David Bowie - The Glam Years

Success had come late to David Bowie in the Summer of 1972 when he made his famous appearance on Top Of The Pops singing Starman. This was three years after his first hit with Space Oddity which had coincided with the Apollo 11 moon landing. Following this his career had largely been on hold, with the release of The Man Who Sold The World and Hunky Dory LPs failing to at first make any great impressions on the pop buying public as a whole.

However, the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars had been released the month previous to the TOTP performance and became his big breakthrough. Touring incessantly with his band of Spiders (Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick “Woody” Woodmansey), Bowie as Ziggy took the pop world by storm for the next year before announcing that their performance at the Hammersfield Apollo in early July 1973 would be their last. The LP itself is a kind of concept album about an androgynous pop star who arrives from Mars (!?!) together with his band, rising to incredible fame before burning out in a big way. The title track offers clues to who Ziggy is based on, with Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Jimi Hendrix and Marc Bolan all being definite candidates:

Three months prior to this Aladdin Sane had been released. Some critics though it a lesser album than Stardust and although it has some standout songs on it, yours truly has always tended to agree. Bowie described Sane as “Ziggy goes to America”, and most of its tracks are indeed reflections on the United States that were written when he travelled through the country on tour in late 1972. My favourite song is Panic In Detroit where the dive bombing guitar of Mick Ronson and the frantic singing of Linda Lewis and Juanita “Honey” Franklin add lustre to Bowie’s Bo Diddley beat tale of John Sinclair and recent riots in the Motor City:

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The American pianist Mike Garson contributed greatly to this album and would become one of David’s main collaborators over the next four decades. The Spiders, however, had fractured by the time Bowie’s next LP Pin Ups was released with Mick Woodmansey replaced on drums by Aynsley Dunbar. An album of cover songs by British bands from the 60s, it was noticeable for the striking cover photo featuring David and the gorgeous Twiggy.

By the time of Diamond Dogs release in 1974, all remaining Spiders had gone. Bowie played guitars, saxophones and keyboards in his own raucously energetic style along with top session musicians on other instruments. The album’s theme was a cross between George Orwell’s 1984 and Bowie’s own post apocalyptic vision, with the Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing(Reprise) section being particularly brilliant musically and lyrically:

I think it was Charles Shaar Murray of the New Musical Express who remarked at the time that the single Rebel Rebel was the final hit being played in the last discotheque left in the ruins of the city. Diamond Dogs was a fitting end to David Bowie’s Glam years. His next move would be to soul and funk and America, before ending up in Berlin. Here is that aforementioned “final hit song”:  

Rebel Rebel

David Bowie’s farewell to Glam. Young Americans, Station To Station and the Berlin “Trilogy” would follow, but this is where Ziggy said farewell 😊

Soul Survivors

In the end, there was The Stones. The Beatles had split, Ray Davies of The Kinks was to soon say he had had enough and The Hollies had fractured.

Musically, Exile On Main St. in many ways was where the Sixties ended and the Seventies began. Released in 1972 only three years after Brian Jones had died, it is a  testament to the rest of the band’s survival of the previous decade. In Britain, Marc Bolan was riding the crest of the wave and David Bowie was about to become famous when the Rolling Stones finest LP hit the shops and stores. I remember buying the New Musical Express when the flexi disc featuring tracks from the upcoming album was offered free with the periodical,  Around the same time, Tumbling Dice rose up the singles chart.

A sprawling and at first seemingly ramshackle double LP – Exile had actually passed me by when it came out. I’d thought that Tumbling Dice was the best single they’d ever made but being in the middle of my Beatles/Glam Rock stage, Telegram Sam and Strawberry Fields were the songs most regularly on my turntable. However, in ’73 or ’74 Nick Kent wrote a massive re-appraisal of the album in the NME which had apparently had mainly lukewarm reviews in many music papers on its release. He called it the Stones’ finest hour. That was enough for me to go out and get it.

Side one starts with Rocks Off and Rip This Joint, two high octane rockers.  Apart from the songs and energy, it was immediately noticeable that the brass section of Bobby Keys and Jim Price added to and enriched the overall sound.  Shake Your Hips keeps the energy level high before Casino Boogie recalls the blues origins of the band. Dice ends the side and is still their greatest ever single release. Sweet Virginia begins a Side Two which is more country tinged with Torn and Frayed and Sweet Black Angel (referencing Angela Davies) being my favourites of the four featured songs. Loving Cup ends the fist disc in a somewhat earthy yet also slightly spiritual way.

The second LP starts with Keith’s Happy which rocks along really fine. Turd On The Run and Ventilator Blues are both unsettling yet compelling songs before we reach the ethereal I Just Want To See His Face. From here on in, the LP just gets better and better.  Let it Loose rounds off side three and is one of the band’s finest ever moments.  It grows from slow beginnings to a truly uplifting and almost spiritual climax with Tami Lynn, Dr John (who also plays piano on the song),  Clydie King, Vanetta Field, Shirley Goodman and Joe Green providing backing vocals to Mick’s soulful lead singing.

The final side begins with All Down the Line, one of their greatest rockers.  Robert Johnson’s Stop Breaking Down is next with Mick Taylor on incredible slide guitar and the other Mick on harmonica.  Shine a Light features one of Mick Taylor’s finest performances on lead guitar and the album ends with Soul Survivor. which takes the energy level to the outer limits. Jagger wails, Keith’s rhythm cuts right through and Charlie just keeps on keeping on.

From then on, there would be a noticeable decline in the band's music. Much of the following album Goats Head Soup was second rate Stones, and although It's Only Rock n Roll was a better LP, Mick Taylor left the band on its completion complaining that he had not been given song writing credits for the fantastic Time Waits For No One. Ronnie Wood was his replacement and while the group has made some excellent songs since then, the late 60s and early 70s remains their peak.

Never bettered by the band, Exile stands as one of Rock n’ Roll’s greatest achievements.