Chapter 30: What's Going On? (May - November 1972)

12 May 1972

The Rolling Stones - Ziggy Stardust

Released: 12 May 1972

Recorded: June 1971 - March 1972

Producer: The Rolling Stones and Jimmy Miller

Track listing[1]

Side A

Five Years

Rocks Off

Moonage Daydream

Casino Boogie

Hang On to Yourself

Side B

Ziggy Stardust

Sweet Virginia

Torn and Frayed

Starman

Loving Cup

Side C

Soul Love

Sweet Black Angel

Lady Stardust

I Just Want to See His Face

Let It Loose

Side D

All Down the Line

Star

Shine a Light

Rip This Joint

Suffragette City

Rock 'n' Roll Suicide

After the release of Lifehouse by the Who, the Rolling Stones became even more determined than ever to beat them at their game. Lifehouse was a double album, and so the Stones' next album, Ziggy Stardust, would also be a double. Unlike Lifehouse's collection of self-contained songs with a loose concept, Ziggy Stardust would tell its own story about the bisexual androgynous rock star of the same name acting as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings.

Much of the story had been outlined by David Bowie, and after he presented his material, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards changed the lyrics to some of their material to build upon Bowie's vision, essentially expanding the universe of Ziggy Stardust. For instance, "Sweet Black Angel" was originally written about civil rights activist Angela Davis in 1970 following murder charges after the Marin County Civic Center attacks, but it was later changed to serve as a lead-in to "Lady Stardust", following a sexual encounter with the titular Sweet Black Angel. This would mark the beginning of the downfall of Ziggy in the story.

Mick Jagger performing with the Rolling Stones during the Ziggy Stardust Tour, 1972.

The first single off of the album, "Starman"/"Sweet Black Angel" was released in April, the month before the album's release. It marked a milestone in the Rolling Stones' history, with some believing that it was a sequel to "Space Oddity" from their 1969 album of the same name. Still, it received positive reviews and managed to reach #10 in the United Kingdom and #6 in the United States. Ziggy Stardust did even better when it was released in May. It managed to reach #1 on both sides of the Atlantic and was hailed as the Rolling Stones' greatest album, with critics praising the story and musical direction.

MICK JAGGER: "It was strangely satisfying, and yet kind of sad, that the same year that the Beatles were putting out their worst work at the time, the Stones had put out their best." (2012)

DAVID BOWIE: "Ziggy Stardust was such a fun project to work on, possibly one of the best we've ever done." (1983)

Shortly after the release of the album, having dealt with financial problems thanks to the assistance of Brian Epstein and Lord Beeching, the Stones could now finally come back to London. They had been advised not to return to France because of the police wanting to question them following Richards' involvement with drugs. Shortly afterward, the band flew to Los Angeles and resumed rehearsals for their North American tour. The next single off of the album, "All Down the Line"/"Rock and Roll Suicide", was released in June and hit #5 and #22 in the United Kingdom and United States, respectively.

12 June 1972

The Who, 1972.

KEITH MOON: "With hindsight, we should've scampered off with our tails between our legs earlier as the battle between the Who and the Stones had gone on for about five years by that point. Let's face it; they're heavier players than we really are. Except maybe David [Bowie], but he's still a nice guy." (1975)

It had been almost a year since the Who had put out Lifehouse, and people were now wondering what the follow-up was going to be like. Beginning with 1966's A Quick One (Happy Jack in America), the Who seemed to have been alternating between the goofier, looser albums (Magic Bus, 7ft. Wide Car, 6ft. Wide Garage) and the more serious, ambitious projects (Who's Lily, Tommy, Lifehouse), so it seemed to make sense that the next album, Rock is Dead - Long Live Rock, would follow that pattern.

However, Pete Townshend instead had the idea that Rock is Dead would be about the history of the Who, with a television special following it. Among the tracks recorded were "Join Together", "Relay", "Is It In My Head", "Long Live Rock", and "Love, Reign O'er Me". But out of these sessions came the single "Join Together"/"Baby Don't You Do It", which topped out at #9 in the United Kingdom and reached #17 in the United States.

ROGER DALTREY: "The resulting sessions felt too derivative of Lifehouse, and we didn't want to repeat ourselves for the October release, so we put the album on hold whilst Pete came up with new material. Meanwhile, John [Entwistle] and I did solo albums and Keith starred in That'll Be the Day which came out next year." (1995)

The Who performing live, 1972.

PETE TOWNSHEND: "We were soon back at the studio following our European tour and rethought our strategy for Rock is Dead; the first side would consist entirely of self-contained songs such as 'Relay' and 'Join Together', whilst the second side would consist of a mini-rock opera known as 'Cut My Hair'. This would be about teenage adolescence reminiscent to our early singles such as 'My Generation'. But we still didn't have the time to get the album out by the end of '72." (1982)

The Who's next single, "Relay" backed with Keith Moon's "Waspman", was released November 20, but it did not reach the Top 10 in either the United States (#39) or the United Kingdom (#21). Townshend considered the single to be a "white flag" response to the Rolling Stones following the release of Ziggy Stardust, finally realizing that the Who could never attempt to beat them, no matter how hard they tried. The battle of the bands, having begun in 1968, was finally over.

JOHN ENTWISTLE: "It was nice while it lasted, but it was for the best that the Who moved on to do what they did best and threw in the towel; well, what little was left of it, anyway. I can't really imagine what might've happened if we kept having this dick war with the Stones." (2005)

June 9, 1972

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Southbound Train

Released: June 9, 1972

Recorded: February 1971 - May 1972

Producer: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Track listing[2]

Side A

Southbound Train

War Song

Change Partners

Stranger's Room

Where Will I Be?

Sugar Babe

Side B

Are You Ready for the Country?

Page 43

Ecology Song

Alabama

The Wall Song

Immigration Man

GRAHAM NASH: "We had just finished up Southbound Train when Neil and I called David and Stephen into the studio that May. He'd written up a song in support of George McGovern's presidential campaign and I'd helped with the lyrics; ironic as he's Canadian and I'm British, but that's beside the point." (1992)

"Words (Between the Lines of Age)" was dropped from Southbound Train at the eleventh hour in favor of Neil Young and Graham Nash's "War Song"; instead, it would be released as part of a single with Nash's "Immigration Man" for August. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young had always included politically-oriented music on their albums - "Wooden Ships" on the eponymous debut album (without Young), for example, was about the horrors of coming across survivors from both sides following a nuclear holocaust - but Southbound Train was a bit more blatant with its political undertones.

American President Richard Nixon shaking hands with Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong, February 21, 1972.

The album's timing was very fitting for American listeners; the next United States presidential election was between incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon of New York and Democratic Senator George McGovern of South Dakota. Four years previous, Nixon had defeated Democratic nominees Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota (former vice-president to Nixon's predecessor, Lyndon Johnson) and George Wallace of Alabama (Wallace had been nominee for the American Independent Party in the 1968 election).

Since Nixon's inauguration into office, protests against America's involvement in the Vietnam War had gotten more aggressive following the exposure of the My Lai Massacre of 1968 in a Vietnamese village in November of 1969. At Kent State University in Ohio on May 4, 1970, four college students were killed by the Ohio National Guard for protesting the bombing of Cambodia, a neutral country in the war. This massacre had prompted Neil Young to write up "Ohio" in response to the shootings.

Young was heavily opposed to Nixon's presidency and instead supported George McGovern to become the 38th President of the United States through "War Song". It was the first single out of Southbound Train backed with Stephen Stills' "Singin' Call", released June 19 and reached #1 in the United States. It did not, however, do as highly in the United Kingdom, where it reached #23. The following singles - "Immigration Man"/"Words" (#14 US, #47 UK) and "Change Partners"/"Frozen Smiles" (#8 US, #40 UK) - would be released on August 4 and November 17, respectively, whilst "Page 43"/"Games" (#35 US) would come out the following year on January 19.

Stephen Stills performing live with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, 1972.

Southbound Train reached #1 in the United States, and also topped the charts for a week in the United Kingdom, with critics praising the sound for having more of a band feeling as opposed to four solo careers going on at the same time. Apart from the four singles, other noteworthy tracks included Young's "Alabama", a sequel to "Southern Man" from his solo album Oh, Lonesome Me the year before, discussing the changing landscape of America up to the early 1970s; both would inspire Lynyrd Skynyrd's most famous song, "Sweet Home Alabama", two years later.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young went on tour across the United States following the release of Southbound Train in the months leading up to Election Day on November 7. For an opening act before each show, Stephen Stills' side band, Manassas, would perform their own set before he would be joined by Crosby, Nash and Young. They were also joined by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band (including bassist Klaus Voormann) for their own set, focusing heavily on Lennon's politically themed numbers such as "Power to the People" and "Gimme Some Truth", as well as his own Beatles material such as "Come Together" and "Yer Blues".

This series of concerts headlined by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young would also inspire artists to perform live in support of George McGovern for president; Simon & Garfunkel had reunited for a live performance at Madison Square Garden alongside the likes of Peter, Paul and Mary and Dionne Warwick. If 1966 had been The Year Rock Fought Religion, then 1972 would go down in fame as The Year Music Fought Politics.

June 17 - November 7, 1972

The Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., 1972.

At 2:30 in the morning of June 17, a burglary had taken place at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex. Five men were arrested for breaking in, all were members of Nixon's White House Plumbers. Three days after the burglary, following the word of Deep Throat (associate director of the FBI, Mark Felt), one of the Plumbers had connections to CIA officer E. Howard Hunt, who was also connected to Special Counsel Charles Colson, who would later become a member of the infamous Watergate Seven.

Following this break in, Nixon had attempted to shut down the investigation, under the advice of Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman, by having CIA Director Richard Helms and Deputy Director Vernon A. Walters tell acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray to "Stay the hell out of this." The entire conversation had been recorded, thanks to a sound-activated taping system being installed in the Oval Office in February 1971.

To this day, it remains a mystery as to how and why it happened, and who committed the theft, but between June 23 (the day the conversation between Nixon, Helms and Walters was recorded in secret) and September 15 (the day that Hunt, ex-talk show host G. Gordon Liddy, and the Watergate burglars were indicted by a federal grand jury), the recording had been leaked to the public, sending the United States of America into a constitutional crisis. Now that one of Nixon's secrets had been exposed to the public, along with the popularity of anti-war music in the country, it looked as though the days of Nixon's presidency were numbered. Whoever stole the tapes has since gone down as an American legend, with people debating as to whether or not they were a hero or a villain.

"Come Home, America" was George McGovern's campaign slogan, in hopes of ending America's involvement with the Vietnam War.

President Nixon was furious about the leaks, and he ordered for the tape recorder and the tapes to be destroyed; fortunately, most were salvaged by the janitorial staff at the White House, and ended up at the National Archives and Records Administration. Knowing that it would be impossible to put this genie back in the bottle, Nixon was advised to not run for a second term following the scandal. In his place, House Minority Leader and Leader of the House Republican Conference Gerald Ford would take the Republican Party Ticket for the 1972 election with Bob Dole for Vice-President.[3] This choice was considered questionable by many, wondering why Republican liberal Nelson Rockefeller was not chosen for Ford's running mate instead of Dole.

For the Democratic Party Ticket, George McGovern's running mate for Vice-President would be former Governor of North Carolina and current president of Duke University, Terry Sanford, a close political ally of John F. Kennedy.[4] McGovern was not very popular in the American political world, but he was the Democrats' only choice following Ed Muskie's breakdown and the assassination attempt on George Wallace by Arthur Bremer, paralyzing him from the waist down. Perhaps, to McGovern's mind, choosing a Vice-President with good relations to a previous president would give him the best possible chance of success.

The 1972 presidential election would be the first following the ratification of the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution on July 1, 1971, which would lower the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen. Many college students ranging from eighteen to twenty-one were listening to the likes of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Bob Dylan and the Ladders on their personal record players, and after hearing of the leaks of the Nixon White House Tapes exposing the president's attempt to conceal the burglary at Watergate, most of them agreed that there was an underdog they could root for, and a villain to jeer. This would all soon come to a head as to who would end up winning the election on November 7...

Republican Party nominee Gerald Ford giving a concession following his defeat to Democratic nominee George McGovern, November 8, 1972.

GERALD FORD: "We are here among friends in Nebraska, where this campaign began just a few months ago. And we now bring it to an end tonight and have just sent this telegram to Senator McGovern: 'Congratulations on your victory. I hope that in the next four years, you shall lead us to a time of peace abroad and justice in America. You have my full support and perhaps, one day, you'll come over to watch football with us. With best wishes to you and your gracious wife, Eleanor. Sincerely, Gerald Ford.'" (following the election in which George McGovern became the next President of the United States of America, November 8, 1972)[5]

Footnotes

1. Tracks are sourced from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and Exile on Main St..
2. Tracks are sourced from Graham Nash David Crosby, Stephen Stills 2 and Harvest. "War Song" is sourced from disc eight on The Archives Vol. 1 1963-1972. Ironically, there is less CSNY collaboration than there was on Remember Our Names; Crosby appears on every song except "War Song", Stills appears on four songs, Nash appears on eight songs, and Young only appears on his own songs, averaging about six or seven songs per member.
3. In OTL, Gerald Ford ran for President with Bob Dole as Vice-President in 1976, but they lost against Democrats Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale. Ford ran as President with Nelson Rockefeller as his Vice-President, but not choosing Rockefeller as his running mate was Ford's downfall.
4. In OTL, George McGovern chose Thomas Eagleton to be his Vice-President before replacing him with Sargent Shriver.
5. In OTL, George McGovern sent a similar telegram to Richard Nixon's re-election. Ford's invitation to watch football is a reference to Two Bad Neighbors from The Simpsons.

Author's Comments

Someone ought to wake up Green Day since September's just ending! But with all seriousness, I've posted the thirtieth chapter of the series, fittingly, on September 30. It's also the first chapter to delve deeper into American politics, as well as the first big major POD concerning them in the story. What goes on with American politics in Strawberry Peppers won't be hugely focused upon in future chapters (the same thing will apply to movies and television with some exceptions down the road), but I will write information posts as to what went on during the respective presidencies of George McGovern onwards (in case you ask about Richard Nixon, his presidency is the same as it was up to 1972; the tapes were leaked earlier, leading to his downfall, so there won't be one about Tricky Dicky), and how it affected not only America, but politics from around the world as well. I'll admit I know jack shit about foreign politics, but I'll do the best I can. These are what some side-posts will be about:

• Culture: Movies and television.
• Discographies: A summary of a specific band or artist's releases; some discographies stretch back to before the 1966 point of divergence.
• Events: Moments of a conflict, the impact of a war, a political election, changes in laws to America or England, etc.
• Extra Scenes: You already know this one.
• Information: Highlighting events that have occurred since the 1966 point of divergence.
• Profiles: Highlighting a specific character in Strawberry Peppers and summarizing their story thus far, or providing exposition on that character.

Those are likely to be a bit more frequent as the series progresses as I'm putting Phase Two on a bit of a hiatus until October 21; I've got an outline for chapter 31 planned, but getting the albums for that chapter together isn't going to be an easy task. But in the meantime, I'll be working on chapters 32 and 33, which will come out the 23rd and 25th, respectively (hopefully!), and normal weekly service will resume the 28th with chapter 34. That's the plan, at least!

EDIT: (11/3/19) The album cover to Ziggy Stardust has been updated, courtesy of Auran.