0:00:02 > 0:00:05This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:05 > 0:00:0940 years ago, in millions of living rooms across the British Isles,
0:00:09 > 0:00:13a strange alien creature was beamed onto our television screens.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16With bright red hair and multi-coloured space-suit,
0:00:16 > 0:00:19his unearthly appearance shocked the nation. But for many teenagers
0:00:19 > 0:00:22who experienced this televisual visitation,
0:00:22 > 0:00:24it would change their lives forever.
0:00:24 > 0:00:25# ..Starman waiting in the sky
0:00:25 > 0:00:27# He'd like to come and meet us
0:00:27 > 0:00:30# But he thinks he'd blow our minds... #
0:00:30 > 0:00:32This messianic Martian was with us
0:00:32 > 0:00:36only for a year but his impact would be felt for generations to come.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38# ..Cos he knows it's all worthwhile... #
0:00:41 > 0:00:45Music on Planet Earth would never be the same again.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47# Let all the children boogie... #
0:00:52 > 0:00:54# Oh... #
0:00:55 > 0:00:59Armed with laser-guided melodies and lyrics from another dimension,
0:00:59 > 0:01:03Ziggy Stardust heralded a new era of rock music.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06# I'm an alligator
0:01:06 > 0:01:10# I'm a mama-papa coming for you... #
0:01:10 > 0:01:12A time of outlandish fashion...
0:01:12 > 0:01:18# People stare at the make-up on his face... #
0:01:18 > 0:01:21..outrageous sexuality...
0:01:21 > 0:01:24# Wham bam, thank you, ma'am
0:01:24 > 0:01:26# Suffragette city... #
0:01:26 > 0:01:30..and good old-fashioned, rock 'n' roll music.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33# Jean Genie lives on his back
0:01:33 > 0:01:37# Jean Genie loves chimney stacks... #
0:01:38 > 0:01:42So, what made this mysterious extra-terrestrial
0:01:42 > 0:01:45one of the most influential cultural icons of the 20th Century?
0:01:45 > 0:01:53# Now Ziggy played guitar. #
0:01:57 > 0:02:01This is how Ziggy Stardust blew our minds.
0:02:06 > 0:02:07# Well, Annie's pretty neat
0:02:07 > 0:02:08# She always eats her meat
0:02:08 > 0:02:10# Joe is awful strong
0:02:10 > 0:02:12# Bet your life he's putting us on
0:02:12 > 0:02:15# Oh Lordy, oh Lordy
0:02:15 > 0:02:18# You know I need some loving... #
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Ziggy Stardust set David Bowie on course
0:02:21 > 0:02:23to becoming one of the world's most famous pop stars.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26As the Queen Of The Glam Scene,
0:02:26 > 0:02:28he always seemed a step ahead of everyone else.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30Where Ziggy walked, others followed,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33whether that was his army of screaming fans
0:02:33 > 0:02:35or copycat artists struggling to keep up.
0:02:38 > 0:02:43David took it to another level. He just wiped the floor with everybody.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45It was game-changing.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48When we first saw Bowie as Ziggy Stardust,
0:02:48 > 0:02:50he looked so complete and so fully-formed.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53It almost was as though he appeared from a different planet.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55It was extraordinary.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57And at that time you didn't realise
0:02:57 > 0:03:01that he'd been trying to be successful for ten years.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04'I'm just, by nature, a very flighty person.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08'I get turned on and off things, all the time, very quickly.'
0:03:09 > 0:03:13Born in 1947, David Robert Jones spent his teenage years
0:03:13 > 0:03:16trying to make it as a musician.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19# Well, I got girl that she's good to me... #
0:03:21 > 0:03:25He went through a series of bands playing R&B and rock 'n' roll
0:03:25 > 0:03:26before becoming a mod.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30# London boy, oh, London boy... #
0:03:30 > 0:03:33The belief was, that if you want to do something bad enough,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35and you put your mind to it, you can. The trouble is,
0:03:35 > 0:03:37he didn't just take one thing.
0:03:37 > 0:03:38He took loads of things.
0:03:38 > 0:03:39He wanted to be everything.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43Aged 20, he changed his name from Jones to Bowie
0:03:43 > 0:03:46and released his first solo album on Deram Records.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48# Who's that hiding
0:03:48 > 0:03:50# In the apple tree... #
0:03:50 > 0:03:53It was a strange mix of music hall and whimsical pop.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56He even tried his hand at a children's novelty record.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58# Ha ha ha
0:03:58 > 0:03:59# Hee hee hee
0:03:59 > 0:04:03# I'm a laughing gnome and you can't catch me
0:04:03 > 0:04:06# Said the laughing gnome. #
0:04:06 > 0:04:10I think he was trying on what can I do, and what do people want,
0:04:10 > 0:04:12and going through
0:04:12 > 0:04:15the trial and error period. And there was a lot of error,
0:04:15 > 0:04:19you know, with the laughing gnome, it's like, OK.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21# ..And gave him a fag
0:04:21 > 0:04:22# Have you got a light, boy? #
0:04:22 > 0:04:26The laughing gnome is not a great record, but it is indicative
0:04:26 > 0:04:28of what he was doing at the time
0:04:28 > 0:04:30because he was obsessed with Anthony Newley.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34# What kind of fool am I? #
0:04:34 > 0:04:37Anthony Newley was a giant of British popular culture.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40As adept as a singer, dancer and entertainer
0:04:40 > 0:04:45as he was at creating surreal comedy that paved the way for Monty Python.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47I think she fancies me.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49He was more than meets the eye,
0:04:49 > 0:04:50Anthony Newley, He wasn't just,
0:04:50 > 0:04:52"What kind of fool am I?"
0:04:52 > 0:04:53Yeah, he wrote that,
0:04:53 > 0:04:56but there was many other sides to Anthony Newley.
0:04:56 > 0:04:57Films, the Gurney Slade TV thing,
0:04:57 > 0:04:59which was ground-breaking when it happened.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01So, I think that's what interested David.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06It begs the question, if David Bowie had found success
0:05:06 > 0:05:10with his Anthony Newley phase, would he have become a light entertainer?
0:05:10 > 0:05:13But as both the Laughing Gnome and the Deram album
0:05:13 > 0:05:15were the latest in a line of commercial failures,
0:05:15 > 0:05:17we'll never know.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20But Newley's quirky versatility would certainly later inform
0:05:20 > 0:05:22the theatrical DNA of Ziggy Stardust.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26'I would try and get involved
0:05:26 > 0:05:31'in anything that I felt was a useful tool for a narcissistic medium.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34'I was trying to be a one-man revolution, you know.'
0:05:37 > 0:05:40Around the same time the Deram album was released,
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Bowie met Lindsay Kemp,
0:05:42 > 0:05:46a British dancer who specialised in mime and avant-garde theatre.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50I was endeavouring to teach him to astonish,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53to astonish a public.
0:05:53 > 0:05:58I helped him find himself through his movements.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02So he could express himself, so he had the right kind of control.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07Being my student, he was so keen.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09He was like a sponge.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13He would absorb anything that took his interest.
0:06:13 > 0:06:18Those classes included some mime but mostly dance.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20I taught him to dance.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22Within a few weeks of meeting,
0:06:22 > 0:06:25Kemp and Bowie had created a stage play
0:06:25 > 0:06:27called Pierrot In Turquoise,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30which they toured together around the UK to critical acclaim.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32Offstage, they embarked on an affair,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35the choreographer introducing the young singer
0:06:35 > 0:06:37to London's gay intelligentsia.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41He had an enormous sexual appetite,
0:06:41 > 0:06:44which came across on the stage.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48I mean, it's a useful thing to have, if one has an outlet.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51But the dance troupe didn't pay the bills.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53And nor did his next musical direction,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56a folk trio called Feathers.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59Bowie turned to acting to help finance his music,
0:06:59 > 0:07:01taking small film roles
0:07:01 > 0:07:03and even starring in an ice-cream ad.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08And then, seemingly from nowhere,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11he hit upon a formula to finally launch his music career.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21Put out to coincide with the 1969 lunar landings,
0:07:21 > 0:07:25the single rocketed to number five in the UK charts.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28# This is ground control
0:07:28 > 0:07:29# To Major Tom
0:07:29 > 0:07:34# You've really made the grade
0:07:34 > 0:07:40# And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear... #
0:07:40 > 0:07:42Space Oddity, that was a game changing record,
0:07:42 > 0:07:46was the record that inspired me to make the Elton John record.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48I said I just want the sound that's on that record,
0:07:48 > 0:07:49cos it was so extraordinary.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53# This is Major Tom to ground control... #
0:07:53 > 0:07:57Although essentially another novelty record,
0:07:57 > 0:07:59it was also a masterful piece of songwriting.
0:07:59 > 0:08:00But the songs on the self-titled album,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03released to cash in on the single's success,
0:08:03 > 0:08:04sounded nothing like Space Oddity.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07# Spy, spy, pretty girl
0:08:07 > 0:08:11# I see you see me through your window. #
0:08:11 > 0:08:14The record buying public couldn't understand
0:08:14 > 0:08:16what David Bowie was all about.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20It was a strange record, because at the time, he was writing folk songs.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23His latest thing was having long hair, going on stage,
0:08:23 > 0:08:26crossing his legs, and playing an acoustic guitar.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29And, so, consequently, he didn't really click again,
0:08:29 > 0:08:31with the public, because his image was quite confused.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Bowie had shown the world a glimpse of his extraordinary talent,
0:08:37 > 0:08:39but it would be three years
0:08:39 > 0:08:42until he could recapture Space Oddity's success
0:08:42 > 0:08:43with Ziggy Stardust.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47And as those years rolled by, Bowie became increasingly worried
0:08:47 > 0:08:49he was damned to be a one-hit-wonder.
0:08:49 > 0:08:50In 1970 he was
0:08:50 > 0:08:52fundamentally depressed.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56He had no idea where he was going, he didn't know how he was going to fit.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00A serious change of direction was needed.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04And that, in part, came from Bowie's bride-to-be, Angie Barnett.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Angela was really a driving force behind David.
0:09:07 > 0:09:08She was very influential
0:09:08 > 0:09:10with the costumes.
0:09:10 > 0:09:11She made him brave.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15She would have her hair cut first, if she didn't think he'd like it.
0:09:15 > 0:09:16She made him brave.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18She was encouraging and always
0:09:18 > 0:09:20on his side and always positive.
0:09:20 > 0:09:21She would always encourage
0:09:21 > 0:09:23dressing him and help the image,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26and I always found her as a very positive force.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29Bowie formed a new band called the Hype
0:09:29 > 0:09:34and in February 1970, he unleashed a radical new image.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Was going to do a gig, and Angie said,
0:09:36 > 0:09:38we're going to dress you all up.
0:09:38 > 0:09:39We did the Round House.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41I was supposedly Cowboy man
0:09:41 > 0:09:45cos I had a cowboy hat on, and a frilly shirt with some tassels on.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47We were just thrown together,
0:09:47 > 0:09:48but David's was like, he had
0:09:48 > 0:09:49the big knee-high leather boots.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54And we just did this gig dressed up, you know. Theatre.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01The London audience wasn't ready for superheroes playing heavy rock
0:10:01 > 0:10:02and The Hype bombed.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05With hindsight, it seems Bowie was just ahead of his time.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09Especially when you consider the Hype's make-up and costumes
0:10:09 > 0:10:12pre-date Marc Bolan's first glam rock TV appearance
0:10:12 > 0:10:13by over a year.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17Bowie's plan to create his famous alter-ego
0:10:17 > 0:10:19was beginning to take shape.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22The proto-glam band the Hype are most notable
0:10:22 > 0:10:26because it's the first time David Bowie worked with Mick Ronson,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30the guitarist who would become part of the sound of Ziggy Stardust.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Their first studio collaboration was on Bowie's next album,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36the heavy, guitar-based The Man Who Sold The World.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39But what shocked people the most, wasn't the new hard rock sound,
0:10:39 > 0:10:42but the image on the sleeve.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46He sells it by positioning himself on the front cover in the very long,
0:10:46 > 0:10:49flowing, pre-Raphaelite dress, which was the least macho,
0:10:49 > 0:10:51least hard rock image imaginable.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55And it's hard to think now how shocking that actually was.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01It wasn't until David and Angela walked down Beckenham High Street,
0:11:01 > 0:11:05David in a dress and Angela looking remarkably boy-like
0:11:05 > 0:11:07that we all started taking notice of him.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09I mean, people would recoil.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13Literally, the old girls would kind of go, "My God!"
0:11:13 > 0:11:18Shocking was what he wanted to be, and shocking was what he was.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22The rock scene in 1970 was very much the colour of blue jeans.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24Everybody wore denim, everybody had long hair
0:11:24 > 0:11:29and the music very much reflected that sort of monotoned culture.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32I'm sure that's why the album wasn't a hit in this country
0:11:32 > 0:11:34was because anybody who was interested in the music
0:11:34 > 0:11:37picked up the cover and said, "No way I'm getting involved in that."
0:11:37 > 0:11:42This was not an era when men flirted with camp imagery at all.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46Three albums in and Bowie was still failing to find his audience.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48He desperately needed someone
0:11:48 > 0:11:52who could turn his undeniable talent into record sales.
0:11:52 > 0:11:57Somebody did come along and grab me by the empty wallet and said,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00"I'm Tony De Fries and I'm going to make you a star."
0:12:00 > 0:12:02I said, "Oh, yeah?"
0:12:04 > 0:12:05David was great, yes he was,
0:12:05 > 0:12:08but he hadn't gotten very far until he'd met Tony.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13He was struggling. Tony had a master plan and things started to happen.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16"Yeah, you want to be Elvis Presley? I can do that.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18"It can be done, David. It can be done."
0:12:19 > 0:12:22He financed it, that was the most important thing.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24Everything that Bowie did, there was Tony De Fries
0:12:24 > 0:12:27with the money to pay for it. Without Tony De Fries,
0:12:27 > 0:12:31we would never have had David Bowie, Pop Star, Rock Star at all.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34MUSIC: "Venus In Furs" by the Velvet Underground
0:12:37 > 0:12:40Tony's main objective was to make Bowie a superstar.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43And that meant cracking America. So at the beginning of 1971,
0:12:43 > 0:12:48the 24-year-old singer was sent there on a short promotional tour.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50Within a few months he returned, signing a deal
0:12:50 > 0:12:51with RCA Records in New York,
0:12:51 > 0:12:56the company who would later fund the Ziggy Stardust project.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59It was during this period that Bowie was introduced
0:12:59 > 0:13:02to the subversive world of Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04He felt immediately at home
0:13:04 > 0:13:07surrounded by New York's counter-culture.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09We were all working in underground theatre,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12which involved a whole lot of outrageousness.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16The rock 'n' roll world at the same time in New York
0:13:16 > 0:13:18was becoming very underground.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22There were men dressed in women's clothes but not in drag,
0:13:22 > 0:13:24they were just wearing women's blouses and things
0:13:24 > 0:13:26and a lot of make-up and things.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29And everything was getting very bizarre.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35Back in London, Bowie continued his fascination with the avant-garde.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37He hung out in gay nightclubs with a fashion designer
0:13:37 > 0:13:40called Freddie Burretti.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43And when an Andy Warhol play called Pork arrived in town,
0:13:43 > 0:13:47Bowie and his new wife Angie befriended the American cast.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52We invited Angie and David to come see the play,
0:13:52 > 0:13:55and they came with Tony De Fries,
0:13:55 > 0:13:58and we all started to hang out together.
0:13:58 > 0:14:04We met David's incredible, loud, crazy wife Angie, and she was,
0:14:04 > 0:14:06"Oh, we have to go do this,
0:14:06 > 0:14:09"we have to go do that, we have to outrage the populace."
0:14:09 > 0:14:11And we were fine for that.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15I was, you know, psychedelic, acid-head, hippie chick.
0:14:15 > 0:14:23In those days, we were still pretty outrageous sexually, I have to say.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27You know, we had sex in the loos at the Hard Rock Cafe,
0:14:27 > 0:14:29even with the owners.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33This was, like, every night and a lot of people doing it.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36Inspired by the outrageous characters
0:14:36 > 0:14:38he'd met in London and New York,
0:14:38 > 0:14:40the very beginnings of Ziggy Stardust
0:14:40 > 0:14:42began to materialise in Bowie's mind.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44Taking his lead from the star-maker Andy Warhol,
0:14:44 > 0:14:49he invented his own rock 'n' roll star, Arnold Corns.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53What he hasn't yet done is manage to get together the balls
0:14:53 > 0:14:56to be that rock star himself, and so he chooses somebody who,
0:14:56 > 0:14:58effectively in musical terms, is a blank canvas.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01The idea was to take Freddie Burretti,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04this beautiful boy that he'd met in the Sombrero Club
0:15:04 > 0:15:06and to hand him the songs and dress him up
0:15:06 > 0:15:10and get him to be Ziggy, even though he would be miming to David's voice.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16Bowie decides that he's going to create a band called Arnold Corns.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19Now unfortunately, the music that he's selling is terrible.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22It's very early versions of some of the songs from Ziggy,
0:15:22 > 0:15:27and they sound really rudimentary, very boring and raw demos.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29But that is really the seed of Ziggy Stardust.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33# Make me know you really care... #
0:15:33 > 0:15:36Although Arnold Corns failed, Bowie was convinced
0:15:36 > 0:15:40the idea of a fictional rock star would work.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44In the meantime, financial necessity meant Bowie had to submit his songs
0:15:44 > 0:15:47to a publisher to sell on to other artists.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51# Oh, you pretty things... #
0:15:51 > 0:15:53One such song scored a number 12 hit
0:15:53 > 0:15:56for the pop-star Peter Noone in July 1971.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58Its strange lyrics were inspired
0:15:58 > 0:16:01by the German philosopher Frederick Nietzsche.
0:16:01 > 0:16:02Does make you wonder,
0:16:02 > 0:16:06did Peter Noone have any idea what he was singing about?
0:16:06 > 0:16:07# Let me make it plain
0:16:07 > 0:16:11# You gotta make way for the Homo Superior. #
0:16:13 > 0:16:16MUSIC: "Oh! You Pretty Things" by David Bowie
0:16:16 > 0:16:18Bowie's own version, recorded a few months later,
0:16:18 > 0:16:21revealed the song's compositional brilliance.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23His songwriting had shifted up a gear,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27and Oh! You Pretty Things was to be just one classic track
0:16:27 > 0:16:30on a genius pop album, Hunky Dory.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34- # Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes - Turn and face the strain
0:16:34 > 0:16:36# Ch-ch-changes... #
0:16:36 > 0:16:39Listening to the demos over at the house one evening,
0:16:39 > 0:16:41the lightbulb went on at the top of my head.
0:16:41 > 0:16:46This guy could actually be someone. The talent was coming through.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50It was so very different from what he'd done in the past and just,
0:16:50 > 0:16:51"This guy's good."
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Bowie brought back two of the musicians
0:16:56 > 0:16:59from The Man Who Sold The World to play on Hunky Dory.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03Guitarist Mick Ronson and drummer Woody Woodmansey.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06When Bowie was left short of a bass player for a radio session,
0:17:06 > 0:17:10Mick and Woody suggested their mate from Hull, Trevor Bolder.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13Herbie Flowers was supposed to be on it,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16and Herbie didn't turn up,
0:17:16 > 0:17:20so I was dragged into learning something like 12 songs or something
0:17:20 > 0:17:23in an afternoon, then straight after that we did Hunky Dory.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27MUSIC: "Life On Mars?" by David Bowie
0:17:27 > 0:17:30Bowie didn't know it yet, but the Spiders from Mars had just formed.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32He now had in place the musicians
0:17:32 > 0:17:36who could help him realise his future Ziggy Stardust dream.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39Hunky Dory also provided the perfect platform for Mick Ronson
0:17:39 > 0:17:43to really show off his extraordinary musical abilities.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45Mick was a very talented musician
0:17:45 > 0:17:47apart from being a dynamic guitar player.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51He was instrumental in arrangements. He'd been classically trained.
0:17:51 > 0:17:57# Is there life on Mars? #
0:17:59 > 0:18:03He was one of the great rock musicians in history ever,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07as an arranger, piano player as well.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09It must have been like having Stravinsky in your band.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16On its release in November 1971,
0:18:16 > 0:18:18Hunky Dory was widely praised by the music press,
0:18:18 > 0:18:20in both the UK and America.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23But with little publicity, it failed to chart.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25Bowie's manager was actually very keen
0:18:25 > 0:18:28that Hunky Dory should not be a success
0:18:28 > 0:18:32because if Hunky Dory was a huge album then it would not be possible
0:18:32 > 0:18:35for Bowie to transform himself into Ziggy Stardust.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39We only had a two-week break between Hunky Dory and starting Ziggy.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42It was all kind of written and ready to roll,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45and we just had a break and went straight into Ziggy.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47I said, "You've got to be crazy."
0:18:47 > 0:18:50and he says, "Management company want me to do another album,"
0:18:50 > 0:18:53and he said, "You're not going to like this one." I said, "Why?"
0:18:53 > 0:18:55He said, "Cos it's rock 'n' roll. It's more like..."
0:18:55 > 0:18:57I can't remember if he said Iggy Pop and the Stooges
0:18:57 > 0:19:00or Velvet Underground. It wouldn't have mattered
0:19:00 > 0:19:04because I didn't know of either of those acts at that point anyway.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10The Velvet Underground influence can clearly be heard on Queen Bitch,
0:19:10 > 0:19:14the one track on Hunky Dory that links the album to Ziggy Stardust.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18When Bowie performed on the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test
0:19:18 > 0:19:22in February 1972, he might have played songs from Hunky Dory
0:19:22 > 0:19:25but the transformation into his alien alter-ego had already started.
0:19:25 > 0:19:31# Well, I'm up on the 11th floor And I'm watching the cruisers below
0:19:33 > 0:19:39# You know my heart's in a basement My weekend's at an all-time low... #
0:19:39 > 0:19:41By the time Hunky Dory was completed,
0:19:41 > 0:19:44Bowie had his Ziggy Stardust album already written.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46He had drawn on nearly a decade of experience
0:19:46 > 0:19:49to create the record that would finally make him famous.
0:19:49 > 0:19:54And this time he got it spot on. Ziggy turned Bowie into stardust.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02Ziggy Stardust was the thing that really catapulted him into the universe.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05It's an extraordinary record and it still sounds amazing.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07He revolutionised the music business.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10It is the greatest record of the 1970s for me.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13It is one of my favourite LPs still.
0:20:13 > 0:20:20It lit the blue touch paper of imagination and creativity for a lot of people.
0:20:20 > 0:20:26# I can make it all worthwhile as a rock 'n' roll star... #
0:20:26 > 0:20:32The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars was David Bowie's first hit album.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35The record that made him a superstar.
0:20:35 > 0:20:40It tells the story of a doomed alien who takes human form as a rock star.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45It inspired me. It was an album that had a beginning and an end and told
0:20:45 > 0:20:47a story. It was like a rock opera.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52This superstar is killed by his own fans. Rock 'n' Roll Suicide.
0:20:52 > 0:20:57He's eaten alive by their energy that he's fed them with. It was a brilliant idea.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00It was an idea that suited the dystopia of the period.
0:21:00 > 0:21:05There had been economic chaos in the late '60s and so the Conservatives came in
0:21:05 > 0:21:09with the idea of battening down the hatches. The short, sharp shock for everybody.
0:21:09 > 0:21:15London was extremely poor and, in many ways, it was still in the shadow of the Second World War.
0:21:15 > 0:21:20In 1972, there were bombs sites still everywhere. There was a recession.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22There was the Cold War as well
0:21:22 > 0:21:28and I think what David and Ziggy were offering was a creature of fantasy come to save us.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31He sang, "There's only five years left of the Earth,"
0:21:31 > 0:21:36and actually in 1972, you did believe there was probably only five years.
0:21:36 > 0:21:41# We've got five years stuck on my eyes
0:21:41 > 0:21:43# Five years
0:21:43 > 0:21:45# What a surprise
0:21:45 > 0:21:47# We've got five years
0:21:47 > 0:21:50# My brain hurts a lot
0:21:50 > 0:21:52# (Five years)
0:21:52 > 0:21:53# That's all we've got... #
0:21:56 > 0:21:58The album was made at London's Trident Studios,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02previously home to recording sessions by The Beatles and Elton John.
0:22:02 > 0:22:08It was the job of the Spiders from Mars to turn Bowie's demos into rock 'n' roll.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13What he used to do for us was play a song on acoustic guitar and we'd quickly go through the chords
0:22:13 > 0:22:15and then we'd play the song.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18Trevor and I would be going, is there a chorus next? What comes after?
0:22:18 > 0:22:21Does it end on chorus, what? You know.
0:22:21 > 0:22:27So you've only just got the bare bones of it in your head and then he's going, "OK, let's go for it!"
0:22:31 > 0:22:33You were on the edge
0:22:33 > 0:22:35and you knew from experience
0:22:35 > 0:22:38that he didn't like going more than three takes.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42You only had three shots and then, wooh!
0:22:42 > 0:22:47Then, what shall I say? The atmosphere might change.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50# Come on, come on
0:22:50 > 0:22:55# If you think we're going to make it, you better hang on to yourself. #
0:22:55 > 0:22:59As a performer, I haven't come across anyone better.
0:22:59 > 0:23:0595% of every vocal I recorded with him was one take from beginning to end.
0:23:05 > 0:23:06It was amazing.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09# Well, the bitter comes out better on a stolen guitar
0:23:09 > 0:23:10# You're the blessed
0:23:10 > 0:23:12# We're the Spiders from Mars... #
0:23:12 > 0:23:18It sounds quite first takey, quite lively and almost improvised.
0:23:18 > 0:23:23It sounds like a group who's excited to be there. It's not ponderous. It's very light on its feet.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26# You better hang onto yourself... #
0:23:26 > 0:23:31Bowie based the Ziggy character on an eclectic group of his favourite singers
0:23:31 > 0:23:36from the early rock 'n' roll of Little Richard to the theatrical chansons of Jacques Brel.
0:23:36 > 0:23:41The album was influenced by The Velvet Underground, it was influenced by a lot of early rock 'n' roll.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43Gene Vincent, Vince Tailor.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50Vince Taylor, who was the fatal English rocker who famously took too much LSD
0:23:50 > 0:23:52and declared he was Jesus Christ.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57I think David took all this and created this character with an amalgamation
0:23:57 > 0:23:59of all the bands we've seen.
0:23:59 > 0:24:04When you think about Screaming Lord Such, he did a great show, when he came out of a coffin.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08And there was Johnny Kidd and the Pirates and all these great bands that were theatrical.
0:24:08 > 0:24:13You know, great theatre as well as rock 'n' roll. That's what David wanted to do.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15He wanted to mix it all up.
0:24:16 > 0:24:21Another singer who had taken rock 'n' roll theatre to a deranged new level was Iggy Pop,
0:24:21 > 0:24:26who Bowie had met in New York a few months prior to recording the album.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30Iggy was a big influence and, of course, Iggy became Ziggy but no-one had gone that extra bit
0:24:30 > 0:24:35and made their performance a piece of concept art.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Part of that concept was the creation of a new image,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43so essential to the success of Ziggy Stardust.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47Bowie began by making the Spiders from Mars look like a gang.
0:24:47 > 0:24:52He took us to see Clockwork Orange and that's basically where he got a lot of his ideas for the clothes.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54We were the droogs.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58Freddie Burretti, within a week, had designed the clothes for Ziggy Stardust.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02The sort of mock boiler suits from clockwork Orange.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06I always thought they were great because they used curtain fabric from Liberty's
0:25:06 > 0:25:10and it was very inventive, those little velvet suits and those great space boots.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12They were great. I really liked them.
0:25:12 > 0:25:17He called us into his kind of lounge. He had some drawings that he'd done.
0:25:17 > 0:25:22- He said, these are the ideas for what we're going to wear. - And, er, we were kind of...
0:25:22 > 0:25:26Woody said, "I'm not fucking wearing that!" That was Woody's initial thing.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29It took him a while to convince us.
0:25:29 > 0:25:30Especially Mick.
0:25:30 > 0:25:35He said to Angie, "You won't get me wearing that, you know what I mean? I'm a musician.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39"I've got friends that are going to watch me!"
0:25:39 > 0:25:44Also to change was Bowie's long, Pre-Raphaelite hairstyle.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48I said, I think you should cut your hair off because everyone's has got long hair.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50You should do it a different style.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53That started... looking through the magazines.
0:25:53 > 0:25:54Me, Angela and David
0:25:54 > 0:25:57eventually decided on a combination of three hairstyles.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00That was the original Ziggy cut.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05The next day I dyed it bright red. For me, that was the day Ziggy was born.
0:26:05 > 0:26:12The first single from the Ziggy Stardust album was Starman, released on 28th April, 1972.
0:26:12 > 0:26:17At first it didn't sell, but two months later he appeared on Top Of The Pops.
0:26:17 > 0:26:18And that changed everything.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22# There's a Starman waiting in the sky
0:26:22 > 0:26:28# He'd like to come and meet us but he thinks he'd blow our minds
0:26:28 > 0:26:32# There's a Starman waiting in the sky
0:26:32 > 0:26:35# He told us not to blow it
0:26:35 > 0:26:38# Cos he knows it's all worthwhile
0:26:38 > 0:26:40# He told me, let the children lose it
0:26:40 > 0:26:43# Let the children use it
0:26:43 > 0:26:45# Let all the children boogie... #
0:26:45 > 0:26:48Starman was the Eureka moment in rock 'n' roll.
0:26:48 > 0:26:54This creature appears on Top of the Pops and he was so shocking, so androgynous, so otherworldly.
0:26:56 > 0:27:01It was so different. It was like, wow! No-one had ever seen anything like that before.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04# I had to phone someone so I picked on you-oo-oo... #
0:27:04 > 0:27:08Let's not forget David's magic as well.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11There's a line in it where he sings, "I had to phone someone, so I picked on you",
0:27:11 > 0:27:15and he looks straight down the barrel of the lens and I was sure he'd picked on me.
0:27:16 > 0:27:22He arrived at a time when there was a sort of vacuum in popular music.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26He had a generation of people who were too young for the '60s because they were kids
0:27:26 > 0:27:31and we were ripe for exploitation. Then suddenly there was David Bowie.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33And we all said, that's what we want.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39# There's a Starman waiting in the sky... #
0:27:39 > 0:27:42For any of the older generation who were watching, it probably hadn't escaped their notice
0:27:42 > 0:27:48that the singer in the multi-coloured jumpsuit might not be entirely heterosexual.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52Looking at it now, it looks so tame but at the time it was a real gesture.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56When he put his arm around the guitarist, it was a very sexual thing.
0:27:56 > 0:28:01The arm-draping gesture was even more sexually provocative to readers of the Melody Maker,
0:28:01 > 0:28:06because Bowie had declared he was gay in the music paper several months earlier.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09To go that extra mile and say, I'm gay, was so outrageous.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13Of course, gay men at that time weren't characters on soap operas on TV.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16They weren't outed comedians.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18It still was very subversive.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21Angela said to him, the shit's hit the fan.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24It was the kind of thing a popular singer didn't say
0:28:24 > 0:28:28whether it was true or whether it wasn't, in those days.
0:28:28 > 0:28:34Angela also said to him, look, you might at least have said, I'm bisexual.
0:28:34 > 0:28:40# People stare at the make-up on his face... #
0:28:40 > 0:28:45No-one had paid any attention when Bowie hung around the gay scene with Lindsay Kemp several years earlier.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49But after the Top Of The Pops performance had made him a household name,
0:28:49 > 0:28:53his sexual orientation became a national talking point.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Bowie probably did make homosexuality fashionable.
0:28:56 > 0:29:01It's not somebody naff saying, I'm gay and nobody cares. It's somebody who's super-hip.
0:29:01 > 0:29:06At the time, people were feeling so repressed and it was dangerous. They were getting beat up.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10So he liberated a lot of people. I thought he was doing a really good thing.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16Whether he was gay or bisexual, at this point in time Bowie was married with a son
0:29:16 > 0:29:21and so the ambiguity gained him a huge amount of press attention.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24It also seemed to make him even more attractive to women.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27David Bowie is hot!
0:29:27 > 0:29:33He's gorgeous. Yes, androgynous. Gorgeous. Physically striking.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37I just wanted to have sex with him, I didn't want him to be gay.
0:29:37 > 0:29:42Performing on Top Of The Pops gave Bowie the power to unleash Ziggy Stardust
0:29:42 > 0:29:45to 15 million people in just three minutes.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48The single was soon on its way to number ten in the charts,
0:29:48 > 0:29:53Bowie's first hit since Space Oddity, three years earlier.
0:29:53 > 0:29:54Bowie mania happened immediately.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58You'd go to school and in, I would say, in three days people had the haircut.
0:29:58 > 0:30:04When you see big, fat, hairy truckers with short, Ziggy haircuts is, it's quite a revelation!
0:30:04 > 0:30:05My goodness me!
0:30:05 > 0:30:07To go out to the shop,
0:30:07 > 0:30:11you had to go out the back garden and climb over a wall
0:30:11 > 0:30:15and sort of disguise yourself and then walk down an alleyway
0:30:15 > 0:30:18because the street was covered in kids. There was kids everywhere.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23We went out shopping and we came back with all our shopping
0:30:23 > 0:30:25and we hadn't spent a penny.
0:30:25 > 0:30:32Bowie's was even worse. There were at least 100 kids out there all the time waiting to see him.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36When the album smashed into the top five,
0:30:36 > 0:30:40Bowie knew the ghost of the one hit wonder had finally been laid to rest.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43After a decade of attempts, he'd finally cracked it.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52The success of Ziggy Stardust coincided with the emerging glam rock scene
0:30:52 > 0:30:57but Bowie was more interested in creating his own, super-hip clique.
0:30:57 > 0:31:02The first part of this plan was to donate a song to the much-loved, but struggling Mott the Hoople.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06It became an even bigger hit than Starman.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08# All the young dudes
0:31:08 > 0:31:13- # Heh! Dudes!- Carry the news
0:31:13 > 0:31:14# Where are you?
0:31:14 > 0:31:16# Stand up!
0:31:16 > 0:31:19# Carry the news... #
0:31:20 > 0:31:24You grew to hate him, Bowie. Not only was he writing all his own and....
0:31:24 > 0:31:28he's revived Mott the Hoople's career from a funeral pyre.
0:31:28 > 0:31:34Pegasus here! He wrote this great, great song that will live for ever.
0:31:34 > 0:31:40Next, he turned his attention to two of the artists who had been a huge influence on his music for Ziggy.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43The first was the Velvet Underground's Lou Reed.
0:31:43 > 0:31:47The brilliant thing about his friendship with Lou Reed
0:31:47 > 0:31:50is that Lou Reed was successful before he came along.
0:31:50 > 0:31:52I mean, the Velvet Underground -
0:31:52 > 0:31:55the most influential group of all time -
0:31:55 > 0:31:58yet, "Come here. I'll take you under my wing.
0:31:58 > 0:32:03"I'm going to turn you, Lou Reed, into a pop star in the UK." Really clever.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06# Hey, babe, take a walk on the wild side... #
0:32:06 > 0:32:09In the summer of 1972, alongside Mick Ronson,
0:32:09 > 0:32:15Bowie produced Lou Reed's Transformer album. Still Lou's most successful album to date.
0:32:15 > 0:32:20A few months later, Bowie was at the mixing desk for Iggy Pop and The Stooges' Raw Power.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27Today, it's considered as a massive inspiration for the punk rock movement.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31We'd never heard of Iggy pop, we'd never heard of Lou Reed.
0:32:31 > 0:32:36Bowie revealed those to us. They'd become part of his coterie so we wanted to listen to them.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44I can't stand the premise of going on
0:32:44 > 0:32:47in jeans and being real. It's not normal!
0:32:52 > 0:32:57The first Ziggy Stardust tour had started back in February with little commotion
0:32:57 > 0:33:00but after Top Of The Pops, the dates began to sell out.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03Bowie's chemistry with guitarist Mick Ronson
0:33:03 > 0:33:06was evolving into one of rock's great partnerships.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10If you really want to know what sound Ziggy Stardust is, apart from David Bowie's voice,
0:33:10 > 0:33:12it's Mick Ronson's guitar.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16It just felt like an animal begging to be released whenever he played.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28He was a brilliant guitar player. He wasn't one of these technically fast players,
0:33:28 > 0:33:33but he played beautiful guitar. His melody work was just so good.
0:33:33 > 0:33:39You listen to the end of Moonage Daydream and the solo on the end of that, it's simple but genius.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44For me, he was the best guitarist around in those days.
0:33:44 > 0:33:45He was the guitarist to have.
0:33:45 > 0:33:49He contributed so much. He looked great too. They made a great couple.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54You'd see those two onstage, it was exciting.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57David going down on Mick's guitar. Revelation!
0:33:57 > 0:33:59When my mother saw that paper,
0:33:59 > 0:34:04she threw it on the table and said, "Is this who you're working for?"
0:34:04 > 0:34:07I said, they're just pretending, Mum.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10For some reason, he just did things like that.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13Of course, somebody took a picture and the next thing, it's in the press
0:34:13 > 0:34:17and its supposed to be sexual and God knows what else, you know.
0:34:18 > 0:34:23The final dates of the UK tour in August were at London's Rainbow Theatre.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26Bowie would perform in front of some of the biggest names in pop
0:34:26 > 0:34:30and was keen to show he'd come a long way since Space Oddity.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33Helping change the show from a rock gig into a theatrical spectacle
0:34:33 > 0:34:35was his old dance tutor, Lindsay Kemp.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40David was fascinated by what I had to teach him,
0:34:40 > 0:34:44what I had to tell him about the Kabuki.
0:34:46 > 0:34:52Kabuki is that wonderful Japanese theatre where men played the female roles
0:34:52 > 0:34:56and, of course, they move in a very stylised way.
0:34:56 > 0:35:00Music is a very important part of the spectacle and spectacle it is.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05# Don't fake it, baby
0:35:05 > 0:35:09# Oh, lay the real thing on me... #
0:35:09 > 0:35:14It was the first time a pop star had combined rock music with exotic costumes,
0:35:14 > 0:35:18theatrical lighting, choreography and mime.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21It certainly had the desired effect.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25When he came out as Ziggy Stardust, it was like an art installation. It was like, wow!
0:35:25 > 0:35:31His stage presence is quite extraordinary. David was so glamorous and so beautiful and androgynous.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34And sexual.
0:35:34 > 0:35:40David as Ziggy commanded the stage. You just wanted to be him. You adored him.
0:35:40 > 0:35:45Quite honestly, I'd never seen anything like it in my life. It was so exciting.
0:35:47 > 0:35:52For manager Tony De Fries, breaking Ziggy in Britain was the easy part.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55Cracking America would be a whole different ball game.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58Even though he'd signed to RCA the previous year,
0:35:58 > 0:36:01the record label hadn't raised Bowie's US profile at all.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05Tony's plan was to open an office in New York
0:36:05 > 0:36:09and use RCA's money to pretend David was already huge in America.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12Just as Bowie had pretended with Ziggy.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15Some old Warhol friends were drafted in to help.
0:36:15 > 0:36:21He had two bodyguards and he dressed them bodyguards in karate costumes.
0:36:21 > 0:36:22They flanked him wherever he went.
0:36:22 > 0:36:30Everyone assumed that he was just as big as Mick Jagger and Elton John and, of course, he wasn't.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33We were having to create this myth.
0:36:33 > 0:36:38We all had 24-hour limos, first-class tickets on aeroplanes,
0:36:38 > 0:36:42everything paid for around the world. It was madness.
0:36:42 > 0:36:43Tony was good at telling them,
0:36:43 > 0:36:46I need that much money and we're going to do it like this.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49You're going to do that, that and that and... Pff!
0:36:49 > 0:36:51They were afraid of us.
0:36:51 > 0:36:56We were all in make-up. They can't tell the men from the women.
0:36:56 > 0:37:01All they wanted to do, when we were sitting in their offices making outrageous demands,
0:37:01 > 0:37:03they just wanted to get us out of their offices.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07So they would just say yes to anything.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10"The house lights are about to go down for the appearance of David Bowie."
0:37:10 > 0:37:12CHEERING
0:37:12 > 0:37:18A 28-date US tour was booked, kicking off in September. One of the stand-out gigs was at Santa Monica.
0:37:18 > 0:37:24A bootleg recording of the concert immortalised the raw power of the Spiders from Mars.
0:37:24 > 0:37:31All of a sudden, the strobe lights are going and everything was bright and just blew people's minds.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33# Hey, man, don't be unkind... #
0:37:36 > 0:37:40Everybody is on the phone saying, you've got to see this new show -
0:37:40 > 0:37:43David Bowie. He's something else.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46People couldn't believe it because it was so different.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49I remember David saying he thought the audience weren't responding very much.
0:37:49 > 0:37:54I said, "David, you've got to remember they're staring at you with their mouths open."
0:37:54 > 0:38:00"They haven't quite worked out where you're from, you know. Another planet or something!"
0:38:02 > 0:38:06The tour featured one addition to the Spiders who would be instrumental in changing
0:38:06 > 0:38:09the sound of future David Bowie records, Mike Garson.
0:38:09 > 0:38:14The keyboardist came from a completely different musical background.
0:38:14 > 0:38:18It was a big shock coming from jazz, very loose kind of playing
0:38:18 > 0:38:21but I realised they had a vibe that was very, very cool.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25I just found a way to lock into it and they were very accepting.
0:38:26 > 0:38:31While Bowie had impressed auditorium audiences near the East and West coasts,
0:38:31 > 0:38:37when the tour progressed through the more conservative states of America, the reception wasn't quite so warm.
0:38:37 > 0:38:42Nobody wants to see this guy who says he's gay and is playing these strange songs and wears make-up.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46They want to boogie. They want people in denim who look like them.
0:38:46 > 0:38:51So, he's playing arenas across America and some nights he's getting 200 or 300 people along.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57Despite some poor attendances,
0:38:57 > 0:39:01the management continued to circulate the idea that Bowie was a huge celebrity.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04But their luxury living was on borrowed money.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07By the time we got to Hollywood, they've put us in the Chateaux Marmont,
0:39:07 > 0:39:12which you don't get any better than Chateaux Marmont really in Hollywood.
0:39:12 > 0:39:17But, no. I'm on the phone and said, this won't do - we have to stay in the Beverly Hills Hotel.
0:39:17 > 0:39:21Room service, for one room, was about 12,000
0:39:21 > 0:39:24or was it more than that? I don't know.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26Perhaps that was just me!
0:39:26 > 0:39:31Everything we wanted we just signed for. I think we spent something like 40,000 or something like that.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35I don't know what we spent it on! But it went!
0:39:35 > 0:39:38And we stayed there for six weeks.
0:39:38 > 0:39:42Not only the whole band, but all the roadies,
0:39:42 > 0:39:46all the...everybody. Iggy was there.
0:39:46 > 0:39:53All on RCA's money and, by this time, RCA was so far in debt that they couldn't get out of it.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56It sounds really, you know, hippy dippy
0:39:56 > 0:39:58but it just worked beautifully it really did.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05This fantasy lifestyle gave the Spiders the impression
0:40:05 > 0:40:07they were going to be very rich.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10A chance conversation between drummer Woody
0:40:10 > 0:40:13and new boy Mike Garson put an end to that theory.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15I was sitting on an airplane with him
0:40:15 > 0:40:17and I was reading a magazine.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20And there was a Lamborghini in it and I went, "Oh, that's nice."
0:40:20 > 0:40:23And he went, "Why don't you buy one?"
0:40:23 > 0:40:25And I went, "Yeah, I wish."
0:40:25 > 0:40:27And he went, "Well, you must be able to afford one."
0:40:27 > 0:40:29And I went, "Well, actually no."
0:40:29 > 0:40:32I was getting a salary and it seemed fair,
0:40:32 > 0:40:35and I just assume that the other guys were getting more
0:40:35 > 0:40:38cos they were there several years.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40I went, "What do you think I get?" You know.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43And he went, "Well, I know what I get."
0:40:43 > 0:40:44And I went, "What do you get?"
0:40:44 > 0:40:48He told me and it was like three times what I got.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51We went to Bowie and said, "Look, you know,
0:40:51 > 0:40:56"unless things change and you give us some money, we're going home."
0:40:56 > 0:41:01Kind of the final straw was really De Fries saying to us,
0:41:01 > 0:41:05"I would rather pay the road crew more than you."
0:41:05 > 0:41:08Right? And I just went, "There's no game here."
0:41:08 > 0:41:12The Spiders eventually renegotiated their contracts,
0:41:12 > 0:41:15but the whole saga tainted their relationship with Bowie.
0:41:15 > 0:41:17As the tour continued around America,
0:41:17 > 0:41:21the news coming out of Britain was that glam rock had exploded.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24# Oh, yeah, yeah! #
0:41:24 > 0:41:27The previous year, Marc Bolan was the leader of the scene,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30having chalked up four number one singles.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32By 1973, the balance of power was shifting.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35# ..Metal Guru is it you? #
0:41:35 > 0:41:38Bolan opened the door for the whole glam rock thing
0:41:38 > 0:41:40and Bowie just took it completely somewhere else
0:41:40 > 0:41:43and turned it into kind of like an art form.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46And Roxy Music, of course, were part of that as well.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50They, again, were very original, with a sci-fi and '50s glam mix.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54I think the whole three of those together were the real kind of core
0:41:54 > 0:41:56of what glam rock was about.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59Everything else was just something that came in on the bandwagon.
0:41:59 > 0:42:03# We just haven't got a clue what to do. #
0:42:03 > 0:42:06When you saw bands like The Sweet, who kind of had that great '70s,
0:42:06 > 0:42:10lorry drivers, dressed in drag, kind of feeling.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12# See my baby jive... #
0:42:12 > 0:42:16There was a couple of quite good records, as pure records.
0:42:16 > 0:42:18But they were not that interesting.
0:42:18 > 0:42:22My brain was full up with Baudelaire, Byron and Shelley
0:42:22 > 0:42:27and all these, you know, lunatic poets, artists.
0:42:27 > 0:42:31And, you know, I couldn't see any link there. Whereas with David,
0:42:31 > 0:42:34you could see a clear link in the sophistication of what they were doing.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41In January 1973, Bowie returned to Britain
0:42:41 > 0:42:43as glam rock's leading light,
0:42:43 > 0:42:46performing a brand-new song on Top Of The Pops.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50# Jean Genie lives on his back
0:42:50 > 0:42:54# Jean Genie loves chimney stacks
0:42:54 > 0:42:58# He's outrageous He screams and he bawls
0:42:58 > 0:43:03# Jean Genie, let yourself go. #
0:43:04 > 0:43:08Something about that rock attitude
0:43:08 > 0:43:10and that blurring of sexuality
0:43:10 > 0:43:13is very, very alluring to young people,
0:43:13 > 0:43:18especially teenagers with the confusion of growing up.
0:43:18 > 0:43:23I think there was a very sort of urban, working-class, male-dominated
0:43:23 > 0:43:28love of the Ziggy look, because who was going to argue
0:43:28 > 0:43:31with a bloke who looked like that who was pretty tough?
0:43:31 > 0:43:35You were taking your life in your hands to wear mascara to school
0:43:35 > 0:43:37in Liverpool in 1973.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40Or dyeing your hair bright red,
0:43:40 > 0:43:42you know. My parents were horrified.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45HE LAUGHS
0:43:45 > 0:43:50You know, "What have I done to deserve this walking freak show for a son?" You know?
0:43:53 > 0:43:57Aladdin was more in the area of Ziggy Goes To America.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00Here was this alternative world that I had been talking about,
0:44:00 > 0:44:03and it had all the violence and all the strangeness
0:44:03 > 0:44:07and it was really happening. It wasn't just in my songs.
0:44:08 > 0:44:13# Let me put my arms around your head
0:44:13 > 0:44:17# Gee, it's hot, let's go to bed Don't forget... #
0:44:17 > 0:44:19Ziggy And The Spiders' next TV appearance was
0:44:19 > 0:44:22on The Russell Harty Show, performing another new track.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26Drive-in Saturday was taken from Bowie's next album,
0:44:26 > 0:44:27Aladdin Sane,
0:44:27 > 0:44:31which had been almost entirely written and recorded in the USA.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34It's the perfect example of how Bowie's American experience
0:44:34 > 0:44:37influenced his songwriting.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39You could feel him absorbing it.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42Many times I was in the limo with him, and he'd be working
0:44:42 > 0:44:48on the music, working on the lyrics, listening to great American music.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51But I never expected the album to come out so soon.
0:44:51 > 0:44:53And it just shows his prolificness.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56I think that is the genius of David, he could write and play
0:44:56 > 0:44:58and travel all at the same time.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02It did feel still like Ziggy, but it was a much more exotic album.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06I always think of Aladdin Sane as Ziggy Stardust on tour,
0:45:06 > 0:45:09and these are my postcards home.
0:45:09 > 0:45:11This is what I've seen when out there -
0:45:11 > 0:45:14the madness, the wild excesses of America.
0:45:14 > 0:45:19He can see the glamour, but he can see the horror underneath as well.
0:45:19 > 0:45:24# He laughed at accidental sirens That broke the evening gloom
0:45:24 > 0:45:26# The police had warned of repercussions
0:45:26 > 0:45:29# They followed none too soon. #
0:45:29 > 0:45:31Bowie took ideas from everywhere,
0:45:31 > 0:45:34something he's done throughout his career.
0:45:34 > 0:45:36He called me in to listen to some songs.
0:45:36 > 0:45:40I said, "That's a Jayne County lyric."
0:45:40 > 0:45:43And he said, "Oh, yes, isn't it nice?
0:45:43 > 0:45:47And I said, "David, you know, it's not yours, it's Jayne's."
0:45:47 > 0:45:53And he said, "Well, no, everything I get is from someone else.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56"What I do is I know which things to steal."
0:45:56 > 0:45:59He is an incredible magpie,
0:45:59 > 0:46:02and a lot of people think that's a huge negative,
0:46:02 > 0:46:04because he cherry-picks.
0:46:04 > 0:46:09He cherry-picks ideas, people, clothes, everything.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12But I think it is extraordinarily clever.
0:46:15 > 0:46:20Bowie had seen something he could cherry-pick from Mike Garson.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23The session musician had been brought in to play keyboards
0:46:23 > 0:46:27on the first American tour, and Bowie thought his jazz background
0:46:27 > 0:46:29would be perfect for Aladdin Sane.
0:46:29 > 0:46:34For me, Mike Garson's piano was what lifted that above anything
0:46:34 > 0:46:38anyone else was doing at that time, made it exotic, made it decadent.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41Musicians like Garson were playing jazz stuff
0:46:41 > 0:46:43that isn't written on the chord sheet for the song.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46Garson's playing is eccentric
0:46:46 > 0:46:49and wild and beautiful at the same time.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52They showed me songs like, for example, Time.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55You know, David was looking for something that
0:46:55 > 0:47:00was from the 1920s, but twisted, like he does with his songs.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02So I go...
0:47:13 > 0:47:16You know, something like that. Or Lady Grinning Soul.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19He wanted this more romantic thing, so...
0:47:27 > 0:47:30By February 1973, Aladdin Sane was completed,
0:47:30 > 0:47:34and Bowie was straight back into another American tour.
0:47:34 > 0:47:35In the space of just 18 months,
0:47:35 > 0:47:38he'd released three of his greatest albums,
0:47:38 > 0:47:41played two extensive tours and was about to embark
0:47:41 > 0:47:45on a new live schedule that involved nearly 100 gigs.
0:47:45 > 0:47:50# She'll come, she'll go
0:47:50 > 0:47:53# She'll lay belief on you. #
0:47:53 > 0:47:56It was exhausting, cos we were doing two shows a night,
0:47:56 > 0:48:00and he constantly did...David had to do all the interviews,
0:48:00 > 0:48:02had to do all the press, had to do everything else,
0:48:02 > 0:48:04and then go out and perform and do that. That must've been
0:48:04 > 0:48:06really hard for him.
0:48:06 > 0:48:08I don't think he was healthy by the end of that tour, you know.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12His entourage were getting very concerned about his physical health,
0:48:12 > 0:48:15because he wasn't eating properly, he wasn't sleeping.
0:48:15 > 0:48:16Bowie said of that period,
0:48:16 > 0:48:19he couldn't stand the noise of the band ringing in his ears,
0:48:19 > 0:48:21whether he was on stage or not.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25I wasn't getting rid of him at all, in fact,
0:48:25 > 0:48:26I was joining forces with him.
0:48:26 > 0:48:29The doppelganger and myself were starting to become one
0:48:29 > 0:48:30and the same person.
0:48:30 > 0:48:34And then you start on this trial of chaotic
0:48:34 > 0:48:36psychological distraction, you know,
0:48:36 > 0:48:40and you become what's called a drug casualty at the end of it all.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44# ..star. #
0:48:45 > 0:48:48When it really hit big and people wanted interviews,
0:48:48 > 0:48:50they didn't want to talk to David Bowie,
0:48:50 > 0:48:53they wanted to talk to Ziggy Stardust,
0:48:53 > 0:48:54and you could see the struggle.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58Bowie was giving interviews saying, "I seem to have created this monster
0:48:58 > 0:49:01"and it is taking me over, and I don't really know who I am any more."
0:49:01 > 0:49:03It was always Ziggy.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07Even when you're in the car, you kind of had Ziggy with you.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14After two months in America, the tour moved to Japan.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17There was already a big buzz surrounding Ziggy's arrival
0:49:17 > 0:49:19because of his use of Kabuki make-up and clothes.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23Bowie also wore outfits created by the country's leading fashion
0:49:23 > 0:49:26designer, Kansai Yamamoto.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29When the tour came to Tokyo, Kansai presented Bowie
0:49:29 > 0:49:32with a whole load of specially designed Ziggy regalia.
0:49:32 > 0:49:38In the BBC documentary Cracked Actor, filmed a year later in 1974,
0:49:38 > 0:49:40Bowie explained their significance.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43Aladdin Sane was a schizophrenic,
0:49:43 > 0:49:44that has accounted for lots of the...
0:49:44 > 0:49:47why there are so many costume changes,
0:49:47 > 0:49:50because he had so many personalities that, as far as I was concerned,
0:49:50 > 0:49:53each costume change was a different facet of his personality.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56# Oh, yeah! #
0:49:56 > 0:49:58Released in April 1973,
0:49:58 > 0:50:01Aladdin Sane went straight to the top of the UK charts.
0:50:01 > 0:50:04It was Bowie's first number one record
0:50:04 > 0:50:07and it wasn't long before all his previous albums charted too.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10The next month, the momentous tour
0:50:10 > 0:50:13rolled into Britain for its final stretch.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16I had said all I could say about Ziggy and I thought, "Well,
0:50:16 > 0:50:19"I am very tempted to go further with this Ziggy thing only because it's
0:50:19 > 0:50:22"so popular, but actually it's not what I really want to do."
0:50:22 > 0:50:24I mean, I've created this bloody thing,
0:50:24 > 0:50:26how to do I sort of get out of it?
0:50:28 > 0:50:33The extensive UK tour drew in hordes of teenage Ziggys,
0:50:33 > 0:50:35many desperate to see their idol in the flesh.
0:50:35 > 0:50:4060 performances in 53 days - and every ticket sold.
0:50:40 > 0:50:42# So, come on So, come on
0:50:42 > 0:50:46# You've really got a good thing going
0:50:46 > 0:50:48# Well, come on Well, come on
0:50:48 > 0:50:50# If you think you're going to make it
0:50:50 > 0:50:52# You better hang on to yourself! #
0:50:54 > 0:50:58The audiences were screaming, people jumping off the rafters.
0:50:58 > 0:51:03You saw people getting knocked down coming on stage by the bodyguards.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07The level of enthusiasm and the joy of the audience was
0:51:07 > 0:51:11more honest and deeper than the US.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14# Watch that man
0:51:14 > 0:51:16# Oh, honey, watch that man. #
0:51:18 > 0:51:21Being there in the front, I just remember being lost
0:51:21 > 0:51:24in the whole kind of emotion of the whole thing, you know.
0:51:24 > 0:51:29It was incredibly powerful, and I'd never seen a band like that before.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32You really wanted to be a part of it, and it was part of belonging
0:51:32 > 0:51:36to something, as well as being part of a culture, part of a gang.
0:51:37 > 0:51:41I used to run David up, get him in the car, get the band in the car.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48Within a couple of months, it was a mob scene. It was the same...
0:51:48 > 0:51:49It was like The Beatles!
0:51:49 > 0:51:52You know, there we were, and people were climbing on the car.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57It wasn't just the fans that were struggling to catch a glimpse
0:51:57 > 0:51:59of Britain's biggest star.
0:51:59 > 0:52:01In fact, the last tour we ever did with him,
0:52:01 > 0:52:02we'd only see him on stage.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05We'd walk on stage, we'd play the show,
0:52:05 > 0:52:06he'd get in his limousine and clear off.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09And we'd all go back to the hotel
0:52:09 > 0:52:12and we would see him the next day on the stage again.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15We thought it was odd. We had started out as a band.
0:52:15 > 0:52:17Really, that's what he wanted was a band.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20And then the bigger and bigger it got, the less we saw of him.
0:52:22 > 0:52:26The tour was set for a triumphant end at the Hammersmith Odeon.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30The whole event was filmed by documentary maker DA Pennebaker,
0:52:30 > 0:52:33who had been commissioned by Bowie's record label to capture
0:52:33 > 0:52:35history in the making.
0:52:35 > 0:52:36The BBC was there too,
0:52:36 > 0:52:39filming for the Nationwide current affairs programme.
0:52:39 > 0:52:43What's it like with all these girls loving your husband so much?
0:52:43 > 0:52:47Absolutely fabulous. Wouldn't you love to be loved by so many?
0:52:47 > 0:52:51Nearly a decade after he had started on his quest for fame,
0:52:51 > 0:52:54David Bowie was the most famous pop star in Britain.
0:52:54 > 0:52:57Amongst the excited Ziggy clones queuing outside, celebrities
0:52:57 > 0:53:02arrived to catch the conquering hero at his homecoming gig.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05Can I ask you why you've come to see David Bowie?
0:53:05 > 0:53:07He's a fine performer, isn't he?
0:53:07 > 0:53:12As usual, he went through his extravagant pre-show preparations.
0:53:12 > 0:53:16Everything was set for an electric performance.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18And Bowie delivered with cool composure.
0:53:19 > 0:53:23# Making love with his ego
0:53:25 > 0:53:29# Ziggy sucked up into his mind
0:53:30 > 0:53:34# Like a leper messiah
0:53:34 > 0:53:37# When the kids had killed the man
0:53:37 > 0:53:40# I had to break up the band. #
0:53:42 > 0:53:45Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars were playing
0:53:45 > 0:53:46the concert of their lives.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50Both the band and the audience were high on the energy
0:53:50 > 0:53:51buzzing around the venue.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53Backstage was buzzing too,
0:53:53 > 0:53:58with the rumour of a special announcement.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01Just before we went on stage, David came round to me
0:54:01 > 0:54:02and he said,
0:54:02 > 0:54:06"Don't start Rock 'n' Roll Suicide until I give you the note."
0:54:06 > 0:54:09It was decided in Japan. Mick was sworn to secrecy.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12"And if you do this for us, you're going to be the next star,
0:54:12 > 0:54:15"you're going to be doing this next thing, but you can't tell the boys."
0:54:15 > 0:54:19Just before the final song, David Bowie approached the microphone
0:54:19 > 0:54:23and, with a few words, broke the hearts of millions.
0:54:23 > 0:54:25Of all the shows on this tour, this...
0:54:25 > 0:54:29this particular show will remain with us for the longest
0:54:29 > 0:54:32because not only is it the last show of the tour,
0:54:32 > 0:54:35but it's the last show that we'll ever do.
0:54:35 > 0:54:37Thank you.
0:54:39 > 0:54:42We all went, "What the fuck's he on about?"
0:54:42 > 0:54:44Um, quite shocked.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47I kept looking at Woody, and Woody was playing away going,
0:54:47 > 0:54:50"I don't know what's going on," you know.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54It didn't quite connect with what we'd been talking about
0:54:54 > 0:54:55three days earlier.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58So we didn't know whether that was true or not.
0:54:58 > 0:55:01Everybody knew except for Woody and Trevor. I knew.
0:55:01 > 0:55:06The sound guy knew. I think that was horrific to have done that to them.
0:55:07 > 0:55:09It was not a big deal to me, but to the other guys, they thought,
0:55:09 > 0:55:13it certainly could've gone on for another five or ten years,
0:55:13 > 0:55:15but David was done with it.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19And any artist at any time is entitled to be done with something.
0:55:19 > 0:55:23Those people who are lead singers and stand alone, they have to.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25They have to change. They can't do the same show every time.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27So, in other words, could be calculated,
0:55:27 > 0:55:29but it's a brilliant calculation,
0:55:29 > 0:55:32because not many people would have the wit or the knowledge
0:55:32 > 0:55:34or the intelligence to do that.
0:55:35 > 0:55:38Nearly a year to the day after he appeared on Top Of The Pops
0:55:38 > 0:55:41for the first time, Ziggy Stardust was over.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44Just as Bowie had prophesised on Rock 'n' Roll Suicide -
0:55:44 > 0:55:47the final song on the Ziggy album -
0:55:47 > 0:55:50art had become life and life had imitated art.
0:55:50 > 0:55:54Thank you very much. Bye-bye, we love you.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02I said I'm going back to big, heavy melodrama,
0:56:02 > 0:56:05and you don't fit into my scheme of things.
0:56:05 > 0:56:06And... But I finished it.
0:56:06 > 0:56:10A cruel and cutting blow, but it had to be done.
0:56:10 > 0:56:12Sometimes you've got to be cruel to be kind.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19Less than a week after Ziggy's dramatic retirement,
0:56:19 > 0:56:22Bowie was in France recording a new album, Pinups.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25But it was more of a stock album - no original songs,
0:56:25 > 0:56:27just a collection of covers.
0:56:27 > 0:56:30Drummer Woody wasn't even invited to the studio sessions.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33Soon Bowie had dropped the Spiders completely.
0:56:33 > 0:56:36# Where have all the good times gone? #
0:56:36 > 0:56:38The safe thing to do would have been to keep being Ziggy
0:56:38 > 0:56:39for the rest of his career,
0:56:39 > 0:56:42but he had the courage that very, very few pop stars
0:56:42 > 0:56:46have ever had to take the thing which is most loved and say,
0:56:46 > 0:56:47"I'm not doing that any more."
0:56:47 > 0:56:51The rest of the decade saw Bowie in a creative frenzy,
0:56:51 > 0:56:55producing seven ground-breaking albums in just as many years.
0:56:55 > 0:56:59He was to the '70s what The Beatles were to the '60s.
0:56:59 > 0:57:02Despite devising more characters over those years,
0:57:02 > 0:57:05Bowie struggled to exorcise the ghost of Ziggy Stardust.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08In the immediate aftermath of the alien's demise,
0:57:08 > 0:57:10Bowie sank into a dangerous drug addiction,
0:57:10 > 0:57:13battling to leave the past behind.
0:57:13 > 0:57:17I had a kind of strange, psychosomatic death wish thing,
0:57:17 > 0:57:18I think.
0:57:19 > 0:57:24But that's because I was so lost in Ziggy, I think. Again.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26It was all that schizophrenia.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30And he really grew sort of out of proportion, I suppose.
0:57:32 > 0:57:34Got much bigger than I thought Ziggy was going to be.
0:57:34 > 0:57:37I didn't ever see Ziggy as big.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40Ziggy just overshadowed everything.
0:57:41 > 0:57:46David Bowie's incredible career spans over 40 years, but, for many,
0:57:46 > 0:57:49it's Ziggy Stardust for which he'll be best remembered.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51It's so iconic.
0:57:51 > 0:57:55You can track pop culture from that very point,
0:57:55 > 0:57:57and it all leads back to Ziggy Stardust.
0:57:57 > 0:57:59We wanted to know what he was wearing,
0:57:59 > 0:58:01what he was singing about, what his videos were like.
0:58:01 > 0:58:05Because he was the leader of the artistic side of rock 'n' roll.
0:58:05 > 0:58:09You look at punk, and, basically, they are more monochromatic,
0:58:09 > 0:58:12more aggressive versions of the Ziggy construct.
0:58:12 > 0:58:15'80s music wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for Bowie.
0:58:15 > 0:58:20When it came to be our turn in 1979, dressing up was where it started.
0:58:20 > 0:58:22Make-up was where we started.
0:58:22 > 0:58:25Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, in a way,
0:58:25 > 0:58:29where the blueprint for Frankie Goes To Hollywood in a kind of...
0:58:29 > 0:58:33lock up your daughters and your sons sense.
0:58:33 > 0:58:38Anyone who challenges the norms of today are doing a Ziggy,
0:58:38 > 0:58:39in a sense.
0:58:39 > 0:58:44You know, it went through to the '90s with Suede and Pulp.
0:58:44 > 0:58:47His tentacles reach out and are still being taken on board today.
0:58:47 > 0:58:50I mean, if you look at someone like Lady Gaga, her whole act,
0:58:50 > 0:58:53it's Bowie, it's Ziggy Stardust. OK, she's put a 21st-century slant
0:58:53 > 0:58:55on it, but she's not really doing anything
0:58:55 > 0:58:57that Bowie didn't do 40 years ago.
0:59:01 > 0:59:02I am very happy with Ziggy.
0:59:02 > 0:59:04I think he was a very successful character
0:59:04 > 0:59:06and I think I played him very well.
0:59:06 > 0:59:09But I am glad I'm me now.
0:59:09 > 0:59:11# Wham, bam, thank you, ma'am! #
0:59:22 > 0:59:24Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd