David Bowie is (part 10): 'Hang On To Yourself '

From January 1971 until into 1972, David Bowie was gradually forming and evolving the concept behind Ziggy Stardust. Ziggy Stardust was David Bowie's attempt to encapsulate the concept of the outsider, the rock 'n' roll star that burnt out and rocked themselves into oblivion. He was based in part on Vince Taylor, an old-school rocker, whom Bowie had met as a teenager, who was convinced he was the link between UFOs and the son of God. His name came from Iggy Pop and the Legendary Stardust Cowboy, a psychobilly act from the 1960s. The sessions began on 8 November 1971 and one of the first songs to be recorded was 'Hang onto Yourself' which quoted Eddie Cochran and Chuck Berry and was reminiscent of Gene Vincent and Vince Taylor.   

The look for Ziggy Stardust was partly based on the Droogs from Stanley Kubrick's banned film version of 'A Clockwork Orange'. But, said Bowie later, "to lessen the image of violence, I decided we should go for extremely colourful and exotic material in place of the Droog white cotton". This was matched with the colourful boots wrestlers wore at the time. Finally, with the help of Angie and her hairdresser the trademark flame-coloured hair, spiky on top and straight down the neck was created. On 11 January 1972 Bowie was booked to record a session for the BBC to promote his recently released 'Hunky Dory' album. Instead Bowie played 'Hang onto Yourself' and 'Ziggy Stardust' from the next album. The only track he did play from 'Hunky Dory' was the Velvet Underground-inspired 'Queen Bitch'.

 

For Bowie, Ziggy Stardust was also about sexuality. He talked about 'the pretty things', by which he meant 'the coming generation'. He felt he was writing a manifesto for a generation free of Victorian values, work practices and sexual morality. He was to be the spokesperson for this free, glamorous, bisexual generation (the 'homo superior'). It was in January 1972 that Bowie talked to Michael Watts of Melody Maker. He told him "I'm going to be huge and it's quite frightening in a way". He also said "I'm gay - and always have been, even when I was David Jones". There has been much discussion about whether this was an honest confession or a marketing ploy to gain extra publicity for his music. It seems quite clear that Bowie was bi-sexual but the timing was also clearly planned. It may well not have been as cynical as some suggest, however. I think it simply fitted with what he was trying to say at the time. It was certainly a brave thing to do. Homosexuality had only been decriminalised in Britain in 1967 and arrests for 'Gross Indecency' had actually increased in the intervening years. Yet many people have since said that the sight of an out gay man made it much easier for them to feel that being gay was acceptable or even cool. A catalyst for this was the Top of the Pops show on 6 July 1972 on which Bowie performed 'Starman'. As the chorus approaches Mick Ronson moves in to Bowie's microphone to share the singing responsibilities and Bowie casually put his arm around Ronson. At that moment nation gasped, some in disgust but many in admiration. Lots of people pick that moment as the moment they became a Bowie fan.

 
By July 1972 'Starman' had reached number 10 in the singles chart and 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars' had reached number 5 in the album charts. David Bowie had finally achieved the stardom he craved and the musical acclaim he had been striving for for a decade.
 

The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
All songs written and composed by David Bowie, except where noted.

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	'Five Years'	4:44
2.	'Soul Love'	3:33
3.	'Moonage Daydream'	4:35
4.	'Starman'	4:13
5.	'It Ain't Easy' (Ron Davies)	3:00

Side two
No.	Title	Length
6.	'Lady Stardust'	3:20
7.	'Star'	2:50
8.	'Hang On to Yourself'	2:40
9.	'Ziggy Stardust'	3:13
10.	'Suffragette City'	3:25
11.	'Rock 'n' Roll Suicide'	3:00

In September 1972 David Bowie began his US tour. After hiring jazz piano player Mike Garson (or Garson the Parson as Bowie called him because of his constant attempts to convert everyone he met to scientology) the tour bus set off for the gruelling schedule across America. Bowie loved travelling across America. He took in everything he saw and used much of it to write new songs during the tour. The first song he came up with almost immediately was 'Jean Genie'. On 6 October, the band stopped off in New York and recorded it. It was released as a single on 25 November and reached number 2 in Britain. Here is the video.

In November, Bowie wrote 'Drive-In Saturday', inspired by things he saw on the train to Pheonix. He included it in the set almost immediately.

Bowie had a four-day break in Los Angeles on his 1972 US tour before two shows in Santa Monica. They stayed in the Beverley Hills Hotel where there were all manner of boys, girls and drugs on offer. Although Bowie didn't partake in the drugs himself, plenty of people did, Quaaludes being the drug of choice. Elton John was there some of the time (also on tour) as was Andy Warhol and Iggy Pop. Bowie wrote 'Cracked Actor' specifically about his experiences there. The line 'since he pinned you baby' refers to 'pinning' someone, meaning that they were addicted to the drugs you were selling them.

Some of the shows on Bowie's first US tour were quite poorly attended but the two Santa Monica shows on 20 and 21 October were a huge success. The seventeen song set-list ranged across five albums (including the as-yet unrecorded next album) and for the next twenty years the bootleg recording would be a classic and allegedly influenced a number of English punk bands. Here is 'Changes' from 'Hunky Dory' from that night. On 3 December, Bowie returned to New York where he recorded his own version of 'All The Young Dudes' and 'Drive In Saturday'. Then he got the boat back to London.

Post Script
In March 1972 Bowie heard that Mott the Hoople were splitting up. He played them a song that he had just written with them in mind and they loved it. In May they recorded it and it was released in July. It got to number 3 in the charts. Bowie was so confident in what he was doing that he felt comfortable in giving away such a great song. Bowie sings backing vocals on the Hoople version. Here is his version.

Here is rare footage of early Ziggy-era Bowie spliced together from two live concerts just as he was on the cusp of fame.

Here Bowie performs 'Ziggy Stardust' a whole year before the Hammersmith Odeon gig in D. A. Pennebaker's 'Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture'.

Here Bowie, in an interview from 1977, retells how he invented the character of Ziggy Stardust.

In July 1972 Bowie audaciously offered to produce an album for Lou Reed. Reed had been around since the mid-sixties and Bowie had been famous for a matter of weeks. Nevertheless Reed's solo career had stalled and he was personally a mess. The album that resulted, 'Transformer', has since achieved cult status and the tracks 'Walk On the Wild Side' and 'Perfect Day' (also released as two sides of a single) have effectively become Reed's signature songs. See here for more on this.

Next time: Dali, Scientology and suicide.