In 1964, a bunch of mop-topped young men appeared on the BBC’s early evening Tonight programme, being interviewed by a mildly bemused, but not unfriendly, Cliff Michelmore to promote the “Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men”. Their spokesman, making his first television appearance, was 17-year-old David Jones.
Within a decade, and better known as David Bowie, his 1972 performance on Top of the Pops, as Ziggy Stardust, would make his previous appearance seem tame.
As the recent box-set release celebrating Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust period demonstrates, this was part of a prolific, and productive, period when he was evolving rapidly as an artist, experimenting with his image as well as his music.
