Aladdin Sane 50th Anniversary (Half Speed Master)

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Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge. 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.

Aladdin Sane: 50 Years will see a raft of events at The Southbank Centre celebrating the 50th anniversary of David Bowie’s iconic 1973 album, Aladdin Sane. Featuring a two-month long exhibition (6 April – 28 May) exploring the creation of the album’s iconic artwork, including the legendary lightning flash portrait by photographer Brian Duffy, as well as an amazing line-up of live music and talks inspired by the album. 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.”The exhibition, which is based in the Spirit Level at the Royal Festival Hall, will explore this idea of how Bowie continuously reinvented his image throughout his career and inspired his fans to do the same. Aladdin Sane 50 Years is being marked by a series of events The Southbank Centre, London for more info southbankcentre.co.uk Chris refers to the cover as "the Mona Lisa of Pop", and it remains Bowie’s most recognisable album sleeve. It also provided him with a brand logo in the form of the flash but it’s the small teardrop on Bowie's shoulder that adds a further uncanny quality. 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

On 14th April, 2023, one week before its Golden Jubilee, ALADDIN SANE will be issued as a limited edition 50th anniversary half-speed mastered LP and a picture disc LP pressed from the same master. Speaking to the Guardian on the eve of the exhibition’s opening, Chris Duffy said that for his father it was “just another job”. He added: “I don’t think any artist gets up in the morning and thinks I’m going to create a piece of brilliant art or a cultural icon. It’s all about timing. A lot of things came together at the right time to produce this.” 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 he topped the U.K. album charts. It also markedBowie’sdebut on the U.S. charts reaching the top 20 album chart there, where an edited version of‘Time’was released as a single. 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 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.There will also be talks exploring Aladdin Sane, Bowie, and his cultural significance. The National Poetry Library presents Aladdin Sound with ten of the UK’s most exciting poets in the Centre’s Purcell Room on 21 April. 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. David always had the flash concept in his head,” says Chris. “Being a big Elvis fan who he shared his birthday with, he lifted it from his taking care of business in a flash acronym. When they were deciding on the colour scheme they agreed on the flash from the Panasonic rice cooker my grandma bought. So you could say she was elemental in bringing that to fruition.” Aladdin Sane perhaps more than any other Bowie album achieved that aim. One of Garson’s abiding memories is perpetually-exploding speakers. “Our recordings were being blasted out and every night. The speakers would blow out and they would have to replace it. God knows what it was costing.”