This week in 1972 David Bowie released his fifth studio album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The concept album introduced us to Bowie’s alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, a fictional rock star who is sent to Earth as a saviour to bring a message of hope to humanity before an impending apocalypse. The album peaked at number 5 in the UK and remains on that chart for two years, bolstered by Bowie’s performance of “Starman” on “Top of the Pops” in July 1972.