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Aladdin Sane 50th Anniversary (Half Speed Master)

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Camille Paglia, a US feminist academic, described the picture as “one of the most emblematic and influential art images of the past half-century, reproduced or parodied in advertising, media and entertainment worldwide”. Aladdin Sane: 50 Years exhibition is curated by Chris Duffy, the son of photographer Brian Duffy, the latter of whom collaborated with Bowie to create the 1973 album’s iconic lightning flash portrait artwork. Read next Bowie, morphing from Ziggy Stardust, his previous persona, to Aladdin Sane, insisted on a lightning flash. “The image asks more questions than it answers: many dissertations have been written about its meaning,” Duffy said. “Bowie was very clever at putting something out there, and letting everyone else come up with some kind of theory on it.” Chris Duffy who took the photo used on the front cover of David Bowie's Aladdin Sane album Credit: Duffy (c) Duffy Archive & The David Bowie Archive I think he was having a hard time with the pressure he was under, having created this character he had to play every night,” says Woodmansey, who was blindsided by the announcement and was told he was no longer needed by Bowie four days later – on his wedding day. “So he eventually stayed in character as Ziggy all the time. And Ziggy was pretty f***ing weird. It was impossible having a normal conversation with Ziggy.”

The cover had a profound effect on many who saw it. Gillespie was at primary school in Glasgow when a friend brought the album into class. “The first thing was the image, this creature of indeterminate sex. It’s very powerful stuff for an 11-year-old to be… I’m not gonna say ‘exposed to’, because that makes it sound seedy. But to be presented with. I thought it was attractive, but not in a sexual way. More just – I’d never seen anything like this before. It messed around with the idea of what a man could and should be. It was revolutionary”. Bowie described ALADDIN SANE as ‘Ziggy Goes To Washington: Ziggy under the influence of America’. The album was to be Ziggy Stardust's last stand, and the persona was laid to rest three months after the album's release in July 1973 at the infamous final show with the Spiders From Mars at London’s Hammersmith Odeon.

The 1970s

The day’s talks will close with writers Paul Burston and Golnoosh Nour on the cultural impact of Bowie’s androgyny and his playful subversion of gender identity. It confused people,” Cann says. “And I can understand that. But if you’re a Bowie fan and understand what was going on, you know that it was completely different.” Additionally, Anna Calvi, Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears, Roxanne Tataei, Tawiah, and Lynks will join join the Nu Civilisation Orchestra to perform Aladdin Sane live in full on 21 April at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. David always had the flash concept in his head,” says Chris. “Being a big Elvis fan who he shared his birthday with, he lifted it from his taking care of business in a flash acronym. When they were deciding on the colour scheme they agreed on the flash from the Panasonic rice cooker my grandma bought. So you could say she was elemental in bringing that to fruition.” The exhibition, which is based in the Spirit Level at the Royal Festival Hall, will explore this idea of how Bowie continuously reinvented his image throughout his career and inspired his fans to do the same.

It’s been suggested Lear, amongst others, was the inspiration for ‘Lady Grinning Soul’. “It almost has a French influence. David was also reading a lot of French philosophy at the time,” adds Underwood. “It also sounds to me like it could be Berlin at a burlesque club after the war.”

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Aladdin Sane 50 Years is being marked by a series of events The Southbank Centre, London for more info southbankcentre.co.uk

It will also look at the music scene of the early 1970s, when Bowie and Brian Duffy first met, and go on to chart the relationship that developed between the musician and photographer. The Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer will host two nights of club music in celebration of Bowie on April 21 and 22, with DJ collective Queer House Party and Afro-Caribbean-inspired Queer Bruk. It’s a work that continues to inspire today’s contemporary artists and the gender fluidity of the images still resonate deeply in queer culture in the UK and across the world.” There will also be talks exploring Aladdin Sane, Bowie, and his cultural significance. The National Poetry Library presents Aladdin Sound with ten of the UK’s most exciting poets in the Centre’s Purcell Room on 21 April.

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It was in this rather surreal atmosphere that Bowie wrote his sixth album Aladdin Sane, currently celebrating its 50th anniversary with a remastered reissue and Aladdin Sane: 50 Years event season at London’s Southbank Centre, including a tribute concert featuring Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears, Anna Calvi and Roxanne Tataei. On 14th April, 2023, one week before its Golden Jubilee, ALADDIN SANE will be issued as a limited edition 50th anniversary half-speed mastered LP and a picture disc LP pressed from the same master. It's a spine-tingling moment when Garson begins to play some of the tune’s higher notes over Zoom to illustrate the influence of French composer Claude Debussy. “There’s a lot of classical influences,” he explains. “Chopin, Franz Liszt, there’s some Rachmaninov mixed with my voice adding some jazz chords.”

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