A devoted David Bowie fan has loaned his memorabilia spanning the Starman’s whole career to be displayed at Bromley Central Library.
Grove Park black cab driver Kevin Wicks, of Burnt Ash Lane, was just 16 years old when he started his personal collection in 1973.
Showcasing Bowie’s days as Ziggy Stardust to the Thin White Duke and beyond, the exhibition includes almost all of Bowie’s albums on vinyl from 1969 right up to the most recent Lazarus album.
Also on display are 12 inch singles, concert tickets, photographs and postcards and an “absolute mountain” of press cards, which Mr Wicks started collecting as a Bowie-obsessed teen working in WHSmith.
The 56-year-old said: “I was 16 when I started collecting all of this – it was around 1973 or 1974 when I got into Bowie.
“I went to see David Bowie in 1976 for the first time in concert and the ticket cost me £4.25. It’s crazy to think of that now.
“I saw him again in 1978 as a backup vocalist and pianist with Iggy Pop.”
He was also there for Bowie’s infamous arrival into Victoria Station, where the rock star allegedly did a Nazi salute, and is quick to fiercely defend the pop icon.
Mr Wicks said: “I saw it with my own eyes and he wasn’t, there’s no way. He was just waving.”
His daughter Gabriella, 24, has inherited the Bowie bug – with some encouragement from her dad – and some drawings she did as a tribute on the day of his death are also being shown.
He said: “It’s quite bad – when my daughter was little I played her all my music constantly hoping she would like it and luckily it stuck.
“By loaning my stuff to the library I just wanted to give something back to Bowie.”
Mr Wicks said he is ready to share his tribute with the residents of Bromley, where the much-loved musician spent much of his childhood and teenage years, after mourning his hero quietly and privately.
He added: “My 74-year-old mother texted me to tell me the news when Bowie died. She thought it was that important.
“On the day he died I drove down to Beckenham after my cab shift and looked at all the flowers left for him.
“They kept the park open all night and I went in there at one in the morning – there was only one other person there.”
The exhibition will run until February 20 at Bromley Central Library during library opening times.
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