Ah, the saga of David Bowie. Nearly 40 years ago, the former David Jones,
who’d been slogging it around London in search of an identity, finally
connected with audiences when he transformed himself into an androgynous space
alien called Ziggy Stardust. Touring the United States for the first time in
1972 behind The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From
Mars, Bowie’s celebrated appearance at the Santa Monica Civic
in Los Angeles was broadcast live on October 20, 1972 on the legendary radio
station KMET. It eventually became a highly collectible bootleg. Over three
decades later, the recording has been dusted off, given a nice rinsing and repackaged
as Live Santa Monica ’72.
Bowie became an easy target for ridicule when he dolled himself up as Ziggy.
But the music was too potent to write off; tunefully melodic with riffs and
hooks galore, played whimsically by guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder,
drummer Mick Woodmansey and pianist Mike Garson — collectively known as
the Spiders From Mars. At Santa Monica, the songs from the new album came tumbling
out like silver dollars from a slot machine. “Hang Onto Yourself,”
“Ziggy Stardust,” ‘Five Years,” “Moonage Daydream”
“Suffragette City” and ‘Rock And Roll Suicide,” all
prodded and thumped like drunk Weebles on a school night. You can almost feel
the energy of the small seaside venue’s rafters shaking in the madness
of Ziggy and the Spiders’ vivacious chemistry.
Serving a wild mix of Clockwork Orange inspired theatrics with a provocative
bend, Bowie rarely steps out of character — invoking a sassy spirit in
“Changes,” floating through the stratosphere during “Space
Oddity,” and occasionally stripping away the excess in the simplicity
of “Andy Warhol” or the raw dirtiness of “The Width Of A Circle”
and “Queen Bitch.” The devoted delivery of Velvet Underground’s
“Waiting For The Man” clearly illustrates where Ziggy was finding
the inspiration to push boldly into areas previously unexplored. If Live
Santa Monica ’72 accomplishes anything, it shows how even in
the early days of Bowie’s burgeoning career, the genius was burning like
a Roman candle, ready to explode and ignite a star brighter than most. How prophetic!
~ Shawn Perry
