Bowie and the Wraeththu
by Lydia Wood  

Why I Am Writing This?

I am one of the poor folks who helps run Immanion Press and Storm's web site; I’m also one of the writers for the Wraeththu RPG: From Enchantment to Fulfilment, so in a few months time, when you have a copy of this wonderful book in your hands, you will notice that in the "Thanks to.." section of the book, a certain Mr. David Bowie is mentioned.

As everyone who even briefly meets me knows, I am a huge David Bowie fan, verging very often on the obsessive (I run a mailing list and a fan site). Bruce, the main artist for the RPG is also a Bowie fan, I will leave it to him to decide if he is obsessed, but I am currently training him. So with two of the main developers of the game being David Bowie fans, he has definitely had his influence on the shaping of the Wraeththu game ... but not many people know that he also had a small part to play in the development of the Wraeththu novels themselves.

Wraeththu, Ziggy and Aladdin Sane:
The Early Days

While the history of the Wraeththu novels is well documented and Storm has often mentioned what influenced her to write the books, the link between Bowie and the Wraeththu has to be considered as a very real one. While writing the novels Storm herself was a fan — she can deny this if she wants, but I’ve seen her record collection!

To understand the link you must consider the 70's UK glam rock scene: androgyny, pretty boys, sexual ambiguity were all spearheaded by Marc Bolan and a certain David Bowie in his guise of Ziggy Stardust… real life Sex, Drugs and Rock N’ Roll were taking place right then and there; no doubt both David and Marc would have felt right at home playing alongside Caeru at that nightclub in Ferelithia!

David’s guises of Ziggy Stardust and his next incarnation, the even more bizarre, androgynous Aladdin Sane, influenced a whole generation, including Storm. There had been nothing like Ziggy ever before and despite a few lame attempts in recent years, nothing has come close since.

The best way for me to prove the subtle (and sometimes blatant) connection between David Bowie and the Wraeththu is through the lyrics to his songs, though plans have been made for a Bowie-Wraeththu CD!

The album Hunky Dory that this track came from was released before Ziggy Stardust came into being, but the lyrics read like something straight out of Wraeththu history, I’m sure you’ll agree! If you’ve never heard this song, please listen to the MP3 or track down the album, as it is a wonderful example of 70’s camp decadence.

"Lady Stardust" was written about Marc Bolan, but still presents a wonderful image in my mind of some beautiful har taking the stage in some dark seedy underground club full of humans, with the har’s chesnari standing at one side smirking at the reaction of the crowd. Also note how Lady Stardust goes from being a "her" to becoming a "he," a lovely sense of androgyny. 

Panic in Detroit (extract) (Aladdin Sane) He laughed at accidental sirens that broke the evening gloom The police had warned of repercussions They followed none too soon A trickle of strangers were all that were left alive Panic in Detroit, I asked for an autograph He wanted me to stay home, I wish someone would phone Panic in Detroit Putting on some clothes I made my way to school And I found my teacher crouching in his overall I screamed and ran to smash my favourite slot machine And jumped the silent cars that slept the traffic lights Having scored a trillion dollars, made a run back home Found him slumped across the table, a gun and me alone I ran to the window, looked for a plane or two Panic in Detroit. He'd left me an autograph "Let me collect dust" I wish someone would phone Panic in Detroit

The song "Panic in Detroit" represents to me the true downfall of human society as the Wraeththu take over the big cities, the true breeding ground of the Uigenna. The phones have stopped working, no planes fly in the skies anymore and those that can't see a future are taking their own lives. All that are left are the Wraeththu born from these ashes… I would have loved to have posted the lyrics in full and highly recommend tracking down the missing first verse.

The Year of the Diamond Dogs:
This ain't rock 'n' roll. This is genocide!

The ultimate early Wraeththu album has to be Diamond Dogs — the whole feel and theme of the album is like a snapshot of Carmine, where Thiede was born. Storm and David where drawing off the same influences; one produced music the other invented the Wraeththu. Both have often been quoted as saying William S. Burroughs The Wild Boys and George Orwell's 1984 was at the forefront of their mind while writing their works. David had wanted to make a theatrical production of 1984, but the Orwell estate denied him the rights; the album Diamond Dogs was what was left of this production. The freakish cover and especially the post apocalyptic interior artwork also help the feel of the album.

Diamond Dogs album cover

Interior artwork, Diamond Dogs

This may as well be the introduction to Carmine City. "And ten thousand peoploids split into small tribes" — how more Wraeththu can you get? "Future Legend" is the introduction to the Diamond Dogs album and masterfully set the mood for the entire piece.

"Sweet Thing" to me shows the seduction of the Wraeththu at its best — they will steal you away, a blessing and a curse, as who knows if you'll survive inception on these rough city streets. I can imagine one of the slightly older hara (as they are all young at this time) starting his own little tribe by promising a million and ones things to his new recruits, who are all enchanted by his beauty and confidence.

"Candidate" is the follow up to "Sweet Thing" and even by reading the lyrics you can see why. The songs were very often performed together complete with the reprise of Sweet Thing after Candidate. Reading these lyrics again and knowing their origins, I still find it hard to separate them from Wraeththu at all!

Diamond Dogs is one album that should be listened to by all Wraeththu fans! I would truly love to post all the lyrics from the album here, but hopefully I can convince you to all go out and buy the album instead!

David Bowie, the Man, the Legend….

Beyond just his lyrics, David Bowie's image has also played a part in influencing the Wraeththu — with his androgynous, almost alien-like looks, his strange otherworldly characteristics, such as his different coloured eyes. In the 70's even the way you wore your hair could start a revolution and David certainly did that! He openly wore dresses and even announced he was gay (David is actually bi-sexual), even though he had a wife and child. Mr. Bowie did nothing by half and always made an impact wherever he went.

As far as his looks are concerned, David has definitely had an influence on the character of Thiede; it's kind of nice for me to think of David as the Aghama himself! Most people I have spoke to about this seem to agree with me that Mr. Bowie would make an excellent Thiede if a Wraeththu movie was ever made.

I speak now purely as a Bowie fan, but David has added to his strangeness by hardly seeming to age at all! He is now 57 years old and still one of the sexiest men alive, in my not so humble opinion! Many over the years have been convinced that he's an Alien, but maybe, just maybe he's a Wraeththu!

To be continued…

And for those who want more now...

The David Bowie albums Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and Diamond Dogs are available just about anywhere. The last three are available as 2CD 30th Anniversary box sets, which are well worth tracking down.

If you want to know more about David Bowie please visit my website Bowie Nation , http://www.discord.wox.org/bowie (still in development). Or join my Yahoo Group: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/bowienation/ .

About the Author:
Lydia Wood is a staff member at Immanion Press and a rabid David Bowie fan. She can be reached at eris@discord.wox.org.