Switch on the TV we may pick him up on channel two...
In my continued look back at the key moments that led up to the release of 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars' on June 6th 1972, it's time to recall David's very first appearance as Ziggy on nation-wide television here in the UK.
For most fans, David's performance of 'Starman' on Top Of The Pops was their first sighting of this incredible creation from another galaxy, but a broadcast of two songs on The Old Grey Whistle Test on the 8th of February 1972, was in fact Ziggy's very first TV appearance.
Though three songs were recorded for the show, only 'Queen Bitch' and 'Five Years' were actually broadcast on the day. Incredibly, a third song, 'Oh! You Pretty Things' was kept in the can for a further ten years! A different take of this song was broadcast on the BBC a couple of years back, and you can read an account of the full session on Mike Harvey's most excellent
Bowie dressed in the same clothes that he had worn for the Melody Maker cover shoot a couple of weeks previously, (01/22/02 NEWS: THE OUTING OF ZIGGY - 30 YEARS AGO TODAY!) which was in fact the very same outfit he wore on the Ziggy album sleeve. The Spiders entered into the spirit in wonderfully futuristic silver suits, even if they didn't all look completely comfortable with this new look.