I came home from school and on top of the record player was a brown paper bag in the familiar shape of an album cover. My Mum had been to Doncaster Shoppingtown and brought me back an album. Excitedly I opened the bag and inside was this brilliant record. I didn't have any money at the time because I had bought a new bike on hire purchase so this was glorious surprise. My Mum only bought me 2 albums ever but what albums..Abbey Road and this!
I played it on the good stereo in the living room first before retiring to the crappier record player in the front bedroom to listen to it more. This was an altogether different beast to Ziggy Stardust and it took me a little while to get over Mike Garson's piano playing but over the next few days it all fell into place. A brilliant album with only one jarring note..the cover of the Stone's Let's Spend The Night Together, which I thought was horrible. And it was a bit American. Bowie actually said it was "Ziggy goes to America" and being a big anglophile it took me a little while to get into that.
My immediate favourites were Cracked Actor and Drive-In Saturday. Jean Genie was already a big hit. I first heard that song in the school art room. And had the single.
Glam rock was big now. Actually, there's not much difference between Jean Genie and The Sweet's "Blockbuster". I can see now why Bowie felt he need to move on and kill Ziggy. Everyone was a glam rocker. It was all getting a bit much.
At the time the cover was quite shocking. Especially the strange nude like figure in the gatefold sleeve. The no eyebrows look. Of course, now the images are iconic. But at the time it was so out there. He really did come across as an alien.
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