Aladdin Sane 50th Anniversary (Half Speed Master)

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Featuring a two-month long exhibition (6 April – 28 May) as well as a stellar line-up of live music and talks inspired by the album (21 & 22 April) Additionally, Anna Calvi, Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears, Roxanne Tataei, Tawiah, and Lynks will join join the Nu Civilisation Orchestra to perform Aladdin Sane live in full on 21 April at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. It’s a work that continues to inspire today’s contemporary artists and the gender fluidity of the images still resonate deeply in queer culture in the UK and across the world.”

Bowie described ALADDIN SANE as ‘Ziggy Goes To Washington: Ziggy under the influence of America’. The album was to be Ziggy Stardust's last stand, and the persona was laid to rest three months after the album's release in July 1973 at the infamous final show with the Spiders From Mars at London’s Hammersmith Odeon.We’re honoured to pay tribute to David Bowie, who made his Southbank Centre debut in 1969. The Aladdin Sane album cover portrait is considered to be one of the most influential pop culture images of the past half century, and the music remains fresh and contemporary, so we wanted to recognise this major anniversary and reflect on the album and its artwork’s enduring legacy. It’s a work that continues to inspire today’s contemporary artists and the gender fluidity of the images still resonate deeply in queer culture in the UK and across the world. On the Aladdin Sane celebrations, Southbank Centre Artistic Director Mark Ball On14th April, 2023,one week before its Golden JubileeALADDINSANEwill be issued as alimited edition 50th anniversary picture disc LP pressed from the samemaster. The Southbank Centre Archive will also present a separate free display exploring David Bowie’s history with the Centre, stretching over 50 years, and his ongoing legacy. From his performance in the recently opened Purcell Room in 1969, to later performances alongside Lou Reed and his curation of Southbank Centre’s annual contemporary music festival, Meltdown, never before seen archival material will be available for public view. Another significant player he brought on board was David Sanborn who added tenor sax to a new version of ‘The Prettiest Star’, released as a single three years earlier with Marc Bolan on guitar. Bowie was already looking ahead. “David would sit listening to Aretha Franklin,” says Garson of their time travelling across America in 1972. “He was thinking of Young Americans; he jumped a couple of albums.”

It confused people,” Cann says. “And I can understand that. But if you’re a Bowie fan and understand what was going on, you know that it was completely different.” An exhibition to celebrate 50 years of David Bowie‘s album Aladdin Sane has been announced for London’s Southbank Centre. Award-winning pianist, composer and musical director Peter Edwards will arrange and lead the diverse, innovative and shapeshifting orchestra, following Nu Civilisation Orchestra’s recent triumphant tours of 50 years of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On , Joni Mitchell’s Hejira and Charles Mingus, as well as one-off concert Duke Ellington’s The Queen’s Suite, which was performed at Queen Elizabeth Hall, as part of Southbank Centre’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations last year. It was actually Brian Duffy’s suggestion to change the album title from A Lad Insane – a reference to Bowie’s half-brother, who was schizophrenic, as well as Bowie’s state of mind – to Aladdin Sane. Duffy also changed the lightning flash – inspired by Elvis’ Taking Care of Business logo – from anchor tattoo-sized to full face makeup. Bowie, morphing from Ziggy Stardust, his previous persona, to Aladdin Sane, insisted on a lightning flash. “The image asks more questions than it answers: many dissertations have been written about its meaning,” Duffy said. “Bowie was very clever at putting something out there, and letting everyone else come up with some kind of theory on it.”

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As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations, a number of artists will pay tribute to Bowie and Aladdin Sane in the Royal Festival Hall on April 21.

The album was preceded by two singles ‘The Jean Genie’ and ‘Drive-In Saturday’, peaking in the U.K. singles chart at numbers 2 and 3 respectively, and was the first time Bowie topped the U.K. album charts. It also marked his debut on the U.S. top 20 album chart, where ‘Time’ and ‘Let’s Spend The Night Together’ were follow ups to the ‘The Jean Genie’. Camille Paglia, a US feminist academic, described the picture as “one of the most emblematic and influential art images of the past half-century, reproduced or parodied in advertising, media and entertainment worldwide”. Also among the exhibition is behind-the-scenes information on how the lighting bolt make-up was created as well as other shots taken in the same session with Bowie’s angular face captured in many ways. It was a habit Bowie continued throughout his life, taking threads from previous ideas and giving them a new context. Mike Garson explains: “That’s a 1920s stride style of piano; again David pulled that out of me. He was the ultimate casting director because he got the best out of everybody.” He later had the opportunity to photograph Bowie alongside his father in 1980 for his 14th studio album Scary Monsters.Duffy’s image became “the Mona Lisa of pop”, according to his son, who curated the exhibition at the Southbank Centre in central London and has written a book, Aladdin Sane 50: The definitive celebration of Bowie’s most iconic album and music’s most famous photograph. Bowie describedALADDIN SANEas ‘Ziggy Goes To Washington: Ziggy under the influence of America’. The album was to be Ziggy Stardust's last stand, and the persona was laid to rest three months after the album's release in July 1973 at the infamous final showwith theSpidersFromMarsat London’s Hammersmith Odeon. Chris Duffy who took the photo used on the front cover of David Bowie's Aladdin Sane album Credit: Duffy (c) Duffy Archive & The David Bowie Archive Mark Ball, the Southbank Centre’s artistic director, said: “The Aladdin Sane album cover portrait is considered to be one of the most influential pop culture images of the past half century, and the music remains fresh and contemporary, so we wanted to recognise this major anniversary and reflect on the album and its artwork’s enduring legacy.