From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aladdin Sane
Studio album by David Bowie
Released	April 13, 1973
Recorded	Trident Studios, London, and RCA Studios, London and Nashville, 6 October 1972 - 24 January 1973
Genre	Rock, Glam rock
Length	40:47
Label	RCA Records Rykodisc Reissue July 13, 1990 Virgin Records Reissue September 28, 1999 Virgin Records 30th Anniversary Edition June 24, 2003
Producer(s)	Ken Scott, David Bowie
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (B+) link Rolling Stone link
David Bowie chronology
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)	Aladdin Sane (1973)	Pin Ups (1973)

Aladdin Sane (i.e. "A Lad Insane") is a 1973 album by British glam rocker David Bowie. The follow-up to his breakthrough The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, it was the first album Bowie wrote and released as a bona fide pop star. While many critics agree that it contains some of his best material, opinion as to its overall quality has often been divided. NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray called the album "oddly unsatisfying, considerably less than the sum of the parts",^[1] while Bowie encyclopedist Nicholas Pegg described it as "one of the most urgent, compelling and essential" of his releases.^[2] It was one of six Bowie entries in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time (at #277).

Contents 1 "Ziggy goes to America" 2 Production and style 3 Singles 4 Release and aftermath 5 Track listing 6 Rereleases 6.1 2003 rerelease bonus disc 7 Personnel 7.1 Additional personnel 8 Charts 9 Certifications 10 Trivia 11 Notes 12 External links

Although technically a new Bowie 'character', Aladdin Sane was essentially an extension of Ziggy Stardust in his manner, clothing and hairstyle, as evidenced on the famous cover and in Bowie’s live performances throughout 1973 that culminated in Ziggy’s ‘retirement’ at the Hammersmith Odeon in July of that year. However there was not the thematic flow on this album that was present on its predecessor.^[3] Bowie himself described Aladdin Sane as simply "Ziggy goes to America",^[2] most of the tracks being observations he composed on the road during his 1972 U.S. tour - the reason for the place names following each song title on the original record sleeve. Biographer Christopher Sandford believed the album showed that Bowie "was simultaneously appalled and fixated by America".^[4]

The bulk of Aladdin Sane was recorded in January 1973, between legs of Bowie's U.S. Ziggy Stardust tour. A desire to rush release the record was blamed for mixes on the Rolling Stones influenced "Watch That Man" and "Cracked Actor" that buried vocals and harmonica, respectively.^[1][5] Bowie and producer Ken Scott have since refuted this suggestion regarding "Watch That Man", claiming that a remix they produced which brought the vocals forward was considered by Mainman management and RCA Records to be inferior to the original that was eventually released.^[6][5]

Aladdin Sane featured a tougher rock sound than its predecessor,^[5] particularly on tracks like "Panic in Detroit" (built around a Bo Diddley beat) and Bowie’s breakneck version of the Stones' "Let's Spend the Night Together".^[1] The album was also notable for its exploration of unusual styles such as avant-garde jazz in the title track and Brechtian cabaret in "Time", the latter being famous for the line "Time falls wanking to the floor". Both numbers were dominated by Mike Garson’s acclaimed piano work,^[5] which also featured heavily in the James Bond flavoured ballad "Lady Grinning Soul", inspired by singer Claudia Linnear.^[1]

Two hit singles that would be included on the album preceded its release, "The Jean Genie" and "Drive-In Saturday". The former was a heavy R&B chug with lyrics loosely based on Iggy Pop,^[7] the latter a futuristic doo wop number describing a time when the population has to relearn sex by watching old porn movies.^[1] "Time" was later issued as a single in the U.S. and Japan, and "Let's Spend the Night Together" in the U.S. and Europe. In 1974, Lulu released a version of "Watch That Man" as the B-side to her single "The Man Who Sold the World", produced by Bowie and Mick Ronson.

With a purported 100,000 copies ordered in advance,^[5] Aladdin Sane debuted at the top of the UK charts and reached #17 in the U.S., making it Bowie's most successful album commercially in both countries to that date. Critical reaction was generally laudatory, if more enthusiastic in the US than in the UK: Billboard called it a combination of "raw energy with explosive rock", while letters columns in the British music press accused Bowie of 'selling out' and Let it Rock magazine considered that he had "nothing to say and everything to say it with".^[2]

Bowie performed all the tracks, except "Lady Grinning Soul", on his 1972-73 tours and many of them on the 1974 Diamond Dogs tour. Live versions of all but "The Prettiest Star" and "Lady Grinning Soul" have been released on various discs including Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture, David Live and Aladdin Sane - 30th Anniversary. "The Jean Genie" is the only song on the album that Bowie has played in concert throughout his career. However "Panic in Detroit" has also appeared regularly in recent years, a remake of which was cut in 1979 but not released until added as a bonus track to the Rykodisc CD of Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps).

All songs written by David Bowie except where noted.

1. "Watch That Man" New York – 4:25
2. "Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?)" RHMS Ellinis – 5:06
3. "Drive-In Saturday" Seattle–Phoenix – 4:29
4. "Panic in Detroit" Detroit – 4:25
5. "Cracked Actor" Los Angeles – 2:56
6. "Time" New Orleans – 5:09
7. "The Prettiest Star" Gloucester Road – 3:26
8. "Let's Spend the Night Together" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 3:03
9. "The Jean Genie" Detroit and New York – 4:02
10. "Lady Grinning Soul" London – 3:46

Aladdin Sane has been remastered thrice; the first time in 1990 by Rykodisc/EMI, again in 96 kHz/24bit by Virgin Records in 1999 and in a 30th Anniversary Edition with two CDs and extensive liner notes in 2003 by Virgin. The first CD contained the original album, while the second contained ten additional tracks.

1. "John, I'm Only Dancing (Sax version)" – 2:45
2. "The Jean Genie (Original single mix)" – 4:07
3. "Time (Single edit)" – 3:43
4. "All the Young Dudes" (monaural) – 4:12
5. "Changes" Live at Boston Music Hall, October 1, 1972 – 3:20
6. "The Supermen" Live at Boston Music Hall, October 1, 1972 – 2:42
7. "Life on Mars?" Live at Boston Music Hall, October 1, 1972 – 3:25
8. "John, I'm Only Dancing" Live at Boston Music Hall, October 1, 1972 – 2:40
9. "The Jean Genie" Live at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium October 20, 1972 – 4:10
10. "Drive-In Saturday" Live at Cleveland Public Auditorium, November 25, 1972 – 4:53

• David Bowie – guitar, harmonica, keyboards, saxophone, vocals
• Mick Ronson – guitar, piano, vocals
• Trevor Bolder – bass
• Mick "Woody" Woodmansey – drums

• Mike Garson – piano
• Ken Fordham – flute, saxophone
• Linda Lewis – backing vocals
• Juanita "Honey" Franklin – backing vocals
• G.A. MacCormack – backing vocals

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1973	UK Albums Chart	1
1973	U.S. Billboard Pop Albums	17

Single

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1972	"The Jean Genie"	UK Singles Chart	2
1972	"The Jean Genie"	U.S. Billboard Pop Singles	71
1973	"The Jean Genie"	UK Singles Chart	2
1973	"Drive-In Saturday"	UK Singles Chart	3

Organization	Level	Date
RIAA – U.S.	Gold	August 3, 1983

The Canadian rock group The Guess Who launched a print ad campaign in the summer of 1973 to promote their album #10 and the single released from it, "Glamour Boy." The song was a Burton Cummings-penned broadside against glam rockers such as David Bowie. As part of the promotion for the single, the Guess Who's then-manager, Don Hunter, posed for an ad done up a la Bowie circa Aladdin Sane, with the legend "Not just another pretty body." After initially circulating the ad in the musical trades, RCA Records, label to both Bowie and the Guess Who and fearing lawsuits, had the ad pulled.^[8]

• Aladdin Sane at 'The Ziggy Stardust Companion'

v • d • e David Bowie
Discography
Studio albums
David Bowie | Space Oddity | The Man Who Sold the World | Hunky Dory | The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars | Aladdin Sane | Pin Ups | Diamond Dogs | Young Americans | Station to Station | Low | "Heroes" | Lodger | Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) | Let's Dance | Tonight | Never Let Me Down | Black Tie White Noise | Outside | Earthling | 'hours...' | Heathen | Reality
With Tin Machine
Tin Machine | Tin Machine II
Live albums
David Live | Stage | Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture | Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby | Santa Monica '72 | Bowie at the Beeb | LiveAndWell.com
Soundtracks
Christiane F. | Labyrinth | The Buddha of Suburbia | Lost Highway |
Related articles
Tony Visconti | Brian Eno | Mick Ronson | Iggy Pop | Mike Garson | Reeves Gabrels