A London Boy

David Bowie, in the guise of Ziggy Stardust, is having a pregig meltdown when an excited young fan outside the theatre reminds him why he’s doing what he does. In flash back, the story of his journey from Beckenham to the Hammersmith Odeon, his rise to fame and the creation of Ziggy, unfolds. We deal with David’s early years as a Bromley teenager and follow him as he sets out on the path that will lead to him becoming the global musical icon that we’re all familiar with today. The majority of the story takes place in the two years spanning the end of the sixties and the beginning of the seventies. It’s this period, when David moved back to his Beckenham and Bromley roots after trying, and failing, to make it in the London music scene, that laid the foundation for his future success. Soon after his return to Beckenham, Bowie was instrumental in setting up a successful folk club in a local pub, which became the Beckenham Arts Lab. For a few months during the summer of 1969 a brief flowering of counter cultural exuberance took roots in Beckenham’s suburban soil, culminating in the Beckenham Free Festival. The story explores all the highs and lows of David’s efforts to establish himself as a performer and song writer. We also examine his complicated and unconventional personal life. He embarks on a famously “open” relationship with Angie Barnett, and very quickly sets up home with her in a flat in a crumbling Edwardian mansion called Haddon Hall. It’s here that The Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust are all written, and we get to meet the colourful cast of characters that David surrounds himself with in order to realise his vision. We follow David on his journey until, assuming the mantle of rock aristocracy, he moves away from Beckenham and the ideals of the sixties, never to return.