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George Underwood (born 5 February 1947) is a British artist and musician. He is best known for designing album covers for numerous bands in the 1970s and his collaborations with long-term friend, singer-songwriter David Bowie.
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George Underwood (born 5 February 1947) is a British artist and musician. He is best known for designing album covers for numerous bands in the 1970s and his collaborations with long-term friend, singer-songwriter David Bowie.
George Underwood attended Bromley Technical High School where he developed an interest in music alongside classmates David Bowie and Peter Frampton. Underwood and Bowie's band, George and the Dragons [1] was short-lived due to Underwood punching Bowie in the left eye while wearing a ring on his finger, during a fight over a girl, causing paralysis in Bowie's left pupil and his distinctive mismatched appearance. [2] The injury did not affect their friendship in the end, and Underwood went on to record one album with Bowie (in their band The King Bees) as well as a solo record under the name Calvin James.
After deciding that the music business was not for him, Underwood returned to art studies and worked in design studios as an illustrator. Initially, he specialised in fantasy, horror and science fiction book covers, but as many of his colleagues were in the music business, they began asking him to do various art works for them. This led to him becoming a freelance artist. Underwood established himself as a leading art illustrator doing album covers for such artists as T. Rex ( Futuristic Dragon , My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows ), The Fixx ( Phantoms , Reach the Beach , Beautiful Friction and Calm Animals ), Procol Harum ( Shine On Brightly ), Mott the Hoople ( All the Young Dudes ) and David Bowie ( Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars ). Durimg this period, he produced hundreds of book covers, LP and CD covers, advertisements, portraits and drawings.
He appears in the 2012 documentary David Bowie & the Story of Ziggy Stardust (BBC Cymru Wales). [3]
David Robert Jones, known professionally as David Bowie, was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, and his music and stagecraft had a significant impact on popular music.
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is the fifth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 16 June 1972 in the United Kingdom through RCA Records. It was co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott and features Bowie's backing band the Spiders from Mars — guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder and drummer Mick Woodmansey. It was recorded from November 1971 to February 1972 at Trident Studios in London.
Michael Ronson was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musician who recorded five studio albums with Bowie followed by four with Ian Hunter, and also worked as a sideman in touring bands with Van Morrison and Bob Dylan. A classically trained musician, Ronson was known for his melodic approach to guitar playing.
Aladdin Sane is the sixth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released in the United Kingdom on 19 April 1973 through RCA Records. The follow-up to his breakthrough The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, it was the first album he wrote and released from a position of stardom. It was co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott and features contributions from Bowie's backing band the Spiders from Mars — Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey — with the pianist Mike Garson, two saxophonists and three backing vocalists. Recorded in London and New York City between legs of the Ziggy Stardust Tour, the record was Bowie's final album with the full Spiders lineup.
Norman Carl Odam, known professionally as the Legendary Stardust Cowboy, is an outsider performer who is considered one of the pioneers of the genre that came to be known as psychobilly in the 1960s.
Hunky Dory is the fourth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released in the United Kingdom on 17 December 1971 through RCA Records. Following a break from touring and recording, Bowie settled down to write new songs, composing on piano rather than guitar as in earlier works. Bowie assembled guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder, and drummer Mick Woodmansey, and began to record a new album in mid-1971 at Trident Studios in London. Rick Wakeman contributed on piano shortly before joining Yes. Bowie co-produced the album with Ken Scott, who had engineered Bowie's previous two records.
"Suffragette City" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was originally released in April 1972 as the B-side of the single "Starman" and subsequently appeared on his fifth studio album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972). The song was later reissued as a single in 1976, with the US single edit of "Stay" as the B-side, to promote the compilation album Changesonebowie in the UK. Co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott, it was recorded by Bowie at Trident Studios in London with his backing band the Spiders from Mars, consisting of Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey, at a late stage of the album's sessions. The song was originally offered to English band Mott the Hoople, who declined it and recorded Bowie's "All the Young Dudes" instead. It is a glam rock song that is influenced by the music of Little Richard and the Velvet Underground. The lyrics include a reference to Anthony Burgess' novel A Clockwork Orange and the lyric "Oooohh wham bam, thank you, ma'am".
Pin Ups is the seventh studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 19 October 1973 through RCA Records. Devised as a "stop-gap" album to appease his record label, it is a covers album, featuring glam rock and proto-punk versions of songs by British bands from the 1960s that were influential to Bowie as a teenager, including the Pretty Things, the Who, the Yardbirds and Pink Floyd.
"Starman" is a song by the English musician David Bowie. It was released on 28 April 1972 by RCA Records as the lead single of his fifth studio album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Co-produced by Ken Scott, Bowie recorded the song on 4 February 1972 at Trident Studios in London with his backing band known as the Spiders from Mars – comprising guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder and drummer Mick Woodmansey. The song was a late addition to the album, written as a direct response to RCA's request for a single; it replaced the Chuck Berry cover "Round and Round" on the album. The lyrics describe Ziggy Stardust bringing a message of hope to Earth's youth through the radio, salvation by an alien 'Starman'. The chorus is inspired by "Over the Rainbow", sung by Judy Garland, while other influences include T. Rex and the Supremes.
"Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie, originally released as the closing track on the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars on 16 June 1972. Co-produced by Ken Scott, Bowie recorded it with his backing band the Spiders from Mars – comprising Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey. It detailed Ziggy's final collapse like an old, washed-up rock star and, as such, was also the closing number of the Ziggy Stardust live show. In April 1974 RCA issued it as a single.
Michael "Woody" Woodmansey is an English rock drummer best known for his work in the early 1970s as a member of David Bowie's core backing ensemble that became known as the Spiders from Mars in conjunction with the release of Bowie's 1972 LP The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. With the death of Bowie in January 2016, Woodmansey became the last surviving member of the Spiders.
"Five Years" is a song by the English musician David Bowie, released on his 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott, it was recorded in November 1971 at Trident Studios in London with his backing band the Spiders from Mars − comprising Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey. As the opening track on the album, the song introduces the overarching theme of the album: an impending apocalyptic disaster will destroy Earth in five years and the being who will save it is a bisexual alien rock star named Ziggy Stardust. While the first two verses are told from a child narrator's perspective, the third is from Bowie's, who addresses the listener directly. As the track progresses, it builds intensity, before climaxing with strings and Bowie screaming the title.
"Moonage Daydream" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was originally recorded in February 1971 at Radio Luxembourg's studios in London and released as a single by his short-lived band Arnold Corns in May 1971 on B&C Records. Bowie subsequently re-recorded the song later that year with his backing band the Spiders from Mars—Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey—for release on his 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The re-recording was co-produced by Ken Scott and recorded at Trident Studios in London in November 1971. The re-recording is a glam rock song that uses melodic and harmonic hooks, as well as percussion and guitar influenced by heavy metal. On the album, the song directly introduces the character Ziggy Stardust, who describes himself as a bisexual alien rock superstar who will save the Earth from the impending disaster described in the opening track "Five Years". It features saxophone played by Bowie and a guitar solo and string arrangement by Ronson.
"Ziggy Stardust" is a song written by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie for his 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott, he recorded it at Trident Studios in London in November 1971 with his backing band the Spiders from Mars—comprising Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey. Lyrically, the song is about Ziggy Stardust, a bisexual alien rock star who acts as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings. The character was influenced by English singer Vince Taylor, as well as the Legendary Stardust Cowboy and Kansai Yamamoto. Although Ziggy is introduced earlier on the album, this song is its centrepiece, presenting the rise and fall of the star in a very human-like manner. Musically, it is a glam rock song, like its parent album, and is based around a Ronson guitar riff.
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is a 1979 British documentary/concert film by D. A. Pennebaker. It features English singer-songwriter David Bowie and his backing group the Spiders from Mars performing at the Hammersmith Odeon in London on 3 July 1973, the final date of his Ziggy Stardust Tour. At this show, Bowie made the sudden surprise announcement that the show would be "the last show that we'll ever do", later understood to mean that he was retiring his Ziggy Stardust persona.
The Isolar II – The 1978 World Tour, more commonly known as The Low / Heroes World Tour or The Stage Tour, was a worldwide concert tour by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. The tour opened on 29 March 1978 at the San Diego Sports Arena continuing through North America, Europe and Australia before reaching a conclusion at the Nippon Budokan in Japan on 12 December 1978.
The Ziggy Stardust Tour was a 1972–73 concert tour by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie, to promote the studio albums Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and Aladdin Sane. Bowie was accompanied by his backing group, the Spiders from Mars, and integrated choreography, costumes and make-up into the live shows to make them a wider entertainment package. The tour generated significant press coverage, drawing positive reviews and launching Bowie to stardom.
On 10 January 2016, the English musician David Bowie died at his Lafayette Street home in New York City, having been diagnosed with liver cancer 18 months earlier. He died two days after the release of his twenty-sixth and final studio album, Blackstar, which coincided with his 69th birthday.
Ziggy Stardust is a fictional character created by English musician David Bowie, and was Bowie's stage persona during 1972 and 1973. The eponymous character of the song "Ziggy Stardust" and its parent album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972), Ziggy Stardust was retained for Bowie's subsequent concert tour through the United Kingdom, Japan and North America, during which Bowie performed as the character backed by his band The Spiders from Mars. Bowie continued the character in his next album Aladdin Sane (1973), which he described as "Ziggy goes to America". Bowie retired the character in October 1973 after one final show at The Marquee in London.
The 1980 Floor Show was a rock musical spectacle featuring English rock musician David Bowie as the protagonist, held at the Marquee Club in Soho, London, on October 18–20, 1973. It was broadcast in the United States by NBC on November 16, 1973, as part of the series The Midnight Special, and presented the last performance of Bowie as his character Ziggy Stardust.
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