Ziggy Stardust (song)



"Ziggy Stardust" is a song written and recorded by David Bowie for his 1972 concept album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The song describes Bowie's alter ego Ziggy Stardust, a rock star who acts as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings. In 2010 the song ranked at No. 282 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The song is one of four of Bowie's songs included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

The character was inspired by British rock 'n' roll singer Vince Taylor, whom David Bowie met after Taylor had a breakdown and believed himself to be a cross between a god and an alien, though Taylor was only part of the blueprint for the character. Other influences included the Legendary Stardust Cowboy and Kansai Yamamoto, who designed the costumes Bowie wore during the tour. The Ziggy Stardust name came partly from the Legendary Stardust Cowboy, and partly, as Bowie told Rolling Stone Magazine, because Ziggy was "one of the few Christian names I could find beginning with the letter 'Z'". He later explained in a 1990 interview for Q magazine that the Ziggy part came from a tailor's shop called Ziggy's that he passed on a train, and he liked it because it had "that Iggy [Pop] connotation but it was a tailor's shop, and I thought, Well, this whole thing is gonna be about clothes, so it was my own little joke calling him Ziggy. So Ziggy Stardust was a real compilation of things."

The original demo version of the song, recorded in February 1971, was released as a bonus track on the Rykodisc CD release of Ziggy Stardust in 1990. The demo also appeared on the Ziggy Stardust - 30th Anniversary Reissue bonus disc in 2002. The album version of the song was recorded in November 1971.

Live versions

 * Bowie recorded the song for the BBC radio programme "Sounds of the 70s: Bob Harris" on 18 January 1972. This was broadcast on 7 February 1972. On 16 May 1972 Bowie again played the song at "Sounds of the 70s: John Peel", and this was broadcast on 23 May 1972. Both of these versions were released on the Bowie at the Beeb album in 2000.
 * A live version recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 20 October 1972 was released on Santa Monica '72 and Live Santa Monica '72. This version also appeared on the Japanese release of RarestOneBowie. It was also released as a single in France and the United States in 1994–95.
 * The version played at the famous concert at the Hammersmith Odeon, London on 3 July 1973 was released on Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture.
 * A spring 1978 performance from the "Heroes" tour was released on Stage and as the B-side of the live single "Breaking Glass" in 1978.
 * A November 2003 live performance from the A Reality Tour was released on the A Reality Tour DVD in 2004, and is included on the A Reality Tour album, released in 2010.

Personnel

 * David Bowie – vocals, acoustic guitar
 * Mick Ronson – electric guitar
 * Trevor Bolder – bass guitar
 * Mick Woodmansey – drums

In popular culture

 * Cover version with an added guitar solo is featured in Guitar Hero.
 * It is featured in The Heartbreak Kid.
 * It is featured in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
 * It was made available to download on 25 January 2011 for use in the Rock Band 3 music gaming platform in both Basic rhythm, and PRO mode which utilizes real guitar / bass guitar, and MIDI compatible electronic drum kits / keyboards in addition to vocals.
 * It is featured in the 2012 film Chronicle.
 * The song "Captain Crash & the Beauty Queen from Mars" by the American rock band Bon Jovi from their album Crush is a homage to Ziggy Stardust.
 * The album is prominently referenced in Israfel Sivad's novel Crossroads Blues and is more subtly referenced in many of Sivad's poems.
 * The song appears in a scene in Kong: Skull Island.

Bauhaus
The British gothic rock band Bauhaus recorded a version of "Ziggy Stardust" as their eighth single. The single was released in October 1982 through Beggars Banquet Records and reached number fifteen on the UK Singles Chart. The B-side is a Brian Eno cover. It was released in 7" and 12" format on the Beggars Banquet label. The 12" additional live track "I'm Waiting for the Man" is a Velvet Underground cover.

Track listings

 * 7"
 * 1) "Ziggy Stardust" (Bowie) – 3:08
 * 2) "Third Uncle" (Eno) – 5:11
 * 12"
 * 1) "Ziggy Stardust" (Bowie) – 3:08
 * 2) "Party of the First Part" (Bauhaus) – 5:22
 * 3) "Third Uncle" (Eno) – 5:11
 * 4) "Waiting for the Man" (live) (Reed) – 5:31

Other covers

 * Def Leppard – Single (1996)
 * Fox – Single
 * Seu Jorge recorded a Portuguese version for the film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. (2004)
 * Data Bank A – Single
 * Andrew Jackson Jihad – Operation Stackola