ON TH E R E C ORD
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[ b y PAUL HAMPSHIR E ]
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David Bowie released ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’ in 1972. The concept album is based on the story of a rock star from outer space. Ziggy is the human manifestation of an alien being who is attempting to present humanity with a message of hope in the last five years of its existence. The Album was a major factor in Bowies becoming one of the world's best known rock stars. The cover was shot in January 1972, outside furriers "K. West" at 23 Heddon Street, London, with orange haired Bowie clad in a green jumpsuit, resting his foot on a step.
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Apparently, Brian Ward the photographer was shooting the band in a makeshift photographic studio above the street and suggested they do some outdoor shots. The other band members thought it was too cold and declined to join Bowie for the picture so he appeared alone on the cover. The post office in the background (now "The Living Room, W1" bar) was the site of London's first nightclub, The Cave of the Golden Calf, which opened in 1912. As part of street renovations, in April 1997 a red phonebox was returned to the street, replacing a modern blue phonebox, which in turn had replaced the original phonebox featured on the rear cover.
Earlier this year a plaque was unveiled to mark the site of the cover shot.