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    RockChat Rewind with Joe Milliken
    On this day in 1973, David Bowie released his sixth studio album titled “Aladdin Sane.” Recorded at Trident Studios in London and RCA Studios in New York City and Nashville, and produced by Ken Scott and Bowie, it was the follow-up to his breakthrough smash hit “Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars” and received mostly positive reviews from the media. The title is a play on the words “A lad insane.”
    A new Bowie character, Aladdin Sane, was an extension of the Ziggy character and described by Bowie as “Ziggy going to America,” complete with a red lightning bolt painted across his face and red hair on the album cover. Most of the songs were written while touring for the “Ziggy” album.
    “Aladdin Sane” debuted at #1 in the UK (over 100,000 copies had been ordered pre-release) and reached #17 in the U.S., and during 1973, Bowie had accumulated a staggering 182 weeks combined on the British album chart with six different albums. “The Jean Genie” was released as a single and only reached #71 in America, but hit #1 in the UK, while the single “Drive-In Saturday” hit #3 in the UK and did not chart in America. Other fan favorites included the rocker ‘Panic in Detroit” and a cover of the Rolling Stones song “Let’s Spend The Night Together.”
    In 2003, the album was reissued with bonus tracks and in 2013, a remastered 40th anniversary edition was released. Despite the singles not charting very high in America, “Aladdin Sane” would still go on to become one of Bowie’s most successful albums, selling nearly 5 million copies worldwide.
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