Recording: Ziggy Stardust, Star, Hang On To Yourself, Looking For A Friend, Velvet Goldmine, Sweet Head

David Bowie recorded six songs for The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars on 11 November 1971.

This was the third recording session for the album. Bowie decided to scrap the recordings made on 8 and 10 November.

I really enjoyed doing that album, but I remember it being a nightmare because Bowie would come in and just throw songs at us. We were used to it, but the unfortunate thing wasn’t, ‘Here’s a song. Let’s rehearse it for an hour.’ It was, ‘Here’s a song. You got it? Let’s go.’ You had one or two takes, and that was it. It still turned out great.

Bowie and the Spiders From Mars had recorded versions of ‘Star’ and ‘Hang On To Yourself’ on the first day, 8 November. However, he later decided the results were substandard and chose to re-record both songs.

In addition, versions of ‘Ziggy Stardust’, ‘Looking For A Friend’, ‘Velvet Goldmine’, and ‘Sweet Head’ were taped. Although intended for a future album at this stage, three of the songs were unused. ‘Velvet Goldmine’ was a b-side in 1975, and ‘Sweet Head’ remained unreleased until 1990, while ‘Looking For A Friend’ was left in the vaults.