The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars - Packaging

Packaging

The album cover photograph was taken outside furriers "K. West" at 23 Heddon Street, London, W1., looking south-east towards the centre of the city. The post office in the background (now "The Living Room, W1" bar) was the site of London's first nightclub, The Cave of the Golden Calf, which opened in 1912. As part of street renovations, in April 1997 a red 'K series' phonebox was returned to the street, replacing a modern blue phonebox, which in turn had replaced the original phonebox featured on the rear cover.

The cover was among the ten chosen by the Royal Mail for a set of "Classic Album Cover" postage stamps issued in January 2010. The rear cover of the original vinyl album bore the instruction "TO BE PLAYED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME." The instruction was omitted, however, from the EMI 1999 re-release.

In March 2012 The Crown Estate, which owns Regent Street and Heddon Street, installed a commemorative brown plaque at 23 Heddon Street in the same place as the "K. West" sign on the cover photo. The unveiling was attended by original band members Mick Woodmansey and Trevor Bolder, and by Gary Kemp. The plaque was the first to be installed by The Crown Estate and is one of the few plaques in the country devoted to fictional characters. The sign above David Bowie's head was installed by Barry Lomax in the mid '60s when working for the London depot of Brighton sign company Bush Signs.