ZIGGY, as the song has it, played guitar. His creator, though, did so much more than that.

This week has been extremely rich pickings for anyone interested in the late, great David Bowie. Last weekend saw the BBC premiere of Finding Fame, the third part of Francis Whateley’s acclaimed trilogy of documentaries about the Thin White Duke. Tuesday, meanwhile, saw the publication of Chris O’Leary’s Ashes to Ashes, the second volume of his magisterial song-by-song account of Bowie’s music, taking the reader from Bowie’s Berlin album through to his final release Blackstar.

This Friday, Salisbury City Hall plays host to Holy Holy, a self-styled supergroup of former Bowie collaborators, led by producer Tony Visconti, and Spiders From Mars drummer Woody Woodmansey. With vocalist Glenn Gregory doing the daunting job of stepping into Bowie’s shoes, the set focuses heavily on the early 1970s period when Visconti and Woodmansey were involved in David Bowie’s breakthrough into the big time.

Bowie’s success wasn’t a given: The Man Who Sold The World (1970) and Hunky Dory (1971) had great reviews but didn’t trouble the charts on their first release (Changes, the only single originally released from Hunky Dory, only reached number 49). What ch-ch-changed everything was the third album of this period, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (1972). Starman, a late addition to the album at the suggestion of Bowie’s record label, became his first hit since Space Oddity. In July 1972, Bowie appeared on Top of the Pops to promote the song, one of those iconic performances that became seared in the mind of a generation.

This was cemented by the Ziggy Stardust tour, an exhaustive eighteen month, 191-date venture that began in Aylesbury in January 1972, and finished, via North America and Japan at the Hammersmith Odeon in July 1973 – here, to the consternation of band and fans alike, Bowie retired his Ziggy Stardust persona and backing group live on stage. Various tours lay claims to being the greatest, but Ziggy Stardust is undoubtedly one of the most influential: Morrissey, Boy George, Holly Johnson, John Taylor and Gary Kemp were among the seventies teenagers to watch and be inspired.

On June 14, 1973, the Ziggy Stardust tour came to Salisbury City Hall. According to one account, the show began with the band coming on stage to the theme from A Clockwork Orange. Woody Woodmansey was first, followed by fellow spiders Trevor Bolder and Mick Ronson, and then Bowie himself, each with their back to the audience. As the opening to Hang on to Yourself rang out, the band spun round into a blast of spotlights and a roar from the crowd.

And Ziggy played guitar.