"Something different"
David Bowie's career in pop and rock music as a songwriter, performer and recording artist spanned almost a decade before he introduced his Ziggy Stardust character in 1972. From his early days in R&B groups to experiments in theatre, mime and his Arts Lab performances, Bowie released three diverse albums. Drawing on varied experiences and a plethora of influences, Bowie crafted Ziggy Stardust, a character that struck him in a moment of inspiration. As Bowie put it, "It's one of those instantaneous vision things that you get. It all came to me in a daydream about what this [Ziggy Stardust] thing was all about..."
The creation of the character Ziggy Stardust was a deliberate departure from the prevailing seriousness and claims of authenticity in late-sixties rock music. In Bowie's own words, "Realism and honesty had become boring to many jaded people by the early Seventies. I think the band only half understood what I meant, but I thought it would be such great fun to fabricate something so totally unearthly and unreal and have it living as an icon. So the story of Ziggy came out of that thinking".
Contemplating the landscape of rock music in the late Sixties and early Seventies, Bowie recognised a chance to distinguish himself and inject the stagnant music scene with a sense of daring. "The idea of a larger-than-life style rock figure struck me around the end of 1970", Bowie reflected. "The UK charts were full of stuff like Shirley Bassey, Lee Marvin, Rolf Harris and Norman Greenbaum. The most decent effort that year had to be Free's 'All Right Now'. It was generally pretty dismal. On the more serious side of music-life, it seemed to be all Crosby, Stills and Nash or James Taylor". Disenchanted by the uninspired music on the pop charts and the prevalence of earnest, denim-clad rock acts, Bowie sought to reintroduce a sense of theatricality into the music scene.
Inspired by his love for theatre, Bowie envisioned Ziggy as a fictitious character who could captivate audiences with his otherworldly persona. This concept of a fictional rock star persona was novel and allowed Bowie to explore new possibilities in music performance. As Bowie explained, "I thought there was a way of doing something exciting on stage and rock. The idea of a prefabricated rock star - one that didn't exist - a sampled rock star - I thought was kind of cool". He described Ziggy as a "conglomerate rock star" and a "grand kitsch painting". The ambition was to "devise something different, like a musical where the artist onstage plays a part".
Influences
The Ziggy character was a fusion of various influences. The story of Vince Taylor, a rock 'n' roll star in the Sixties who slowly descended into madness, served as a key inspiration. Taylor, an American expatriate who had a small degree of success in England, was known for his eccentric behaviour and claims of being an alien or the son of God. Bowie, who met Taylor and witnessed his bizarre antics, was intrigued by his otherworldly persona and included elements of Taylor's story in the creation of Ziggy Stardust. Taylor's grandiose delusions, such as showing Bowie a world map and claiming aliens had bases under the Arctic, and his infamous onstage declaration of being the Messiah, left a lasting impression on Bowie. He saw Taylor as a cautionary tale of the dangers of rock 'n' roll excess and madness, but also as an example of the creativity that can come from fully embracing one's unconventional nature.
Bowie also drew inspiration from The Legendary Stardust Cowboy, a musician known for his wild and unpredictable performances. Bowie admired Cowboy's outsider music style, which was characterised by a lack of adherence to traditional musical rules. The Cowboy played guitar and had a drummer and a one-legged trumpet player, creating music that defied expectations. Bowie found the Cowboy's commitment to his performances and lack of regard for musical norms to be liberating and inspiring. The Cowboy's quirky persona and dedication to his craft resonated with Bowie, who eventually borrowed the name "Stardust" from him. Bowie viewed the Cowboy as a pioneer of outsider music, similar to Wild Man Fischer, and appreciated the raw honesty and integrity in their unorthodox musical expressions.
When developing Ziggy, alongside Taylor and the Cowboy, Bowie drew inspiration from a wide range of influences, incorporating elements from figures like Iggy Pop, Jimi Hendrix and Marc Bolan. "It was about putting together all the things that fascinated me culturally". Everything from Kabuki theatre to Jacques Brel to drag acts. Everything about it was a hybrid of everything I liked". However, Bowie took care to ensure that Ziggy was not a mere carbon copy of any one individual. "I think that probably the best thing I did with Ziggy was to leave himself open-ended. It wasn't a specific story, there were specific incidents within the story, but it wasn't as roundly written as a usual narrative is. The only trouble with kind of copying somebody that's really well known is that you know all of the facts about them so you can't actually be that person, but because Ziggy was kind of an empty vessel you could put an awful lot of yourself into being your own version of Ziggy".
The look of Ziggy was crafted to capture a futuristic clothing style, initially jumpsuits influenced by those worn by Alex's gang of Droogs who took part in crimes together in A Clockwork Orange, Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of Anthony Burgess' 1962 novel of the same name. Bowie was captivated by the film and brought his band to see it in January 1972. "I was determined that the music we were doing was the music for the Clockwork Orange generation, and I wanted to take the hardness and violence out of those Clockwork Orange outfits - the trousers tucked into big boots and the codpiece things - and soften them up by using the most ridiculous fabrics. It was a Dada thing - this extreme ultraviolence in Liberty fabrics". Over time, Ziggy's wardrobe grew increasingly flamboyant, drawing inspiration from the dramatic costumes of Kabuki theatre, a traditional Japanese form of theatre that combines drama, music, dance, elaborate makeup and costumes to create a visually stunning and highly stylised performance.
The infusion of Japanese elements into Ziggy Stardust's aesthetic was a deliberate choice to accentuate his alien qualities. During the early Seventies, Japan was regarded as a mysterious and uncharted society in the Western world, making it the perfect source of inspiration for Ziggy's otherworldly persona. Bowie explained, "We knew so little about Japan and Japan really hadn't exploited itself and brought its stuff over to the West, so it still was like an alien society. But it was a human alien society, so you could make a human connection to Japan far more than you could say Mars, which would be beyond".
In a bold contrast to the era's prevalent long hair trend, Bowie showcased an unconventional short hairstyle. His deliberate choice reflected a desire to embody the essence of being cutting-edge and innovative, encapsulating the mantra of "we are the future, now". He said, "Ziggy was a very flamboyant and theatrical and elaborate character. I wanted him to look right, and I spent a lot of time looking in the mirror, but it wasn't me I was looking at. I saw Ziggy".
Deep dive
Bowie has also contemplated deeper reasons for the creation of Ziggy Stardust, viewing it as a psychological mechanism to confront and alleviate his insecurities and feelings of inadequacy. "A lot of it came out of my own problems. It was a way of creating myself". He admitted to projecting his faults and anxieties onto Ziggy, treating him as a vessel to bear the weight of his inner struggles. "There was a theory that one creates a doppelganger and then imbues that with all your faults and guilts and fears and then eventually you destroy him, hopefully destroying all your guilt, fear and paranoia. And I often feel that I was doing that unwittingly, creating an alternative ego that would take on everything that I was insecure about. Ziggy served my purpose because I found it easier to function through him, although I probably put myself on a path of pure psychological damage by doing what I did".
Immersing himself in the alternate identity of Ziggy provided Bowie an escape from self-doubt, transforming the character into an alluring presence beyond just the stage. "I thought I might as well take Ziggy out to interviews as well. Why leave him on the stage? Why not complete the canvas? Looking back it was completely absurd. It became very dangerous. I really did have doubts about my sanity. I can't deny that experience affected me in a very exaggerated and marked manner. I think I put myself very dangerously near the line. Not in a physical sense, but definitely in a mental sense". At a later stage, as the allure of drugs began to entwine with his life, Bowie found himself grappling with the blurred boundaries between his authentic self and the captivating persona he had crafted for the stage.
The consequences of Bowie's deep dive into the Ziggy Stardust persona were profound. Despite the challenges and psychological toll, Ziggy stands as a testament to Bowie's unparalleled talent for blending diverse and seemingly incompatible influences into something entirely fresh and unique. This character also underscores the fluid nature of art and reality. As Bowie himself stated, "It's very hard to convince people that you can be quite different off stage in rock 'n' roll than you are on stage. One of the principles in rock is that it’s the person himself expressing what he truly feels - and that applies to a lot of artists. But to me it doesn't. It never did. I always saw it as a theatrical experience."
Ultimately, the music of The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars may not be regarded as Bowie's most adventurous work, yet it is exceptionally well-crafted, original and undeniably compelling, perfectly suited for live performance. Although the album features relatively conventional rock, the creation of the Ziggy Stardust character shows Bowie's artistic audacity and his commitment to pushing boundaries in his art.
Per Nilsen
23rd December 2024.