Picture the scene: It's London, it's October 1973, and the air is thick with glitter. At the iconic Marquee Club on London's Wardour Street, Ziggy Stardust is treading the boards for the last time.
David Bowie had officially retired Ziggy at the climax of his show at Hammersmith Odeon the previous July, but Ziggy-mania was still in full swing. At one point over the summer, Bowie had five albums in the UK Top 50, and even a reissue of his much-mocked 1967 single The Laughing Gnome hit the Top 10, selling 250,000 copies in the process.
