Ziggy Stardust Revealed!

     I always thought that one of the coolest parts about the lyrical aspect of David Bowie's music was the way he wrote about characters he made up. Of all those characters-Major Tom, Queen Bitch and the like- Ziggy Stardust is the most celebrated and recognized. After all, Bowie wrote a whole album about Ziggy. Recently I've been listening to the album more carefully and have been putting some pieces together. Now, I don't want this to sound like a conspiracy theory or anything. But I'm beginning to believe the Ziggy character is based upon Marc Bolan.

     The official character based on Bolan which can be found on Ziggy is Lady Stardust- and by the way I think that is a beautiful and perfectly appropriate name for his character. But the Ziggy character also seems to be quite similar to Marc, even though some of Marc's characteristics that can be found in Ziggy were revealed after the album was released.

     Ziggy was an amazingly talented singer-guitarist...like Marc Bolan....who fit in with the glam rock scene and image.

Ziggy really sang, screwed up eyes and screwed down hairdo
Like some cat from Japan
He could lick'em by smiling, he could leave them to hang...

     The song describes how Ziggy is consumed by his ego, and how the other members of the band faded in his image.

Became the special man, then we were Ziggy's band

    
     There are also references to the violent action taken by fans of the band. Marc Bolan and T. Rex were known for having rowdy and dangerous fans in the form of, principally, teenagers; teenage girls at that who would do anything to get to Marc; and violent fans who would threaten to injure the musicians if they didn't live up to their expectations.

So we bitched about the band and should we crush his sweet hands

When the kids had killed the man I had to break up the band

     Marc Bolan started to feel pretty disillusioned about his fans after the initial rush of T. Rex Mania was over, which is shown in the line

The kids were just crass, and he was the nazz, with god-given ass

     Which is followed by

He took it all too far, but boy, could he play guitar

     Which can easily be linked to the way that Marc's ego got to his head.
     But the full album tells the story of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars and the Marc references don't end there. The song Ziggy seems to tell the story of where Marc was at in the present time 1872, and where he was heading in the near future. Rock And Roll Suicide, the amazing song which concludes the album, is an astonishing prediction of what happened later to Marc: more disillusionment, a falling out with himself, and depression, feelings of anger and confusion and lonliness, to a rock star who was past his hey day and wasn't sure where to go from there.
     To fully understand the link between those feelings and Marc, one would have to look at the press reaction Marc Bolan received. Marc was a trememdously sensitive guy and didn't handle the sharp criticism he was receiving at the time very well. The fans' admiration and the love for the music kept Marc in the business but as early as 1972 he was telling reporters and friends that the music industry wasn't worth the pain it caused. When the initial glory was over, Marc fell into depression fast. And in the course of the next few years his persona and character was consumed by negative energy, and alcohol. He walks down a road quite similar to that of the character in Rock And Roll Suicide.
     Well, there you have it. Maybe Bowie wrote Ziggy with Marc in mind (keep in mind they were close friends and great influences on each other) and maybe he didn't but it hardly seems coincedental. 

As a note on further reading, Charles Shaar Murray wrote a terrific essay on Marc Bolan in Creem Magazine in 1972 titled Hello, I'm Marc Bolan, I'm A Superstar. I strongly recommend it to fans of T. Rex and appreciators of good writing alike.

 

Underrated Musician #5: Graham Bonnet

Yeah, remember this guy? Graham Bonnet, best known for his work for Rainbow in the late 70s (he sang on their album "Down To Earth") often finds himself to be at the end of many of my jokes, but I've been listening to him a little less selectively lately and he really isn't bad at all.

Bonnet with Rainbow, Marbles and Alcatrazz, made some music that was interesting to listen to (if not necessarily anything else.) His voice was tinged with traces of a Spinal Tap quality but he didn't let it limit him-he had some really great songs. All Night Long and Since You Been Gone by Rainbow have evidently got to be the best...although I will admit that I prefer the Joe Lynn Turner sung live versions of the songs, they're good. Really good. Another song on the same album I've been  really addicted to by them lately is "Makin' Love." Very catchy.

How to describe Bonnet's talent, I'm not sure. An add for the Rainbow album back in its day used the word "firey," and I suppose that's not bad. Spinal Tappy too, works. He doesn't have the greatest vocal quality I've ever heard but like I said he made it work. He screamed well, love what he does with the third verse in All Night Long. He inflected well and his songs were interesting to listen to, and unpredictable- you never knew how he was going to sing the next line.

Sadly his personality seemed to contain the same quality- Bonnet was a notorious and sloppy drunk, a trait that made him hard to work with. As a result he never lasted long with any band.

But sticking to a nicer side- Bonnet improved Rainbow from where Dio had brought them (And then Joe Lynn Turner brought it even farther.) He helped define their sound and sang some damn good songs. Now where he falls into the "underrated" category is simple enough- people just don't know who he was. In North America Rainbow never made it that big, and the Graham Bonnet was the most insignificant period in their career. But he was great- he really was- and unique, which is something I only appreciate more and more- and I thank him.

 

 



'The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars' Is The Greatest Album Ever

The title, although long, expresses the main idea this article covers. The more and more I listen to that album and the more obsessed I become with David Bowie the more that statement seems totally true to me. So here are ten good reasons (out of a million) that it is just that.

 

1. It's INTERESTING. Like, some albums, you've heard him once and you just don't need to hear it again, maybe it's total AOR or all the songs sound the same. Each song is unique and interesting and creative.

2. Killer band. I mean, who sings better than Bowie, who's a better guitarist than Mick Ronson? The whole albums is full of genius musicianship and unusual sounds.

3. The quality of the songs. Each and every one of them is fabulous. Five Years. Soul Love. Moonage Daydream. Starman. It Ain't Easy. Lady Stardust. Star. Hang On To Yourself. ZIGGY STARDUST. Suffragette City. Rock And Roll Suicide. Wonderful, wonderful songs. I've got to declare Ziggy and Suicide to be my favorites though.

4.It's totally timeless. I mean, some of those other glam songs remind you of a strange era more than they make you think of other things. The songs on this album don't just represent glam rock, they represent music at its finest.

5.The lyrics are epic. Bowie was a gifted and witty lyricist,and although I'll confess a bit of it goes over my head, I know it's all important, meaningful stuff. Tell me if Ziggy Stardust is not the most ingenious account of a rock star ever.

6. The Marc Bolan referrences. I mean, I idolize Bolan, love him as much as I love Bowie, so I think it's cool that Bowie pays hommage to him. I appreciate anything positive I hear about Marc Bolan because Marc recieved a lot of harsh, unfair criticism in his time and in my opinion it drove him to depression and drinking and ultimately caused his death. Lady Stardust is his official character but I have a strong theory that Ziggy was based on him too, which I'll save for a later post.

7. You never get tired of it. At least, I listen to it ten times a day and I'm not tired of it yet.

8. It tells an interesting story and holds to a great concept without getting irritating. I mean, you look at guys like ELP who did concept albums which make you want to punch them in the mouth. Ziggy loosely follows a great concept- the all too real rise and fall of a rock band. And he tells it with Bowie flair.

9.It's long and satisfying. For example Van Halen put out good albums with solid songs but as a whole they leave an unsatisfied taste in your mouth. Like they just didn't give you enough. Ziggy gives you eleven songs of good length and doesn't drag for a moment, or go by too fast.

10. It's David Bowie, what more must be said?

 

 

Ritchie Blackmore: The Great Debate

     All I've ever heard about Ritchie Blackmore comes in the form of split decisions and mixed emotions. Why can't anybody just make up their mind on what they want to say about that guy?...

But whether he's really a miserable, irritable prick or a nice but troubled guy is a question that nobody seems to have a straight answer on and that ought to be clairfied.

     Personnally I'm inclined to believe the favorable things about Ritchie. I'm not declaring him to be perfect. Of course he's far from a saint. But from all I know of Ritchie I'd like to decide that he is really a good person at heart, yet suffers strongly from insecurity. You know, some guys just don't feel comfortable with themselves and that seems to be Ritchie. For all we know, something traumatizing happened to him during his childhood, or he was raised a funny way, and as a result self-confidence isn't his forte. You never know and you can't judge until you know, right?

     Ian Gillan may disagree with me... I take no sides in the Gillan/Blackmore debate because I love and admire both musicians. They've both been important parts of the development of rock music and left one hell of a legacy behind them, and they're both good people. What really happened there was an ego clash. Some people just don't get along...and we should all be glad they got along long enough to give us some great music before eventually their conflicting musical ideas just drove them apart.

      In Circus magazine in 1973, Ritchie complained about unsatisfaction with Deep Purple's music and blamed Gillan and Roger Glover for the sound he disliked, yet he also claimed that he wrote most of DP's music. This proves to some extent, Ritchie's lack of irresponsability. Everybody who has known Ritchie agrees that yes, he is a pain in the ass to work with, but mostly because he was a perfectionist. Maybe you've heard about the times Ritchie Blackmore broke his guitar on stage because he was frustrated with what he felt was a lacking performance on his part.
     And if you go on YouTube or the Internet or whatever and search "blackmore-gillan fight" you'll find no shortage of articles of course. In one YouTube video on the matter Ian Gillan blamed insecurity for most of Ritchie's peculiarities...and Ritchie stated he was going to jump Gillan with a group of friends. That also supports Ritchie's being insecure.
    Maybe I'm not doing a very good job of showing Ritchie's good side, which I still feel is dominant. As we all know, Ritchie split Deep Purple after Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale joined the band due to greater insatisfaction with the band's music. He even went as far as to state that the funk and soul side Hughes and Coverdale brought to the group was lowly "spade music." Well, what can I say about that... Deep Purple Mark Three wasn't worth much, especially in the shadows of their former glory. (As much as I love Tommy Bolin don't get me started on Mark 4...) Splitting really was the right thing for Ritchie to do just then, and he went and formed Rainbow.
     Forming Rainbow, the band that brought us Dio and Joe Lynn Turner, really was the smartest thing Ritchie could have done at that point. Not only did he give us a wonderful rock band which released loads of good and versatile music, but he put himself in a position where he could make music he was fully satisfied with and so, he gave us the best music he could have. Ritchie was the indisputed leader of Rainbow, which gave him the freedom to do basically whatever he liked within the group. He was never the kind of guy who coped well with stress and so Rainbow relieved him of this. When Ritchie felt like getting more commercial, he did so; and although many members of Rainbow came and went because of this mentality of his he kept himself happy and gave us the best of his talents.
    Joe Lynn Turner, Rainbow vocalist from 1980-1984, had positive things to say about the moody musician. From an interview with MelodicRock.com:

You try to make yourself available, don't you?I sure try to. I really do. There's nothing worse than being inaccessible. I don't mean that about like Ritchie because I thought that he was a very accessible person, but just misunderstood.
Ok.I mean that. I mean, he's always accessible when you want him. But at the same time he just didn't like many peoples approach to him.
So he backed off because he felt that he didn't really want to put himself through this.

And I think that what Joe said there captured the essence of Ritchie Blackmore perfectly. Ritchie wasn't a bad guy, or an unaccessible guy. He was shy and insecure and didn't like dealing with people much. You can understand that, can't you? Ritchie knew the music industry and the true nature of the people in it all too well. He was a smart guy and he knew what to do and what not to do to assure he never got fucked around. If Ritche pushed himself to be the kind of rock star with a very public life and did interviews all the time, he probably would've become so unhappy with the course of things, and may have would up with depression or by killing himself.
     So there you have the ultimate feeling on Ritchie- private, misunderstood, mysterious, and mostly shy and insecure. For the love of rock and roll music get off his back. If you really dislike him that much personally then try to focus more on his work and music. (And if you don't care for both then just put Ritchie out of your thoughts.) Cause he really isn't a bad guy or a bad person- just a really smart and sensitive person who was pushed into doing some dishonorable things by knowledge of human nature and fear for what may have become of him otherwise. And I say, God bless you, Ritchie Blackmore.