#hunky dory (2011) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the-last-rat-standing · 1 year

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Album Covers

Up until 1939, albums came in a plain white sleeve, until a young graphic designer by the name of Alex Steinweiss (1917-2011) convinced Columbia Records that they’d sell more if the albums came in something that caught people’s eye. And from that came the first record album with an image. Record sales increased by nearly 900%.

Smash Song Hits by Rodgers and Hart, Richard Rodgers and the Imperial Orchestra (Columbia Records, 1939) (Alex Steinweiss: The Inventor of the Modern Album Cover)

Which leads me to my favourite covers. Or at least a sample- there are so many to choose from, for so many different reasons, either personal, because of their easily recognizable image or because of their lasting significance to music. Let’s start with one that covers (no pun intended) all three:

Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd (1973) Created by Storm Thorgerson, drawn by George Hardie. Thorgerson created ‘Hipgnosis’ with Aubrey Powell, a graphic art group that became known for their single and album covers. (Too, too many to list here, but you can check their WORKS page on wikipedia. I was surprised to see they did “High and Dry”, which is one of my favourite Def Leppard albums.)

Love at First Sting, The Scorpions (1984) Art Design by Kochlowski and Missmahl, photo by Helmut Newton This cover was the reason I did this post! ‘Still Loving You’ came up on YouTube and I wondered what happened to the models. Couldn’t find any information on them, unfortunately. Some copies in the States just have an image of the band on the front (same as the image on the inside sleeve), because Wal-Mart demanded that Polygram reissue it with a less controversial cover. This is the band’s 9th studio album and arguably their best.

Bat Out of Hell, Meatloaf (1977) Cover concept by Jim Steinman, Drawing by Richard Corben. Meatloaf’s debut album. Richard Corben was then known for his work on the magazine ‘Heavy Metal’, but he had a huge career in comics, working on everything from Hellblazer to Punisher to Hellboy. I mean, who doesn’t know this cover?

News of the World, Queen (1977) Cover by American sci-fi artist, Frank Kelly Freas. It’s an alteration of his cover for Astounding Science Fiction (1953). This is the band’s 6th studio album. The one with “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You” on it. (That being said, my favourite off this album is “Spread Your Wings”.)

Low, David Bowie (1977) Cover design by George Underwood, using a still from the movie, ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’. George also did the covers for ‘Hunky Dory’ and ‘Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’. George is also the guy who punched Bowie in the face, causing the paralysis in his left eye that made him look like he had two different coloured eyes.

This is Bowie’s 11th (!!) studio album, 1st in the Berlin Trilogy (the other 2 being ‘Heroes’ and ‘Lodger’). While it’s not my favourite album (probably the aforementioned ‘Hunky Dory’), isn’t his most distinctive cover (probably the aforementioned ‘Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’), nor has any song that a casual listener might recognize (but please, listen to ‘Sound and Vision’), I just like the image. I don’t know why. I find it a very calming image, almost oddly ‘normal’ for Bowie.

#pink floyd #scorpions #meatloaf #queen #david bowie #music #album covers

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multiplayingorg · 1 year

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Dead Space 2: NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE

| Repost: Originally posted by Steve "Slurms" Lichtsinn on January 17, 2012

OH SHIT, OH SHIT, OH SHIT.... WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING? THE SHIT IS THAT!? BURN IT WITH FIRE!

If you know me at all, you know I buy a lot of games. You might also know that I almost never pay full price. Dark Souls and Star Wars: The Old Republic were the only games in 2011 that I did shell out top dollar for, everything else was picked up at some sort of a discount. Towards the end of the year, some of the games I bought on sale from Amazon came with promotional codes to get 5 bucks off certain games in January of this year. I didn’t really plan on using the codes seeing as they were only to be used one at a time and only on the top selling downloadable games from 2011. The list is comprised mainly of The Sims expansions and games I’ve already owned in one way or another. Oh well.

Then EA started dropping prices on a few titles on the list. Grand Theft Auto IV was the first. I’ve owned the game before, but never on the PC. The price dropped all the way to 5 dollars. After my promotional code was applied…it was free. I may never play the game, but it was free.

The same thing happened a week later, but with Dead Space 2. A game that had been getting a lot of talk on podcasts I listen to in regards to “great games from 2011.” I’m not much of a horror game type person, just as I’m not big on horror films, but again… it was free. Unlike GTA though, I figured I’d give Dead Space a shot.

I downloaded and installed the game, then attempted to play it. I immediately had an issue with the menu. For some reason if you have a device such as a flight stick or a keypad (like the Logitech G13 as was my case) it screws up the camera and makes the game unplayable. I unhooked the G13 and reinstalled the game (tried fixing it via the txt file, but it didn’t work) and then once that was done everything was hunky dory.

Since I hadn’t played the first Dead Space, I took the few minutes to watch the “Previously on Dead Space” video that was provided in the menu. I really dug that they put that in rather than trying to get you up to speed within the game. I’m sure people who DID play the first title were quite appreciative of it as well. After the video ended, I went in.

Warning: Very light spoilers about the first handful of minutes into the game ahead.

I went in expecting things to pop out at me as if I were walking through a haunted house. Scary, sure, but also somewhat lame and annoying in a way that makes me want to hurt someone. Instead I was greeted by a man interrogating me, slowly unraveling the idea that I had some important information in my brain but was being treated like a psych patient, straight-jacket and all. Then shit went south. I wake up to a man who is visibly panicked trying to wake my character up in order to get moving.

Still in a straight-jacket because my panicked friend didn’t last long after waking me up, I proceed to run down the hall as FUCKING CHAOS ensues all around me. Necromorphs (big, nasty, half human, half goddamn gross creatures) are tearing apart people and crawling out of the woodwork. Although it’s in space… so there’s really not any wood. Metalwork? Yeah, crawling out of the metalwork. I have nothing but the ability to run, so that’s what I do.

I eventually make it to a sealed office where I run into the doctor who I met in the beginning of the game. Dude. Went. Nuts. I won’t spoil what happens; apart from he gets you out of your straight-jacket and gives you a flashlight. FORESHADOWING!

I soon walk into a room that has no lights. GOOD THING I GOT THIS FLASHLIGHT! It’s then that the game starts to scare me. Say what you will about me, but I will repeat: I am not a fan of the horror genre. So I begin to make my way through this room, dead bodies laying on the ground and sitting in chairs, and I just know something is going to pop out at my defenseless ass. NOT GONNA HAPPEN. So I hit escape and quit.

Look, the graphics are really great, the controls feel awesome, and if you like horror games I suggest you give it a whirl. It’s not for me though. This isn’t to say I’ll never play it again, but never again right before bed.

Maybe on a bright spring morning or something…

with extra lights in my cloffice…

and my iPod playing KC and the Sunshine Band.

#throwback thursday

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sonneydox · 2 years

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The decades long love affair between the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Big Sur

In other cities, it’s not every day a rock star is at the local library, but in Big Sur, it happens more often than not.

One of the more memorable appearances was July 27, 2011. Three hours before they went on stage, when the Red Hot Chili Peppers announced that they would be playing an impromptu show at the Henry Miller Library, those in the know heard the call and came running.

Forex Heartbeat

“The Peppers, they just wanted to do a little fun, relaxed, hometown rehearsal,” Henry Miller Library executive director Magnus Toren told SFGATE. “It was a stealth concert — people in the valley had heard the rumor was it was going to be Bob Dylan, and I thought to myself, ‘We’ve come a long way if people think it’s going to be Dylan.’”

The lineup was notable that day: Josh Klinghoffer had replaced John Frusciante on guitar, and Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco was behind the drum kit instead of the Chili Peppers’ usual tempo keeper Chad Smith. Most importantly, two of the original Chili Peppers, vocalist Anthony Kiedis and bassist Michael Balzary, otherwise known as Flea, took the stage and performed together for the first time in four years.

Live concerts at the Henry Miller Memorial Library, in Big Sur.

The Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur is known to draw some notable acts to its outdoor concert series, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, upper left, and the Flaming Lips, lower left. (Photos by Terry Way) The Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur is known to draw some notable acts to its outdoor concert series, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, upper left, and the Flaming Lips, lower left. (Photos by Terry Way)

“Flea and I have mutual friends in Big Sur, so I told them just to join us but didn’t say who it was going to be. I said, ‘Don’t worry about it. Just trust me, it’s going to be fun.’ So they were pleasantly surprised,” Toren said. “During the show, the power went out, and Flea famously said, ‘Turn on your f — king iPhones,’ so the light circuits went out, so everyone turned on their iPhones and drenched the stage in silvery electric moonlight.”

Forex Heartbeat

The foursome even rolled out five tracks from their reunion album with producer Rick Rubin, “I’m With You,” along with some of the band’s standards, and encoring with the chaotic ’90s bop “Give it Away.”

SPIN magazine later reported that a “shirtless, blue-haired Flea joked at the beginning of the set: ‘Anybody who knows where I live, now’s a good time to rob me. Because, you know, I’m here.’”

“The coziness was the real draw — at one point, the guys took turns playing parts of the new single ‘The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie’ to Flea’s 6-year-old daughter, Sunny Bebop Balzary, as she danced on the edge of the stage,” Chris Martins wrote of the performance in SPIN.

Mac McDonald, a former editor at the Monterey County Herald, attended the surprise concert at the Henry Miller. “They could’ve played the phone books and we would have been delirious,” McDonald recounted for Voices of Monterey. “We just kept asking each other ‘Is this really happening?’ A magical night.”

Bixby Creek Bridge spans Bixby Canyon on the Big Sur coast along California Highway 1.

Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag

But their live performance in 2011 isn’t the only connection between the Chili Peppers and the found Central Coast paradise. The band and the region have a history that spans decades, first name-checking Big Sur in their 2000 single “Road Trippin,’” a song about the surf trips with Kiedis, Flea and on-again, off-again guitarist Frusciante, written in the familiar whimsy associated with the area:

“In Big Sur we take some time to linger onWe three hunky-dory’s got our snakefinger onNow let us drink the stars, it’s time to steal awayLet’s go get lost right here in the USALet’s go get lost, let’s go get lost.”

Maybe “Road Trippin’” wasn’t a bona fide banger, but the B-side off “Californication” did set off a series of salutes to their favorite getaway.

I never connected Big Sur as the source of the Chili Peppers’ powers until something clicked at a writers’ conference there a little more than a decade ago. Toren casually mentioned in a chat that several of the band members had a sort of compound, a creative respite, a getaway — a place to surf, recharge and be left to it. And that tradition is one other big acts have picked up on as well, one library spokesperson said.

“This place is magic and the artists want to prioritize coming here,” Henry Miller Library manager and concert promoter Jake Padorr told SFGATE. “These big names know it’s worth the stop, the whole area, the trees are what’s inspiring them.”

This August 2010 photo shows a sign for the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur, Calif. The late American writer was a Big Sur resident from 1944 to 1962. The library also houses a cultural resource center and an outdoor performance space that is frequented with big name acts like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Patti Smith.

The Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur.

The Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur is a combined bookstore, non-profit arts center and concert venue. (Images via Yelp & Getty) The Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur is a combined bookstore, non-profit arts center and concert venue. (Images via Yelp & Getty)

Padorr noted he hasn’t seen Flea as much recently, but there’s “always people of his caliber” around.

“They come into the library and peruse the books,” he said. “It’s always someone. Right now Al Jardine of the Beach Boys will come in and sit in on some folky or rocky performances as a surprise guest. You never know who’s going to show up.”

While Flea has been busy recording and now touring, he has been stitched into the community like a civilian for more than a decade. In a video taken in the backyard of the Henry Miller Library, the bassist is captured dancing with little kids, twirling festival style.

That wasn’t at the 2011 concert, but a few years before, in 2009. Warpaint, an all-woman LA-based quartet that has ties to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, was performing at the library. While the majority of the crowd is sitting in folding chairs like it’s a planning commission meeting, Flea is breaking it down dad-style under the trees, like a true Big Sur local would on a summer evening.

Flea returned once more to the Henry Miller in September of 2021 to play bass for the legendary Patti Smith.

“The second night of her two-night run at Big Sur’s Henry Miller Memorial Library was further evidence of her artistic power,” wrote Christopher Neely for the Monterey County Weekly. “Even with Flea, among the most famous and energetic faces of rock ’n’ roll over the last 30 years, making a surprise appearance as the band’s bassist for the evening, the audience’s attention stayed steady on Smith.”

Forex Heartbeat

Chad Smith, Anthony Kiedis and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers perform live on stage at the O2 Arena on Nov. 7, 2011, in London, England. Just a few months prior, the band played to just 300 lucky folks at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur.

And when the bat signal goes up that a big act is in town, the locals do come running, Padorr said, but there’s also equal — if not greater value — based on homegrown talent the rest of the year.

“Those bigger names the locals don’t find out about it till day of or day before,” he said. “We try to have a venue that works as a respite for giant acts, as well as local musicians who are a different breed. They are living in paradise, working their butt off to stay here. Some of them are as quality as those who play bigger concert halls, but they stay here, landscaping, gardening, caretaking, working hospitality because they know, just like the bigger acts do, how special it is.”

Today, back to their original(ish) lineup of Kiedis, Flea, Frusciante and Smith, the Chili Peppers recently embarked on a world tour in support of their latest album “Unlimited Love,” which dropped April 1. The tour features prodigal guitarist Frusciante for the first time since 2009 and producer Rubin for the first time since 2011.

Big Sur in the evening, looking out at the Pacific from the Esalen Institute.

JEFF PFLUEGER/NYT

“And that’s my blessing of being in the band, whatever Flea, or John, or Chad bring on any given day energetically is always inspiring to me, and it always brings up something new, and weird, and flow-y,” Kiedis told Forbes in April. “Our magic is we have chemistry and we have love and we have hate and we have disagreements and we have harmony, depending on any given moment, and all of that is lyrically inspiring to me. Every time Flea plays a bass line, I feel like singing. So whatever that is, thank you, universe.”

Bay Area residents will have to wait until July 29 to see them live at Levi’s Stadium. But die-hard Chili Peppers fans will note that there’s a two-day layover from their previous gig in San Diego, just enough time to recharge under the canopy of redwoods and charging sky and perhaps play a quick, intimate set on one day’s rest — and three hours’ notice.

Forex Heartbeat

#hot chili pepers

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schofield-n-cherries · 4 years

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So I finally finished watching Hunky Dory today-

#whAT ARE YOU DOING.#and bRO #i actually liked it #there were times I was screaming at davey But aye it was still interesting #and evan #sweet sweet evan #he and davey should of gotten together i saw that pining #oh well #also the outfits they had on at the end of the movie??? fucking AESTHETIC #i would kill to wear whatever jacket Davey had on with all the gold embroidery like yes pLEASE #and everyone who sang in the movie had beautiful voices oml #i kinda wanted to jump through my computer screen and dance and sing with them they looked like they were having a blast #hunky dory #hunky dory movie #hunky dory 2011 #aneurin barnard

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lowleee · 3 years

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Life on mars

#aneurin barnard #hunky dory(2011)#mygif #mine #abarnardedit #aneurinbarnardedit

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hotfuckingpapa · 4 years

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Hunky dory is literally the most underrated musical and I’m so sad abt it

#hunky dory #2011 #aneurin barnard #minnie driver #danielle branch #tom rhys harries #kimberley nixon #davey #stella #vivienne #1970 #70s #david bowie #musical #film #george mackay

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pastelle-pvnk · 5 years

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I will never get over Aneurin in eyeliner. You can’t make me.

Hunky Dory (2011)

#hunky dory #hunky dory (2011)#life on mars #aneurin barnard #faves #he’s so pretty #goddamn

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filmframesforlife · 6 years

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Hunky Dory (2011)

#hunky dory #marc evans #tom rhys harries #cinematography #Charlotte Bruus Christensen #cool cinematography #beautiful cinematography #pool #summer #swim shorts #2011 movies #shirtless man #shirtless #movie stills #film frames

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greensparty · 2 years

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This Month in History - December

What a month this is for landmark pop culture anniversaries!

Dec. 3, 1976: Rocky opens

In Dec. 1976, one of the all-time great sports movies opened! Here is my piece I wrote in 2016. Happy 45th Rocky!

Dec. 9, 2011: Young Adult opens

In Dec. 2011, one of Jason Reitman’s best movies was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2016. Happy 10 YA!

Dec. 9, 2016: La La Land opens

In Dec. 2016 one of the best musicals in a long time was released. When everyone loves something, you have to wonder about it, but I got to say, this is excellent and both actors “dare to dream”! So does director Damien Chazelle! I named it my #6 Movie of 2016. Happy 5 LLL!

Dec. 14, 2001: The Royal Tenenbaums and Vanilla Sky open

In December 2001, two of my favorite movies from Wes Anderson and Cameron Crowe respectively were released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2016. Happy 20th TRT and VS!

Dec. 16, 2016: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens

In Dec. 2016, one of the finest Star Wars stand-alone spin-off movies was released. I saw it opening weekend with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. The action was awesome and there was room for some cool stories and set pieces in this story of the rebels stealing the plans for the Death Star. Happy 5th Rogue One!

Dec. 17, 1971: Hunky Dory released

In Dec. 1971, one of David Bowie’s best albums was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2016. Happy 50th Hunky Dory!

Dec. 19, 1971: Clockwork Orange opens

In Dec. 1971, one of Stanley Kubrick’s best movies was released in NYC (a wider release followed in Feb. 1972). Here is my piece I wrote in 2016. Happy 50th Clockwork Orange!

Dec. 19, 1986: Platoon opens

In Dec. 1986, Oliver Stone’s Vietnam War epic was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2016. Happy 35th Platoon!

Dec. 20, 1971: Harold and Maude opens

In Dec. 1971, one of Hal Ashby’s many 70s gems was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2016. Happy 50th H&M!

Dec. 20, 1991: JFK opens

In Dec. 1991, Oliver Stone’s best movie was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2016. Happy 30th JFK!

Dec. 20, 1996: Scream opens

In Dec. 1996, Wes Craven’s excellent tribute/parody of horror films was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2016. Happy 25th Scream!

Dec. 25, 1996: The People Vs. Larry Flynt opens

In Dec. 1996, Milos Foreman’s biopic of Larry Flynt was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2016. Happy 25th TPVLF!

Dec. 25. 2006: Children of Men opens

In Dec. 2006, Alfonso Cuaron’s best movie was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2016. Happy 15 COM!

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frnko-mars · 4 years

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Kimberley Nixon and Aneurin Barnard on the set of Hunky Dory 2011

#was looking for something else but i'll take this #aneurin #aneurin barnard #hunky dory #my post

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ororosmunroe · 4 years

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mitsurugireiji replied to your post: if you think riots are only “cool” in fiction or...

august 2011 was one of the most terrifying points in my life and i still managed to understand the reasons why they came to a head so every single person clutching pearls over this is Despicable

riots don’t happen when things are hunky-dory lmao

they don’t happen randomly....there is always something bubbling under the surface...I don’t understand what the disconnect?

#mitsurugireiji #om: replies

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multiplayingorg · 2 years

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The Classics: Faxanadu

| Repost: Originally posted by Steve "Slurms" Lichtsinn on January 13, 2011

I’ve been spending a great deal of time on eBay lately. Video games are a great hobby in terms of something to do with your spare time. But, it can also be a hobby for collectors.

I’ve always had a dream of having a room filled wall to wall with games, and while I don’t foresee that ever happening, I think there may be a middle ground I can live with. So I thought I’d start my quest by beginning to collect at least some of the heavy hitters from each system I grew up with. I started my searching in what is probably one of my most cherished eras of gaming; the days of the NES. Ah, so many great games, so many horrible games, so many lackluster games that I still hold close to my heart. I’ve played so many; it really comes down to making sure I fill my library with games that mean something to me personally for now. Maybe later I can buy stuff just to say I own it. One of the first titles I want to ensure ownership of is Faxanadu.

If you’ve never played the game, it’s pretty simple; Faxanadu is a side scrolling adventure game with some rpg elements to it. Somewhat in the same vein as Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, but with more emphasis put on the rpg elements. In it, you are an unnamed man (who looks like a bum, actually) who wanders back to town one day to find it abandoned. You’re told by a king that in order to make everything hunky dory you must go to the World Tree and defeat “The Evil One.” The World Tree (otherwise known as “DAMN THAT’S A HUGE TREE!”) is where the rest of your adventure takes place.

Once inside the tree of largeness, you work your way up through the beast, using your bum powers (strength) to fight monsters and collect coins and items on the way. Lucky for you, people live in the tree and have conveniently set up churches and shops for you to spend your coin in. I mention churches because they act as the means to save your game. The odd part is, instead of just having a save point, the preacher tells you to, “Remember your Mantra” and gives you a code that you have to write down. Upon returning to the game, you have to enter this code to return to the point where you left off. It’s a super weird system, but it adds on to that bit of nostalgia for me personally.

The combat wasn’t great, and from what I can remember it was not an easy game, partly due to the lackluster means by which you could fight. I really enjoyed the atmosphere though. It was a grittier looking game for the time. The colors weren’t explosive and I enjoyed that it almost had an old tapestry look to it. It was this look and feel, mixed with a game style that I’d never before experienced that makes it rank so high on my list. I was 9 years old when the game came out, and I’d never before played any game which allowed you to use money to buy new pieces of armor, weapons, and magic spells. I sometimes question if I would have turned into the same type of gamer I am today if I had not had the eye opening experience I had with it. Because of Faxanadu, I played similar games like Wanderer’s From Y’s III and Secret of Mana on the Super Nintendo, and games that were further down the RPG rabbit hole like the Final Fantasy series. Like many games on the NES, it was the first domino in a genre that started the chain reaction of games that is still taking place today.

Much like how Food Fight was the first 3rd person shooter.

#throwback thursday

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narcissamacaulays · 5 years

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Aneurin Barnard as Davey in Hunky Dory (2011)

#aneurin barnard #aneurinbarnardedit #mine: gifs #gifs: aneurin #movie: hunky dory #character: james potter #( trying to remove the yellow filter from this was such a pain #but honestly #happy vaalentine's day to me lmao )

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hedwigencyclopaedia · 5 years

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David Bowie (pt. 1)

“…David Bowie—who was actually an idiom working in America and Canada. And now space.” [1]

David Bowie was the stage name of Brixton-born, Bromley-raised David Robert Jones. [2] Born January 8th 1947, Bowie found an early passion for music, encouraged by both his half-brother Terry and his father John. [3] At the age of 13, David learned his first instrument of many with the white plastic saxophone that he helped to pay for.

Before going solo, Bowie joined and formed bands such as: The Konrads (1962), King Bees (1963), later known as Davie Jones and the King Bees [4], The Mannish Boys (1964), The Lower Third (1965), The Buzz (1966), and sang with The Riot Squad (1967). He renamed himself David Bowie in 1965 after actor and Monkee actor Davie Jones became popular enough that using his given name would have led to confusion.

In 1967, David Bowie released his first self titled album, David Bowie. After an initial underwhelming response from both record companies and the general public, he chose to take a short break from music instead taking up dancing, mime, performance art, and acting under the tutelage of Lindsay Kemp. [5, 6]

By 1969, David had returned to music with his second self titled album, David Bowie; later renamed Man of Worlds, Man of Music to avoid confusion. Later still, the album was renamed Space Oddity after its most famous track. “Space Oddity” the song was used for the BBC coverage of the NASA moon landing. [7]

The early 70s saw David releasing two more albums The Man Who Sold the World (1970), an album heavily influenced by his brother’s mental illness [8], and Hunky Dory (1971), which included songs dedicated to Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol, and his son Duncan, then going by nickname “Zowie.” [9]

Reportedly after a London show at the Friars Aylesbury, where he debuted the newly formed Spiders From Mars, Bowie announced “That was great. And when I come back, I’m going to be completely different.” [5] And with the release of 1972’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, he certainly had. David had embraced the burgeoning glam rock movement creating his own concept album and equally importantly, a very distinctive look that when added to the music and choreography kept audiences engaged beyond listening to his albums and attending concerts.

Ziggy Stardust, both as a character and an album, was geared to make David a star. And his management company MainMan engineered every step along the way to make it seem like he already was. [5, 10]

In advance of Ziggy’s June release David came out in British music magazine Melody Maker as bisexual, notable at the time not only because of the rarity of out musicians, but because homosexuality had been decriminalized only five years previous. [11] After coming out, Bowie continued to play up the bisexual image in the press telling reporters that he and his then-wife Angie had met while sleeping with the same guy [12], kneeling in front of Mick Ronson and playing the musician’s guitar with his teeth in a mock fellatio display [13], and perhaps most tame sounding to a modern audience, wrapping his arm around the same Mick Ronson, implicitly implying that they were in a relationship on national television. [14]

His sexuality also spurred rumors that he was sleeping with Mick Jagger, of the Rolling Stones, [15] and his former teacher Lindsay Kemp. [6]

Following the success of Ziggy, David released Aladdin Sane (1973), which he said was meant to be Ziggy in America and a way for him to move on as “I didn’t want to be trapped in this Ziggy character all my life.” [16]

Bowie famously killed off Ziggy and his Spiders From Mars on their last show at the Hammersmith Odeon July 3rd 1973 announcing “Of all of the shows on this tour, this particular show will remain with us the longest because not only is it…not only is it the last show of the tour, but it’s the last show that we’ll ever do. Thank you. Thank-you very much. Bye-bye. We love you.” [17] The other members of the band did not have forewarning that they were about to be dismissed from Bowie’s employ. [5]

The last Bowie album to be released under the Ziggy persona was 1973’s Pin Ups.

The next era of Bowie’s music was ushered in with 1974’s Diamond Dogs. Originally conceived as an adaptiaton of George Orwell’s 1984, the project was quickly recycled into the dystopian Diamond Dogs set in the fictional Hunger City after Orwell’s widow, Sonia Brownell, rejected the idea out of hand having so hated the 1954 Peter Cushing adaptation of 1984 that she vowed to allow no further adaptations of her late-husband’s work in her lifetime. [18]

Taking a brief break from his new found nihilism, Bowie released 1975’s Young Americans featuring a sound he dubbed “plastic soul” [19] and became one of the first white artists to ever perform on popular US music program Soul Train [20]

[1] HATAI performance. November 25, 2016, Los Angeles at the Hollywood Pantages

[2] http://www.southlondonguide.co.uk/brixton/davidbowie.htm..

[3] https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/david-bowie-early-years-boy-7159819

[4] https://www.discogs.com/Davie-Jones-And-The-King-Bees-Liza-Jane/release/2785408

[5] Starman by Paul Trunka. 2011. Advanced Galley.

[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/obituaries/lindsay-kemp-dead.html

[7] https://auralcrave.com/en/2018/06/07/space-oddity-when-david-bowie-accompanied-the-man-on-the-moon/

[8] https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/how-david-bowie-realized-theatrical-dreams-on-the-man-who-sold-the-world-121178/

[9] Hunky Dory back cover

[10] Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell by Dave Thompson. 2009.

[11] https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jan/22/popandrock.davidbowie

[12] https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/david-bowie-icon-thin-white-duke

[13] https://www.morrisonhotelgallery.com/photographs/fkxu5I/David-Bowie-and-Mick-Ronson-Guitar-Fellatio-1972

[14] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/david-bowie-top-of-the-pops_us_5693ff52e4b0cad15e65ac86

[15] https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/new-book-takes-mick-jagger-affair-david-bowie-article-1.1109887

[16] https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/how-america-inspired-david-bowie-to-kill-ziggy-stardust-with-aladdin-sane-230827/

[17] Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture (1983). Film.

[18] https://www.geni.com/people/Sonia-Brownell/6000000001510497741

[19] https://www.soultracks.com/flashback-soul-david-bowie

[20] https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/01/11/when-david-bowie-played-soul-train/rdRpRG5GHZoinXPnhw7daN/story.html

#david bowie #david bowie pt 1 #d

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