Ballarat cafe honouring David Bowie's music packed to the rafters for anniversary

The Lady Stardust on Sturt Street was packed on Wednesday morning as it celebrated a year of coffee, cuisine and catchy tunes.

"I've always liked music and it was my dream to open up a little cafe," owner Jo Britt said.

"Thirty years later, it happened!

"I didn't really do any research and I haven't run a cafe before. I just wanted something with a music theme - and I followed my heart with David Bowie."

And it's struck a chord with locals.

The cafe now employs four people and has a long list of regulars who are sometimes waiting at the door at 8am.

Ms Britt said the shop had operated as a cafe under different names opposite Grampians Health (Ballarat Base Hospital) for at least 10 years

It has vinyl LPs hanging from the ceiling - and a huge range of rock memorabilia spanning the '60s, '70s and '80s.

"I have to admit, the LPs all came from op shops. There is no way I would hang my original David Bowie records from the roof. They're safely at home," she said.

"I wasn't allowed to have posters on my wall as a kid - they had to stuck on the inside of my closet - so I guess I'm making up for it now!"

The cafe also features images and music from other bands including the Beatles, AC/DC, Queen, Cheap Trick, the Divinyls, Kiss and Led Zeppelin.

Even the ice cream list is a Robert Plant poster.

But she draws the line at ABBA.

"We do have one song on our playlist, but that's it," she said.

So why 'Lady Stardust'?

She said it was the name of a song on Bowie's 1972 album 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'.

The hit LP also included the song Starman.

Bowie released his first album in 1967 - and his 26th album just days before his death in January 2016. A posthumous album,Toy, was released last year.

Ms Britt admitted her favourite Bowie era was the 1970s.

"I like some of his '80s stuff but it was very commercial by then," she said.

So what next for Lady Stardust?

"We'll add to the decor, add more records and switch to a Summer menu shortly." Ms Britt said.

At the moment the cafe rock stars have been serving "wholesome traditional food" - and fans have been lining up for their range of focaccias as well as coffee from Gordon-based roasting business Karon Farm.

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