddity all day every day. They must have worn out a ton of albums not to mention turntable needles. They also wore out my Dad's patience as I can still hear him yelling at them to "Turn that shit down!"
Now whenever I hear these songs I get that strange deja-vu feeling you get when you hear some childhood lullaby. They're burned into my brain like bits on a ROM.
...has nothing to do with News for Nerds here are the lyrics to Savior Machine.
President Joe once had a dream
The world held his hand, gave their pledge
So he told them his scheme for a Saviour Machine
They called it the Prayer, its answer was law
Its logic stopped war, gave them food
How they adored till it cried in its boredom
'Please don't believe in me, please disagree with me
Life is too easy, a plague seems quite feasible now
or maybe a war, or I may kill you all
Don't let me stay, don't let me stay
My logic says burn so send me away
Your minds are too green, I despise all I've seen
You can't stake your lives on a Saviour Machine
I need you flying, and I'll show that dying
Is living beyond reason, sacred dimension of time
I perceive every sign, I can steal every mind
Don't let me stay, don't let me stay
My logic says burn so send me away
Your minds are too green, I despise all I've seen
You can't stake your lives on a Saviour Machine
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I started listening to music from the 90s, and I still do - stuff like Tool, Jane's Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden. That led me to study their influences (Depeche Mode, The Smiths, The Cure, The Pixies, in no particular order) which led me to study THEIR influences (Like the Velvet Underground, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Doors etc.) I find the whole evolution of Rock music fascinating, but my fascination doesn't go back past the late 60s because before that it wasn't really "rock" in the current sense at all. I find this "last-generation" music is still very relevant and actually increases my appreciation for current artists. I agree that we should promote our own generational culture, but we should also accept that it has a foundation in the one previous, and there is lots to be learned from it.
Jeremy
The surviving spiders, 2 members from Def Leppard, and a keyboardist tour occasionally as the Cybernauts.
The band is a tribute to Bowie and to Mick Ronson. They basically do covers from all the albums that the spiders were involved in, which obviously includes Ziggy.
They have a privately released CD that will quit being sold sometime this year. It's a 2 disc set. One live disk and one studio disk. The live stuff is about 5 years old now, but the studio stuff is fairly recent. They quality is excellent and so are the performances. There are audio samples on the website.
Stupider like a fox! - H.S.