Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture

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Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture
Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture cover
Soundtrack by David Bowie
Released October 1983
Rykodisc Reissue August 7, 1992
Recorded Hammersmith Odeon, London, July 3, 1973
Genre Soundtrack
Length 69:31
Label RCA Records
Producer(s) David Bowie, Mike Moran
Professional reviews
David Bowie chronology
Let's Dance
(1983)		 Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture
(1983)		 Tonight
(1984)
30th Anniversary Edition (2003)
30th Anniversary Edition (2003)


Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture is a live album by David Bowie, corresponding to the film of the same name. The music was recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon in London on July 3, 1973, although the album was not issued by RCA until 1983. Prior to that it had existed in bootleg form, notably His Masters Voice - Bowie and the Spiders From Mars' Last Stand.[1]

The album documents the final show which Bowie performed in his Ziggy Stardust persona. Just before the final track, he announces, "Not only is it the last show of the tour, but it's the last show that we'll ever do. Thank you." Many in the audience believed that Bowie himself was retiring.[2]

D. A. Pennebaker filmed the concert and RCA recorded it with the intention of releasing a live album. However the project was shelved for several reasons, rumoured to include Bowie's desire to leave Ziggy behind, and the poor quality of the recordings.[3] Reasoning that RCA would most likely issue the material sooner or later regardless, Bowie and producer Tony Visconti mixed the recordings in 1981. This mix has been heavily criticised, although Visconti describes it as "more of a salvage job than an artistic endeavor" considering the state of the source material.[4]

The album was eventually released in October 1983 as a double LP soundtrack to Pennebaker's documentary. Partly due to the limitations of the LP record format, the release omitted, shortened or reordered several items from the original tapes. "White Light/White Heat" was issued as a single in November.

In 2003, the soundtrack was re-released with a new Visconti mix, considered a significant improvement on the original.[5] Almost the whole show was restored except for "The Jean Genie/Love Me Do" encore with Jeff Beck. The continued absence of Beck's sequence has been variously attibuted to an issue over royalties or to the guitarist feeling, in Tony Visconti's words, that "he didn't fit in the film".[5]

Contents

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by David Bowie except where noted.

  1. "Hang on to Yourself" – 2:55
  2. "Ziggy Stardust" – 3:09
  3. "Watch That Man" – 4:10
  4. "Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud" – 3:17
  5. "All the Young Dudes/Oh! You Pretty Things" – 3:18
  6. "Moonage Daydream" – 6:17
  7. "Space Oddity" – 4:49
  8. "My Death" (Jacques Brel, Mort Shuman) – 5:45
  9. "Cracked Actor" – 2:52
  10. "Time" – 5:12
  11. "The Width of a Circle" – 9:35
  12. "Changes" – 3:35
  13. "Let's Spend the Night Together" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 3:09
  14. "Suffragette City" – 3:02
  15. "White Light/White Heat" (Lou Reed) – 4:06
  16. "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" – 4:20

[edit] Rereleases

Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture has been rereleased on CD twice to date, the first being in 1992 by Rykodisc and the second in April 2003 by EMI being the album's 30th Anniversary 2CD Special Edition, containing additional material including introductions, spoken passages and the complete version of "The Width of a Circle"; "Changes" was also slotted into its correct position in the original concert's running order, following "Moonage Daydream".

[edit] 2003 rerelease track listing

All songs written by David Bowie except where noted.

  1. Intro, incorporating Beethoven's Ninth Symphony arranged and performed by Wendy Carlos (Ludwig van Beethoven) – 1:06
  2. "Hang on to Yourself" – 2:55
  3. "Ziggy Stardust" – 3:19
  4. "Watch That Man" – 4:14
  5. "Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud" – 3:15
  6. "All the Young Dudes" – 1:38
  7. "Oh! You Pretty Things" – 1:46
  8. "Moonage Daydream" – 6:25
  9. "Changes" – 3:36
  10. "Space Oddity" – 5:05
  11. "My Death" (Brel, Shuman) – 7:23
  12. Intro, incorporating William Tell Overture (Gioacchino Rossini) – 1:02
  13. "Cracked Actor" – 3:03
  14. "Time" – 5:31
  15. "The Width of a Circle" – 15:45
  16. "Let's Spend the Night Together" (Jagger, Richards) – 3:02
  17. "Suffragette City" – 4:32
  18. "White Light/White Heat" (Reed) – 4:01
  19. Farewell speech – 0:39
  20. "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" – 5:19

[edit] Personnel

Remixed by David Bowie, Tony Visconti and Bruce Tergeson.

[edit] Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1983 UK Albums Chart 17
1983 Billboard Pop Albums 89

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record: p.116
  2. ^ David Buckley (1999). Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story: p.191
  3. ^ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Op Cit: p.65
  4. ^ "FAQ: David Bowie" at TonyVisconti.com
  5. ^ a b Nicholas Pegg (2000). The Complete David Bowie: p.320


David Bowie
Studio Albums
David Bowie | Space Oddity | The Man Who Sold the World | Hunky Dory | The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars |
Aladdin Sane | Pin Ups | Diamond Dogs | Young Americans | Station to Station | "Heroes" | Low | Lodger | Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) |
Let's Dance | Tonight | Never Let Me Down | Black Tie White Noise | Outside | Earthling | 'hours...' | Heathen | Reality
With Tin Machine
Tin Machine | Tin Machine II
Live Albums
David Live | Stage | Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture | Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby | Santa Monica '72 | Bowie at the Beeb | LiveAndWell.com
Soundtracks
Christiane F. | Labyrinth | The Buddha of Suburbia |
Related Articles
Tony Visconti | Brian Eno | Mick Ronson | Iggy Pop
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