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See also: Hammersmith Odeon, London (The concert)
See also: Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars: The Motion Picture (1983) (Movie/Video/DVD)

The Hammersmith Odeon concert of 3 July 1973 was recorded by Ken Scott and RCA's mobile unit with the intention of releasing it as a double-album in February 1974 provisionally tilted BOWIE-ING OUT. The album covers were designed and proofed and the release got as far as the mixing of the master tapes before the idea was dropped.

Bootleg LP "His Masters Voice"

Finally in 1983, after being remixed, the concert was released as the soundtrack to the film ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS: THE MOTION PICTURE minus the two Jeff Beck-related tracks from the concert. The remixing consisted of the addition of back-up vocals for most songs and an organ added for "My Death." According to Tony Visconti the sound quality was poor and he was called in to improve it, which also required Bowie and himself re-singing many of the backing vocals. According to Visconti they were not originally recorded well and Jeff Beck was also allowed to re-record only for Visconti and Bowie to find out later that he was really trying to find a way to get himself removed from the film!

"David Pennebaker shot this fabulous film at the Hammersmith Odeon in London on a fairly low budget. It contains fantastic footage of the last-ever Ziggy Stardust concert. The sound quality was poor and I was called in to beef it up, which also required David and me to re-sing many of the backing vocals. They were simply not recorded well on tape -- partly because Trevor Bolder and Mick Ronson didn't sing into the microphones! There's not much more to say, except that Jeff Beck was not satisfied with his guitar solo in the film, so we braved a snow storm in December to allow him to rerecord his solo -- only to find out later that it was really his bell-bottom trousers he objected to, and he was trying to find a way to get himself cut out of the film!" - Tony Visconti

The album reached #17 on the UK charts (Total weeks=6) and #89 on the US charts when released. The single chosen to promote the album was "White Light, White Heat/Cracked Actor" (RCA 372 UK).

The original concert songs and speeches from the Hammersmith Odeon concert on 3 July 1973 were as follows.  However, those shown in red do not appear on the official film or soundtrack: The order is as follows (note that the film/video/DVD and soundtrack listings are different)

Main Title (Video/DVD - Index 1)
Clockwork Orange Theme (Video/DVD - Index 2 - labelled Beethoven Ninth Symphony)
Introduction
Hang Onto Yourself (Video/DVD - Index 3) (Soundtrack 1)
Ziggy Stardust (Video/DVD - Index 4) (Soundtrack 2)
Watch That Man (Video/DVD - Index 5) (Soundtrack 3)
Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (Video/DVD - Index 6) (Soundtrack 4) - All The Young Dudes (Video/DVD - Index 7) - Oh You Pretty Things (Video/DVD - Index 8) (Soundtrack 5)
Moonage Daydream (Video/DVD - Index 9) (Soundtrack 6)
Changes (Video/DVD - Index 10) (Soundtrack 12)
Space Oddity (Video/DVD - Index 11) (Soundtrack 7)
My Death (Video/DVD - Index 12) (Soundtrack 8)
Cracked Actor (Video/DVD - Index 13) (Soundtrack 9)
Time (Video/DVD - Index 14) (Soundtrack 10)
The Width Of A Circle (Video/DVD - Index 15) (Soundtrack 11)
Band introduction
Let's Spend The Night Together (Video/DVD - Index 16) (Soundtrack 13)
Suffragette City (Video/DVD - Index 17) (Soundtrack 14)
White Light-White Heat (Video/DVD - Index 18) (Soundtrack 15)
Jean Genie-Love Me Do
Round and Round
Farewell Speech (complete)
Rock 'n' Roll Suicide (Video/DVD - Index 19) (Soundtrack 16)
Pomp And Circumstance (Video/DVD - Index 20)

All songs written by David Bowie except My Death by Jacques Brel, Let's Spend The Night Together by Mick Jagger/Keith Richards and White Light/White Heat by Lou Reed.

Rykodisc 1992 CD Face

RCA PL 84862.  UK Highest chart = #17 (6 weeks)
US  Highest chart = #89 (15 weeks)

Original Releases:

LP England RCA PL 84862 - October 1983
LP US RCA CPL2 4862 - October 1983
LP US RCA CPL2 4862SP - October 1983 (Promo in clear vinyl) 1,000 copies only.
LP Germany PL 84862 - October 1983
Cassette England PK 84862 - October 1983
Cassette - October 1983 (Promo without number)

Re-release by Ryko/EMI 1992

Lyrics (For more information on each track see the Encyclopedia)

1. Hang Onto Yourself (Bowie)
2. Ziggy Stardust (Bowie)
3. Watch That Man (Bowie)
4. Wild-Eyed Boy From FreeCloud (Bowie)

Solemn faced
The village settles down
Undetected by the stars
And the hangman plays the mandolin before he goes to sleep
And the last thing on his mind
Is the Wild Eyed Boy imprisoned
'Neath the covered wooden shaft
Folds the rope
Into its bag
Blows his pipe of smolders
Blankets smoke into the room
And the day will end for some
As the night begins for one

Staring through the message in his eyes
Lies a solitary son
From the mountain called Freecloud
Where the eagle dare not fly
And the patience in his sigh
Gives no indication
For the townsmen to decide
So the village Dreadful yawns
Pronouncing gross diversion
As the label for the dog
Oh "It's the madness in his eyes"
As he breaks the night to cry:

"It's really Me
Really You
And really Me
It's so hard for us to really be
Really You
And really Me
You'll lose me though I'm always really free"

And the mountain moved its eyes
To the world of realize
Where the snow had saved a place
For the Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud

And the village dreadful cried
As the rope began to rise
For the smile stayed on the face
Of the wide-eyed boy from Freecloud

And the women once proud
Clutched the heart of the crowd
As the boulders smashed down from the mountain's hand
And the Magic in the stare
Of the Wild Eyed Boy said
"Stop, Freecloud
They won't think to cut me down"
But the cottages fell
Like a playing card hell
And the tears on the face
Of the Wise Boy
Came tumbling down
To the rumbling ground
And the missionary mystic of peace/love
Stumbled to cry among the clouds
Kicking back the pebbles
From the Freecloud mountain.

5. All The Young Dudes (Bowie) / Oh! You Pretty Things (Bowie)

Billy rapped all night 'bout his suicide
How he'd kick it in the head when he was 25
Don't wanna stay alive when you're 25

Wendy's stealing clothes from unlocked cars
Freddy's got spots from ripping off stars from his face
Funky little boat race
The television man is crazy
Saying we're juvenile delinquent wrecks
Man I need a TV when I've got T. Rex
Hey brother you guessed
I'm a dude

All the young dudes
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news

Now Jimmy looking sweet though he dresses like a queen
He can kick like a mule
It's a real mean team
We can love
Oh we can love
And my brother's back at home
With his Beatles and his Stones
We never got if off on that revolution stuff
What a drag
Too many snags
Well I drunk a lot of wine
And I'm feeling fine
Gonna race some cat to bed
Is this concrete all around
Or is it in my head
Oh brother you guessed
I'm a dude

Wake up you sleepy head
Put on some clothes, shake up your bed
Put another log on the fire for me
I've made some breakfast and coffee
Look out my window and what do I see
A crack in the sky and a hand reaching down to me
All the nightmares came today
And it looks as though they're here to stay

What are we coming to
No room for me, no fun for you
I think about a world to come
Where the books were found by the Golden ones
Written in pain, written in awe
By a puzzled man who questioned
What we were here for
All the strangers came today
And it looks as though they're here to stay

Oh You Pretty Things
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and Papas insane
Oh You Pretty Things
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and Papas insane
Let me make it plain
You gotta make way for the Homo Superior

Look at your children
See their faces in golden rays
Don't kid yourself they belong to you
They're the start of a coming race
The earth is a bitch
We've finished our news
Homo Sapiens have outgrown their use
All the strangers came today
And it looks as though they're here to stay

Oh You Pretty Things
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and Papas insane
Oh You Pretty Things
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and Papas insane
Let me make it plain
You gotta make way for the Homo Superior

6. Moonage Daydream (Bowie)

7. Space Oddity (Bowie)

Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on

Ground Control to Major Tom
Commencing countdown, engines on
Check ignition and may God's love be with you

(spoken)
Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Liftoff

This is Ground Control to Major Tom
You've really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear
Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare

"This is Major Tom to Ground Control
I'm stepping through the door
And I'm floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today

For here
Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do

Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles
I'm feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much she knows"

Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you....

"Here am I floating round my tin can
Far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do."

8. My Death 3:08 (Jacque Brel)

My death waits like an old roué
So confident I'll go his way
Whistle to him and the passing time
My death waits like a bible truth
At the funeral of my youth
Weep loud for that and the passing time
My death waits like a witch at night
As surely as our love is bright
Let's not think about the passing time

But what ever lies behind the door
There is nothing much to do
Angel or devil, I don't care
For in front of that door, there is you

My death waits like a beggar blind
Who sees the world through an unlit mind
Throw him a dime for the passing time
My death waits there between your thighs
Your cool fingers will close my eyes
Let's not think of that and the passing time
My death waits to allow my friends
A few good times before it ends
So let's drink to that and the passing time

My death waits there among the leaves
In magicians' mysterious sleeves
Rabbits and dogs and the passing time
My death waits there among the flowers
Where the blackest shadow, blackest shadow cowers
Let's pick lilacs for the passing time
My death waits there in a double bed
Sails of oblivion at my head
So pull up the sheets against the passing time

9. Cracked Actor (Bowie)
10. Time (Bowie)
11. Width Of A Circle (Bowie)

In the corner of the morning in the past
I would sit and blame the master first and last
All the roads were straight and narrow
And the prayers were small and yellow
And the rumour spread that I was aging fast
Then I ran across a monster who was sleeping
By a tree.
And I looked and frowned and the monster was me

Well, I said hello and I said hello
And I asked "Why not?" and I replied "I don't know"
So we asked a simple black bird, who was happy as can be
And he laughed insane and quipped "KAHLIL GIBRAN"
So I cried for all the others till the day was nearly through
For I realized that God's a young man too

So I said "So long" and I waved "Bye-bye"
And I smashed my soul and traded my mind
Got laid by a young bordello
I was vaguely half asleep
For which my reputation swept back home in drag
And the moral of this magic spell
Negotiates my hide
When God did take my logic for a ride
(Riding along)

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

He swallowed his pride and puckered his lips
And showed me the leather belt round his hips
My knees were shaking my cheeks aflame
He said "You'll never go down to the Gods again"
(Turn around,go back!)

He struck the ground a cavern appeared
And I smelt the burning pit of fear
We crashed a thousand yards below
I said "Do it again, do it again"
(Turn around,go back!)

His nebulous body swayed above
His tongue swollen with devil's love
The snake and I, a venom high
I said "Do it again, do it again"
(Turn around, go back!)

Breathe, breathe, breathe deeply
And I was seething, breathing deeply
Spitting sentry, horned and tailed
Waiting for you

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

12. Changes (Bowie)

I still don't know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild
A million dead-end streets
Every time I thought I'd got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I've never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I'm much too fast to take that test

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the stranger)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don't want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the stranger)
Ch-ch-Changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I can't trace time

I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence and
So the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the stranger)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don't tell them to grow up and out of it
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the stranger)
Ch-ch-Changes
Where's your shame
You've left us up to our necks in it
Time may change me
But you can't trace time

Strange fascination, fascinating me
Changes are taking the pace I'm going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the stranger)
Ch-ch-Changes
Oh, look out you rock 'n rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the stranger)
Ch-ch-Changes
Pretty soon you're gonna get a little older
Time may change me
But I can't trace time
I said that time may change me
But I can't trace time

13. Let's Spend The Night Together (Jagger - Richards)
14. Suffragette City (Bowie)
15. White Light/White Heat (Lou Reed)

White light - White light gonna drive me out of my brain
White light - White light gonna make me feel so insane
White heat - White shapin' them down to my toes
White light - White light's got it now, goodness knows

White light - White light gonna drive me out of my mind
White light - White light's surely gonna make me blind
White heat - White shaping way down to my toes
White light - White light could kill me now, goodness knows

Oh, Oh, White light
Oh, Oh, White light
Oh, Oh, White heat
Oh, Oh, White heat

White light's a-flashing

White light
Still feels right
What's that sound, what's that sound
Don't turn on, be dead or alive
No feeling
Here she comes
Oww, yeah
(Oh, oh, oh, oh) here she comes
(Oh, oh, oh, oh)
(Ah, ah, ah, ah)

16. Rock n Roll Suicide (Bowie)

Time: 69:42

Produced & Mixed: David Bowie & Mike Moran (who recorded the concert)

Re-mixed: David Bowie, Tony Visconti & Bruce Tergeson. A comparison of the concert bootlegs with the final mix shows that back-up vocals were added for most songs, along with an organ for "My Death".

Personnel:

• David Bowie: vocals, guitar, harmonica, saxophones
• Mick Ronson: guitar, piano, vocals
• Trevor Bolder: bass
• Mick Woodmansey: drums

Singles:

"White Light/White Heat" 7" single from ZIGGY STARDUST - THE MOTION PICTURE (1983) - released November 1983.

"White Light White Heat / Cracked Actor" RCA 372 UK.

Q Magazine Review by John Bauldie (1992)

Ziggy's last performance, at Hammersmith Odeon, July 3, 1973, sounds as exciting and as dramatic now as it did in then, even though-because Ziggy (or Aladdin Sane, as he'd metamorphosed into) was a very visual performer-important elements of the show's impact are lost without D.A. Pennebaker's pictures.

.....What's to be heard, however, if not seen, is one of the all-time great rock 'n' roll bands giving it one last hard, loud thrash. Mick Ronson was spectacularly good when given his head-his guitar grunging, wailing, wobbling or screaming magnificently throughout, with the costume-change opportunity of Width Of A Circle allowing him to weird out wonderfully-and bass Trevor Bolder and drummer Woody Woodmansey were tight and right. Melodrama (My Death, Wild-Eyed Boy From Freecloud, Time) met mayhem (Watch That Man, Let's Spend The Night Together, Width Of A Circle), all underpinned by Ziggy's rock 'n' roll rise and fall. Top that with the for-real drama of the last show we'll ever do announcement which precedes Rock 'n' Roll Suicide and you have a remarkable document of an unforgettable time.
Q Rating: ****

---This page last modified: 10/12/18---