David Bowie
The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars

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Two words on the historical context.

We are in early '70s England. The streets are teeming with young "dudes": neo-hippies who transform the boring eco-pacifist gatherings of their hippie cousins into a wild festival of kitsch: a pacifism finally free from ideology and politics. The watchwords are: disengagement, cross-dressing, and sexual ambiguity, in a festival of sequins and glitter, feathers and mascara, boots and space suits that will form the ideal cradle for the birth of "glam-rock" in an exciting "Swingin'" London yet to be invented.

"Rock'n'roll with lipstick," John Lennon will define it. In this "Festival of Vanity," David Bowie will bring to life the perfect persona: Ziggy Stardust. An androgynous alien with awkward movements, made up like a drag queen and sporting a carrot-colored wig. He is the embodiment of this rock revolution that will last only a season, the time that passes between his rise and fall ("The rise and fall," indeed). Muse of inspiration for that other cinematic masterpiece of Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange."

Of this colorful and brief musical season, Bowie, along with his friend-rival Bolan and his T-Rex and the more sophisticated Roxy Music, will be a true symbol, and "The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" (the exact wording of the title) will be its cult object, the fetish-symbol for generations to come. Ziggy "stardust" embodies all the clichés, inspired by famous figures like Jagger, Lou Reed, Hendrix (Ziggy is left-handed), Bolan (inspiration for the ballad "Lady Stardust"), but also by unknown figures, at the time quite trendy, like Vince Taylor and The Legendary Stardust Cowboy, crucial for the character construction.

Musically, the album is a collection of romantic ballads alternated with electrified, fast-paced rock'n'roll, on the brink of punk (an embryonic movement that will burst in '77 with the disruptive advent of the Sex Pistols). Music to be played at full volume, as recommended on the back of the cover. In the eleven tracks, the entire classic glam arsenal is unleashed: from raspy and effeminate vocals to sharp guitars, from pompous string arrangements to poignant melodies.

In this musical-cabaret circus, Bowie never takes himself seriously: his songs are a mockery to puritanical morals, a study of ironic transgression, and often, pure irreverent nonsense, a school that will gain many followers in the history of Rock.

Among the tracks stands out obviously "Starman," one of Bowie's most legendary melodies with the famous chorus (There's a starman waiting in the sky/ He'd like to come and meet us/ But he thinks he'd blow our minds?) destined to become an evergreen of Bowie. Also noteworthy is the melodic "Lady Stardust," while "It Ain't Easy" is the only cover: a sort of space-country with an almost gospel-like chorus. To break this dreamy '30s musical climate (the theatrical and cabaret aspect will be a constant of the glam movement of those years) a couple of frenetic proto-punk blows launched at furious speed by the unrestrained Martian Spiders: "Hang On To Yourself," which by the same admission of the Sex Pistols will inspire "God Save The Queen," and "Suffragette City," which will serve as the soundtrack for the sexual pantomimes of Bowie and Ronson on stage during the Ziggy Stardust Tour.

The natural conclusion of the album will be a "rock and roll suicide," executed in the most theatrical way: with a cigarette in mouth ("Time takes a cigarette, puts it in your mouth") and pleading for one last gesture of affection ("Gimme your hands, 'cause you're wonderful"), which Ziggy will mime in live shows reaching out to the audience. Indeed, on July 4, 1973, during a concert at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, Bowie will announce the death of Ziggy, amidst tears from fans who will not forgive him for such a harsh and unexpected decision.

Anyone over the years who has faced the relationship between performer and audience has had to reckon with this ethereal "alien in tights." "It was a creature born to be idolized by fans - Bowie will reveal in various interviews - I used it by employing the simple canons of rock'n'roll". A marketing product, in short, contemporary to Andy Warhol's studies and theories on the Art/Marketing relationship, but studied down to the finest detail. Like a work of art, indeed. A "total" art, in which music joins with theater, music hall, mime, cinema, comics, visual arts, but without ever losing sight of the ultimate goal: the cult of celebrity.

Therefore, defining it as "a marketing record," is not entirely wrong. Only those who think that art and commerce are irreconcilable worlds are mistaken. An error that will often recur when thinking of David Bowie. As it was with Andy Warhol in the field of art. But on this age-old debate, time and History will judge, and I am sure this "Ziggy Stardust" will remain in the Olympus of indispensable albums in music history.