David Bowie

Active years

• Active 1964 to 2016
• Glam rock, 1972 to 1975

The journey

Platform

1. Glam rock1972 to 1975

   1Ziggy Stardust to Young Americans

   Ziggy Stardust (1972) and Aladdin Sane (1973) made glam a theatre of persona rather than a costume; Bowie retired Ziggy on stage in 1973 and had left glam for "plastic soul" by Young Americans (1975). His later eras belong to lines outside this slice.

   Key album: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, 1972

   1. 1972Album

      The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

      Released in June 1972: a rock star from space, played by Bowie in character for the next year.

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      Source: Wikipedia, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (opens in a new tab)

   2. 1972Performance

      Starman on Top of the Pops

      On 6 July 1972 Bowie draped an arm around Mick Ronson and pointed down the camera at the nation; a generation of British musicians date their lives from that evening.

      Source: Wikipedia, Starman (song) (opens in a new tab)

   3. 1972Collaboration

      All the Young Dudes for Mott the Hoople

      Bowie wrote and produced the single that saved Mott the Hoople from splitting, and produced Lou Reed's Transformer the same summer.

      Source: Wikipedia, All the Young Dudes (opens in a new tab)

   4. 1973Album

      Aladdin Sane

      "Ziggy goes to America": released in April 1973 and his first British number one album.

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      Source: Wikipedia, Aladdin Sane (opens in a new tab)

   5. 1973Performance

      Ziggy retired at the Hammersmith Odeon

      On 3 July 1973 Bowie told the audience it was "the last show that we'll ever do", and killed the character on stage.

      Source: Wikipedia, Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture (opens in a new tab)

   6. 1974Album

      Diamond Dogs

      Released in May 1974 after the rights to Nineteen Eighty-Four were refused: glam's last stand, with Bowie playing the guitar himself.

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      Source: Wikipedia, Diamond Dogs (opens in a new tab)

   7. 1975Album

      Young Americans

      Recorded at Sigma Sound in Philadelphia and released in March 1975: "plastic soul", by Bowie's own description, and the end of his glam years.

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      Source: Wikipedia, Young Americans (opens in a new tab)

   8. 1975Single

      Fame

      Co-written with John Lennon and Carlos Alomar, and Bowie's first American number one in September 1975.

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      Source: Wikipedia, Fame (David Bowie song) (opens in a new tab)

   Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, David Bowie (opens in a new tab)

The line