Sounds of the 70s: Bob Harris Session: 1972

Bowie's Maida Vale Ziggy Preview

Recorded on January 18, 1972, at Studio 5, Maida Vale Studios, London, for BBC Radio’s Sounds of the 70s hosted by Bob Harris, David Bowie performed five songs with the Spiders from Mars: Mick Ronson (guitar), Trevor Bolder (bass), and Mick Woodmansey (drums). Produced by Jeff Griffin, engineered by Chris Lycett and John Etchells. The session aired on February 7, 1972.

Tracks Recorded

Hang On To Yourself – 2:48

Ziggy Stardust – 3:23

Queen Bitch – 2:57

I'm Waiting For The Man – 5:22 (not broadcast)

Five Years – 4:21

Production Notes

“I’m Waiting For The Man” (Velvet Underground cover) was recorded but not transmitted.

The full session appeared on the 2000 Bowie at the Beeb 3-CD set (initial pressing error swapped two “Ziggy Stardust” versions; EMI later sent replacement single-song CDs).

The June 27, 2000 Portland BBC Radio Theatre live bonus disc from Bowie at the Beeb was remastered and expanded in 2021 for the Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001) box set.

Do you have the Bowie at the Beeb set? Ready for Ziggy on the radio? Share in the comments!

Sources

Information is drawn from my personal knowledge and supplemented by web sources, including davidbowie.com, Discogs, 45cat, AllMusic, Rate Your Music, Wikipedia and BBC Official Charts Company

Whilst every effort is made to provide accurate information, mistakes do happen. Simply leave a comment and the post will be updated. Thank you.

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Bowie sang and played guitar, accompanied by Mick Ronson on guitar, Trevor Bolder on bass, and Mick Woodmansey on drums.

Five songs were recorded: "Hang On To Yourself," "Ziggy Stardust," "Queen Bitch," "I'm Waiting For The Man," and "Five Years."

"I’m Waiting For The Man" was not broadcast. The full session was included in the 2000 release of Bowie At The Beeb, although the initial pressing contained "Ziggy Stardust" from the May 16th session, it came in a three-CD set, the third, bonus CD being a live recording made on 27 June 2000 at the Portland BBC Radio Theatre, part of his Mini Tour. Later editions contain only the first two CDs.

The initial pressing accidentally featured the second version of the song "Ziggy Stardust" (disc 2, track 13) twice on disc two, omitting the first version (disc 2, track 5). Rather than providing corrected replacement discs, EMI sent out single-song CDs containing the first version to customers.

This collection includes a previously unreleased track, "Looking for a Friend" (disc 1, track 15), which John Peel mentioned was intended to be released as a single by Arnold Corns. However, the single was eventually cancelled.

The live tracks from June 2000, featured on the bonus disc of this set, were re-mastered and re-released in 2021 as part of the box set Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001). This re-release was expanded to include the complete live set list across 2 CDs; the original version was a single disc containing an edited recording of the performance.