44 years ago today (2/10/72) David Bowie appeared at the Tolworth Toby Jug, London, on the opening date of his Ziggy Stardust tour, which was the debut performance of the Ziggy persona. The character of Ziggy was initially inspired by British rock ‘n’ roll singer Vince Taylor. Dressed in a striking costume, his hair dyed reddish-brown, the show was backed by his band the Spiders from Mars—featuring Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey. Following Ziggy, Bowie morphed into his Thin White Duke era with the “plastic soul” LP Young Americans. Although there is no video of this debut Ziggy performance, check out this video of “Starman” from Top of the Pops from the same year.
