Ziggy Changed My Life: Lipstick Traces

Okay, maybe this one doesn't look too good on paper.
A radio documentary about Ziggy Stardust written and presented by Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet fame - but it was pretty good.
Kemp can be a thoughtful writer (I remember Julie Burchill once saying how shocked she was at how good he was) and forty years ago, he was there.
A working-class lad from north London who had his world turned upside down by Ziggy Stardust, Kemp was also a witness to Ziggy's legendary farewell performance at Hammersmith Odeon in 1973.
At times this seemed a bit York Notes; racing through a litany of the influences David Bowie fed off for his greatest creation; Little Richard, Vince Taylor, Lindsay Kemp, Andy Warhol blah blah blah.
Its strength lay in the interviews with a number of Bowie's friends and collaborators, most hilariously Spiders Woody and Trevor, two very straight blokes from Hull wondering how far into poovery they were being taken.
There are also some great little jolts about how threatening many found this at the time, like the TV producer who didn't want "those perverts" on his show.
Kemp is particularly good on how thrilling he found it all, it was, he has written, his "teenage crush".
John Lennon once quipped about Bowie's early 70s model/s; "It's great - but it's just Rock n Roll with lipstick on."
This programme shows why Ziggy Stardust meant so much more than just that.

PS If you're reading this in the not-too-distant future and the above i-Player link has expired, it's being repeated on BBC Radio 2 on June 6th - your actual 40th anniversary of the album's release.