THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Rock ’N’ Roll Star is a five-album set that explores David Bowie’s journey from February 1971 through the creation of the Ziggy Stardust character, the recording of the iconic The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars album, and the international mania that surrounded the Ziggy phenomenon through radio sessions and TV performances, as well as live tracks from The Spiders’ Oct. 1, 1972 show at the Boston Music Hall.
Rock ’N’ Roll Star, containing 29 unreleased tracks, covers early songwriting demos, recordings from David’s band The Arnold Corns, rehearsals at Bowie’s then-home Haddon Hall, BBC sessions, singles, live performances, outtakes and alternative versions from the original album sessions, which have been newly mixed by original producer Ken Scott.
Unreleased highlights include an alternative version of Lady Stardust, an unheard version of the deep-cut classic Shadow Man and an up-tempo take of The Who’s I Can’t Explain, which he would later slow down and cover for the Pin-Ups album. It also includes a version of the Ziggy Stardust album called Waiting In The Sky (Before The Starman Came To Earth) taken from Trident Studio tapes dated Dec. 15, 1971, which features an alternative running order and four songs that didn’t make the final album.
The physical release of Rock ’N’ Roll Star also contains two books. The first is an extensive 112-page book with detailed liner notes, memorabilia, contemporary reviews and articles, rare photographs from Barrie Wentzel, Michael Putland, Mick Rock, Sukita and Alec Byrne, as well as brand-new notes and interviews with Ken Scott, Mark Carr Pritchett and David’s plugger from the time, Anya Wilson. Accompanying the main book is a 36-page compiled reproduction of David’s personal Ziggy Stardust-era notebooks.”
