Apparently Vince Taylor was a model for David Bowie's "Ziggie Stardust"
character. This excerpt from a 1997 Bowie interview on WBCN radio gives
some details:
Bowie: He was an American who had ambitions to be kind of a
Presley-esque character in the late '50s. And he never -- he
couldn't make it here, kind of like P.J. Proby who's another one of
those kind of Elvis lookalike type guys. And they both came over to
Eng---
Bradley: Like Reeves!
Bowie: Like kind of a Reeves thing, yeah. And Proby did very well in
Britain. But Vince Taylor also bombed in Britain. So he ended up
going to France. Ah, quite mad, mad as a hatter, Vince. And he
formed a band over there. One night he walked out onstage dressed as
Jesus and said, "I won't be needing this band anymore. In fact, I
won't be needing any of you. 'Cause I have places to go, and, and
a father to return to." And he became Christ! I met him once in
London, and he took me down Oxford Street in London, and opened up
maps and put them on the pavement and showed me where all the UFOs
were going to be landing shortly. And Vince kind of became a role
model for the Ziggy-type character.
Well, Vince Vince unfortunately is no longer with us, he died about
seven or eight years ago, he ended up -- this is very unsettling --
there as a maintenance man in Geneva Airport for Swiss Airlines...!
Not many people know that, Bradley!