STARDUST MEMORIES

Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust producer (and Beatles engineer) KEN SCOTT recalls the making of two of DAVID BOWIE and MARK RONSON’s most iconic albums.

- MARK MCSTEA

DAVID BOWIE’S THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND the Spiders from Mars, to give it its full title, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It’s the record that cemented Bowie’s status as an international superstar, selling more than 7 million copies, and it is second only to Let’s Dance [1983] in terms of Bowie’s most successful records. Key to Bowie’s rise to prominence was the work of guitarist Mick Ronson, the perfect visual and sonic foil for Bowie’s unique vision.

At the helm for Ziggy was producer Ken Scott, who’d engineered a couple of Bowie’s albums when Tony Visconti was producing. Scott’s own story reads as the unlikeliest of tall tales. Applying for an apprenticeship in recording and engineering, his first job after leaving school was working as a trainee engineer with the Beatles. He went on to engineer most of their albums as well as work on countless legendary rock, pop and fusion records. These days, he’s a visiting professor in the School of Film, Music and Performing Arts at Leeds Beckett University in the U.K.

You first worked as producer with Bowie on Hunky Dory before producing Ziggy with him. Tony Visconti produced the previous two albums with you engineering. How’d you step into the producer’s chair?

I’d reached the point where I was having to think about the engineering process less and less; it had become second nature to me. I wanted to make the move and I happened to mention to David that I was planning to move into production. He said he’d just signed a new management deal and was about to go into the studio and [asked] if I’d like to help him. That was Hunky Dory