LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 13, 2019…46 YEARS AGO DAVID BOWIE RELEASED THE ALBUM ‘ALADDIN SANE’. BOWIE HIMSELF DESCRIBED THE RECORD AS “ZIGGY IN AMERICA”, PARTLY INSPIRED BY THE FACT THAT MANY OF THE SONGS WERE WRITTEN WHILE HE WAS TOURING THE U.S.
THE ACTUAL TITLE IS A PUN ON “A LAD INSANE.” BOWIE’S PREVIOUS ALBUM INTRODUCED THE ZIGGY STARDUST CHARACTER, AND A LOT OF PEOPLE THOUGHT HE WAS A LITTLE CRAZY. AN EARLY VARIATION WAS “LOVE ALADDIN VEIN”, WHICH BOWIE DROPPED BECAUSE OF DRUG CONNOTATIONS. BOWIE HIMSELF TOLD PEOPLE THAT THE “LAD INSANE” OF THE ALBUM’S TITLE TRACK WAS ACTUALLY HIS BROTHER TERRY, WHO HAD BEEN DIAGNOSED AS A SCHIZOPHRENIAC.
‘ALADDIN SANE’ ALBUM COVER ALSO BOASTED ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC IMAGES OF DAVID BOWIE. BOWIE CAME UP WITH THE LIGHTENING BOLT IDEA, SAYING IT REPRESENTED THE WAY HE FELT HE WAS BEING PULLED IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS, AND A PERFECT VISUAL COMPLEMENT TO THE ALBUM’S TITLE PUN.
THE ALBUM ITSELF HAS SOLD AN ESTIMATED 5 MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE, MAKING IT ONE OF BOWIE’S HIGHEST SELLING ALBUMS.
HERE’S A RECENTLY FOUND OF BOWIE FROM 1973 PERFORMING A SUPERB TRACK FROM THE ALBUM ‘THE JEAN GENIE’
