See 50th anniversary remastered footage of David Bowie and Mick Ronson performing Starman

Can you believe David Bowie's The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars album is 50 years old? This newly remastered footage of the late icon and his Spiders band performing Starman on the BBC's Top Of The Pops was as vital to inspiring a generation as The Beatles' appearance on the Ed Sullivan show was to the one before. 

It was the performance that made Bowie a star in his own right, inspiring musicians that would make their mark in the following decade. 'Those watching that night included U2’s Bono, The Cure’s Robert Smith, Boy George, Adam Ant, Mick Jones of the Clash, Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet, Morrissey and Johnny Marr of the Smiths, Siouxsie Sioux, Toyah Willcox, John Taylor and Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran, Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode and many more,' states Bowie's official Facebook. 

"He would take something he liked, filter it through his own sort of genius, and make it his own" – David Bowie's guitarists on working with an icon

Rob Laing
Guitars Editor, MusicRadar

I'm the Guitars Editor for MusicRadar, handling news, reviews, features, tuition, advice for the strings side of the site and everything in between. Before MusicRadar I worked on guitar magazines for 15 years, including Editor of Total Guitar in the UK. When I'm not rejigging pedalboards I'm usually thinking about rejigging pedalboards.