Just an incredibly breathtaking performance. Seeing this on TV blew the minds of a generation. You really need to check out the performance of "Starman" live on Top Of The Pops. Tame by today's standards, but at the time it shocked the nation. The man is a legend. Mick Ronson too. 💖🎸⚡ Peace 😎🤘
He really is iconic as hell.... Definitely one of the greatest artists of our time. I wish I could have sat down with a spot of tea and pick his brain.
After the news announcement that only "Five Years" remain, Ziggy Stardust arrives to save the Earth - with "Soul Love," "Moonage Daydream," and much, much more... play it, Lee!
By the time this album came out, I already had Bowie's then-previous four albums and was convinced that he was some kind of prophet-poet-genius, so when he told us we had Five Years, I believed it-really believed it-with all my heart. Thanks for your ongoing Bowie series; watching your reactions, I see so much of myself listening to all those records when they were new.
I would have recommended hearing the studio album version of "Five Years" on "Ziggy Stardust", first, but that's definitely a cool performance of it. The album version is bigger.
The live version you watched of “Width of a Circle” was from the last concert Bowie did as Ziggy Stardust but the song itself was from an earlier album “The Man Who Sold the World”, 1970.
Ah. The Old Grey Whistle Test !!! It was our life line to so much good music. All played live. It broke so many act from both sides of the pond to prominence. Happy days
Yes, you would love the whole album beginning to end, then on to Aladdin Sane 1973. You won’t get to that right away but keep it in your back pocket for later.
This song has my favourite line from any song ever ..Think I saw you in an ice-cream parlour, drinking milkshakes cold and long.. Smilingly and waving and looking so fine .Don't think you knew you were in this song . Brilliant Album.
Ziggy Stardust is a concept album, with a story arc. This being the first track, Five Years sets up the premise of the story. It's a fantastic album worth a whole listen. Keep going !
This is the opening song on Ziggy Stardust; its closing counterpart "Rock n Roll Suicide" kind of goes with it, and has probably saved countless lives. The whole album is special but these two are my favourite songs on it.
Never been the biggest Bowie fan but his talent is undeniable, 'Five Years' is a Bowie favourite and this is a superb performance... I recommend 'Queen Bitch' from the same session, it's another Bowie fave of mine...
At 74 Woody Woodmansey is the last surviving member of The Spiders from Mars. The band were very down to earth Yorkshire lads, invited by Bowie to move to London and be his backing band. They initially weren't happy about the glam image, but once they saw how much attention Bowie got from female fans they'd be fighting over using the eyeliner. The whole band contributed a lot to those early songs, but got no writing credit, Bowie was to be notorious for using, and then suddenly dropping his collaborators and moving on to a new crowd. Woody, like his bandmates, knew nothing of the plans to finish off Ziggy, until Bowie announced it on stage on the last date of a tour. Woody continued a career in music and has since worked with both Art Garfunkel, and Sir Paul McCartney.
Ned from Spain here. That is the only time I've ever felt disappointed in Bowie. Without them he never would've made it. Woody, Trevor and Mick lived on almost nothing, terrible salaries and worked their asses off and got the shaft for their efforts. Ever hear the story of when Woody found out how much keys man Mike Garson was getting paid ? Supposedly Tony De Fries was part of the problem, no one mattered but Bowie.
Damn that is fucking rough. Ruthless business with managers and money involved. If you let creative people be creative people and let business people be business people I think the whole thing works a lot smoother. But people think they can do both (and some can) and it ruins everything.
@@rghilino6734 Apparently Mike was unaware of the Spider's situation.I love Mike Garson as a person and he's one of the most incredible musicians in whatever genre. There is a great documentary about him on Amplified.
He's called Woody because there were two Micks in The Spiders From Mars. Guitarist Mick Ronson was on the piano for this song. An underrated guitarist, as you will no doubt soon discover.
That was Bowie doing what he most liked to do, which was taking us down a route we didn't know we wanted to go down. He liked to make us feel a little bit uneasy, taking us outside our comfort zone. With the Ziggy songs he decided to make it sound raw, like something scraped up off dirty city streets, not polished and perfect sounding. From a musical perspective this was a glimpse of punk three years before punk erupted in the UK. Mostly the album was about a rock performer going mad on drugs and an out-of-control ego trip. But this particular song is about an imaginary unspecified threat to human existence, and the breakdown in society that it causes. Don't fall into the trap of trying to work out exactly what everything means, because Bowie deliberately left gaps for you to fill with your own imagination.
I recently go 'into' early Bowie as I was a bit too young to appreciate him in '72 this passed me by. However since discovering this video and 'Oh you Pretty things' from the same OGWT session I have to watch them on a weekly basis. Fabulous stuff. And as someone has already mentioned his performance of 'Starman' on Top of The Pops is iconic.
The album version has a soaring guitar from Mick Ronson who is playing piano in this video. Fantastic song and album. I agree with the other comment that Aladdin Sane or Diamond Dogs or Station to Station are better than Ziggy, but it is a great place to start.
Bowie was probably afraid to blow out the mic here. He's always been a great actor, and in the studio version (which is also a must listen), he had the engineer stop halfway through and turn the levels down so he could really scream and cry during the repeats at the end. It's stunning to listen to.
We were so close to it all ending in 1972. Our Generals were seriously talking about only loosing 40 million civilians in America if we launched first. By Christmas, we had launched Operation Linebacker II ,on North Vietnam, leveling Everything Above Ground. Just before midnight on December 31st, 1972, China threatened a Nuclear Launch is f we did not stop bombing....I worked Bowie's last performance of the song "Siggy Stardust" at Giant's Stadium around 1990. Met David working an MTV Commercial recording that morning. A True British Gentleman..
For these songs you should do the album version before the live, just to get the full effect and power of the songs, this is good but not as dramatic as the record.
If you like this the album version has a beautiful string arrangement at the end plus Mick Ronson doing bombs dropping guitar. Plus supposedly during Bowie recording the vocals he was crying at the end. And that’s the take on the album.
Understandable I guess that you begin your Bowie reactions odyssey with Ziggy Stardust as it is probably the album he is best known for but I hope at some point you revisit his earlier masterpieces , A Space Oddity, The Man Who Sold The World and my own personal favourite Hunky Dory. Each of them contain some real gems which I'm certain you'll enjoy. Loving the reactions, great to see someone of your tender years appreciating the stuff a lot of us grew up with.
the old grey whistle test was the show all the cool bands played on... it got its name because it wasnt old, it was colourful, more that just whistle (all instruments) and it was not a test
Such an awesome band. What a shame that Bowie dropped them on a whim without warning especially when they contributed so much to his early success. I love Bowie, but that was always disappointing to me.
Great album, entire play.
You will be hard pressed to find a finer album. Ever.
Absolutely true.
Just an incredibly breathtaking performance. Seeing this on TV blew the minds of a generation. You really need to check out the performance of "Starman" live on Top Of The Pops. Tame by today's standards, but at the time it shocked the nation. The man is a legend. Mick Ronson too. 💖🎸⚡ Peace 😎🤘
He really is iconic as hell.... Definitely one of the greatest artists of our time. I wish I could have sat down with a spot of tea and pick his brain.
After the news announcement that only "Five Years" remain, Ziggy Stardust arrives to save the Earth - with "Soul Love," "Moonage Daydream," and much, much more... play it, Lee!
Next week! It's coming:) I'll do the studio from here on out though. More then likely.
You’re in for a treat⚡️
Thank you for sharing so many songs!
This unusually intense and serious performance by a young David Bowie was very interesting.
Thank you, Lee.
Good choice Bowie live what a tune
By the time this album came out, I already had Bowie's then-previous four albums and was convinced that he was some kind of prophet-poet-genius, so when he told us we had Five Years, I believed it-really believed it-with all my heart. Thanks for your ongoing Bowie series; watching your reactions, I see so much of myself listening to all those records when they were new.
Interesting comment.
I would have recommended hearing the studio album version of "Five Years" on "Ziggy Stardust", first, but that's definitely a cool performance of it. The album version is bigger.
Ziggy is a must! While I think Aladdin Sane is s better album, both are at the heart of Bowie’s most famous era. You’re gonna love them!
That "So many people" at 3:27 always gets me. The way he sings that, also in the studio version, is so...... so..... IDK sad? IDK
Everything on Ziggy Stardust is great
The live version you watched of “Width of a Circle” was from the last concert Bowie did as Ziggy Stardust but the song itself was from an earlier album “The Man Who Sold the World”, 1970.
I saw Bowie 20 years ago on his last tour of Australia. He was awesome.
Work your way through the Ziggy album. You will not be disappointed Lee.
An absolute masterpiece of an album...ever song is a banger...you need to do the entire album...it's a must. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Totally agree.
What an album! ⭐️
Ziggy Stardust is a great album! Worth a listen.
Fucking great album
Ah. The Old Grey Whistle Test !!! It was our life line to so much good music. All played live. It broke so many act from both sides of the pond to prominence. Happy days
Yes, you would love the whole album beginning to end, then on to Aladdin Sane 1973. You won’t get to that right away but keep it in your back pocket for later.
as i recall he did three tracks that episode
Bowie was the sum total of the fifties sixties and seventies. Incredible.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide should be your next track off Ziggy Stardust. I want it to be the last thing I hear.
Glad you will explore the rest of the album
Yup next week we will do the next couple tracks. Can't wait to see where this goes.
One of my favorite Bowie songs. The crescendo is better on the album version though.
Thank you. The best beginning of an album and with rock'n'roll suicide also the best end. I love Wednesday Bowie.
I watched this the night it aired. Home from the pub, Whistle test on. There's some great performances on there.
Based on a dream he had.
This song has my favourite line from any song ever ..Think I saw you in an ice-cream parlour, drinking milkshakes cold and long.. Smilingly and waving and looking so fine .Don't think you knew you were in this song . Brilliant Album.
An amazing opening track to a classic album.
Still in love with Ziggy❤️😔
I feel a heavy dose of his Folk Roots in this song, been a fan of Bowie since 73 this song still gives me goose bumps.
It's one of his best and the live version is excellent.
YESSS THE WHOLE ALBUM
Ziggy Stardust is a concept album, with a story arc. This being the first track, Five Years sets up the premise of the story. It's a fantastic album worth a whole listen. Keep going !
Lee, dude, you must listen to this album, start to finish...it's fucking mind-blowing!
Drummer was rock solid, great album and song! Thanks
This is the opening song on Ziggy Stardust; its closing counterpart "Rock n Roll Suicide" kind of goes with it, and has probably saved countless lives. The whole album is special but these two are my favourite songs on it.
Never been the biggest Bowie fan but his talent is undeniable, 'Five Years' is a Bowie favourite and this is a superb performance... I recommend 'Queen Bitch' from the same session, it's another Bowie fave of mine...
At 74 Woody Woodmansey is the last surviving member of The Spiders from Mars. The band were very down to earth Yorkshire lads, invited by Bowie to move to London and be his backing band. They initially weren't happy about the glam image, but once they saw how much attention Bowie got from female fans they'd be fighting over using the eyeliner. The whole band contributed a lot to those early songs, but got no writing credit, Bowie was to be notorious for using, and then suddenly dropping his collaborators and moving on to a new crowd. Woody, like his bandmates, knew nothing of the plans to finish off Ziggy, until Bowie announced it on stage on the last date of a tour. Woody continued a career in music and has since worked with both Art Garfunkel, and Sir Paul McCartney.
Ned from Spain here. That is the only time I've ever felt disappointed in Bowie. Without them he never would've made it. Woody, Trevor and Mick lived on almost nothing, terrible salaries and worked their asses off and got the shaft for their efforts. Ever hear the story of when Woody found out how much keys man Mike Garson was getting paid ? Supposedly Tony De Fries was part of the problem, no one mattered but Bowie.
Damn that is fucking rough. Ruthless business with managers and money involved. If you let creative people be creative people and let business people be business people I think the whole thing works a lot smoother. But people think they can do both (and some can) and it ruins everything.
Mike Garson is still around and performing. Though I don't know if he was technically a Spider.
@@rghilino6734 Apparently Mike was unaware of the Spider's situation.I love Mike Garson as a person and he's one of the most incredible musicians in whatever genre. There is a great documentary about him on Amplified.
He's called Woody because there were two Micks in The Spiders From Mars. Guitarist Mick Ronson was on the piano for this song. An underrated guitarist, as you will no doubt soon discover.
David Bowie was the best musician in the my lifetime.
There is also:” Is there life on Mars “. Official video shows his unusual eyes one blue one green one dilated one not.
That was Bowie doing what he most liked to do, which was taking us down a route we didn't know we wanted to go down. He liked to make us feel a little bit uneasy, taking us outside our comfort zone. With the Ziggy songs he decided to make it sound raw, like something scraped up off dirty city streets, not polished and perfect sounding. From a musical perspective this was a glimpse of punk three years before punk erupted in the UK. Mostly the album was about a rock performer going mad on drugs and an out-of-control ego trip. But this particular song is about an imaginary unspecified threat to human existence, and the breakdown in society that it causes. Don't fall into the trap of trying to work out exactly what everything means, because Bowie deliberately left gaps for you to fill with your own imagination.
YES, REACT TO THE WHOLE ALBUM PLEASE
Mick Woodmansy got renamed “Woody” because they already had a Mick and didn’t want to get confused. Lol
I miss Bowie ⭐
I recently go 'into' early Bowie as I was a bit too young to appreciate him in '72 this passed me by. However since discovering this video and 'Oh you Pretty things' from the same OGWT session I have to watch them on a weekly basis. Fabulous stuff. And as someone has already mentioned his performance of 'Starman' on Top of The Pops is iconic.
bowie is outstanding, and this LP is his best
You MUST have heard Starman!
The album version has a soaring guitar from Mick Ronson who is playing piano in this video. Fantastic song and album. I agree with the other comment that Aladdin Sane or Diamond Dogs or Station to Station are better than Ziggy, but it is a great place to start.
Bowie was probably afraid to blow out the mic here. He's always been a great actor, and in the studio version (which is also a must listen), he had the engineer stop halfway through and turn the levels down so he could really scream and cry during the repeats at the end. It's stunning to listen to.
We were so close to it all ending in 1972. Our Generals were seriously talking about only loosing 40 million civilians in America if we launched first. By Christmas, we had launched Operation Linebacker II ,on North Vietnam, leveling Everything Above Ground. Just before midnight on December 31st, 1972, China threatened a Nuclear Launch is f we did not stop bombing....I worked Bowie's last performance of the song "Siggy Stardust" at Giant's Stadium around 1990. Met David working an MTV Commercial recording that morning. A True British Gentleman..
For these songs you should do the album version before the live, just to get the full effect and power of the songs, this is good but not as dramatic as the record.
Nice to see the great Mick Ronson demonstrate his non-guitar musicianship. Trevor Bolder's bass rarely gets the credit it deserves, though.
If you like this the album version has a beautiful string arrangement at the end plus Mick Ronson doing bombs dropping guitar. Plus supposedly during Bowie recording the vocals he was crying at the end. And that’s the take on the album.
I like so much this song🤘
Understandable I guess that you begin your Bowie reactions odyssey with Ziggy Stardust as it is probably the album he is best known for but I hope at some point you revisit his earlier masterpieces , A Space Oddity, The Man Who Sold The World and my own personal favourite Hunky Dory. Each of them contain some real gems which I'm certain you'll enjoy. Loving the reactions, great to see someone of your tender years appreciating the stuff a lot of us grew up with.
Only band not to play live on TOGWT was the New York Dolls.
Love you till Tuesday. Well, I might stetch it till Wednesday?!
❤❤❤
David Bowie no one finer,
Doesn't age this song. I've played it a lot again since 2020. End of days.
So good even with out mick ronsons lead guitar backing.
👍
the old grey whistle test was the show all the cool bands played on... it got its name because it wasnt old, it was colourful, more that just whistle (all instruments) and it was not a test
Such an awesome band. What a shame that Bowie dropped them on a whim without warning especially when they contributed so much to his early success. I love Bowie, but that was always disappointing to me.
The album version is far superior to this "weak" effort.
Hate to break from the consensus, but a pretty meh album for me. I much prefer work he did both before and after. This is overrated IMHO 😊
You’re in for a treat⚡️