How Glam, Guitars and ‘A Clockwork Orange’ Led to David Bowie’s Masterpiece, ‘Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars’

variety.com:

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThere’s little question that David Bowie’s rise to superstardom in 1972 was a carefully calculated campaign, involving an unforgettable, otherworldly image, a strategically timed public announcement of his bisexuality, a rapid-fire series of tour dates and television appearances, no small amount of business and P.R.

savvy — and most importantly, one of the greatest albums in rock history.“The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars,” released in the U.S.

50 years ago today, has come to be perceived not only as a concept album but something of a self-fulfilling paradigm, involving the rise of the titular rock star whose fame went to his head and maybe died, maybe didn’t.

But the loose plotline mostly adds drama to a stunning set of rock and pop songs that show Bowie’s unique songwriting, singing and storytelling reaching the first peak in several he would reach in that decade.