FEATURE:
Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide
IMAGE CREDIT: davidbowie.com
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars' Farewell Gig at Fifty
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ON 3rd July, 1973…
PHOTO CREDIT: Masayoshi Sukita
one of the most iconic and important gigs ever took place. That was the day that David Bowie retired Ziggy Stardust - his most celebrated alter-ego - in front of 5,000 fans on stage at London's Hammersmith Odeon. I shall come to a special screening that marks fifty years of that landmark and unforgettable night. Among the audience, it is said, was a then-fourteen-year-old Kate Bush. I think it is a big reason why she played tour dates at the then-Hammersmith Odeon in 1979. A big reason why, in 2014, that is where she held her sold-out Before the Dawn residency (though, by this point, the venue was renamed to the Eventim Apollo). On Caroline Street, W6, David Bowie brought this iconic alter ego to the stage back in July 1973. Could those who were in attendance that night have imagined that this was a farewell gig for Ziggy Stardust and his Spiders from Mars – the last time this persona would be seen on the stage. There was a fear that this would be David Bowie’s final gig. As we know, he would perform for decades more. But you can see why there was some truth to that particular rumour. Perhaps burned-out or unsure where he would go next, many in that audience on 3rd July, 1973 were fearful that this genius would not return to the stage. Earlier in 1973, on 19th April in fact, Bowie released his sixth studio album, Aladdin Sane. There was something about Ziggy Stardust in the cover for that album. I think Bowie was looking at other inspirations and thinking of other directions. To appease the record label, he released Pin Ups later in 1973. A stop-gap album, it was covers of songs from artists who inspired him as a teen. In 1974, the shift and new Diamond Dogs album showed that Bowie truly shed the skin of Ziggy Stardust! Bowie would not abandon personas after the stage death of Ziggy Stardust – that it remains his most loved, famous and iconic creation.
The reason I am revisiting this gig is because there is an album release of that final night. There will be a global premiere screening in Hammersmith of the final Ziggy gig fifty years to the date. I shall come to that soon. Let’s take you inside a gig that, by all accounts, contained more than its share of excess and eventfulness! The Evening Standard, in 2019, told the story of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’ final gig on 3rd July, 1973:
“Everybody, this has been one of the greatest tours of our life,” said David Bowie, standing on stage at the Hammersmith Odeon, clad in a sheer mesh top and glittery trousers, panting like a man on the brink.
“I’d like to thank the band, I’d like to thank our road crew and I’d like to thank our lighting people,” he added, prompting a roar of appreciation from the 3,500-strong crowd.
“Of all the shows on this tour, this particular show will remain with us the longest,” he said, to an even louder cheer. “Because not only is it the last show of the tour, but it’s the last show that we’ll ever do. Thank you.”
With the frenzied screams that followed, you would have thought Bowie had disembowelled himself right there on stage. Even as the gentle piano of the next song began to ring out, yelps of disbelief pierced the music.
PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
It was July 3 1973 and, with all that had just happened, it really seemed as if that night would be the last time Bowie ever performed live. As it happened, it was just the final outing of his Ziggy Stardust persona — something which, with the worldwide fame Bowie had achieved as this unearthly, androgynous being, seemed just as implausible.
It was Ziggy Stardust that had transformed Bowie from cult figure to global pin-up, dressed in eye-popping costumes and exuding a charisma that really did seem to be from another planet. His unprecedented success in this guise meant that by the time he got to the Odeon, he had been touring almost solidly for well over a year. Stardust the legend was at its zenith, but Bowie the man was at breaking point. He needed change and, without barely telling a soul – not even some of his bandmates – he decided to bring things to an abrupt end in west London.
Even before this announcement, the crowd was in a state of hysteria. It was a spellbinding show, caught in all its glory by a film crew and later released as a live album in 1983. Bowie and his rambunctious band stormed through an 18-song setlist, joined by virtuoso guitarist Jeff Beck wailing over covers of the Beatles (Love Me Do coming off the back of a thundering Jean Genie) and Chuck Berry (Round and Round, which was eventually cut from the live album).
PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
Seemingly, it had an irresistible effect on those in the crowd. Audience members were seen taking their off clothes en masse, while some engaged in rather more explicit acts: according to eye-witness accounts, it descended to the point of orgy. As one attendee later recalled: "I thought it was so extraordinary, because nobody had any inhibitions... a lot of fluid was flying about."
It seems like the stuff of rock music folklore, but was backed up by Mike Garson, Bowie's pianist, who later said: "I heard all those stories about what was going on in the audience and I tend to believe them. I remember seeing crazy stuff.”
Whatever really happened in the stalls of the Odeon that night, any promiscuity soon gave way to grief. Malcolm Green, who was at the gig that night, told the Guardian that once the gig was over, "people were crying outside, distraught.”
The song that closed the gig in Hammersmith, the one that came immediately after his declaration, was Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide — seemingly tailor-made for Ziggy’s grand departure. In the footage from the gig, Bowie struts and staggers around the stage, clasping outstretched hands from the crowd as if he was a preacher. Once the music stops, a rabid fan runs onto the stage, lunges at Bowie and is only allowed one glorious second of contact before the security guard yanks him away. “Thank you very much,” Bowie then says, addressing the crowd. “Bye bye, we love you”.
Prior to coming to the anniversary releases, there is another feature that I want to source from. Tom Doyle, writing for MOJO earlier this year, looked at the excess and memorable night that thousands witnesses that final Spiders from Mars show. Alongside the electricity and emotions running through the Hammersmith Apollo, there was the wild and unforgettable backstage revelry. What was the real reason behind the retirement of Ziggy Stardust? Many say it was a musical decision, or David Bowie growing tired of touring. A long-time friend and collaborator of Bowie’s, Geoff MacCormack (a.k.a Warren Peace), revealed some truths:
“In 1973, David Bowie’s glam rock alter ego Ziggy Stardust had finally catapulted him to the fame he had craved for so long. However, success and a spiralling drug habit were beginning to reveal the madness behind Bowie’s beguiling new mask. In this extract from MOJO’s exclusive David Bowie cover story, band members and friends recall Bowie’s decision to kill off his famous creation and the night of the final Spiders From Mars show…
Aladdin Sane was released on April 20, 1973, and went straight to UK Number 1 on its 100,000 pre-sales alone – an advance orders tally not seen since Abbey Road. But, from manager Tony Defries’s perspective, it was in this first half of 1973 that Bowie first began to feel uneasy with stardom.
“Basically, I think success wasn’t the ideal situation for David,” he says now. “When Aladdin Sane was selling enormous quantities and crowds were shutting down railway stations, just to get a glance of him, I think that’s when it all began to sink in, that he was no longer an ordinary person. The Ziggy effect was taking hold and he couldn’t cope with it, really.”
Geoff MacCormack, who had joined the Ziggy tour as backing vocalist/percussionist and become Bowie’s closest friend and travelling companion, disagrees.
IN THIS PHOTO: Songwriter and producer Geoff MacCormack met Bowie as a primary school companion, but their shared love for music made them a lifelong inseparable pair. In this excerpt from his recent photographic memoir, David Bowie: Rock ‘n’ Roll with Me, published by ACC Art Books, MacCormack revisits the particular period in the late-’60s, when Bowie’s march to fame began/PHOTO CREDIT: Geoff MacCormack/Interview Magazine
“I think he was ready for fame,” he says. “I don’t think it fazed him that much. He very cleverly kind of ducked away from it. He kept himself at arm’s length, and he slowed his pace down. Y’know, not travelling by plane and travelling very sedately by boat and whatever.”
When the nine-date Japanese leg of the tour finished in Tokyo at the end of April, the increasingly aviophobic Bowie elected to travel back to Europe with MacCormack, first via ship (the Felix Dzerzhinsky, sailing from Yokohama to Nadhodka) and then train: the Trans-Siberian Express to Moscow, and onwards to Paris. “I think that downtime gave him time to draw breath and take his mind off what was happening,” MacCormack says.
En route, on the Trans-Siberian Express, Bowie picked up his acoustic guitar and gave an impromptu performance in his and MacCormack’s twin cabin for a handful of their fellow travellers. “Maybe seven people, but that’s a lot in this small room,” MacCormack remembers. “There’s David with his guitar doing the smallest concert in the world.”
We were like, What the hell just happened?
PHOTO CREDIT: Masayoshi Sukita
Back in the UK, and in secret, Defries and Bowie began to formulate a retirement plan for Ziggy. The former now says that the inspiration for the scheme came from Frank Sinatra’s 1971 announcement of his retirement. By 1973, anticipation was building for his dramatic comeback with Ol’ Blue Eyes Is Back.
“David was a big Sinatra fan,” says Defries. “Making the comeback is the key thing. We tried and failed to get promoters in America to book David into large arenas as a headliner. So, that was a real reason for retiring Ziggy, to be honest with you… nothing to do with music or style or anything else.”
“A lot of it was based around finance,” MacCormack says. “How much the management could get out of the record companies to pay for even bigger and better plans. But the whole thing about managing David in David’s situation… he was kind of a moving target. This was the plan this day, then this was the plan the other day.”
MacCormack was one of the few people close to Bowie who knew that he planned to announce Ziggy and The Spiders’ retirement at the last Hammersmith Odeon show in London on July 3. “Because I hung with David, I would have been in earshot of meetings. I wasn’t a paid musician as such. So, it wasn’t, ‘Oh where’s my next gig?’ It was more, ‘Well, this is fun, for as long as it lasts.’”
“Mick [Ronson] knew that we were doing our last Ziggy,” Defries says, “whereas Woody and Trevor didn’t. I didn’t want too many people to know. Where’s the publicity value if you tell too many people? So, tell as few people as possible”.
Before coming to a theatrical release of that final Ziggy Stardust gig, there is an accompanying album/DVD release. A special anniversary edition is available on 11th August. Here are some further details about an album that every David Bowie fan will want to add to their collection! A night where this innovator and incredible artist shed his skin. The death of an alter ego that opened up a new phase in his career. It will be magnificent and hugely evocative hearing that final gig in all of its glory (there is also a Blu-ray release of the gig):
“The ‘Motion Picture Soundtrack’ to David Bowie’s last gig as Ziggy Stardust will be reissued for the 50th anniversary in July.
Bowie retired his alter-ego on 3 July 1973, at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, and the show was filmed by D.A. Pennebaker who captured the evening’s events, including Bowie’s famous speech just before the final encore, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide’, where he revealed that he was retiring the Ziggy Stardust persona. The announcement shocked and surprised everyone, including members of his own band!
The film and the audio recording were mothballed for a decade as Bowie was keen to leave Ziggy behind, but once he left RCA for EMI in 1982 the label (RCA) were free to release it without worrying about was David did or didn’t want to do, and that’s exactly what happened in 1983. Suspecting this would happen, Tony Visconti and Bowie mixed the audio in 1981 so they at least had some input on how it would sound when released.
David Bowie / Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture 50th anniversary 2CD+blu-ray edition for 2023.
It took almost another decade for this live album to be released on CD, when Rykodisc issued it towards the end of their Sound + Vision reissue campaign of the early Nineties. Unlike most of Ryko’s other Bowie reissues, there were no bonus tracks.
Ten years after that EMI released what was then a 30th anniversary 2CD set, with audio newly mixed by Visconti. The concert film was also issued on DVD with a 5.1 surround sound mix.
For this new 50th anniversary reissue, the soundtrack has been newly remastered and finally includes the medley of ‘The Jean Genie/Love Me Do’ and ‘Round And Round’ featuring Jeff Beck. These additions have been newly mixed by Tony Visconti. The film has also been digitally restored by D.A.’s son, Frazer Pennebaker and will be issued on blu-ray and will be shown at over 1000 cinemas worldwide during July 2023.
2LP pressed on gold-coloured vinyl (click image to enlarge)
In terms of formats, a 2CD+blu-ray edition brings together film and audio, while a 2LP set is pressed on gold-coloured vinyl. There’s a 2CD set (without the blu-ray) as well. The 5.1 mix on the blu-ray is the same as the 2003 DVD except for the two new tracks which are obviously newly mixed”.
I would urge anyone who wants to go and see that final gig to book a ticket. The global premiere will take place on 3rd July at the Eventim Apollo. You can go to that website and final details of a cinema near you that is showing the Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars last gig. It will be amazing and unforgettable viewing experience that you cannot really afford to miss! I suspect that there will be a transfer to a streaming platform at some point in the future (though this has not been confirmed):
“July 3, 1973 - David Bowie retired Ziggy Stardust, his most celebrated alter-ego, in front of 5000 disbelieving fans onstage at London’s Hammersmith Odeon. 50 years later, Ziggy will finally go global with a digitally restored version of ‘Ziggy Stardust The Motion Picture’ showing at over 1000 cinemas worldwide.
The original Ziggy Stardust tour in 1972/73 only visited the UK, USA and Japan, making this new uncut version of the film the first chance for European fans to finally see Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars up close – and in 4K HD with 5.1 sound.
Original Spiders drummer Woody Woodmansey: “In hindsight, there are so many places that we didn’t get to, and there were some places that were totally into us. Germany was particularly strong and we had an underground type of following in France. People needed to see the live show for things to properly kick off and we didn’t manage that. But our schedule was so rammed, I can’t see how we could’ve done that.”
July 3, 2023 - The Eventim Apollo Hammersmith (formerly the Odeon) will host the global premiere of the newly restored version of the film 50 years to the day. The evening will also include an on-stage conversation with Bowie collaborators and contemporary musicians that will precede the film screening. They will address the original show’s legacy and Ziggy’s pan-generational resonance. The Q&A at Eventim Apollo will be hosted by award-winning editor, Mercury Music Prize judge and Echo Velvet’s Creative Director Phil Alexander who said: “It’s rare that you can pin-point a precise moment in music where culture genuinely changes. The night of July 3, 1973, when David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars played Hammersmith Odeon, is one of those moments. The impact of David’s decision to retire Ziggy onstage and split the Spiders was an act that led to creative rebirth and whole lot more. The idea of Ziggy and the band returning to that same stage, allows Bowie fans to unite and enjoy a once in lifetime experience. It will be the closest anyone has come to being there back in ’73, and we intend to make sure we celebrate the events of that fateful night with a good few surprises.”
The newly restored film will allow fans to finally see the complete set that was played on that fateful night that July night for the first time and features the performance of legendary guitarist Jeff Beck whose performance was cut from the original version of the film.
Renowned filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker (Monterey Pop, Bob Dylan Don’t Look Back, Depeche Mode 101) captured the momentous event back in ’73 filming Bowie and The Spiders From Mars backstage and onstage. The digital restoration of the new version of the film has been overseen by his son, Frazer Pennebaker. ‘Ziggy Stardust The Motion Picture’ provides Bowie fans with the opportunity to unite and relive the iconic moment that changed popular culture forever”.
I am a big David Bowie fan, and so I wanted to look ahead to 3rd July, and the fiftieth anniversary of that legendary final gig as Ziggy Stardust. The mixture of emotions that adoring audience must have felt in Hammersmith. Going in thinking that this was an ordinary gig, only to be told that this was a final one for Ziggy Stardust – and, as it seems, there was a horrid feeling that this may be David Bowie’s final gig! With a cinematic release and album of the last-ever Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars gig, it is a real treat for all David Bowie fans. When thinking about the history of music and the most important gigs, do many outrank that night back in 1973…
WHEN Ziggy Stardust was laid to rest?!