Well, he certainly got MY attention! I was a high school junior, and lead singer in a rock band....certainly an influence on my stage persona! One of the few albums I actually "had to buy" (😱), I got it first week of release for $2.99, sale price; it then went to $3.99 the week after (as a "regular" stock item), and all this on an RCA $4.98 list price! THAT's a memorable album purchase!
I can’t remember buying my copy. It was probably from a local record shop for about £2, in the days when you could buy an album and a couple of singles and still have enough pocket money left to buy the music inkies each week.
As many regular FR&B readers know, there were few records I "had" to buy....with Dad being in radio, and bringing armloads of free promo albums home weekly (certainly not weakly)! He pretty much had Warner Bros, Columbia, and Capitol covered, but RCA's new releases, somehow, side-stepped his bring-home largesse! That's why virtually every minutiae surrounding the "Ziggy" album purchase are burned into my memory!
With respect to "concept albums," one of the earliest, if not the first, artist to think of albums as a concept or having a running theme is Frank Sinatra. Besides Sinatra's talents as a singer, I think Bowie must have been aware of the "albums" by Sinatra. Sinatra's work in the Capitol recordings of the 1950s, up to his Reprise recordings in the 60s usually had a theme or mood attached to it. And I enjoyed reading your piece here.
Thanks Tosh. Yes, I’m sure Bowie would have been aware of Sinatra’s themed albums. I’m thinking about a longer piece on concepts. They tend to be seen as a prog rock specialism but, as you say, there’s a deeper story.
And I just now remembered that Sinatra did a concept/narrative album called "Watertown" in 1970. I think it was Sinatra's worst selling album in his catalog of recordings. But the story is about a love affair gone wrong in a small town. The work has been recently reissued, and now is getting some love from the contemporary music world.
I saw a link for this while scrolling Notes and immediately put on Ziggy Stardust. I should have bought the RSD release on Saturday. I had it in my hands and put it back.
The only bad part about this is that after it, audiences just assumed every rock ‘n roll band absolutely had to have a mythical quality to their presence and presentation.
That's partly what punk was about, rebellion against that, until it became just one more “myth option”.
Bowie cemented his reputation as a singular artist with this album.
Well, he certainly got MY attention! I was a high school junior, and lead singer in a rock band....certainly an influence on my stage persona! One of the few albums I actually "had to buy" (😱), I got it first week of release for $2.99, sale price; it then went to $3.99 the week after (as a "regular" stock item), and all this on an RCA $4.98 list price! THAT's a memorable album purchase!
I can’t remember buying my copy. It was probably from a local record shop for about £2, in the days when you could buy an album and a couple of singles and still have enough pocket money left to buy the music inkies each week.
As many regular FR&B readers know, there were few records I "had" to buy....with Dad being in radio, and bringing armloads of free promo albums home weekly (certainly not weakly)! He pretty much had Warner Bros, Columbia, and Capitol covered, but RCA's new releases, somehow, side-stepped his bring-home largesse! That's why virtually every minutiae surrounding the "Ziggy" album purchase are burned into my memory!
Unbelievably amazing
Just watched "Moonage Daydream" for the first time this weekend. It's a trip!
With respect to "concept albums," one of the earliest, if not the first, artist to think of albums as a concept or having a running theme is Frank Sinatra. Besides Sinatra's talents as a singer, I think Bowie must have been aware of the "albums" by Sinatra. Sinatra's work in the Capitol recordings of the 1950s, up to his Reprise recordings in the 60s usually had a theme or mood attached to it. And I enjoyed reading your piece here.
Thanks Tosh. Yes, I’m sure Bowie would have been aware of Sinatra’s themed albums. I’m thinking about a longer piece on concepts. They tend to be seen as a prog rock specialism but, as you say, there’s a deeper story.
And I just now remembered that Sinatra did a concept/narrative album called "Watertown" in 1970. I think it was Sinatra's worst selling album in his catalog of recordings. But the story is about a love affair gone wrong in a small town. The work has been recently reissued, and now is getting some love from the contemporary music world.
Watertown came to my mind when you mentioned Sinatra’s work, because of the reissue reviews. I didn’t make a point of listening but I will now.
I saw a link for this while scrolling Notes and immediately put on Ziggy Stardust. I should have bought the RSD release on Saturday. I had it in my hands and put it back.
It’ll be in the box, but that’s a different level of commitment 😮
The only bad part about this is that after it, audiences just assumed every rock ‘n roll band absolutely had to have a mythical quality to their presence and presentation.
That's partly what punk was about, rebellion against that, until it became just one more “myth option”.
Yes. New ways of performing are always opening up. Punk came as a breath of fresh air at the time.
Love that! Though I've now got Over the Rainbow in my head!!