Production
The Ziggy Stardust sessions began just a few weeks after Hunky Dory was released. The first song recorded at Trident Studios for the album, the cover "It Ain't Easy", was recorded in September 1971. The first session in November produced "Hang on to Yourself", "Ziggy Stardust", "Rock 'n' Roll Star" (later shortened to "Star"), "Moonage Daydream", "Soul Love", "Lady Stardust", and "Five Years".
Also recorded during the November Ziggy Sessions were two more cover songs intended for the as-yet untitled album. They were Chuck Berry's "Around and Around" (re-titled "Round and Round") and Jacques Brel's "Amsterdam" (re-titled "Port of Amsterdam"). A re-recording of "Holy Holy" (first recorded in 1970 and released as a single, to poor sales, in January 1971) was initially slated for Ziggy, but was dropped in favour of "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide". "Round and Round" was replaced by "Starman" and "It Ain't Easy" replaced "Amsterdam" on the album's final running order. All three were eventually released as b-sides.
"Velvet Goldmine", first recorded during the Hunky Dory sessions, was also intended for Ziggy, but was replaced by "Suffragette City". RCA released it in 1975 as the B-side to the UK re-release of "Space Oddity" after having it remixed and mastered without Bowie's approval.
After recording some of the new songs for Sounds of the 70s with Bob Harris (which appear on Bowie at the Beeb) as the newly-dubbed Spiders from Mars in January – February 1972, the band returned to Trident. They recorded "Starman", "Suffragette City" and "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" by the end of the month.
"Starman", released as a single in April (and not intended for the final album at first), has never appeared in its original "loud" mix on CD. It differs somewhat in that it "features a subdued 'morse code' section between the verse and the chorus" compared to the original released in 1972. "Suffragette City", the b-side to "Starman", was mastered for the album with a three-note coda leading in from "Ziggy Stardust" to make the songs sound linked. They were never played as such by Bowie in concert.
Recorded and released during the ensuing Ziggy tour were two other songs. The first, "John, I'm Only Dancing", was recorded at Trident in late June and released (in the UK only) in September. "The Jean Genie", recorded at RCA Studios in New York in early October at the start of the American tour, was released in the US in November. The song was remixed for Aladdin Sane.
Rock keyboardist Rick Wakeman was given the opportunity to play keyboards on the album but opted to join the progressive rock group Yes instead.
Read more about this topic: Star (David Bowie Song)
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