Ziggy Stardust 30th Anniversary 224
jonerik writes "Any short list of influential rock albums of the '70s is likely to include David Bowie's 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars,' the story of a futuristic alien rock star and his demise during the Earth's final years. Originally released in June 1972, Ziggy is celebrating his 30th anniversary this year in fine style. First of all, the album is being reissued today in a limited edition 2-CD set. Secondly, the 1983 documentary, 'Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars,' directed by filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker ('Don't Look Back,' 'Monterey Pop') is being re-released this month and John Cameron Mitchell has an interesting interview with Pennebaker about the re-release in this week's Village Voice."
Woohoo!! (Score:1, Flamebait)
Re:Woohoo!! (Score:2)
Re:Woohoo!! (Score:1)
Hmm, I think you missed the point of my post, let me explain:
Re:Woohoo!! (Score:1)
Re:Woohoo!! (Score:2)
I was just being silly, but you are making a good point.
It might be worth downloading one or two of these songs to a.) find out what all this is about (I never heard of Ziggy Stardust) and b.) see if the album is worthwhile to the younger generation.
*Shrug* Maybe my sarcasm wasn't so sarcastic. Heh.
Re:Woohoo!! (Score:3, Funny)
Around here (Seattle) we have a radio station that once a year or so plays "Classic Rock A to Z" and as they say, "It isn't over until Ziggie plays guitar," because "Ziggy Stardust" is the only Classic Rock song that begins with Z.
Seriously, visit the album's page [5years.com] and learn a bit about how, with this album, David invented Glam Rock and turned the music world on its ear.
Re:Woohoo!! (Score:1)
Re:Woohoo!! (Score:2)
The New York Dolls were using glitter by the pound before other people. Marc Bolan of T-Rex is probably the best person to claim actual invention of the glam rock style and sound, though you could say that it really begins with the sex-rock androgeny of Mick Jagger. But like anything else in music, glam evolved and wasn't really invented by any one person at any one time.
David of course was Glam's biggest icon and most public face. He also wrote some *damn* fine music.
(retreats to music-nerd hole)
Re:Woohoo!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Disclamer: I love mp3's, and spend about 10 hours a day or more listening to them.
But let me be frank - your post underscores everything that's wrong about mp3's. A lot of the great albums (particularly those from the 70's) are albums, things best listened to as a musical whole. Especially with Bowie, who had a fantastic visual aspect, the album cover and artwork is an important part of what makes these albums special.
I'm not saying there aren't some great singles on those albums - the "Ziggy Stardust" song itself is a great single - but with a lot of classic albums, "downloading a couple of singles" to see if you'll like it is like watching a couple of scenes from a movie to see if it's good. You're missing a big part of the experience!
If it's a good album, the songs WILL stand on their own because the music is of course the most important part... just saying that you'd be missing some of the magic that separates a couple of catchy songs from an actual cohesive whole that's greater than the some of its parts.
And don't paint me as an old fart. I'm only 26, and I think some of the best music ever has been produced in the past ten years, though much of it is underground... thanks to the radio sucking so badly.
Re:Woohoo!! (Score:2)
I see what you're saying, but I'm talking about figuring out whether or not the experience is worth the money. I'm not talking about replacing it with MP3s, but using MP3s as a teaser. The "watching a couple of scenes to see if it's good" comment touches on basically what I'm talking about.
I think you make a really good point, though, that MP3s do not devalue an album. The RIAA should know this by now. There is plenty of reason to buy a CD even if you have MP3s of all the music. When those guys figure that out, Mp3s will be given away freely to encourage CD purchase, just like songs are played freely on the radio.
Chumbawumba knows this. They have some of their songs available for free on their site, I think it's chumba.com. If you've never heard their music (or anything besides the 'I get knocked down' song that wasy played to death), go check it out. You may wanna buy an album at that point.
Re:Woohoo!! (Score:2)
That's a wise decision in most cases, although I am also of the opinion that if you don't listen to some of those classic albums in their entirety, or at the very least a side at a time, you are not really experincing them in the ideal manner. Sampling singles could slightly diminish your enjoyment.
Personally, I consider the times I bought and listened to an album, only to be badly disapointed (the Yes album "Big Generator" comes to mind, as does ELP's "Black Moon") to be money well spent, because without risking the occational dud, I would have not experienced the joy of encountering great albums like "Ziggy Stardust" or Jethro Tull's "Thick As A Brick" in their entirety on first encounter. I consider the discovery of a new treasuered album to be every bit as memorable as seeing a great movie on the big screen
However, unless you already are familiar with the artist in question, buying an album without sampling it first can be quite a gamble. I reccomend asking for informed opinions from people who you know and respect. Everybody knows at least one album junkie... go talk to that guy, and one or two others. Hell, maybe they will even loan (or burn) you a copy of "Ziggy Stardust" (and perhaps Lou Reed's "Transformer" & Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" while they're at it). While you can sometimes find some interesting bands by grabbing an MP3 or two from an indie band that has a lot of buzz at the moment, IMHO you will miss out on a great deal of awesome pre-1990 rock, blues, jazz, etc. if you solely rely on what the Kazaa Kiddies decide to put in their file-sharing menu.
Re:Woohoo!! (Score:2)
There is so much AOR floating around out there, it isn't even funny.
Re:Woohoo!! (Score:3, Insightful)
The best albums of the era were Concept Albums, a unified product, each track set up the next song. Some of the Albums were a Musical story, with each song as a chapter of the story. You could buy singles that had a hit song from the album, but few people wanted the single, because the rest of the album enhanced that song making it part of the experance.
One area that CDs can't compete with those old LPs is the cover art. The covers were huge compared to the size of a jewel case and the graphic artists took advantage of size creating covers that were works of art capable of standing on their own, apart from the album.
This is something the idiots at the RIAA need to get through their thick skulls. It is possible to create Albums (or CDs) that are so good that people won't give a shit about a pale imitation like a single in 1972 or a couple of MP3 tracks in 2002.
Before about 1967 albums were just a collection of songs of assorted quality. Then the Bands introduced the concept album, and these albums damn near destroyed the market for Rock singles.
Now we have returned to the style that existed prior to 1967. Most CDs are just a collection of songs with no unifiying theme, and often the quality is so spotty that there is only a track or two worth listening to. Now that the concept albums of the late 60s early 70s are dead the market for the singles that they killed has revived, this time in the form of MP3s.
Ziggy is one of the better concept albums from that era. Try it and you'll see how the the RIAA could cut into their "Piracy" problem, by releasing an album that is so damn good that it's still worth buying 30 years after it was recorded.
Re:Woohoo!! (Score:2)
Actually, the lack of depth in albums has always been a problem in dance music, as well as some rock. Two pre-selected songs are carefully produced and groomed as singles, and anything else that good is shelved for the next album because two singles are enough to drive album sales. Then you quickly record a lot of filler.
However, it was not MP3 that killed the concept album, but MTV. The expense of putting out video's resulted in greater pressure on AOR bands to select a couple of "radio friendly" singles and put 90% of their effort into perfecting them (and executives didn't give a crap about the other 30 minutes on the album). David Bowie, champion of the LP that he is, attempted to buck this trend when his band, Tin Machine, released a video of a medley that contained all the songs on their first album. It hardly ever got played though.... First of all, it was over 10 minutes, which MTV hated. Secondly, a medley doesn't grind musical themes into the listener's heads the way the typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus song does. Most importantly, the world was simply not ready to hear the dance-pop titan (who recorded "Let's Dance" a few years earlier) playing speed-punk with a bizarrely atonal melodic guitar player and a rhythm section made up of Soupy Sales's two sons.
Prince also tried to defy the single-pushing machine the MTV had created, by releasing the entire album "Lovesexy" on one 40-minute CD track. All that did was piss off his fans. Besides, he had not really done a concept album that stayed on-concept since "Controversy", which was before anybody outside of Minneapolis knew who the hell he was. These days TAFKATAFKAP (The Artist Formerly Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Prince) is an internet-only musician, still making piles of money even though he sells fewer albums, because these days he keeps it all.
Bowie, meanwhile, continues to crank out cool and interesting music, even though nobody is listening any more. Somebody correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that he has not gone platinum with an album since the mid 80's. (unless you count greatest hits collections).
As it turns out, The Buggles were quite prophetic. Video really did the radio star... and MP3 burried it. Rest In Peace, Ziggy.
Re:Woohoo!! (Score:2)
The Concepts were far harder to produce, It was always harder to make a quality product that was 40 minutes long (LP play time) than a couple of 3 to 4 minute tracks. The Longer play time of a CD made it even harder.
Concepts gobbled studio time. Songs were recirded over and over seeking just the right sound to get the sound that was needed for that smooth transition from one song to the next. Concept CDs would have required even more time.
The RIAA opted for a cheaper product (their costs, not yours) and to spend the money on marketing like MTV videos and payola. Quality gave the bands too much control over the product, marketing gives the RIAA control.
So now we have heavly marketed CDs that are little more than a single with a lot of filler tracks, and formula bands where you have a dozen sound a likes recording a "Rap" formula CD or a "Heavy Metal" formula CD, or a whatever the hell else formula the RIAA's market research tells them might be hot.
Meanwhile the fans are saying "fuck this shit", and the RIAA is blaming MP3s instead of realizing that their marketing scam is falling apart.
Re:Woohoo!! (Score:2)
1997's "In The Aeroplane over the Sea" by indie/folk art rockers Neutral Milk Hotel
it isn't exactly a concept album. concept albums were made by 70s bands and marilyn manson, and they're all thinnly veiled allegorical stories about rock star christ figgures (Tommy and Ziggy being the most blatantly obvious example) except for the Kinks, who made concept albums about urban renewal.
Aeroplane is more a theme album, dealing with recurring images of life and death, loss of innocence and an intense organic sexuality, using the Anne Frank story as it's central narrative focus (I'm not making this up, and it actually works and doesn't come off as pretentious nonsense. well it's more pretentious than Louie Louie, but far less than say... Tales from Topographic Oceans, or any later Pink Floyd album)
download "Two Headed Boy" to start yourself off.
Re:Woohoo!! (Score:2)
according to the listing [amazon.com], it is:
a) remastered
b) now a 2 disc set, with the 2nd being 12 demo tracks.
it also comes in a special box & schitt.
i will prolly buy it. but i have all his early albums on LP and CD so
like some cat from japan (Score:1)
bowie (Score:1, Flamebait)
Re:bowie (Score:2)
Re:bowie (Score:2)
In 1997 he sold $55mm of asset-backed bonds secured by 300 of his previously released songs.
Bowie, the artist with clue... (Score:2)
Seriously, the guy is awesome.
Congrats David!
The Man Who Fell to Earth (Score:2)
Re:Bowie, the artist with clue... (Score:2)
Re:Bowie, the artist with clue... (Score:2)
Ten years ago I'd have agreed with you, but in retrospect a lot of that stuff at least had character, even if I'd heard "Whole Lotta Love" and "Behind Blue Eyes" about a thousand times apiece. I know it sounds like something a boring old fart would say, but one lame mook rock/nü metal band sounds pretty much like the next to me. Twenty-five minutes into a set of chunka-chunka down-tuned guitars backing up ennui coming from a 23-year-old and suddenly "More Than a Feeling" starts sounding pretty good.
Ahhh... (Score:1)
Nice packaging, too...
Re:Ahhh... (Score:2)
OT: Turntables (Score:1)
Decent turntable for not much outlay, go for a Rega. If you want to get serious, go Linn.
Double CD versions of classics considered harmful (Score:3, Insightful)
Having said that ZSatSFM is a great album. And actually the single version CD seems to be still available.
My other favorite Bowie album: Low.
-Andrew
Re:Double CD versions of classics considered harmf (Score:2, Insightful)
Ack! That has got to be the WORST excuse for a double album I've ever heard. But I must admit, if the second disc had anything to recommend it (B-sides, demos, etc) I'd pick it up, as I probably would for any band I really dig. For instance, Rhino's reissues of Elvis Costello's entire catalog as double CD's -- that's cool.
But a mono version? I think I can make my stereo do that, right? :)
Mono version (Score:2)
Re:Double CD versions of classics considered harmf (Score:3, Informative)
Remember the LP's albums from the late 60's were the first to use the stereo technology. As many new technologies, this technology was at firtst misused and misunderstood: nobody knew how to use it well and often did an awful work with it (think: the drums left, all the other tracks right).
Take for instance Jefferson Airplane's masterpiece 'Surrealistic Pillow' (1967): the new, remastered edition comes with both mixes (on only one CD, though). You can hear that the mono mix is by far superior to the stereo mix, because, as stated in the sleeve notes, the sound engineer completely misunderstood what stereo was about. He added tons of flanger and 'cool' effects to the music, which just sounded awful in stereo. Errors he didn't make on the mono mix.
Another exemple is The Beatles's 'Sgt. Pepper's' (1967, too): the mono mix was made by the Beatles themselves and the stereo mix was left to some obscure sound engineer: so, the mono mix is really the way the artists intended it to be heard !
Re:Double CD versions of classics considered harmf (Score:1)
Left Out ---\_/------ Left In
Rght Out ---/ \------ Right In [Mixer]
[CD]
Separately for both signal and ground of course. You will then get the sum of the left and right CD player channels in both channels on your mixer.
If your mixer has a "mono sum" output which does the equivalent, then of course just send that to your amp instead of modding your cables or whatever.
Makes sense to me (Score:1)
All you're doing is combining 2 stereo tracks into one. It's not the same thing.
Re:Makes sense to me (Score:2)
Same goes for Pet Sounds. There was a stereo release of Pet Sounds a few years ago. I still think the mono sounds much, much better (but that's probably because I heard it first and love it to death).
The same goes for any of Spector's Philles label work.
Re:Makes sense to me (Score:2)
The Beatles were notorious for the use of "Popcorn Stereo" (a term used for when an entire instrument is layed directly onto the left or right signal only... the result of which is that, rather than a realistic stereo illusion of sound coming from one side of a performace stage, you hear it coming directly from the center of your loudspeaker). In the case of "Sgt. Pepper's", I would argue that The Beatles were not trying to create correct stereo imaging, and were intentionally using popcorn stereo for dramatic, cartoony effect. (They also recorded violins using headphones as microphones, and did a lot of other weird crap, like multiple layers of the same orchestra recording to make the string section sound bigger than it was, messing with tape speeds, etc. John Lennon wanted to do a lot of stuff different just to be different when they were making that album.)
The best rock album that I know of for good use of stereo sound was not intended to be stereo, but quadrophonic. Those cash sounds at the beginning of "Money" on Pink Floyd's "Dar Side of the Moon" were supposed to surround you. While the band was still working on recording "Dark Side" as a quad record, the quadrophonic fad fizzled out. Alan Parsons and the other engineers took the original material (which was intened to go to four tracks), and did their best to create a similar feel on two tracks. The result was probably the most meticulous stereo imaging you will ever hear on a rock album, and it's the reason why I include track 1: "Breathe" with my list of material I insist on using to test out speakers that I am thinking of buying.
Re:Double CD versions of classics considered harmf (Score:1)
Re:Mono versions were mixed separately! (Score:2)
Just like modern DTS and DVD-Audio music, which end up using the surround channels for gimmicks and sticking instruments back there instead of using them to enhance the feeling of being at a live performance. Maybe this, too, will pass, and future surround music will be decent.
Re:Double CD versions of classics considered harmf (Score:2)
??????
I've got the original CD of that. It's very very short. You could fit mono and stereo on one CD I would think. Greed at work I suppose. PS: Nico was no great artist but she did capure that spaced out Astrud Gilberto quality.
Re:Double CD versions of classics considered harmf (Score:1)
-D
Ziggy played guitar... (Score:2)
excellent (Score:1)
It is incredible to see how modern technology is making these things possible. Rather than destroying LP culture, the CD is enriching it. It is truly a wonder to live in these times.
Congrats, David. My prayers are with you.
Childhood songs (Score:3, Interesting)
I was four years old when my older siblings played Ziggy Stardust, Alladin Sane, and Space Oddity all day every day. They must have worn out a ton of albums not to mention turntable needles. They also wore out my Dad's patience as I can still hear him yelling at them to "Turn that shit down!"
Now whenever I hear these songs I get that strange deja-vu feeling you get when you hear some childhood lullaby. They're burned into my brain like bits on a ROM.
Images too (Score:1)
But I think the thing that really gets burned in ones mind, especially when compared to today, is the outfits and hairstyles of Ziggy Stardust!
A good source of Bowie info (Score:2, Informative)
Lots of lyrics and song info here:
www.teenagewildlife.com [teenagewildlife.com]
Re:A good source of Bowie info (Score:2, Funny)
Amazingly, that was not a porn link.
It is NOT a porn link. (Score:2, Informative)
What in God's name are you people talking about? I've been going there for over a year now and I can tell you that it is NOT a porn link.
If someone DOES, through some strange twist of reality, end up at a porn site through this link then please post the IP because that would mean that something is very wrong.
Re:It is NOT a porn link. (Score:1)
Uh Oh. (Score:1, Funny)
Ziggy has a last name? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Ziggy has a last name? (Score:2)
wow this reminds me (Score:1)
Move Ziggy (Score:1, Funny)
All I can say is... (Score:1, Troll)
Re:All I can say is... (Score:1)
Its great but... (Score:1, Insightful)
Imagine that in the 60's and 70's the 20 year olds were getting exited about the music from the 1930's or the 1940's. What kind of music do you think that we would be listening to now if that were the case? The Beach Boys, Velvets, 13th Floor Elevators, Mamas & Papas and Beatles would never have happened.
The truth is, the 20 year olds of today should not be listening to Ziggy Stardust. Its as relevant to them as Fats Waller was to listeners of the Velvet Underground in the 1960's.
This generation is pathetic and lost. They are without a distinct identity, the the garbage that is made by them (Linkin Park for example) is base beyond measure.
It is a sad indication of how pathetic these 20 somethings are, that they have to look back to music made ten years before they were born.
I despise and heap scorn on you all.
Re:Its great but... (Score:2, Informative)
Okay, I'll bite...
Are you living under a rock? Or perhaps (and the rest of your comment might indicate this) are you stuck in the past? There is at least as much - if not more - interesting and exciting music coming out today than at any time in the past. Just because it doesn't sound like the stuff you grew up with doesn't make it "base beyond measure" and the fact that the best band you can come up with to bash is Linkin Park suggests you might be the one who's "pathetic and lost".
Why don't you go listen to something on Blue Note? [bluenote.com] (Madeski Martin and Wood or DJ Logic to mention a few of the great new people on this label). There is all sorts of amazing experimental stuff coming out, check out Alien8 Recordings [alien8recordings.com] for some pointers. Punk rock has redefined itself and has a modern message and killer sound. Warped Tour [warpedtour.com] (if you've ever heard of it) is one of the best (and cheapest) big shows around. I've had a great time at every show I've gone to.
The current music scene has fragmented and is moving in a thousand directions. I've mentioned only a few of those fragments and I'm sure that anyone who is at all "with it" could add many more references without even thinking about it. Get the hell out of your rut and start listing to stuff that doesn't play on MTV before you go bashing today's music.
Re:Its great but... (Score:1)
In fact, it's the very idea of "pop" not Jazz that is dead. I assure you that jazz is alive and well. A search at East Bay Express [eastbayexpress.com] (paper for the Easy Bay where we have a vibrant and exciting music scene) for Jazz turns up 8 shows tonight, Rock gets 11. Tommorow Jazz gets 5 while rock only 3, HipHop gets NONE. And you claim Jazz is dead? Why don't you check on this sort of thing before making riduculous claims like that. Like I said, MUSIC IS FRAGMENTED. If you're to lazy to get off your ass and talk the more than 2 of the "young and ignorant" about what they're listening to then you can stay in your rocking chair on your front porch and keep yelling at us kids about how much things were better in your day. Pathetic...
Re:Its great but... (Score:2)
Re:Its great but... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Its great but... (Score:2)
Allow me to advise you towards a satisfying path to continue your musical odyssey. Look towards the mid-50's recordings by Muddy Waters. I think that there you will find the true river of inspiration behind what Jimmys Page and Hendrix were doing. While you are at it, check out the team of Junior Wells and Buddy Guy (one of many great spin-offs from Muddy's band), and the early-50's recordings of Ray Charles (basically anything before "Modern Sounds In Country Music, which was his "cross-over" album to get cracker DJ's to play his stuff). These men, and not the Ricky Nelsons and Bill Haleys of the world, were the pre-"British Invasion" bearers of the sound you are looking for.
Re:Its great but... (Score:2)
John Lennon & Paul McCartney both dug 40's showtunes like Rogers & Hammerstein. They also were heavy into depression-era blues like Robert Johnson and Elmore James.
70's glam-rock like David Bowie and Lou Reed was positively dripping with jazz influences. This makes your comment "The truth is, the 20 year olds of today should not be listening to Ziggy Stardust. Its as relevant to them as Fats Waller was to listeners of the Velvet Underground in the 1960's" particularilly funny. Listen to some Fats Waller, then listent to "Goodnight Ladies", the last track on Lou Reed's "Transformer". Then come back and tell us how poorly informed you really were.
It was almost impossible to find a bio of the 80's band XTC that did not contain the words "Beatle-based pop".
Nearly every musician who has ever played a solo worth a shit will count Louis Armstrong as one of his main influences.
To put it bluntly, you are unlikely to ever do anything that matters as an artist unless you have knowledge and command of what has been before.
It is a sad indication of how pathetic these 20 somethings are, that they have to look back to music made ten years before they were born.
This has always been the case. A band called "10 Years After", who played decade-old covers, performed at Woodstock fer crisakes!
Whatever (Score:2, Insightful)
People seeking substance ususally have to dig a little to find music with real feeling.
Your problem is that you're judging the current music crop soley based on the mainstream outlets. That's like judging the late 60s by Lawerence Welk or Dick Clark's show.
Go to a non-chain local music store and talk to some of the people who work there. They will help you find better music...and in a few years when one of these mostly unknown but great bands is considered an influencial legend someone will complain that 'nobody makes music like that anymore.'
There is so much great music out there right now it's scarey. The productized music crap should be largely ignored. Find the real artists...and BTW, hiphop is alive and well, just check out The Roots.
PS: There's nothing wrong with listening to old music. When I was in high school in the mid-80s, I was listening from everything from Depeche Mode to Jaco Pastorius to Bach to AC/DC to Linton Kwesi Johnson.
My only regret is not finding the Pixies until after they'd broken up:(
My 2 1/2 faves (Score:1)
Also, if you feel like tracking them down, Lulu did a great version of "Watch That Man" that I like more than the Bowie version, with the Spiders playing backup! She also did "The Man Who Sold The World," that old Nirvana tune.
For those who think that David Bowie... (Score:2, Interesting)
President Joe once had a dream
The world held his hand, gave their pledge
So he told them his scheme for a Saviour Machine
They called it the Prayer, its answer was law
Its logic stopped war, gave them food
How they adored till it cried in its boredom
'Please don't believe in me, please disagree with me
Life is too easy, a plague seems quite feasible now
or maybe a war, or I may kill you all
Don't let me stay, don't let me stay
My logic says burn so send me away
Your minds are too green, I despise all I've seen
You can't stake your lives on a Saviour Machine
I need you flying, and I'll show that dying
Is living beyond reason, sacred dimension of time
I perceive every sign, I can steal every mind
Don't let me stay, don't let me stay
My logic says burn so send me away
Your minds are too green, I despise all I've seen
You can't stake your lives on a Saviour Machine
No SACD? (Score:1)
Sigh.
Re:No SACD? (Score:2)
What I really want is that Nationwide report (Score:2)
Anybody else remember it? Clips are played occassionally on those Channel 4 "top 30/10 list" things.
Mick Ronson (Score:3, Informative)
Of course, the guitarist of the title track was not the fictional Ziggy, nor Bowie himself, but Mick Ronson [hotshotdigital.com], one of the greats of the era who sadly died in 1993.
Re:Mick Ronson (Score:2)
But yes, the beauty of the Mick/Bowie thing is the interplay between Bowie's slick writing and Mick RAW POWER. (not to be confused with the stooges!)
I saw an interview with Bowie onsome documetnary that was on public television where he describes how he tried to get the whole band into his new androgeny look, including make-up, etc. And how, MIck was from Holt, and they just don't do that kind of thing there. SO Bowie had to resort to a lot of lies an deceit; "Hey Mick, you looked very green on stage tonight, yeah, something about the stage lighting. Maybe you should try a little rouge?"
Of course, after the boys started getting laid like crazy it was much easier to put some make-up on them!
The Legendary Stardust Cowboy (Score:1)
Useful Quote (Score:2)
-- "Chickensh|t Conformist" by Dead Kennedies
Re:Useful Quote (Score:2)
The 60's was the catalyst for the 70's. The beginning of the 70's was GREAT from peace, ove and dope to awesome prog music. The end sucked wind. The combination of Jimmah Carter and Disco was more than anyone could stomach. The best thing about the late 70's? Saturday Night Live and Punk.
Actually, I was jaded . . . (Score:2)
I have heard the mermaids singing (Score:4, Funny)
Oh.
In the room the women come and go,
Talking of Barry Manilow.
Re:I have heard the mermaids singing (Score:2)
Hand me my cane, sonny...
For those that dont' know John Cameron Mitchell (Score:3, Interesting)
Anyway, the movie is fantastic and was my Favorite Pick for 2001. The soundtrack is great, too...an honest-to-goodness rock album. It was 1 of the only 2 albums I bought that year. The link to John's web site is already at the top of the page.
Re:For those that dont' know John Cameron Mitchell (Score:2)
The cast website is located here:
Hedwig (Score:2)
What about the new album? (Score:1)
I would suggest buying these two together to see how a genious progresses from one decade to the next.
for a david bowie discography try:
http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/default.asp
Rather superfluous, though (Score:3, Informative)
a) This album has been released countless times on CD. The RCA issue, the original Rykodisc, the Rykodisc "Collector's Edition," the gold Rykodisc edition, the "regular" Virgin version, and now this.
b) Apparently, the bonus tracks are mostly stuff that has been out before. On the above mentioned Rykodisc versions, most of David's albums came with bonus tracks that were cut for the recent Virgin reissues. Apparently, these "new" Ziggy bonuses are mostly comprised of those tracks, with a few things from the Sound and Vision boxed-set thrown in. There might be a few new items, but I doubt that they're many.
c) Another remastering? The regular Virgin issue isn't all that hot (no-noised, and subjected to the Prism noise-shaping system, which I've always felt adds an odd "texture" to the sound), so I can't imagine what they've done with this one. Possibly brutalized it and re-recorded the bass and drums (yeah, I'm talking to you, Ozzy).
-D
Cybernauts (Score:3, Interesting)
The surviving spiders, 2 members from Def Leppard, and a keyboardist tour occasionally as the Cybernauts [cybernautsruleok.com].
The band is a tribute to Bowie and to Mick Ronson. They basically do covers from all the albums that the spiders were involved in, which obviously includes Ziggy.
They have a privately released CD that will quit being sold sometime this year. It's a 2 disc set. One live disk and one studio disk. The live stuff is about 5 years old now, but the studio stuff is fairly recent. They quality is excellent and so are the performances. There are audio samples on the website.
Two CDs? (Score:2)
[humour]
I guess the first one is the music and the second has a writer's commentary voiceover.
[/humour]
Re:Who? (Score:1)
Re:Who? (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.google.com/search?q=who+the+fuck+is+zi
Re:Who? (Score:2, Flamebait)
Re:Who? (Score:2)
Re:Who? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Who? (Score:1)
No, The Who was Roger Daltry, Pete Townsend, the late John Entwhistle and the late Keith Moon.
Ziggy Stardust is a fictional character played by David Bowie in his stage show in the 70's.
-dc
Re:How is this "stuff that matters?" (Score:1)
Re:How is this "stuff that matters?" (Score:1)
- Johndan
Re:Slashdot is about music nowadays? (Score:1)
Re:I know Bowie sounds cool (Score:2)
i have Low [amazon.com] on CD and it plays fine in my PC, but I bought mine about 8-9 years ago.
Rykodisc RCD10142. FYI the CD itself has the Compact Disc label, but neither the booklet nor the reverse of the CD case have it.
Re:I know Bowie sounds cool (Score:1)
-D
Re:I know Bowie sounds cool (Score:1)
Cheers!
p.s. I'll be buying this special release for sure!
Re:David Bowie (Score:1)
What you don't know... (Score:1)
Ziggy Stardust and the penguins from Mars.
Re:What you don't know... (Score:1)
I'm sure Taco knew that and that's why he thought it worthy of your attention...
Re:The Ubiquitous Depeche Mode link... (Score:2)
Re:Best Buy ripoff (Score:2)
I got a David Bowie Live 2 album set back in the day, the album had a bad skip.
They sent me a new copy with a request that I send the old one back for quality control inspection.
The new set had the same skip... I wrote them back and let them know.
They recalled the entire run.