When Rolling Stone writers ranked Bowie's 1972 The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust.... in the # 35 spot on their Top 500 Albums of All Time, "They didn't do so because of David Bowie's hairstyle," writes New York Times contributor and InTheStudio alum Joe Rhodes. For over 45 years we have witnessed the artistic genius of David Bowie, never more dramatically than in those beginning five years.

David Bowie had already shown his chameleon ways from his Mod beginnings to his pseudo-psychedelic folk rock Space Oddity , and later with his Dylan-channeling Hunky Dory. But it would be the invention of the cosmic character Ziggy Stardust that would give Bowie mesmerizing influence over an otherwise conventional musical landscape.

Bowie shares with InTheStudio host Redbeard which of his early albums was the critical lynchpin to develop the singular character that would become Ziggy Stardust.

Bowie says, "The one thing maybe I learned from doing Hunky Dory was how oriented I was to doing narrative... There were no real characters on Hunky Dory, but the idea of developing little story songs as opposed to just mood pieces, it obviously was quite strong in me and I think it gave me the motivation to propel myself towards something more cohesive as an album."

Check out part one of the special here and part two - here.

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