Party: Haddon Hall, Beckenham

A homecoming party was held for David Bowie at his Haddon Hall in Beckenham on 5 May 1973.

Bowie had recently completed the USA and Japan legs of the Ziggy Stardust Tour, and had journeyed through Russia, Poland, Germany, and France before arriving back in England.

The party guests included Tony Visconti, Mary Hopkin, Ken Scott, Mick Ronson, Suzi Fussey, Lindsay Kemp, George and Birgit Underwood, and NME journalist Charles Shaar Murray. It was Bowie’s first encounter with Visconti since the recording sessions for 1970’s The Man Who Sold The World.

Bowie’s fame meant that Haddon Hall often had fans camping outside, and it was no longer a practical place to live. Shortly afterwards Bowie and his family moved to a rented apartment in Vale Court on Hall Road in London’s Maida Vale. In the interim the young Zowie Bowie (Duncan Jones) was moved to the Park Lane Hotel with his nanny Daniella Parmar.