David Bowie Celebrated With Previously Unreleased ‘Starman’ Mix
David Bowie’s The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars turns 50 today (16 June). To mark the occasion, a previously unreleased mix of Starman has been made available on streaming platforms – Starman (Top Of The Pops Version 2022 Mix).
David Bowie’s performance of Starman on Top Of The Pops influenced generations of musicians, artists and writers who saw it at the time and countless others who have since seen it over the decades, from bootleg VHS copies to YouTube clips.
The Top Of The Pops broadcast recording, taken from the BBC’s master, was released on the Starman 7″ pic disc in 2012, which now changes hands for hundreds of pounds. Back in 1972, the Musicians Union rules stated that to appear on Top Of The Pops, the artist must re-record their track and, in this case, sing live over the top. This new version of Starman takes the backing track (recorded at Trident Studios on 29 June) and backing vocals, featuring a one-off Bowie ad-lib ‘Hey Brown Cow’, recorded for the show and adds the lead vocals from the album version (recorded at Trident Studios on 4th February). This new mix was created by Ziggy Stardust co-producer Ken Scott from the multi-tracks earlier this year.
Also on 17 June, 2022, 50 years and one day after the original UK release date, The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars will be issued as a limited edition 50th anniversary half speed mastered LP and a picture disc, featuring the same master and a replica promotional poster for the album.
The Ziggy Stardust 50th anniversary half-speed mastered edition can be pre-ordered here and the picture disc edition can be pre-ordered here.
This new pressing of The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars was cut on a customised late Neumann VMS80 lathe with fully recapped electronics from 192kHz restored masters of the original Trident Studios master tapes, with no additional processing on transfer. The half speed was cut by John Webber at AIR Studios.
Today also sees a special Tim Burgess listening party for the album on Twitter at 10.30 pm more details are here. Tim Burgess “I’m really excited to be hosting a Ziggy Stardust Listening Party on the 50th anniversary of the album’s release. Fans from all around the world can take part and we’ve enlisted a few friends to help us out too.”