GEOFF MACCORMACK FIRST MET DAVID JONES AT BURNT ASH PRIMARY SCHOOL IN BROMLEY WHEN THEY WERE JUST EIGHT YEARS OLD.

Schooldays behind them, David Jones metamorphosed into David Bowie while Geoff worked at a string of clothes boutiques and even as a runner and occasional singer for the BBC Radio One DJ Emperor Rosko. But the two remained friends.

When David asked Geoff to join his band as a backing singer and percussionist, he was already well on the way to superstardom. The album Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars had conquered the UK charts six months previously in June of 1972. Bowie had played to a sold-out Carnegie Hall in New York in September and followed his debut US tour with a packed-out homecoming gig at London's Rainbow Theatre on Christmas Eve.

For the next three years Geoff was by Bowie's side, travelling through Japan, across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Express, through Paris and Rome, and all over the US.

He was on stage when Bowie retired Ziggy Stardust. He helped record six albums, including Pin Ups, Diamond Dogs, Young Americans - at the legendary Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia - and Station To Station.