Raw Power is the third studio album by American rock band the Stooges (credited as Iggy and the Stooges), released on February 7, 1973 by Columbia Records . The album departed from the "groove-ridden, feel-based songs" of the band's first two records in favor of a more anthemic hard rock approach inspired by new guitarist James Williamson , who co-wrote the album's eight songs with singer Iggy Pop . Pop produced the recording sessions himself and David Bowie assisted with post-production work, though the team were allotted only one day to mix the album and the resulting fidelity was poor. Later reissues have attempted to either correct or enhance the original mix, most notably Pop's 1997 remix, which became notorious for its extreme volume and compression .
233-653: Aladdin Sane is the sixth studio album by the English musician David Bowie , released in the United Kingdom on 19 April 1973 through RCA Records . The follow-up to his breakthrough The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars , it was the first album he wrote and released from a position of stardom. It was co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott and features contributions from Bowie's backing band
466-489: A Grafton saxophone in 1961. He was soon receiving lessons from baritone saxophonist Ronnie Ross . He received a serious injury at school in 1962 when his friend George Underwood punched him in the left eye during a fight over a girl. After a series of operations during a four-month hospitalisation, his doctors determined that the damage could not be fully repaired and Bowie was left with faulty depth perception and anisocoria (a permanently dilated pupil), which gave
699-475: A cult following in the years following its release and, like its predecessors The Stooges (1969) and Fun House (1970), is considered a forerunner of punk rock . The Guardian wrote that "it has since been acknowledged as one of the most influential records in rock history". Williamson's raw guitar sound deeply influenced acts of different music genres such as the Sex Pistols , Johnny Marr of
932-414: A sumo wrestling loincloth or simulating oral sex with Ronson's guitar. Bowie toured and gave press conferences as Ziggy before a dramatic and abrupt on-stage "retirement" at London's Hammersmith Odeon on 3 July 1973. Footage from the final show was incorporated for the film Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars , which premiered in 1979 and commercially released in 1983. After breaking up
1165-579: A "cult of Bowie" that was "unique—its influence lasted longer and has been more creative than perhaps almost any other force within pop fandom." The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972), combining the hard rock elements of The Man Who Sold the World with the lighter experimental rock and pop of Hunky Dory , was released in June and was considered one of the defining albums of glam rock . " Starman ", issued as an April single ahead of
1398-453: A "death mask". The final photo was selected from a group featuring Bowie looking directly at the camera. These photos later became a signature image of the V&;A's David Bowie Is exhibition. The shoot was the only time Bowie wore the design on his face, but it was later used for hanging backdrops at live performances. Duffy believed that Bowie's inspiration for the "flash" design came from
1631-460: A Latin-style piano part from Garson. The track has been described as a lost James Bond theme . The title is a pun on "A Lad Insane", which at one point was expected to be the title. When writing the album during the tour, it was under the working title Love Aladdin Vein , which Bowie said at the time felt right, but decided to change it partly due to its drug connotations. The cover artwork features
1864-434: A booklet, and a pack of photo prints. Raw Power saw a limited vinyl re-release for Record Store Day on April 21, 2012. The release included two LPs (one containing the remastered 1973 Bowie mix and the other containing a remastered version of the 1997 Pop mix) and a sixteen-page commemorative booklet with quotes from the band, pictures of the band from photographer Mick Rock at their infamous King's Cross Cinema show in
2097-640: A collection of American 45s by artists including the Teenagers , the Platters , Fats Domino , Elvis Presley and Little Richard . Upon listening to Little Richard's song " Tutti Frutti ", Bowie later said that he had "heard God". Bowie was first impressed with Presley when he saw his cousin Kristina dance to " Hound Dog " soon after its release in 1956. According to Kristina, she and David "danced like possessed elves" to records of various artists. By
2330-826: A collection of covers of his 1960s favourites, followed in October, producing a UK number three hit in his version of the McCoys 's " Sorrow " and itself peaking at number one, making Bowie the best-selling act of 1973 in the UK. It brought the total number of Bowie albums concurrently on the UK chart to six. Bowie moved to the US in 1974, initially staying in New York City before settling in Los Angeles. Diamond Dogs (1974), parts of which found him heading towards soul and funk ,
2563-520: A combination of "raw energy with explosive rock". In The New York Times , Edwards described Aladdin Sane as "the most expressive, if still uneven, album of his recording career". In the British music press, letters columns accused Bowie of 'selling out' and Let It Rock magazine found the album to be more style than substance, considering that he had "nothing to say and everything to say it with". Similarly, Kim Fowley of Phonograph Record considered
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#17327971538612796-519: A contract with Mercury Records and its UK subsidiary Philips , who issued "Space Oddity" as a single on 11 July 1969, five days ahead of the Apollo 11 launch. Reaching the top five in the UK, it was his first and last hit for three years. Bowie's second album followed in November. Originally issued in the UK as David Bowie , it caused some confusion with its predecessor of the same name, and
3029-405: A departure from the acoustic guitar and folk rock style established by his second album, to a more hard rock sound. Mercury financed a coast-to-coast publicity tour across the US in which Bowie, between January and February 1971, was interviewed by media. Exploiting his androgynous appearance, the original cover of the UK version unveiled two months later depicted Bowie wearing a dress. He took
3262-475: A disagreement with EMI, left the label. Like his audience and his critics, Bowie himself became increasingly disaffected with his role as just one member of a band. Tin Machine began work on a second album, but recording halted while Bowie conducted the seven-month Sound+Vision Tour , which brought him commercial success and acclaim. In October 1990, Bowie and Somali -born supermodel Iman were introduced by
3495-552: A disastrous first show at London's Earls Court Arena, the remaining dates were successful, receiving acclaim from reviewers and audiences. The final date of the tour was 3 July 1973, which was performed at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. The performance was documented by filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker in a documentary and concert film , which premiered in 1979 and commercially released in 1983 as Ziggy Stardust and
3728-415: A distaste for digital distortion". Christgau observed, "strict constructionists and lo-fi snobs charge indignantly that by remixing his own album Iggy has made a mockery of history and done irreparable damage to a priceless work of art." In Berman's opinion, "after spending the past 13 years having my ears ravaged by the '97 Iggy mix, I find it difficult readjusting to the leaner, original version—even with
3961-456: A false impression of a change in the iris' colour, erroneously suggesting he had heterochromia iridum (one iris a different colour to the other); his eye later became one of Bowie's most recognisable features. Despite their altercation, Bowie remained on good terms with Underwood, who went on to create the artwork for Bowie's early albums. Bowie formed his first band, the Konrads, in 1962 at
4194-709: A few years later that his favorite Bowie album had been Aladdin Sane , "the fragmented, rather second-hand collection of elegant hard rock songs (plus one Jacques Brel -style clinker) that fell between the Ziggy Stardust and Diamond Dogs concepts. That Bowie improved his music by imitating the Rolling Stones rather than by expressing himself is obviously a tribute to the Stones, but it also underlines how expedient Bowie's relationship to rock and roll has always been." In February 1973, shortly after Aladdin Sane
4427-466: A free festival in a local park, the subject of his song " Memory of a Free Festival ". Pitt attempted to introduce Bowie to a larger audience with the Love You till Tuesday film, which went unreleased until 1984. Feeling alienated over his unsuccessful career and deeply affected by his break-up, Bowie wrote " Space Oddity ", a tale about a fictional astronaut named Major Tom . The song earned him
4660-401: A fundraising single, which went to number one in the UK and number seven in the US; its video premiered during Live Aid. Bowie took an acting role in the 1986 film Absolute Beginners , and his title song rose to number two in the UK charts. He also worked with composer Trevor Jones and wrote five original songs for the 1986 film Labyrinth , which he starred in. His final solo album of
4893-402: A good mix of a particular taste. It was very similar to the way David had his own records mixed around that era. It's peculiarly English. What I didn't know at the time was that it was disastrously mastered (after Bowie mixed it). By that time, we had no communication with management, who had decided to let us go. It doesn't fall into the contemporary standards of records today that explode with
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#17327971538615126-412: A group with Bowie and guitarist John Hutchinson named Feathers; between September 1968 and early 1969 the trio gave a small number of concerts combining folk, Merseybeat , poetry and mime. After the break-up with Farthingale, Bowie moved in with Mary Finnigan as her lodger. In February and March 1969, he undertook a short tour with Marc Bolan 's duo Tyrannosaurus Rex , as third on the bill, performing
5359-426: A limited-edition single release version of Placebo 's track " Without You I'm Nothing " with Bowie's harmonised vocal added to the original recording. Bowie, with Gabrels, created the soundtrack for Omikron: The Nomad Soul , a 1999 computer game in which he and Iman also voiced characters based on their likenesses. Released the same year and containing re-recorded tracks from Omikron , his album Hours featured
5592-560: A log !" It's not a bad job that he did...I'm very proud of the eccentric, odd little record that came out. Bowie later recalled: ...the most absurd situation I encountered when I was recording was the first time I worked with Iggy Pop. He wanted me to mix Raw Power , so he brought the 24-track tape in, and he put it up. He had the band on one track, lead guitar on another and him on a third. Out of 24 tracks there were just three tracks that were used. He said 'see what you can do with this'. I said, 'Jim, there's nothing to mix'. So we just pushed
5825-495: A lot of level on certain things, like the bass and drums, especially the bass, so he didn't have a lot to work with. Then Iggy, on his mix, he left a bunch of guitar stuff on there that probably shouldn't have been left in, and just odds and ends. Bowie's not my favorite guy, but I have to say that overall, I think he did a pretty good job. Asheton stated: Don Fleming goes, "You know what? When Iggy's Raw Power mix comes out, I'll bet you're gonna go – we always used to say how bad
6058-480: A low-key release, had almost no promotion and flopped commercially, reaching number 87 in the UK. Nevertheless, it later received critical praise as Bowie's "lost great album". Reuniting Bowie with Eno, the quasi-industrial Outside (1995) was originally conceived as the first volume in a non-linear narrative of art and murder. Featuring characters from a short story written by Bowie, the album achieved UK and US chart success and yielded three top 40 UK singles. In
6291-423: A melding of the persona of Iggy Pop with the music of Lou Reed , producing "the ultimate pop idol". A girlfriend recalled his "scrawling notes on a cocktail napkin about a crazy rock star named Iggy or Ziggy", and on his return to England he declared his intention to create a character "who looks like he's landed from Mars". The "Stardust" surname was a tribute to the " Legendary Stardust Cowboy ", whose record he
6524-658: A mime act. Continuing the divergence from rock and roll and blues begun by his work with Farthingale, Bowie joined forces with Finnigan, Christina Ostrom and Barrie Jackson to run a folk club on Sunday nights at the Three Tuns pub in Beckenham High Street. The club was influenced by the Arts Lab movement, developing into the Beckenham Arts Lab and became extremely popular. The Arts Lab hosted
6757-483: A mockery of history and done irreparable damage to a priceless work of art. This is really stupid. Before it was anointed the Platonic idea of rock and roll by desperate young men who didn't have much else to choose from, first-generation Iggyphiles charged just as indignantly that David Bowie had mixed the real thing way too thin--as Iggy observes, this classic-by-comparison always sounded "weedy" (although, not to insult
6990-468: A more anthemic hard rock approach inspired by Williamson, who co-wrote the album's eight songs with Pop. Similarly, music critic Joe S. Harrington said that the hard rock album demonstrated a "totally overpowering" sound, "a sledgehammer attack of brutal ill will", while author Dave Thompson noted Pop's "nihilistic hard rock bellowing" throughout. In another analysis, PopMatters writer Iain Ellis said
7223-521: A move that provoked mixed reactions from both fans and critics, Bowie chose Nine Inch Nails as his tour partner for the Outside Tour . Visiting cities in Europe and North America between September 1995 and February 1996, the tour saw the return of Gabrels as Bowie's guitarist. On 7 January 1997, Bowie celebrated his half century with a 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden at which he
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7456-537: A mutual friend. He recalled, "I was naming the children the night we met ... it was absolutely immediate." They married in 1992. Tin Machine resumed work the same month, but their audience and critics, ultimately left disappointed by the first album, showed little interest in a second. Tin Machine II (1991) was Bowie's first album to miss the UK top 20 in nearly twenty years, and was controversial for its cover art. Depicting four ancient nude Kouroi statues,
7689-424: A new persona, Aladdin Sane, who reflected the theme of "Ziggy goes to America" and, according to Bowie, was less defined and "clear cut" than Ziggy, and "pretty ephemeral". According to the biographer David Buckley, the character was a " schizoid amalgamation" that was reflected in the music. Aladdin Sane was mainly recorded between December 1972 and January 1973 between tour legs. Like his two previous records, it
7922-565: A number of cover songs, including three Pop covers and the 1966 Beach Boys hit " God Only Knows ". The album bore the transatlantic top 10 hit " Blue Jean ", itself the inspiration for the Julien Temple -directed short film Jazzin' for Blue Jean , in which Bowie played the dual roles of romantic protagonist Vic and arrogant rock star Screaming Lord Byron. The short won Bowie his only non-posthumous Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video . In early 1985, Bowie's collaboration with
8155-445: A one-off single release, " Under Pressure ". The duet was a hit, becoming Bowie's third UK number-one single. Bowie was given the lead role in the BBC 's 1982 televised adaptation of Bertolt Brecht 's play Baal . Coinciding with its transmission, a five-track EP of songs from the play was released as Baal . In March 1982, Bowie's title song for Paul Schrader 's film Cat People
8388-516: A powerful band. I feel like there's a closure on it and that's a nice thing. American music journalist and essayist Robert Christgau wrote approvingly of Pop's Raw Power remix. Upon reviewing the 1997 edition of Raw Power , Christgau – who in the past had complained about how Bowie had mixed the original album "down till it's thin as an epicure's wrist" and inflicted "ruinous underbassing" – wrote, Strict constructionists and lo-fi snobs charge indignantly that by remixing his own album Iggy has made
8621-472: A professional career as a musician in 1963. He released a string of unsuccessful singles with local bands and a self-titled solo album (1967) before achieving his first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart with " Space Oddity " (1969). After a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with the flamboyant and androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust . The character
8854-576: A promotions officer for the children's charity Barnardo's . The family lived at 40 Stansfield Road, on the boundary between Brixton and Stockwell in the south London borough of Lambeth . Bowie attended Stockwell Infants School until he was six, acquiring a reputation as a gifted and single-minded child—and a defiant brawler. From 1953, Bowie moved with his family to Bickley and then Bromley Common , before settling in Sundridge Park in 1955 where he attended Burnt Ash Junior School. His voice
9087-456: A prostitute, whom he despises. There are numerous double entendres regarding film stardom and sex: "show me you're real/reel", "smack, baby, smack" and "you've made a bad connection". Doggett describes the song as predominantly hard rock, with only a hint of glam, while Pegg describes Ronson's guitar as "dirty blues". "Time" was originally written as "We Should Be On By Now" for Bowie's friend George Underwood, with vastly different lyrics. The song
9320-451: A quiet person, it was hard to come to terms. So Aladdin Sane was split down the middle. —David Bowie on the theme of the album David Bowie launched to stardom in early July 1972 through the release of his fifth studio album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and his performance of " Starman " on BBC 's Top of the Pops . He promoted the record through
9553-439: A radical shift in style that initially alienated many of his UK devotees. Young Americans was a commercial success in both the US and the UK and yielded Bowie's first US number one, " Fame ", a collaboration with John Lennon . A re-issue of the 1969 single "Space Oddity" became Bowie's first number-one hit in the UK a few months after "Fame" achieved the same in the US. He mimed "Fame" and his November single " Golden Years " on
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9786-536: A recording studio". Christgau was somewhat less impressed. In his 1981 book Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies , he praised Williamson's guitar playing while writing that the side-opening tracks "Search and Destroy" and the title song "voice the Iggy Pop ethos more insanely (and aggressively) than ' I Wanna Be Your Dog '", but felt that "the rest disperses in their wake" and that Bowie had mixed
10019-610: A remastered version of the album on the first disc. The second disc contains ten tracks, a few of which had been previously released on the 1989 collection Sound + Vision . A 40th anniversary edition, remastered by Ray Staff at London's AIR Studios , was released in CD and digital download formats in April 2013. This 2013 remaster of the album was included in the 2015 box set Five Years 1969–1973 and rereleased separately, in 2015–2016, in CD, vinyl and digital formats. A 12" limited edition of
10252-462: A ring once worn by Elvis Presley ; it featured the letters TCB (an acronym for Taking Care of Business) with a lightning flash . Pegg believes the cover has a deeper meaning, representing the "split down the middle" personality of the Aladdin Sane character and reflecting Bowie's split feelings regarding the US tour and his newfound stardom. The teardrop on his chest was Duffy's idea; Bowie said
10485-473: A shirtless Bowie with red hair and a red-and-blue lightning bolt splitting his face in two while a teardrop runs down his collarbone. It was shot in January 1973 by Brian Duffy in his north London studio. In an effort to ensure RCA promoted the album extensively, Bowie's manager Tony Defries was determined to make the cover as costly as possible. He insisted on an unprecedented seven-colour system, rather than
10718-452: A song with lyrics by the winner of his "Cyber Song Contest" Internet competition, Alex Grant. Making extensive use of live instruments, the album was Bowie's exit from heavy electronica. Hours and a performance on VH1 Storytellers in mid-1999 represented the end of Gabrels' association with Bowie as a performer and songwriter. Sessions for Toy , a planned collection of remakes of tracks from Bowie's 1960s period, commenced in 2000, but
10951-496: A sonic flood all over your car, until you feel like you want to retch. But when you turn it up, the treble is really good. It's got a good character. There were certain production touches that come across; the overdubbed guitar treatment to "Gimme Danger" was Bowie's doing, and it's beautiful. Pop and Bowie's mixes were both remastered in 2012 for a Record Store Day double LP by Kevin Gray and Mark Wilder, respectively; this remastering
11184-459: A statement of principle and a priceless work of art. On the other hand, some fans – among them guitarist Robert Quine – felt that the new remix was as unfaithful to the material as the original 1973 mix, and further criticized the audible distortion in the new mix. Quine said, "[Iggy's] one of the greats but I wonder about what he did to that record with the new [ Raw Power ] remix, which is atrocious. 'With this remix, I think this can stand up with
11417-549: A suitable property, but found themselves confined to their hotel, under curfew: the 1992 Los Angeles riots began the day they arrived. They settled in New York instead. In 1993, Bowie released his first solo offering since his Tin Machine departure, the soul, jazz and hip-hop influenced Black Tie White Noise . Making prominent use of electronic instruments, the album, which reunited Bowie with Let's Dance producer Nile Rodgers, confirmed Bowie's return to popularity, topping
11650-706: A superstar, charting at number two in the UK and number eight in the US. It also spawned a UK number ten hit in a cover of Eddie Floyd 's " Knock on Wood ". After a break in Philadelphia , where Bowie recorded new material, the tour resumed with a new emphasis on soul. The fruit of the Philadelphia recording sessions was Young Americans (1975). Sandford writes, "Over the years, most British rockers had tried, one way or another, to become black-by-extension. Few had succeeded as Bowie did now." The album's sound, which Bowie identified as " plastic soul ", constituted
11883-495: A time during Station to Station 's recording sessions and later said he remembered "only flashes" of its making. His sanity—by his own later admission—had become twisted from cocaine; he referenced the drug directly in the album's ten-minute title track. The album's release was followed by a 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 -month-long concert tour, the Isolar Tour , of Europe and North America. The core band that coalesced to record
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#173279715386112116-410: A valued colleague, "David's" version was also "very creative"). So the pumped bass and vocals Iggy has uncovered on the original tapes, which were supposed to coexist with their high-end screech to begin with, are a quantum improvement. Plus you can finally hear the celeste on "Penetration"--sounds great! Only the slow ones, which like all of Iggy's slow ones are not as good as his fast ones, stand between
12349-430: A wealth of classic material here, but not enough focus to make the album itself a classic". Pitchfork ' s Douglas Wolk also found it too similar to its predecessor, calling it "effectively Ziggy Stardust II , a harder-rocking if less original variation on the hit album". He writes that while Ziggy Stardust ended with a "vision of outreach to the front row" in the lyrics of " Rock 'n' Roll Suicide ", Aladdin Sane
12582-474: A week his howls could be heard through the locked attic door." Michael Lippman, Bowie's lawyer during the negotiations, became his new manager; Lippman, in turn, was awarded substantial compensation when he was fired the following year. Station to Station (1976), produced by Bowie and Harry Maslin, introduced a new Bowie persona, the Thin White Duke of its title track . Visually, the character
12815-594: Is "all alienation and self-conscious artifice, parodic gestures of intimacy directed to the theater balcony". NME editors Roy Carr and Murray called the album "oddly unsatisfying, considerably less than the sum of the parts". In a 2013 readers' poll for Rolling Stone , Aladdin Sane was voted Bowie's sixth best record. The magazine argued that it proved Bowie was not a "one-album wonder". Like music critics, Bowie's biographers have mostly compared Aladdin Sane to its predecessor unfavourably. Pegg writes that it feels more rushed than Ziggy . Carr and Murray contend that "It
13048-499: Is "by far the most important punk record ever", while Diffuser.fm writer James Stafford said, "One can make a reasonable argument for whether Raw Power or its predecessor, Fun House , lays claim to 'first punk record' status." DIY ' s Jonathan Hatchman wrote, "Above all, the reason that Raw Power should be regarded as, at least, one of the greatest punk albums of all time, is the influence it has provided. Without it, punk may have never even happened." Steve Jones from
13281-530: Is "its songs, its sleeve, and nothing more". Perone finds the record not as accessible as its predecessor, deducing that with less "melodic and harmonic hooks" and lyrics that are "darker and more inwardly focused and analytical", the result is an album that is "not as well remembered" as Ziggy . Billboard ' s Joe Lynch considered Aladdin Sane just as influential on glam rock as a whole as its predecessor. He states that both records "ensured [Bowie's] long-term career and infamy" and argues that both "transcended"
13514-547: Is "the version I still prefer over the later remix – it has more wound-up ferocity and chaos and, in my humble opinion, is a hallmark roots sound for what was later to become punk ." In 2010, Pop remarked, I did my [ Raw Power ] remix...which I knew at the time in the '90s there was a muscle-bound rock metal thing going around, and I knew that people couldn't hear the record as it was originally mixed and mastered in that environment. So I thought if I make it unbearably loud, it would sell, and it did! [The original Raw Power ]'s
13747-413: Is a definitive statement". CeeLo Green cited Raw Power as one of his favorite albums, stating that it "seems like it's all done in one take. 'Let's do that one, leave it, just try something else'. With his energy on stage, it seems as if the studio was just destroyed after that album – or at least you'd like to believe that". The album's songs have been frequently covered . Prominent versions include
13980-429: Is in some ways a more convincing document on the nature of fame and show business than [its predecessor]". Doggett similarly describes Aladdin Sane as arguably a more "real" and "rewarding" album than its predecessor, with a "Stones-inspired, vivid production" outdoing the "somewhat flat sonic canvas" of Ziggy , but concludes that while Ziggy is more than the sum of its parts and has a long-lasting legacy, Aladdin Sane
14213-436: Is included. Bowie described the album's title character, a pun on "A Lad Insane", as " Ziggy Stardust goes to America". The cover artwork, shot by Brian Duffy and featuring a lightning bolt across Bowie's face, is regarded as one of his most iconic images. Accompanied by the UK top-five singles " The Jean Genie " and " Drive-In Saturday ", Aladdin Sane was Bowie's most commercially successful record up to that point, topping
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#173279715386114446-816: Is predominantly glam rock , with elements of hard rock . The album's American influence and fast-paced development added a tougher, rawer and edgier rock sound. Some of the songs, including "Watch That Man", "Drive-In Saturday" and "Lady Grinning Soul" are influenced by the Rolling Stones ; a cover of their song "Let's Spend the Night Together" is included. According to Pegg, the album's lyrics paint pictures of urban decay, degenerate lives, drug addiction, violence and death. He says that some themes present on Bowie's previous works also appear in Aladdin Sane , including "notions of religion shattered by science, extraterrestrial encounters posing as messianic visitations,
14679-477: Is the recipient of numerous accolades , including six Grammy Awards and four Brit Awards . Often dubbed the "chameleon of rock" due to his constant musical reinventions, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Rolling Stone ranked him among the greatest singers, songwriters and artists of all time. As of 2022, Bowie was the best-selling vinyl artist of the 21st century. David Robert Jones
14912-735: The A Reality Tour , with an estimated attendance of 722,000, grossed more than any other in 2004. On 13 June, Bowie headlined the last night of the Isle of Wight Festival 2004 . On 25 June, he experienced chest pain while performing at the Hurricane Festival in Scheeßel , Germany. Originally thought to be a pinched nerve in his shoulder, the pain was later diagnosed as an acutely blocked coronary artery , requiring an emergency angioplasty in Hamburg. The remaining fourteen dates of
15145-480: The Dictators ', Red Hot Chili Peppers', Dead Boys ', Shotgun Messiah 's, and Def Leppard 's covers of "Search and Destroy" and Guns N' Roses ' cover of the title track on The Spaghetti Incident? . "Iggy is so easygoing and so unpretentious, he didn't care whether we did it or not," remarked GNR guitarist Slash . "He just likes the fact that we thought of that tune." Ewan McGregor covered "Gimme Danger" for
15378-537: The Isolar II world tour , bringing the music of the first two Berlin Trilogy albums to almost a million people during 70 concerts in 12 countries. By now he had broken his drug addiction; Buckley writes that Isolar II was "Bowie's first tour for five years in which he had probably not anaesthetised himself with copious quantities of cocaine before taking the stage. ... Without the oblivion that drugs had brought, he
15611-636: The Pat Metheny Group , " This Is Not America ", for the soundtrack of The Falcon and the Snowman , was released as a single and became a top 40 hit in the UK and US. In July that year, Bowie performed at Wembley Stadium for Live Aid , a multi-venue benefit concert for Ethiopian famine relief. Bowie and Mick Jagger duetted on a cover of Martha and the Vandellas ' " Dancing in the Street " as
15844-658: The Paul Verhoeven film Showgirls was re-recorded for the album, and remixed by Trent Reznor for a single release. The heavy rotation of the accompanying video, also featuring Reznor, contributed to the song's 16-week stay in the US Billboard Hot 100 . Bowie received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 12 February 1997. The Earthling Tour took place in Europe and North America between June and November. In November, Bowie performed on
16077-515: The Raw Power Era Bonus DVD A remastered version of David Bowie's original mix along with a second disc of unreleased live tracks and soundchecks, including a live soundboard recording from Atlanta in October 1973, and liner notes written by Brian J. Bowe, was released in 2010. On April 13, 2010, a deluxe version titled Raw Power: The Masters Edition was released, consisting of three CDs , one DVD , one 7" vinyl record ,
16310-482: The Rough Power release, Pop has remarked that "what David and I came up with at these sessions was better than that." In 1996, Columbia Records "invited" Pop to remix the entire album for re-release on CD. Pop said in the liner notes that had he declined, the studio would have remixed it without his blessing. Pop cited longtime encouragement from fans and peers, the existence of Rough Power , his distaste for how
16543-472: The Sex Pistols once said that he learned to play guitar by taking speed and playing along to Raw Power . Johnny Marr of the Smiths cited it as his all-time favorite record: "It gave me a path to follow as a guitar player. It was an opening into a world of rock & roll, sleaze, sexuality, drugs, violence and danger. That's a hard combination to beat". He also commented on Williamson's guitar playing on
16776-668: The Sylvian fissure in the brain. "Panic in Detroit" was inspired by Iggy Pop 's stories of the Detroit riots in 1967 and the rise of the White Panther Party , specifically their leader John Sinclair . Bowie compared the ideas of Sinclair to the rebel martyr Che Guevara for the narrator in "Panic in Detroit". The lyrics are dark, featuring images of urban decay, violence, drugs, emotional isolation and suicide, adding to
17009-605: The UK Albums Chart and garnering him immense popularity there. It also received positive reviews from music critics, although many found it inferior to its predecessor. The popularity continued throughout the latter half of the Ziggy Stardust Tour, which featured various setlist and stage production changes. In later decades, Aladdin Sane has appeared on several best-of lists and is viewed as one of his essential releases. It has been reissued several times and
17242-595: The UK Singles Chart , making it Bowie's biggest hit to date. The single fared worse in the US, reaching number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 . It was promoted with a video by Mick Rock , featuring bits of concert footage shot in San Francisco in late October 1972, interspersed with shots of Bowie posing around the Mars Hotel and actress Cyrinda Foxe. The second single, "Drive-In Saturday", was released in
17475-550: The Ziggy Stardust Tour in the United Kingdom and the United States, writing new songs on the road that would appear on his next album. Aladdin Sane was the first album Bowie wrote and released from a position of stardom. Writing new material on the US leg of the tour in late 1972, many of the tracks were influenced by America and his perceptions of the country. The biographer Christopher Sandford believes
17708-538: The " Stones , Zeppelins and the Deep Purples ". Former Smiths frontman Morrissey once described "Search and Destroy" as "great" and "a very LA song". Mötley Crüe founder Nikki Sixx has cited it as a major influence: "When I was fifteen years old, I remember Iggy and the Stooges' song 'Search and Destroy' reaching out from my speakers to me like my own personal anthem." "I got into the heavier guitar stuff I
17941-493: The '70s", as Pop had "summed everything up and it took him only nine songs to do it." Ben Edmunds from Phonograph Record called it "an experience so overpowering that it forces new definitions for even the most familiar things", arguing in March that it will undoubtedly be the album of the year. According to Lester Bangs , the "by-now banal words ' heavy metal ' were invested for this group", while "the ferocious assertiveness of
18174-573: The 1970s. The first song recorded for the album was " The Jean Genie " on 6 October 1972 at RCA Studios in New York City, after which the band and crew continued the tour in Chicago. Bowie produced the session himself. The band reconvened in New York with Scott in December, recording " Drive-In Saturday " and " All the Young Dudes ", a track Bowie wrote and gave to the English band Mott
18407-851: The 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles, including industrial and jungle . He also continued acting; his roles included Major Jack Celliers in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), Jareth the Goblin King in Labyrinth (1986), Phillip Jeffries in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Andy Warhol in the biopic Basquiat (1996), and Nikola Tesla in The Prestige (2006), among other film and television appearances and cameos. He ceased touring after 2004 and his last live performance
18640-415: The 2013 remaster, pressed in silver vinyl, was released in 2018 to mark the 45th anniversary of the album. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the album was reissued on 14 April 2023 in vinyl picture disc and half-speed-mastered versions. All tracks are written by David Bowie , except "Let's Spend the Night Together", written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards . Side one Side two According to
18873-546: The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time . The album was also included in the 2018 edition of Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . Aladdin Sane has been reissued several times. Although the original 1973 vinyl release featured a gatefold cover, some later LP versions such as RCA's 1980 US reissue presented the album in a standard non-gatefold sleeve. The album was first released on CD in 1984 by RCA. In 1990, Dr. Toby Mountain at Northeastern Digital, Southborough, Massachusetts , remastered Aladdin Sane from
19106-565: The Arts Lab, Visconti on bass and Mick Ronson on electric guitar. Known as Hype , the bandmates created characters for themselves and wore elaborate costumes that prefigured the glam style of the Spiders from Mars. After a disastrous opening gig at the London Roundhouse , they reverted to a configuration presenting Bowie as a solo artist. Their initial studio work was marred by a heated disagreement between Bowie and Cambridge over
19339-651: The BBC's Children in Need charity single " Perfect Day ", which reached number one in the UK. Bowie reunited with Visconti in 1998 to record "(Safe in This) Sky Life" for The Rugrats Movie . Although the track was edited out of the final cut, it was later re-recorded and released as "Safe" on the B-side of Bowie's 2002 single " Everyone Says 'Hi' " . The reunion led to other collaborations with his old producer, including
19572-423: The British blues spirit like no previous Bowie song." The lyrics were also an ode to Iggy Pop, Bowie calling the song's character a "white-trash, kind of trailer-park kid thing – the closet intellectual who wouldn't want the world to know that he reads". "Lady Grinning Soul" was one of the final songs written for the album. It was also a last-minute addition, replacing the "sax version" of "John, I'm Only Dancing" as
19805-592: The February 2001 and February 2003 concerts to support Tibet House US at Carnegie Hall in New York. In October 2001, Bowie opened the Concert for New York City , a charity event to benefit the victims of the September 11 attacks , with a minimalist performance of Simon & Garfunkel 's " America ", followed by a full band performance of " ' Heroes ' ". 2002 saw the release of Heathen , and, during
20038-653: The Hoople . Recording sessions continued in January 1973 at Trident Studios in London following the conclusion of the American tour and a series of UK Christmas concerts. Tracks recorded at Trident included album tracks " Panic in Detroit ", " Aladdin Sane ", " Cracked Actor ", " Lady Grinning Soul ", " Watch That Man " and " Time "; outtakes included the "sax version" of the 1972 non-album single " John, I'm Only Dancing " and " 1984 ", left off Aladdin Sane and placed on Diamond Dogs (1974). A provisional running order included
20271-629: The King Bees, was not commercially successful. Dissatisfied with the King Bees and their repertoire of Howlin' Wolf and Willie Dixon covers, Bowie quit the band less than a month later to join the Manish Boys, another blues outfit, who incorporated folk and soul—"I used to dream of being their Mick Jagger ", he recalled. Their cover of Bobby Bland 's " I Pity the Fool " was no more successful than "Liza Jane", and Bowie soon moved on again to join
20504-527: The Konrads and joined another band, the King Bees. He wrote to the newly successful washing-machine entrepreneur John Bloom inviting him to "do for us what Brian Epstein has done for the Beatles —and make another million." Bloom did not respond to the offer, but his referral to Dick James 's partner Leslie Conn led to Bowie's first personal management contract. Conn quickly began to promote Bowie. His debut single, " Liza Jane ", credited to Davie Jones with
20737-856: The Lower Third after the single's release, partly due to Horton's influence, and released two more singles for Pye, " Do Anything You Say " and " I Dig Everything ", both of which featured a new band called the Buzz, before signing with Deram Records . Around this time Bowie also joined the Riot Squad ; their recordings, which included one of Bowie's original songs and material by the Velvet Underground , went unreleased. Kenneth Pitt , introduced by Horton, took over as Bowie's manager. His April 1967 solo single, " The Laughing Gnome ", on which speeded-up and high-pitched vocals were used to portray
20970-510: The Lower Third, a blues trio strongly influenced by the Who . " You've Got a Habit of Leaving " fared no better, signalling the end of Conn's contract. Declaring that he would exit the pop music world "to study mime at Sadler's Wells ", Bowie nevertheless remained with the Lower Third. His new manager, Ralph Horton, later instrumental in his transition to solo artist, helped secure him a contract with Pye Records . Publicist Tony Hatch signed Bowie on
21203-567: The Queen singer's death the previous year. As well as performing " ' Heroes ' " and "All the Young Dudes", he was joined on "Under Pressure" by Annie Lennox , who took Mercury's vocal part; during his appearance, Bowie knelt and recited the Lord's Prayer at Wembley Stadium. Four days later, Bowie and Iman married in Switzerland. Intending to move to Los Angeles, they flew in to search for
21436-519: The RHMS Ellinis back to the UK. Described by Buckley as the album's "pivotal" song, it saw Bowie exploring more experimental genres, rather than strict rock 'n' roll. It features a piano solo by Garson, who had originally attempted a blues solo and Latin solo, which were politely rejected by Bowie, who asked him to play something more akin to the avant-garde jazz genre that Garson had come from. Improvised and recorded in one take, Buckley considers
21669-493: The Rolling Stones, specifically their song " Brown Sugar " (1971). The mix , in which Bowie's lead vocal is buried beneath the instrumental sections, has been heavily criticised by critics and fans. Biographers compare it to the contemporaneous sound of Elton John and the Stones' Exile on Main St. (1972). "Aladdin Sane (1913–1938–197?)" was inspired by Evelyn Waugh 's 1930 novel Vile Bodies , which Bowie read during his trip on
21902-623: The Russian/Polish border for possessing Nazi paraphernalia. Matters came to a head in London in May in what became known as the " Victoria Station incident". Arriving in an open-top Mercedes convertible , Bowie waved to the crowd in a gesture that some alleged was a Nazi salute , which was captured on camera and published in NME . Bowie said the photographer caught him in mid-wave. He later blamed his pro-fascism comments and his behaviour during
22135-432: The Smiths , and Kurt Cobain of Nirvana . After their first two albums The Stooges (1969) and Fun House (1970) were released to little commercial success, the Stooges were in disarray: the band had officially broken up, bassist Dave Alexander was fighting alcoholism , and singer Iggy Pop's heroin addiction was escalating prior to the intervention of David Bowie . Pop later recalled, "Very few people recognized
22368-606: The Space Age". In retrospect, Cann argues that a cover like Aladdin Sane ' s can be a risky move for artists whose success is relatively recent. Later publications have compared the lightning bolt design to that of the flag of the British Union of Fascists . RCA issued "The Jean Genie" as the lead single on 24 November 1972. In its advertising, the label said it was "the first single to come from Bowie's triumphant American tour". The song charted at number two on
22601-406: The Spiders from Mars , with an accompanying soundtrack album titled Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture . At this show, Bowie made the sudden surprise announcement that the show would be "the last show that we'll ever do", later understood to mean that he was retiring his Ziggy Stardust persona. Although Ronson was told in advance, Bolder and Woodmansey were not, which led to rising tensions between
22834-423: The Spiders from Mars — Mick Ronson , Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey — with the pianist Mike Garson , two saxophonists and three backing vocalists. Recorded in London and New York City between legs of the Ziggy Stardust Tour , the record was Bowie's final album with the full Spiders lineup. Most of the tracks were written on the road in the US and are greatly influenced by America and Bowie's perceptions of
23067-538: The Spiders, Bowie attempted to move on from his Ziggy persona. His back catalogue was now highly sought after: The Man Who Sold the World had been re-released in 1972 along with Space Oddity . Hunky Dory 's " Life on Mars? " was released in June 1973 and peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart . Entering the same chart in September, his 1967 novelty record "The Laughing Gnome" reached number six. Pin Ups ,
23300-593: The Stooges' skin-scratching rage itself", improving upon past releases of the album, in which "the guitars were too loud, [and] the drums buried." Hilburn gave the remix a rave review in the Los Angeles Times , writing that it "simply presents greater instrumental clarity and definition" than previous mixes and concluded, "It may have taken all these years to get the album right, but it has finally arrived." Tim Stegall from The Austin Chronicle said while
23533-605: The UK and number 20 in the US, and yielded the UK hit singles " Boys Keep Swinging " and " DJ ". Towards the end of the year, Bowie and Angie initiated divorce proceedings, and after months of court battles the marriage was ended in early 1980. The three albums were later adapted into classical music symphonies by American composer Philip Glass for his first , fourth and twelfth symphonies in 1992, 1997 and 2019, respectively. Glass praised Bowie's gift for creating "fairly complex pieces of music, masquerading as simple pieces". Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980) produced
23766-489: The UK chart and spawning three top 40 hits, including the top 10 single " Jump They Say ". Bowie explored new directions on The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), which began as a soundtrack album for the BBC television adaptation of Hanif Kureishi 's novel The Buddha of Suburbia before turning into a full album; only the title track " The Buddha of Suburbia " was used in the programme. Referencing his 1970s works with pop, jazz, ambient and experimental material, it received
23999-410: The UK chart, where it reached number two. Bowie himself did not promote it, instead touring with Pop as his keyboardist throughout March and April before recording Pop's follow-up, Lust for Life . Echoing Low ' s minimalist, instrumental approach, the second of the trilogy, "Heroes" (1977), incorporated pop and rock to a greater extent, seeing Bowie joined by guitarist Robert Fripp . It
24232-459: The UK on 6 April 1973. Like the previous single, it was a commercial success, peaking at number three in the UK. "Time" was issued as a single in the US and Japan in April, and "Let's Spend the Night Together" in the US and Europe in July. In 1974, Lulu released a version of "Watch That Man" as the B-side to her single " The Man Who Sold the World ", produced by Bowie and Ronson. Aladdin Sane
24465-574: The UK. Dressed in a striking costume, his hair dyed reddish-brown, Bowie launched his Ziggy Stardust stage show with the Spiders from Mars —Ronson, Bolder, and Woodmansey—at the Toby Jug pub in Tolworth in Kingston upon Thames on 10 February 1972. The show was hugely popular, catapulting him to stardom as he toured the UK over the next six months and creating, as described by David Buckley,
24698-489: The UK. The Ziggy Stardust Tour continued to the United States. Bowie contributed backing vocals, keyboards and guitar to Reed's 1972 solo breakthrough Transformer , co-producing the album with Ronson. The following year, Bowie co-produced and mixed the Stooges ' album Raw Power alongside Iggy Pop. His own Aladdin Sane (1973) was his first UK number-one album. Described by Bowie as "Ziggy goes to America", it contained songs he wrote while travelling to and across
24931-522: The US during the earlier part of the Ziggy tour, which now continued to Japan to promote the new album. Aladdin Sane spawned the UK top five singles " The Jean Genie " and " Drive-In Saturday ". Bowie's love of acting led to his total immersion in the characters he created for his music. "Offstage I'm a robot. Onstage I achieve emotion. It's probably why I prefer dressing up as Ziggy to being David." With satisfaction came severe personal difficulties: acting
25164-419: The US release was instead titled Man of Words/Man of Music ; it was reissued internationally in 1972 by RCA Records as Space Oddity . Featuring philosophical post- hippie lyrics on peace, love and morality, its acoustic folk rock occasionally fortified by harder rock, the album was not a commercial success at the time. Bowie met Angela Barnett in April 1969. They married within a year. Her impact on him
25397-501: The US variety show Soul Train , earning him the distinction of being one of the first white artists to appear on the programme. The same year, Bowie fired Defries as his manager. At the culmination of the ensuing months-long legal dispute, he watched, as described by Sandford, "millions of dollars of his future earnings being surrendered" in what were "uniquely generous terms for Defries", then "shut himself up in West 20th Street, where for
25630-592: The [British] album chart, accumulating an unprecedented 182 weeks on the list in 1973 with six different titles." Following Bowie's death in 2016 , Aladdin Sane reentered the US charts, reaching number 16 on the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Albums chart the week of 29 January 2016, where it remained for three weeks. It also peaked at number six on the Billboard Vinyl Albums the week of 18 March 2016, remaining on
25863-675: The accompanying video, renowned as one of the most innovative of all time. While Scary Monsters used principles established by the Berlin albums, it was considered by critics to be far more direct musically and lyrically. The album's hard rock edge included conspicuous guitar contributions from Fripp and Pete Townshend . Topping the UK Albums Chart for the first time since Diamond Dogs , Buckley writes that with Scary Monsters , Bowie achieved "the perfect balance" of creativity and mainstream success. Bowie paired with Queen in 1981 for
26096-425: The age of 15. Playing guitar-based rock and roll at local youth gatherings and weddings, the Konrads had a varying line-up of between four and eight members, Underwood among them. When Bowie left the technical school the following year, he informed his parents of his intention to become a pop star. His mother arranged his employment as an electrician's mate. Frustrated by his bandmates' limited aspirations, Bowie left
26329-463: The album and tour—rhythm guitarist Carlos Alomar , bassist George Murray and drummer Dennis Davis —continued as a stable unit for the remainder of the 1970s. Bowie performed on stage as the Thin White Duke. The tour was highly successful but mired in political controversy. Bowie was quoted in Stockholm as saying that "Britain could benefit from a Fascist leader", and was detained by customs on
26562-488: The album can be seen in retrospect as punk metal , while Tucson Weekly ' s Jarret Keene deemed it "garage-punk-metal" fusion. Raw Power was released on February 7, 1973 under the moniker of "Iggy and the Stooges", in contrast to the band's first two albums, which were credited to "the Stooges". The cover is a photograph of Pop taken by rock music photographer Mick Rock . The songs "Search and Destroy" and "Shake Appeal" were both released as singles (the title track
26795-440: The album explored more serious subjects, and found Bowie paying unusually direct homage to his influences with " Song for Bob Dylan ", " Andy Warhol " and " Queen Bitch ", the latter a Velvet Underground pastiche. His first release through RCA, it was a commercial failure, partly due lack of promotion from the label. Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits covered the album's track " Oh! You Pretty Things ", which reached number 12 in
27028-470: The album over Pop's remixed version. Williamson stated: I personally think [the remixed Raw Power ] sucked. I gotta tell ya that I like the IDEA of what [Iggy] tried to do, and I talked to him about it, and there's a lot of factors involved, but at the time, none of us liked Bowie's mix, but given everything, Iggy, when he went in to mix it, he found out that the guy who had recorded it originally had not gotten
27261-516: The album showed that Bowie "was simultaneously appalled and fixated by America". The tour, combined with other side projects during the period, such as co-producing Lou Reed 's Transformer and mixing the Stooges ' Raw Power , took a toll on Bowie's mental health, further influencing his writing. Due to being on the road, Bowie was unsure of the new album's direction, believing he had said what he wanted to say about Ziggy Stardust , but knew he would "end up doing...'Ziggy Part 2'". He stated: "There
27494-529: The album went platinum in both the UK and the US. Its three singles became top 20 hits in both countries, where its title track reached number one. " Modern Love " and " China Girl " each made number two in the UK, accompanied by a pair of "absorbing" music videos that Buckley said "activated key archetypes in the pop world... 'Let's Dance', with its little narrative surrounding the young Aboriginal couple, targeted 'youth', and 'China Girl', with its bare-bummed (and later partially censored) beach lovemaking scene...
27727-423: The album's overarching theme of alienation . Musically, the song itself is built around a Bo Diddley beat ; Pegg considers Ronson's guitar part very "bluesy". "Cracked Actor" was written following Bowie's stay at Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, where he witnessed prostitutes, drug use and sex. The song's narrator is an aging film star whose life is beginning to decline; he is "stiff on his legend" and encounters
27960-429: The album, was to cement Bowie's UK breakthrough: both single and album charted rapidly following his July Top of the Pops performance of the song. The album, which remained in the chart for two years, was soon joined there by the six-month-old Hunky Dory . At the same time, the non-album single " John, I'm Only Dancing " and " All the Young Dudes ", a song he wrote and produced for Mott the Hoople , were successful in
28193-402: The album: "I'm his biggest fan. He has the technical ability of Jimmy Page without being as studious, and the swagger of Keith Richards without being sloppy. He's both demonic and intellectual, almost how you would imagine Darth Vader to sound if he was in a band." Marr added that he considered Pop "the greatest rock'n'roll singer of all time". Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth said that it
28426-444: The apotheosis of every parental nightmare." Reviewing Raw Power for Rolling Stone , Lenny Kaye praised its uncompromising music and said, "for the first time, the Stooges have used the recording studio as more than a recapturing of their live show, and with David Bowie helping out in the mix, there is an ongoing swirl of sound that virtually drags you into the speakers". Longtime Stooges fans were less receptive to Bowie's mix for
28659-511: The band after the large sum of money he advanced to them was spent on drugs. The Stooges broke up in February 1974. After spending time in a drug-fueled stupor in L.A. – and later rehab at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute – Pop re-joined Bowie's entourage, and emerged as a solo artist in 1976. Raw Power received much praise from contemporary critics. Dave Marsh proclaimed that it was already "the best album of
28892-739: The band's initial dissolution in July 1971. When they failed to find a suitable English rhythm section, Williamson suggested that former Stooges Ron Asheton and Scott Asheton fly over and participate in the recording sessions, leading to the band's reformation under the new name of "Iggy and the Stooges". Although he was the band's founding guitarist, the elder Asheton reluctantly agreed to switch to electric bass . Initial demo sessions were held at RG Jones Recording Studios in Wimbledon with sound engineer Gerry Kitchingham and at Olympic Studios in Barnes with sound engineer Keith Harwood , with most of
29125-438: The band's songs, whose lyrics conflated sex and death. He regarded the album as " heavy metal in every sense" and "another masterpiece" from the group. Greg Kot also believed Raw Power was "another masterpiece-more heavy metal than punk", with songs more "structured but no less forceful". Nick Kent said in 2010 that Raw Power remains "the greatest, meanest-eyed, coldest-blooded hard rock tour de force ever summoned up in
29358-523: The basis that he wrote his own songs. Dissatisfied with Davy (and Davie) Jones, which in the mid-1960s invited confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees , he took on the stage name David Bowie after the 19th-century American pioneer James Bowie and the knife he had popularised . His first release under the name was the January 1966 single " Can't Help Thinking About Me ", recorded with the Lower Third. It flopped like its predecessors. Bowie departed
29591-473: The best piano sound out of any of his performances for Bowie." The pianist was given a lot of attention from Bowie in the studio, who mainly wanted to see what Garson could do. Other musicians hired for the album and tour included the saxophonists Ken Fordham and Brian Wilshaw; the singers Juanita Franklin and Linda Lewis as backing vocalists; and longtime friend Geoffrey MacCormack (later known as Warren Peace ), who subsequently appeared on later Bowie records in
29824-471: The chart for four weeks. Critical reaction to Aladdin Sane was generally laudatory, if more enthusiastic in the US than in the UK. Ben Gerson of Rolling Stone remarked on "Bowie's provocative melodies, audacious lyrics, masterful arrangements (with Mick Ronson) and production (with Ken Scott)", and pronounced it "less manic than The Man Who Sold The World , and less intimate than Hunky Dory , with none of its attacks of self-doubt." Billboard called it
30057-528: The charter bus when travelling between Cleveland and Memphis. The Bo Diddley-inspired guitar riff is a variation of the Yardbirds ' " I'm a Man " and " Smokestack Lightning ". Bowie called it "a smorgasbord of imagined Americana" and his "first New York song", he wrote the lyrics to "entertain" Warhol associate Cyrinda Foxe , who appeared in the song's accompanied music video . The music is heavily blues-influenced, leading Perone to contest: "This piece exudes
30290-489: The chords from Bowie's early composition "All the Young Dudes" played backwards, and "Red Money" took backing tracks from The Idiot 's "Sister Midnight". The album was recorded in Switzerland and New York City. Ahead of its release, RCA's Mel Ilberman described it as "a concept album that portrays the Lodger as a homeless wanderer, shunned and victimized by life's pressures and technology." Lodger reached number four in
30523-524: The closing track. A possible inspiration for the song is American soul singer Claudia Lennear , whom Bowie met during the US tour and also inspired the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar", although the critic Chris O'Leary argues that the inspiration was the French singer Amanda Lear , a sometime girlfriend of Bowie's. Unlike other tracks on the album, "Lady Grinning Soul" has a sexual ambiance, lushness and serenity, and features flamenco -style guitar from Ronson and
30756-417: The country. Due to the American influence and the fast-paced songwriting, the record features a tougher, heavier glam rock sound than its predecessor. The lyrics reflect the pros of Bowie's newfound stardom and the cons of touring and contain images of urban decay , drugs, sex, violence and death. Some of the songs are influenced by the Rolling Stones ; a cover of their song " Let's Spend the Night Together "
30989-486: The cult film The Man Who Fell to Earth and released Station to Station . In 1977, he again changed direction with the electronic -inflected album Low , the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno that came to be known as the Berlin Trilogy . "Heroes" (1977) and Lodger (1979) followed; each album reached the UK top five and received lasting critical praise. After uneven commercial success in
31222-508: The decade was 1987's Never Let Me Down , where he ditched the light sound of his previous two albums, instead combining pop rock with a harder rock sound. Peaking at number six in the UK, the album yielded the hits " Day-In Day-Out ", " Time Will Crawl " and " Never Let Me Down ". Bowie later described it as his "nadir", calling it "an awful album". He supported the album on the 86-concert Glass Spider Tour . The backing band included Peter Frampton on lead guitar. Contemporary critics maligned
31455-466: The dress with him and wore it during interviews, to the approval of critics – including Rolling Stone ' s John Mendelsohn , who described him as "ravishing, almost disconcertingly reminiscent of Lauren Bacall ". During the tour, Bowie's observation of two seminal American proto-punk artists led him to develop a concept that eventually found form in the Ziggy Stardust character:
31688-500: The end of the following year, Bowie had taken up the ukulele and tea-chest bass , begun to participate in skiffle sessions with friends, and had started to play the piano; meanwhile, his stage presentation of numbers by both Presley and Chuck Berry —complete with gyrations in tribute to the original artists—to his local Wolf Cub group was described as "mesmerizing ... like someone from another planet". Having encouraged his son to follow his dreams of being an entertainer since he
31921-494: The establishment of Rock Against Racism . In August 1976, Bowie moved to West Berlin with his old friend Iggy Pop to rid themselves of their respective drug addictions and escape the spotlight. Bowie's interest in German krautrock and the ambient works of multi-instrumentalist Brian Eno culminated in the first of three albums, co-produced with Visconti, that became known as the Berlin Trilogy . The album, Low (1977),
32154-733: The film Stealth . He returned to the stage on 8 September 2005, appearing with Arcade Fire for the US nationally televised event Fashion Rocks, and performed with the Canadian band for the second time a week later during the CMJ Music Marathon. He contributed backing vocals on TV on the Radio 's song "Province" for their album Return to Cookie Mountain , and joined with Lou Reed on Danish alt-rockers Kashmir 's 2005 album No Balance Palace . Raw Power Though not initially commercially successful, Raw Power gained
32387-436: The film Velvet Goldmine , which tells the story of a character based on Bowie's Ziggy Stardust during the 1970s glam rock era. "Gimme Danger" was also covered by Pixies frontman Frank Black for the game Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 . A cover of "Search and Destroy" by Emanuel also appeared on the soundtrack to Tony Hawk's American Wasteland . Additionally, a cover of the album's namesake track "Raw Power"
32620-404: The follow-up single to " Space Oddity " (1969). It was written for Bowie's first wife Angela Barnett , whom he married shortly after the original's release. The subsequent rerecording on Aladdin Sane was glam-influenced, and featured Marc Bolan 's original guitar part mimicked almost note-for-note by Ronson. Buckley calls the rerecording a "revamped and much improved" version. Doggett argues that
32853-412: The genre, are "works of art", and are not just "glam classics", but "rock classics". In 2003, Aladdin Sane was ranked among six Bowie entries on Rolling Stone ' s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (at number 277), and 279 in a 2012 revised list. It was later ranked 77th on Pitchfork ' s list of the top 100 albums of the 1970s. In 2013, NME ranked the album 230th in their list of
33086-457: The gnome, failed to chart. Released six weeks later, his album debut, David Bowie , an amalgam of pop, psychedelia and music hall , met the same fate. It was his last release for two years. In September, Bowie recorded " Let Me Sleep Beside You " and " Karma Man ", both rejected by Deram and left unreleased until 1970. The tracks marked the beginning of Bowie's working relationship with producer Tony Visconti which, with large gaps, lasted for
33319-405: The hard rock quartet Tin Machine . The line-up was completed by bassist and drummer Tony and Hunt Sales , who had played with Bowie on Iggy Pop's Lust for Life in 1977. Although he intended Tin Machine to operate as a democracy, Bowie dominated, both in songwriting and in decision-making. The band's 1989 self-titled debut album received mixed reviews and, according to author Paul Trynka ,
33552-559: The high-budget stage production was filmed by Alan Yentob . The resulting documentary, Cracked Actor , featured a pasty and emaciated Bowie: the tour coincided with his slide from heavy cocaine use into addiction, producing severe physical debilitation, paranoia and emotional problems. He later commented that the accompanying live album, David Live , ought to have been titled "David Bowie Is Alive and Well and Living Only in Theory". David Live nevertheless solidified Bowie's status as
33785-399: The impact on society of different kinds of 'star' and the degradation of human life in a spiritual void." The author James E. Perone states that thematically, the album deals with "the concept and definition of sanity", while Ric Albano of Classic Rock Review wrote that the music reflects the pros of newfound stardom and the cons of the perils of touring. The opening track, "Watch That Man",
34018-459: The influence of the Stones on the entire record. While the original was psychedelic, Bowie's rendition is faster, raunchier and more glam-influenced. It features synthesisers that Pegg believes give the track a "fresh, futuristic sheen". Several critics also consider it a gay appropriation of a heterosexual song. The cover has been criticised in the ensuing decades as camp and unsatisfying. "The Jean Genie" began as an impromptu jam titled "Bussin'" on
34251-523: The instruments into one stereo channel and the vocals into the other, with little regard for balance or tone quality. Tony Defries , the head of Bowie's management company MainMan, informed Pop that the album would be remixed by Bowie. Pop agreed to this, saying that "the other choice was I wasn't going to get my album out. I think Defries told me that CBS refused to release it like that, I don't know", but insisted that his own mix for " Search and Destroy " be retained. Due to budgetary constraints, Bowie remixed
34484-399: The late 1970s, Bowie had three number-one hits: the 1980 single " Ashes to Ashes ", its album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) and " Under Pressure " (a 1981 collaboration with Queen ). He achieved his greatest commercial success in the 1980s with Let's Dance (1983). Between 1988 and 1992, he fronted the hard rock band Tin Machine before resuming his solo career in 1993. Throughout
34717-515: The latest Smashing Pumpkins .' Wow." In the reissued CD's liner notes, however, Pop points out that one of his intentions in doing the new mix was to keep audio levels in the red (which would deliberately cause such distortion) while at the same time making the music more "powerful and listenable". This new version is arguably the " loudest album ever ", reaching RMS of -4 dB, rare even by today's standards. James Williamson and Ron Asheton have both stated that they prefer Bowie's original mix of
34950-497: The latter's drumming style, leading to his replacement by Mick Woodmansey . Not long after, Bowie fired his manager and replaced him with Tony Defries . This resulted in years of litigation that concluded with Bowie having to pay Pitt compensation. The studio sessions continued and resulted in Bowie's third album, The Man Who Sold the World (1970), which contained references to schizophrenia, paranoia and delusion. It represented
35183-401: The liner notes and the biographer Nicholas Pegg : Production Sales figures based on certification alone. Shipments figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( / ˈ b oʊ i / BOH -ee ),
35416-502: The little touches Bowie put on the mix helped and I think some of the things MainMan did helped, and more than anything else, what the whole experience did was to get me out of Detroit and onto a world stage. And also I learned a helluva lot being over there in England and I started thinking differently. It led to a very ambitious piece of work, and that's fine. But the fact was that neither Bowie's mix nor my previous mix could do justice to
35649-430: The lyrics is at once slightly absurd and indicative of a confused, violently defensive stance that's been a rock tradition from the beginning". In Stereo Review , he called the album a "comeback of major proportions" and "monomaniacal fury so genuine" that it may be too overwhelming for listeners, concluding that, "whether you laugh at them or accept their chaotic rumble on its own terms, they're fascinating and authentic,
35882-411: The minimalist, ambient nature of its two predecessors, making a partial return to the drum- and guitar-based rock and pop of his pre-Berlin era. The result was a complex mixture of new wave and world music , in places incorporating Hijaz non-Western scales . Some tracks were composed using Eno's Oblique Strategies cards: "Boys Keep Swinging" entailed band members swapping instruments, "Move On" used
36115-400: The most celebrated image of Bowie's long career". Upon release, the cover was polarising. According to Cann, some were offended and bewildered at Bowie's appearance, while others found it daring. Henry Edwards of The New York Times initially described the image as "the most cunning representation to date of this angel-faced, 25-year-old, English composer-performer as a disembodied spirit of
36348-511: The most recent technology, so there was something called a Time Cube you could feed a signal into -- it looked like a bong, a big plastic tube with a couple of bends in it -- and when the sound came out the other end, it sort of shot at you like an echo effect. He used that on the guitar in "Gimme Danger", a beautiful guitar echo overload that's absolutely beautiful; and on the drums in "Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell". His concept was, "You're so primitive, your drummer should sound like he's beating
36581-551: The new record label, Victory , deemed the cover "a show of wrong, obscene images" and airbrushed the statues' genitalia for the American release. Tin Machine toured again, but after the live album Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby (1992) failed commercially, Bowie dissolved the band and resumed his solo career. He continued to collaborate with Gabrels for the rest of the 1990s. On 20 April 1992, Bowie appeared at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert , following
36814-507: The next three years. The pianist came from a jazz and blues background, which the biographer Nicholas Pegg believes veered the album from pure rock 'n' roll and expanded Bowie's experimental horizons. Buckley called Aladdin Sane the beginning of Bowie's "experimental phase" and cited Garson's presence as "revolutionary". Scott noted that Garson added elements to the arrangements that were not there before, including more keyboards and synthesisers. Garson later said that Scott as producer "got
37047-477: The number one single " Ashes to Ashes ", featuring the textural guitar-synthesiser work of Chuck Hammer and revisiting the character of Major Tom from "Space Oddity". The song gave international exposure to the underground New Romantic movement when Bowie visited the London club "Blitz"—the main New Romantic hangout—to recruit several of the regulars (including Steve Strange of the band Visage ) to act in
37280-408: The original 1989 CD release of Raw Power sounded, and the fact that Columbia would release the new mix on its subsidiary Legacy Recordings as factors that led him to go through with the new mix, which was undertaken at New York's Sony Music Studios in 1996. The remixed edition was released on April 22, 1997. In the album's accompanying liner notes, Pop states the following: In retrospect, I think
37513-440: The original David Bowie mix of Raw Power was – Fleming's going, "When you hear Iggy's mix, I guarantee you're gonna say, 'Man, remember that great mix that David Bowie did?'" So I heard it, I got the advance copy from his manager, and listened to it. Then I called Fleming and I'm going, "Gee, Don, I just listened to Iggy's mix of Raw Power. Man, I sure loved that old David Bowie mix. Was it ever great." Basically, all that Iggy did
37746-491: The original album; Robert Christgau later wrote of the original fan response, "first-generation Iggyphiles charged just as indignantly that David Bowie had mixed the real thing way too thin, before it was anointed the Platonic idea of rock and roll by desperate young men who didn't have much else to choose from". Along with the Stooges' first two albums, Raw Power came to be regarded as an important proto-punk record in
37979-465: The original master tapes for Rykodisc, released with no bonus tracks. It was again remastered in 1999 by Peter Mew at Abbey Road Studios for EMI and Virgin Records , and once more released with no bonus tracks. In 2003, a two-disc version was released by EMI/Virgin. The second in a series of 30th Anniversary 2CD Edition sets (along with Ziggy Stardust and Diamond Dogs ), this release includes
38212-519: The original mix "was so muted that it sounded like Vietnam being fought inside a Kleenex box", the remix is comparable to an atomic bombing and, "with its sonic gonads now fully restored, it can be further stated Raw Power is the single most dangerous rock & roll album ever made. Before or since." Christgau remained qualified in his praise. Reviewing the reissue in the Village Voice , he said "the pumped bass and vocals Iggy has uncovered on
38445-491: The original tapes" to be a "quantum improvement" over the original mix, but still found fault with the slower songs, "which like all of Iggy's slow ones are not as good as his fast ones, stand between a statement of principle and a priceless work of art." Nonetheless, he ranked it as the ninth best reissue of the year in his list for the 1997 Pazz & Jop critics' poll. According to Pitchfork journalist Stuart Berman, Pop's remix of Raw Power "horrified audiophiles with
38678-564: The other seven songs in a single day at Los Angeles ' Western Sound Recorders in October 1972. Pop said of the production: To the best of my recollection it was done in a day. I don't think it was two days. On a very, very old board, I mean this board was old! An Elvis type of board, old-tech, low-tech, in a poorly lit, cheap old studio with very little time. To David's credit, he listened with his ear to each thing and talked it out with me, I gave him what I thought it should have, he put that in its perspective, added some touches. He's always liked
38911-572: The period on his cocaine addiction, the character of the Thin White Duke and his life living in Los Angeles, a city he later said "should be wiped off the face of the Earth". He later apologised for these statements, and throughout the 1980s and 1990s criticised racism in European politics and the American music industry. Nevertheless, his comments on fascism, as well as Eric Clapton 's alcohol-fuelled denunciations of Pakistani immigrants in 1976, led to
39144-477: The photographer "just popped it in there. I thought it was rather sweet." It was airbrushed by Philip Castle, who also helped create the silvery effect on Bowie's body on the sleeve. Regarded as one of the most iconic images of Bowie, it was called "the Mona Lisa of album covers" by The Guardian ' s Mick McCann and one of the 50 greatest album covers of all time by Billboard in 2022. Pegg calls it "perhaps
39377-433: The point that they need to watch films in order to learn to have sex again. It is heavily influenced by 1950s doo-wop music, and presents a contemporary update to the 1950s drive-in culture. As Bowie was influenced by Jungian ideas around creativity and madness, the artist Tanja Stark suggests the song's lyrical reference to Jung "crashing out with sylvian" allude to Jung's Red Book hallucinations possibly originating from
39610-401: The power of the band or even to the legibility of the vocal ... I feel that now I have the wherewithall [ sic ], the position, and the expertise at my disposal to give this thing its due sonically, and I didn't have that before. So it's kind of like I'm finishing that off. I don't think you can beat David's mix, it's very creative. But this is just a simple, straight band mix of
39843-436: The quality of the Stooges' songwriting, it was really meticulous. And to his credit, the only person I'd ever known of in print to notice it, among my peers of professional musicians, was Bowie. He noticed it right off." Having signed on as a solo artist to Columbia Records , Pop relocated to London, where he was to write and record an album with James Williamson , who served as the Stooges' second guitarist from late 1970 until
40076-433: The record bad, save for "Time" and "The Prettiest Star". Fowley found the record's flaws to be "over-verbalised multi-symbolistic lyrics", not enough collaboration with Ronson when making it and the presence of Garson on piano. Other British writers gave more positive assessments, with Val Mabbs of Record Mirror citing it as Bowie's best work up to that point. Also writing for Phonograph Record , Ron Ross stated that with
40309-622: The record too thinly. Raw Power has appeared on professional listings of the greatest albums. Pitchfork named it the 83rd best album of the 1970s. In 2003, it was ranked number 125 on Rolling Stone ' s " The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time " list, and 128 in a 2012 revised list. Raw Power ' s 1997 remix also received positive reviews. Writing that year in Entertainment Weekly , David Browne believed it rectified "one of rock's most exciting, but worst-recorded, audio assaults", and found it "as collar grabbing as
40542-484: The record, Bowie has proven himself to be "one of the most consistent and fast-moving artists since the Beatles". Ross considered side one "the tightest, and probably the best, work Bowie has ever recorded". Writer Charles Shaar Murray of the NME felt Aladdin Sane was a strong contender for album of the year, further calling it "a worthy contribution to the most important body of musical work produced in this decade". The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau wrote
40775-404: The remade "John, I'm Only Dancing" and an unknown track titled "Zion". The sessions concluded on 24 January. We wanted to take it ...much rougher. Ziggy was rock and roll but polished rock and roll. [Bowie] wanted certain tracks [on Aladdin Sane ] to go like the Rolling Stones and unpolished rock and roll. —Ken Scott on the album's sound Like Ziggy Stardust , Aladdin Sane
41008-453: The remastering, the '97 version far outstrips it in fidelity and sheer brute force, and remains a better entry point for younger listeners seeking to understand the album's impact." Raw Power has been credited by many sources for pioneering punk rock , although Paste magazine's Lizzie Manno adds that it has "also been cited as a major influence on heavy metal and hard rock". According to Ted Maider of Consequence of Sound , Raw Power
41241-530: The rest of Bowie's career. Studying the dramatic arts under Lindsay Kemp , from avant-garde theatre and mime to commedia dell'arte , Bowie became immersed in the creation of personae to present to the world. Satirising life in a British prison, his composition "Over the Wall We Go" became a 1967 single for Oscar ; another Bowie song, " Silly Boy Blue ", was released by Billy Fury the following year. Playing acoustic guitar, Hermione Farthingale formed
41474-425: The same pattern as Ziggy Stardust , but for "both better and worse". While he praised the album for presenting unusual genres and being lyrically different, he criticised Bowie's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Let's Spend the Night Together", calling it "oddly clueless", and contended that "there's no distinctive sound or theme to make [a cohesive record]; it's Bowie riding the wake of Ziggy Stardust, which means there's
41707-619: The same role over an extended period, it became impossible for him to separate Ziggy Stardust—and later, the Thin White Duke—from his own character offstage. Ziggy, Bowie said, "wouldn't leave me alone for years. That was when it all started to go sour ... My whole personality was affected. It became very dangerous. I really did have doubts about my sanity." His later Ziggy shows, which included songs from both Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane , were ultra-theatrical affairs filled with shocking stage moments, such as Bowie stripping down to
41940-475: The school's most gifted pupils to the arts, a regime so liberal that Frampton actively encouraged his own son, Peter , to pursue a musical career with David, a partnership briefly intact thirty years later. Bowie's maternal half-brother, Terry Burns, was a substantial influence on his early life. Burns, who was 10 years older than Bowie, had schizophrenia and seizures , and lived alternately at home and in psychiatric wards; while living with Bowie, he introduced
42173-582: The second half of the year, the Heathen Tour . Taking place in Europe and North America, the tour opened at London's annual Meltdown festival, for which Bowie was that year appointed artistic director. Among the acts he selected for the festival were Philip Glass, Television and the Dandy Warhols . As well as songs from the new album, the tour featured material from Bowie's Low era. Reality (2003) followed, and its accompanying world tour,
42406-437: The setlist. Bowie drastically increased his stage demeanor for this portion of the tour, becoming more open and ambiguous compared to the shy persona of previous performances. He also underwent numerous costume changes during the shows, even representing the Aladdin Sane character through the use of mime and masks. This portion of the tour commenced in the United States before continuing to Japan in April. Bowie's stage presence
42639-430: The solo a "landmark" recording. Doggett similarly believes that the track's landscape belongs to Garson. "Drive-In Saturday" was written following an overnight train ride between Seattle and Phoenix in early November 1972. He witnessed a row of silver domes in the distance and assumed they were secret government facilities used for a post-nuclear fallout. In the track, the radiation has affected people's minds and bodies to
42872-403: The song appeared out of place on Aladdin Sane , while Pegg finds that the references to "screen starlets" and "the movies in the past" mesh with the album's other nostalgic references. " Let's Spend the Night Together " is the only cover song on the album. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and recorded by the Rolling Stones in 1967, the song's appearance on Aladdin Sane acknowledges
43105-459: The songs rejected by the band's management. Pop said that Columbia executives insisted on two ballads , one for each side of the album: "Gimme Danger" and "I Need Somebody". The album itself was recorded at CBS Studios in London with staff engineer Mike Ross-Trevor from September 10 to October 6, 1972. Pop produced and mixed the album by himself; unfortunately, his botched first attempt mixed most of
43338-491: The time Bowie was "still way ahead of the game". Pegg calls it "one of the most urgent, compelling and essential of Bowie's albums". It was almost like a treading-water album ... but funnily enough, in retrospect, for me it's the more successful album, because it's more informed about rock'n'roll than Ziggy was. —David Bowie discussing Aladdin Sane in the 1990s Biographer Paul Trynka describes it as both "slicker and sketchier" than Ziggy , and argues that "[it]
43571-552: The time David arrived in 1958, as rich in arcane ritual as any [English] public school . There were houses named after eighteenth-century statesmen like Pitt and Wilberforce . There was a uniform and an elaborate system of rewards and punishments. There was also an accent on languages, science and particularly design, where a collegiate atmosphere flourished under the tutorship of Owen Frampton . In David's account, Frampton led through force of personality, not intellect; his colleagues at Bromley Tech were famous for neither and yielded
43804-465: The title track on Marc Bolan's television show Marc , and again two days later for Bing Crosby 's final CBS television Christmas special, when he joined Crosby in " Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy ", a version of " The Little Drummer Boy " with a new, contrapuntal verse. RCA belatedly released the recording as a single five years later in 1982, charting in the UK at number three. After completing Low and "Heroes" , Bowie spent much of 1978 on
44037-476: The tour as overproduced, saying it pandered to the current stadium rock trends in its special effects and dancing, although in later years critics acknowledged the tour's strengths and influence on concert tours by other artists, such as Prince , Madonna and U2 . Wanting to completely rejuvenate himself following the critical failures of Tonight and Never Let Me Down , Bowie placed his solo career on hold after meeting guitarist Reeves Gabrels and formed
44270-424: The tour were cancelled. In the years following his recuperation from the heart attack, Bowie reduced his musical output, making only one-off appearances on stage and in the studio. He sang in a duet of his 1971 song " Changes " with Butterfly Boucher for the 2004 animated film Shrek 2 . During a relatively quiet 2005, he recorded the vocals for the song "(She Can) Do That", co-written with Brian Transeau , for
44503-597: The two and Bowie. Additional conflicts regarding compensation led to Woodmansey's dismissal from the Spiders in July. Bowie's next album, Pin Ups —a covers album devised as a "stop-gap" record to appease RCA—was recorded during the summer of 1973, released in October, and was Bowie's final album recorded with the Spiders, by then comprising only Ronson and Bolder. Retrospectively, Aladdin Sane has received positive reviews from music critics but most reviewers have unfavorably compared it to its predecessor. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic believed that Aladdin Sane followed
44736-520: The usual four. The image was the most expensive cover art ever made at the time. The make-up designer was artist Pierre Laroche, who remained Bowie's make-up artist for the remainder of the 1973 tour and the Pin Ups cover shoot. Cann writes that Duffy and Laroche copied the lightning bolt from a National Panasonic rice-cooker in the studio. The make-up was completed with a "deathly purple wash", which Cann believes, together with Bowie's closed eyes, evoke
44969-450: The vocal up and down a lot. On at least four or five songs that was the situation, including "Search and Destroy." That's got such a peculiar sound because all we did was occasionally bring the lead guitar up and take it out. When Morgan Neville 's documentary film on Raw Power was released in 2010, they demonstrated that each individual instrument was indeed recorded on its own track on the original multi-track tapes, suggesting that Bowie
45202-421: The years following its release. Writing of the album in retrospect, Will Hodgkinson believed that while the band's debut was "charged and brutal garage-rock " and Fun House was "lurid chaos", Raw Power was more musically sophisticated "in its debauchery". In The Trouser Press Guide to New Wave Records , Scott Isler credited Williamson's writing contributions with providing more musicality and structure to
45435-596: The younger man to many of his lifelong influences, such as modern jazz , Buddhism , Beat poetry and the occult . In addition to Burns, a significant proportion of Bowie's extended family members had schizophrenia spectrum disorders , including an aunt who was institutionalised and another who underwent a lobotomy ; this has been labelled as an influence on his early work. Bowie studied art, music and design, including layout and typesetting. After Burns introduced him to modern jazz, his enthusiasm for players like Charles Mingus and John Coltrane led his mother to give him
45668-439: Was a point in '73 where I knew it was all over. I didn't want to be trapped in this Ziggy character all my life. And I guess what I was doing on Aladdin Sane , I was trying to move into the next area – but using a rather pale imitation of Ziggy as a secondary device. In my mind, it was Ziggy Goes to Washington: Ziggy under the influence of America." Rather than continue the Ziggy Stardust character directly, Bowie decided to create
45901-520: Was a toddler, in the late 1950s David's father took him to meet singers and other performers preparing for the Royal Variety Performance , introducing him to Alma Cogan and Tommy Steele . After taking his eleven-plus exam at the conclusion of his Burnt Ash Junior education, Bowie went to Bromley Technical High School . It was an unusual technical school, as biographer Christopher Sandford wrote: Despite its status it was, by
46134-444: Was all too obvious that the heat was on... The songs were written too fast, recorded too fast and mixed too fast." Marc Spitz states that Bowie might have moved on from the Ziggy persona sooner had it not been for the pressure from his music publisher MainMan . Despite the record being critically viewed as inferior to its predecessor, Spitz calls it one of Bowie's classics and the songs "top-notch", and felt it ultimately showed that at
46367-477: Was an English singer, songwriter, musician and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, and his music and stagecraft has had a significant impact on popular music . Bowie developed an interest in music from an early age. He studied art, music and design before embarking on
46600-419: Was an extension of Thomas Jerome Newton, the extraterrestrial being he portrayed in the film The Man Who Fell to Earth the same year. Developing the funk and soul of Young Americans , Station to Station ' s synthesiser-heavy arrangements were influenced by electronic and German krautrock . Bowie's cocaine addiction during this period was at its peak; he often did not sleep for three to four days at
46833-424: Was at a charity event in 2006. He returned from a decade-long recording hiatus in 2013 with The Next Day and remained musically active until his death from liver cancer in 2016. He died two days after both his 69th birthday and the release of his final album, Blackstar . During his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at over 100 million worldwide, made him one of the best-selling musicians of all time . He
47066-401: Was born on 8 January 1947 in Brixton , London. His mother, Margaret Mary "Peggy" (née Burns), was born at Shorncliffe Army Camp near Cheriton , Kent. Her paternal grandparents were Irish immigrants who had settled in Manchester . She worked as a waitress at a cinema in Royal Tunbridge Wells . His father, Haywood Stenton "John" Jones, was from Doncaster , Yorkshire, and worked as
47299-404: Was co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott and featured Bowie's backing band the Spiders from Mars – the guitarist Mick Ronson , the bassist Trevor Bolder and the drummer Mick Woodmansey . The lineup also featured the pianist Mike Garson , who was hired by Bowie at the suggestion of the RCA executive Ken Glancey and the singer-songwriter Annette Peacock ; he remained with Bowie's entourage for
47532-434: Was completed, Bowie and the band returned to the road for the final portion of the Ziggy Stardust Tour, which Pegg refers to as the "Aladdin Sane Tour". The same personnel from the album returned for the tour, with the addition of guitarist John Hutchinson, who had previously performed with Bowie in various projects throughout the late 1960s. With the exception of "Lady Grinning Soul", all tracks from Aladdin Sane were added to
47765-418: Was considered "adequate" by the school choir, and he demonstrated above-average abilities in playing the recorder . At the age of nine, his dancing during the newly introduced music and movement classes was strikingly imaginative: teachers called his interpretations "vividly artistic" and his poise "astonishing" for a child. The same year, his interest in music was further stimulated when his father brought home
47998-402: Was either mistaken or working with a copy that had mixed down the instruments on to the same track. Low-fidelity copies of Pop's original mixes circulated among fans for years. In 1993, a selection of these original mixes was released by Bomp Records as Rough Power . Fans and critics generally agreed that the original mixes were interesting, but not necessarily superior to Bowie's efforts. Of
48231-406: Was expecting another success following Young Americans and Station to Station . Bowie's former manager Tony Defries, who maintained a significant financial interest in Bowie's affairs, had tried to prevent the album from being released. Upon its release in January 1977, Low yielded the UK number three single " Sound and Vision ", and its own performance surpassed that of Station to Station in
48464-406: Was free of clipping . In 2023, both mixes of the album were once again remastered, free of clipping, along with the release of a new edition of the album to commemorate its fiftieth anniversary. Raw Power has often been classified as a proto-punk or garage rock album. According to Brett Callwood , it abandoned the "groove-ridden, feel-based songs" of the band's first two albums in favor of
48697-439: Was given during the tour. Bowie later covered "I Took a Trip on a Gemini Space Ship" on 2002's Heathen . Hunky Dory (1971) found Visconti supplanted in both roles by Ken Scott producing and Trevor Bolder on bass. It again featured a stylistic shift towards art pop and melodic pop rock , with light fare tracks such as " Kooks ", a song written for his son, Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones , born on 30 May. Elsewhere,
48930-439: Was going through that adolescent anger thing. It’s a common story but mine was also fuelled by a father and a mother that were gone, and not really knowing where I fit into society. That song really connected with me". Guitarist John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers also praised the record: "When you think about all the ways bands these days try and expand rock and roll, most of them look pretty silly next to Raw Power . That
49163-425: Was his favorite album of all time. It tops a list of the top 50 albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound, as entered in his journal in 1993. Henry Rollins of Black Flag has "Search & Destroy" tattooed across his shoulder blades. He said that Raw Power is his second favorite Stooges album (after Fun House ), calling it "America's greatest contribution to the hard rock scene", to compete with
49396-407: Was immediate—he wrote his 1970 single " The Prettiest Star " for her —and her involvement in his career far-reaching, leaving Pitt with limited influence which he found frustrating. Having established himself as a solo artist with "Space Oddity", Bowie desired a full-time band he could record with and could relate to personally. The band Bowie assembled comprised John Cambridge, a drummer Bowie met at
49629-511: Was joined in playing his songs and those of his guests, Lou Reed, Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters , Robert Smith of the Cure , Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins , Black Francis of the Pixies , and Sonic Youth . Incorporating experiments in jungle and drum 'n' bass , Earthling (1997) was a critical and commercial success in the UK and the US, and two singles from the album—" Little Wonder " and " Dead Man Walking "—became UK top 40 hits. The song " I'm Afraid of Americans " from
49862-406: Was now in a healthy enough mental condition to want to make friends." Recordings from the tour made up the live album Stage , released the same year. Bowie also recorded narration for an adaptation of Sergei Prokofiev 's classical composition Peter and the Wolf , which was released as an album in May 1978. The final piece in what Bowie called his " triptych ", Lodger (1979), eschewed
50095-429: Was one of the albums that shaped his life and music: "That record sliced my head off. The aggression and psychosexual imagery were really mysterious and alluring. In a way, it brought me into all those other aspects of music and literature that were really intriguing, like William S. Burroughs and the Beat Generation." Singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain of Nirvana wrote in his Journals numerous times that Raw Power
50328-466: Was performed by Romeo Delta in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty . In May 2010, Pop, Williamson, Mike Watt , Scott Asheton, and Steve Mackay performed Raw Power in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties -curated Don't Look Back series. All tracks are written by Iggy Pop and James Williamson Disc two – Georgia Peaches (Live at Richards, Atlanta , Georgia , October 1973) Disc three – Rarities, Outtakes & Alternates from
50561-412: Was praised by Japanese audiences and reviewers. On his arrival back to the UK in early May, where Aladdin Sane had just topped the chart, Bowie's popularity had soared in his home country; the final UK leg of the tour sold out completely. The UK leg made small setlist changes and introduced backdrop banners containing the blue and red lightning bolt Bowie donned on the Aladdin Sane cover artwork. Despite
50794-461: Was quickly dismissed as "pompous, dogmatic and dull". EMI complained of "lyrics that preach" as well as "repetitive tunes" and "minimalist or no production". It reached number three in the UK and was supported by a twelve-date tour . The tour was a commercial success, but there was growing reluctance—among fans and critics alike—to accept Bowie's presentation as merely a band member. A series of Tin Machine singles failed to chart, and Bowie, after
51027-434: Was recorded in France and took influence from krautrock and experimental music and featured both short song-fragments and ambient instrumentals. Before its recording, Bowie produced Iggy Pop's debut solo album The Idiot , described by Pegg as "a stepping stone between Station to Station and Low ". Low was completed in November, but left unreleased for three months. RCA did not see the album as commercially viable and
51260-404: Was released as a live album in November 2018. On 27 June, he performed a concert at the BBC Radio Theatre in London, which was released on the compilation album Bowie at the Beeb ; this also featured BBC recording sessions from 1968 to 1972. Bowie and Iman's daughter, Alexandra, was born on 15 August. His interest in Buddhism led him to support the Tibetan cause by performing at
51493-405: Was released as a single in Japan only). According to Robert Hilburn , the album was "far too radical for the corporate-rock sensibilities of radio" in 1973, and as a result it only charted for three weeks on the Top 200 , peaking at number 183. The group continued touring for about a year, but Columbia dropped their contract. The Stooges were also dumped by MainMan – Tony Defries lost patience with
51726-494: Was released as a single. A collaboration with Giorgio Moroder , it became a minor US hit and charted in the UK top 30. The same year, he departed RCA, having grown increasingly dissatisfied with them, and signed a new contract with EMI America Records for a reported $ 17 million. His 1975 severance settlement with Defries also ended in September. Bowie reached his peak of popularity and commercial success in 1983 with Let's Dance . Co-produced by Chic 's Nile Rodgers ,
51959-455: Was released in the UK through RCA on 19 April 1973. With a purported 100,000 copies ordered in advance, the LP debuted at the top of the UK Albums Chart , where it remained for five weeks. In the US, where Bowie already had three albums on the charts, Aladdin Sane reached number 17 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart, making it Bowie's most successful record commercially in both countries to that date. According to Pegg, this feat
52192-486: Was remastered in 2013 for its 40th anniversary, which was included on the 2015 box set Five Years (1969–1973) . Aladdin Sane was my idea of rock and roll America. Here I was on this great tour circuit, not enjoying it very much. So inevitably my writing reflected that, this kind of schizophrenia that I was going through. Wanting to be up on stage performing my songs, but on the other hand not really wanting to be on those buses with all those strange people. Being basically
52425-402: Was shelved due to EMI/ Virgin 's lack of faith in its commercial appeal. Bowie and Visconti continued their collaboration, producing a new album of completely original songs instead: the result of the sessions was the 2002 album Heathen . On 25 June 2000, Bowie made his second appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in England, playing almost 30 years after his first. The performance
52658-461: Was spearheaded by the success of " Starman " and its album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (both 1972), which won him widespread popularity. In 1975, Bowie's style shifted towards a sound he characterised as " plastic soul ", initially alienating many of his UK fans but garnering his first major US crossover success with the number-one single " Fame " and the album Young Americans (both 1975). In 1976, Bowie starred in
52891-561: Was sufficiently sexually provocative to guarantee heavy rotation on MTV". Then-unknown Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan guested on the album, featuring prominently on the title track. Let's Dance was followed by the six-month Serious Moonlight Tour , which was extremely successful. At the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards Bowie received two awards including the inaugural Video Vanguard Award . Tonight (1984), another dance-oriented album, found Bowie collaborating with Pop and Tina Turner . Co-produced by Hugh Padgham , it included
53124-441: Was take all the smoothness and all the effects off James [Williamson]'s guitar, so his leads sound really abrupt and stilty and almost clumsy, and he just put back every single grunt, groan, and word he ever said on the whole fuckin' soundtrack. He just totally restored everything that was cut out of him in the first mix, and I thought, Damn, I really did like the old mix better. In 2002, Bowie said that his original mix of Raw Power
53357-456: Was the only album recorded entirely in Berlin. Incorporating ambient sounds from a variety of sources including white noise generators, synthesisers and koto , the album was another hit, reaching number three in the UK. Its title track was released in both German and French and, though only reached number 24 in the UK singles chart, later became one of his best-known tracks. In contrast to Low , Bowie promoted "Heroes" extensively, performing
53590-475: Was the product of two distinct ideas: a musical based on a wild future in a post- apocalyptic city, and setting George Orwell 's Nineteen Eighty-Four to music. The album went to number one in the UK, spawning the hits " Rebel Rebel " and " Diamond Dogs ", and number five in the US. The supporting Diamond Dogs Tour visited cities in North America between June and December 1974. Choreographed by Toni Basil , and lavishly produced with theatrical special effects,
53823-403: Was then rewritten, influenced by the death of New York Dolls drummer Billy Murcia and the concepts of relativity and mortality. The song's use of the word "wanking" led to it being banned by the BBC from radio stations. Garson's stride and Brechtian cabaret-style piano dominates the track while Ronson plays a similar line on guitar. " The Prettiest Star " was originally released in 1970 as
54056-434: Was unheard of at the time and guaranteed Aladdin Sane ' s status as Britain's best-selling album since "the days of the Beatles ". Elsewhere, the album reached the top five in France, the Netherlands and Sweden, and the top ten in Australia. Aladdin Sane is estimated to have sold 4.6 million copies worldwide, making it one of Bowie's highest-selling LPs. The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums notes that Bowie "ruled
54289-402: Was written in response to seeing two concerts by the American rock band New York Dolls . According to the author Peter Doggett , the Dolls' first two albums were important in representing the American response to the British glam rock movement. Bowie was impressed with their sound and wanted to emulate it on a song. Pegg describes "Watch That Man" as "a sleazy garage rocker" heavily influenced by
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