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WORK TITLE: Spider from Mars
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S): Woodmansey, Mick
BIRTHDATE: 2/4/1951
WEBSITE: http://www.woodywoodmansey.com/
CITY: London, England
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: British
http://www.woodywoodmansey.com/ * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Woodmansey * https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/david-bowie-drummer-woody-woodmansey-breaks-down-his-new-memoir-spider-from-mars
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born February 4, 1951, in Driffield, East Yorkshire, England.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Drummer for David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Holy Holy, U-boat, Cybernauts, and 3-D.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Woody Woodmansey is a drummer who played with rock star David Bowie in the band Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and he has also played in such bands as Holy Holy, U-boat, Cybernauts, and 3-D. Discussing his career in a Noisey website interview with Seth Ferranti, Woodmansey remarked: “After making the decision to be a drummer and play in a band, most of my time was spent practicing, listening to albums, and watching the bands at the time like The Who, Free, and Jeff Beck to gather information and improve my skills as a drummer. Continually checking my abilities against drummers who had already made it and asking myself, Can I play like that? How do I play that? Somewhere along the line I started to wonder if I could actually make it as a successful musician and have a career.” Woodmansey added: “When Bowie rang me and asked me to move to London and join his band it was a leap of faith to some degree. I had a personal conviction that I was good enough as a player, but I was aware that there are no guarantees.”
The rest, however, is rock history, and Woodmansey shares that history in his memoir Spider from Mars: My Life with Bowie, written with the assistance of Joel McIver. In the book, Woodmansey relates his work on several classic Bowie records, including The Man Who Sold the World. The drummer additionally relates his experiences touring with Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. According to Woodmansey, Bowie was initially anxious about his performances, but as their successes mounted, Bowie withdrew from the rest of the band. From there, Woodmansey reflects on his eventual firing, followed by his later work with such musicians as Art Garfunkel. While “casual fans may find the telling a bit dry,” a Publishers Weekly critic noted, “those interested in rock history won’t want to miss this slice of music history.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor was even more positive, asserting that the “memoir is generally absent of bile, as the author prefers to riff on tour pranks, drum technique, and—especially—clothing and makeup.” Ken Grady, writing in the online Upside News, proffered further applause, advising that Woodmansey “strips away some of the romantic notions long-term Bowie fans may still be clinging on to. The Spiders were not overly worldly—let alone other-worldly—and their touring exploits were pretty mundane and their pranks and high-jinks really lame. In some ways, this gives a more grounded view of the time, but it can also be seen to depressingly demythologize this magical time in rock music history and in the lives of seventies glam-rock starchildren.”
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Woodmansey, Woody, and Joel McIver, Spider from Mars: My Life with Bowie, St. Martin’s Press (New York, NY), 2017.
PERIODICALS
Booklist, December 15, 2016, June Sawyers, review of Spider from Mars.
Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 2016, review of Spider from Mars.
Publishers Weekly, November 14, 2016, review of Spider from Mars.
ONLINE
Noisey, https://noisey.vice.com/ (August 28, 2017), Seth Ferranti, author interview.
Upside News, https://theupsidenews.com/ (December 28, 2016), Ken Grady, review of Spider from Mars.
Woody Woodmansey Website, http://www.woodywoodmansey.com/ (August 28, 2017).*
David Bowie Drummer Woody Woodmansey Breaks Down His New Memoir 'Spider From Mars'
Seth Ferranti
Seth Ferranti
Jan 3 2017, 11:30am
We talked to Woodmansey about his new book and what it was like to rock with Bowie in the Ziggy Stardust era.
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With the hippy era on its way out glam rock hit the scene in the early 1970s, bringing with it musicians in makeup and outlandish outfits, elaborately themed concerts, and artistic music that celebrated the spectacle of the rock star in the moment. Theatrical frontmen led bands that put on circus-like musical productions dripping in space age futurism. With an out-of-the-gutter quality that rappers like Tupac later emulated, glam rock was the backlash against the Summer of Love-type rock that dominated the airwaves in the 1960s. David Bowie, the original Starman and his backing band, the Spiders From Mars, were the forerunners in the genre, combining decadence with showmanship and rebellion. "Rebelling against the rebellion," as critic Robert Palmer noted.
In a new book out January 3, Spider from Mars: My Life With David Bowie, drummer Woody Woodmansey, the last living member of the group, details in painstaking glory the early years of the band when they rocketed to fame on the backs of songs like "The Man Who Sold the World," "Suffragette City," and "Life on Mars' that cemented Bowie's legacy as a worldwide superstar and cultural icon. Woodmansey was present and accounted for in the Ziggy Stardust era from 1969-1973 when Bowie crisscrossed the globe and experimented with drugs, sexuality and boundaries in a haze of rock star hubris. As Bowie got more eccentric from gorging himself on fame his destructive tendencies tore the band apart. Noisey chatted with Woodmansey to find out what it was like playing drums for Ziggy Stardust.
Noisey: At one point you were wavering between working a stable job as an eyeglass factory manager and moving to London to join Bowie's band. Looking back what made you decide to go for the uncertain future of being in a rock band?
Woody Woodmansey: After making the decision to be a drummer and play in a band, most of my time was spent practicing, listening to albums, and watching the bands at the time like The Who, Free, and Jeff Beck to gather information and improve my skills as a drummer. Continually checking my abilities against drummers who had already made it and asking myself, Can I play like that? How do I play that? Somewhere along the line I started to wonder if I could actually make it as a successful musician and have a career.
When Bowie rang me and asked me to move to London and join his band it was a leap of faith to some degree. I had a personal conviction that I was good enough as a player, but I was aware that there are no guarantees, especially in the music business. At that point I decided it was the right thing to do, follow the dream and give it 100 percent. I knew if I didn't it would be a huge regret at some point in my life. Plus I wanted to spend my life doing something I truly enjoyed, not just to put food on the table.
What was David Bowie back like then? Did you see stardom in his future or did you just want to play in a rock band?
I had a list of boxes to tick when I first met him. Could he sing? Could he write? Was he a good frontman? Could I see any potential?
He played me some of his earlier recordings, mostly folky stuff which didn't do a lot for me. Then he picked up his 12 string and played "The Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud." By the end of it I'd ticked a few boxes. After several hours of discussion I could see he hadn't quite figured out exactly what he was doing, but his determination to be successful was definitely strong. He was a man on a mission.
What was it like playing with Bowie when you first joined the band? What about hanging out with him in the early days?
It wasn't obvious what his songs were about, but that didn't matter to me. Bowie seems like an artist in preparation. He looked as if he was planning things in his head, even while he was talking to you and looking directly at you. As Bowie came up with new songs we rehearsed them. We three backing musicians were all equally good at what we did, and there were no instructions from Bowie, apart from things like, "There's three bars of this here, and then this other part comes in, drums come on here," and so on. We'd learn the arrangement and get on with it.
Sometimes during rehearsals Bowie would tell us, "Come on, let's have a break and go to a club," and of course we said yes. He'd take us to a place called El Sombrero, at 142 Kensington High Street. The first time I went there I was blown away. It had a star-shaped dance floor lit from beneath and the music was fantastic- soul, old R&B and rock. The place was full of beautiful people dressed to nines and the women were gorgeous. I had no idea such places existed. But we found out they were all blokes. Bowie took us to a gay club.
What was it like in the recording studio with Bowie? Did he bring all the songs in completed and you just laid down your part or was it more of a band thing putting the music together?We recorded The Man Who Sold the World at Trident and Admission Studios in London in April and May or 1970. Bowie wrote all the songs, but the band arranged most of them. Some of the songs were just chord sequences when Bowie first brought them to us. He'd say, "This is the verse" and "Here's the chorus." We would take what Bowie had written on a 12-string acoustic guitar and adapt it for a rock band. On our later albums it wasn't done that way. Bowie nearly always brought completed songs to us, with at least a sequence of verse, chorus and so on.
Was it the music for you or were you more into the rock star thing and the girls, sex, drugs and rock-n-roll?
The music always came first, that's why you're willing to suffer the blood, sweat and tears and personal sacrifices. The urge to create something worthwhile, that communicates to others. The sex, drugs and R&R was a bi-product of doing your job successfully and unfortunately became a part of the lifestyle. The only sane part of it all was creating the music and the shows.
What was it like playing drums for Bowie during the early 70s in the Ziggy Stardust era?
It was everything I'd dreamt of when starting out as a musician and more. The joy of helping create songs and doing it with others with whom you had a natural chemistry. Also playing to huge audiences that were there because they loved the music, nothing else like it. Many nights trying to get into the limousine in one piece. Potentially being torn to pieces by adoring fans…scary.
Bowie's cocaine use was legendary, yet for a while you were oblivious to it. When did you discover that he'd indulged in the ultimate rock-n-roll fantasy? What was your own drug usage like? Why did the band end?
A few months after we'd split up is when I found out for sure what he'd been doing and it did explain a lot of bizarre incidents during the tours. My own usage was smoking marijuana occasionally, never anything harder. It was inevitable that the band had to finish.
How significant were the clothing and makeup to the band's image, sound, and live performance back then? What part did it play in the legend?
It was a very significant part of the stage presentation, it helped to add impact to the music. Definitely got attention and still does.
What do you think your drum technique added to the band, the music, and the legacy?Drumming-wise it was always how to find a beat and approach to a particular song that would help bring it to life. The overall style I chose was nearly always less is more—minimalistic, but always trying to create drum hooks that were unique. This seemed to leave room for Bowie's expressive vocals and message together with Mick Ronson's guitar work. The technique had to be enough to cause an impact and deliver the song. I think it's probably one of the contributing factors as to why that music has never aged and is still around today.
Coming out of the hippie era and into the glam rock era in the early 70s how were things in music and life changing?
The hippie era was on its way out as it hadn't delivered what it seemed to promise. I think the drug culture was a key factor in killing it off as a positive movement. Politically, it was depressing, also economically too. The future didn't look bright and musically the majority of stuff around was directionless and bland. Lots of middle of the road stuff. I think Bowie and the Spiders were the perfect antidote to all that and along with the Glam Rock era brightened up the culture to create future realities, it was exciting, anything was possible. There was hope again.
All photos courtesy of Woody Woodmansey
Seth Ferranti is a writer and filmmaker from St. Louis. You can find him on Twitter.
Mick Woodmansey
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Mick Woodmansey
Born 4 February 1951 (age 66)
Driffield, East Yorkshire, England
Genres Rock
Occupation(s) Drummer
Associated acts
David Bowie
The Spiders from Mars
Holy Holy
Website www.woodywoodmansey.co.uk
Mick 'Woody' Woodmansey (born 4 February 1951, in Driffield, East Yorkshire) is an English rock drummer known for his work with David Bowie and The Spiders from Mars. With the death of Bowie in January 2016, he is the last surviving member of the Ziggy Stardust lineup (although some regard Mike Garson as a member of that band, he did not appear on the album).
Contents [hide]
1 Career
2 Discography
2.1 With David Bowie
2.2 With Dana Gillespie
2.3 With The Spiders From Mars
2.4 With Woody Woodmansey's U-Boat
2.5 with Screen Idols
2.6 With Cybernauts
2.7 With 3-D
3 References
4 External links
Career[edit]
Woodmansey joined Bowie's backing group The Hype, which later became The Spiders from Mars. He played on Bowie's albums The Man Who Sold the World (1970), Hunky Dory (1971), The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972) and Aladdin Sane (1973).
Woodmansey was replaced in The Spiders from Mars by Aynsley Dunbar, who played on Bowie's next album, the 1973 covers album Pin Ups. Woodmansey re-formed The Spiders from Mars for one album, along with bass player Trevor Bolder. This necessitated a change of personnel, with Dave Black on lead guitar because Mick Ronson was unavailable and Pete McDonald supplying lead vocals. Guest keyboardist was Mike Garson, who had been a major part of Bowie's line-up from the Ziggy Stardust days. Bowie made no contribution to the album which was named The Spiders From Mars.
After the final disbandment of the Spiders, he formed his own band, Woody Woodmansey's U-Boat, with Phil Murray, Frankie Marshall, Phil Plant and eventually Martin Smith, releasing a debut album U Boat in 1977.[1] The album was subsequently re-released in 2006 as Woody Woodmansey's U-Boat (Castle Music ESMCD895).[2]
Woodmansey has also played with Art Garfunkel.[3]
He played in the band Cybernauts,[4] and is currently the featured drummer with 3-D. He also co-leads, with Tony Visconti, the supergroup Holy Holy, performing David Bowie songs from the 1970s, including the full The Man Who Sold the World album. Woodmansey toured with Holy Holy in September 2014, and followed up with tours of the UK, USA and Japan during the following two years. The group has featured Erdal Kızılçay, Glenn Gregory, Steve Norman, Marc Almond and James Stevenson.
Woodmansey published his autobiography Spider From Mars: My Life With David Bowie[5] in 2016. It was co-written with author Joel McIver and includes a foreword by Bowie's producer and friend Tony Visconti.[6]
Discography[edit]
With David Bowie[edit]
The Man Who Sold the World (1970)
Hunky Dory (1971)
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
Aladdin Sane (1973)
Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture (recorded live 1973, officially released 1983)
Santa Monica '72 (recorded live 1972, officially released 1994)
With Dana Gillespie[edit]
Weren't Born a Man (1974)
With The Spiders From Mars[edit]
The Spiders from Mars (1976)
With Woody Woodmansey's U-Boat[edit]
Woody Woodmansey's U-Boat (1977)
with Screen Idols[edit]
Premiere (1979)
With Cybernauts[edit]
Cybernauts Live (2001)
With 3-D[edit]
Future Primitive (2008)
Early Beginnings
My first introduction to the world of drumming was at the age of Five. Apparently our neighbours at that time complained to my parents about the noise I was making banging on the drums. I actually didn’t have any! So my uncle went out and bought me a snare drum and said ‘go for it kid’. Apparently I did, with great success!
I didn’t really notice music again ‘till I was 15 years old. One of my school mates had a brother who was in an R&B band in Driffield ( the small Yorkshire town where I was born). They were called the ‘Roadrunners’. One day while kicking a football around with 4 of my mates, I bent down to retrieve a lousy shot on goal, that had landed at the door of the bands rehearsal room. This place was called ‘The Cave’. As I bent down I heard them rehearsing. After 2 weeks of pestering they eventually allowed me in to watch one song being rehearsed. Within a week, we had formed our own band which we called ‘The Mutations’! A perfect name when I look back!
First Gigs
Our first gig was the Christmas dance at the local secondary school for girls. An assembly hall full of girls and us, the only guys, in the school! I’d found my vocation!
The next couple of years were spent practising and doing gigs, mainly pubs, clubs and church halls. The music was early R&B, Bo Diddley, Smoke Stack Lightening, Dust my Broom etc.
As with many great bands, the Mutations split up, (musical differences!) and I joined the ‘Roadrunners’. Again we did R&B, but also progressive rock (as it was known then), Cream, Jeff Beck, Free, Who etc.
Influences
My favourite drummers were Mitch Mitchell, Ginger Baker, Keith Moon, Sandy Nelson & John Bonham.
One of the best local bands at this time were a band called ‘The Rats’ led by a lad from Hull, Mick Ronson, a brilliant guitarist. They played mostly Hendrix, Zeppelin, Beck, Cream and blues stuff.
So I became a ‘Rat’. Gigs were better, usually supporting major acts that played in the area. Good memories!
Bowie Years
In 1969, Mick left Hull to join David Bowie in London. A short time later Bowie phoned me and said ‘Mick says you’re a great drummer, I want you to come and join us’.
So we started, at first as David Bowie and Hype, later as the Spiders. We worked hard and played hard, brilliant times with tours, TV and radio. Rock and Roll history bla bla!
Other Bands and Current Projects
After this period I formed a band called U-Boat, which eventually sank without trace!! Then I did a ‘Spiders’ album with the other half of the Bowie rhythm section, Trevor Bolder.
Since then I’ve had numerous musical adventures including Dexys Midnight Runners, Art Garfunkel, one –off projects with Paul McCartney, Edgar Winter.
July 2006: Did an album with Gillian Glover, produced by Tom Wilcox. Album was released in April 2007 followed by short tour in April, album called ‘Red Handed‘.
February 2007: Finished drum album, recorded it in LA with sons Nick and Dan. It’s called Future Primitive and we’re called 3-D. Guess world fusion best sums it up, with drum & bass, hip hop, funk, latin and tribal influences. About to start rehearsals for the ‘live’ show. Hope to be gigging soon, will keep you info’d. Check out our sounds and dvd ‘The Making of Future Primitive‘ at www.3Dproject.co.uk.
Holy Holy
Holy Holy which originated with the following guys in 2013 ( Steve Norman, James Stevenson, Paul Cuddeford, Malcolm Doherty, Hannah Berridge Ronson, Lisa Ronson, Maggi Ronson, Elizabeth Westwood, Paul Fryer, Tracie Hunter, David Donley, Rod Melvin, Clem Burke) for Latitude Festival decided to play a set in September dedicated to Bowie’s The Man Who Sold The World (TMWSTW) as it was never played live before.
Tony Visconti (Bowie’s producer, bass player) was asked if he’d like to join in (2014) and so he will play his own incredible bass parts from The Man Who Sold The World album thus re-uniting him with Woody, the original rhythm section from that time and album.This has continued as a project culminating in a month long tour of UK & Dublin during June & July 2015, followed by dates in Japan which have all been very successful.The band now consists of Woody, Tony, James S, Paul C, with the addition of Glenn Gregory on vocals, Berenice Scott on keyboards, Terry Edwards on sax & acoustic guitar, Jessica Morgan backing vocals, Lisa Ronson backing vocals.
Spider from Mars: My Life with Bowie
June Sawyers
Booklist.
113.8 (Dec. 15, 2016): p15.
COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Spider from Mars: My Life with Bowie.
By Woody Woodmansey.
Jan. 2017.320p. illus. St. Martin's, $27.99 (9781250117618). 782.42166092.
When a young drummer from the north of England with the unlikely name Woody Woodmansey was offered the
chance to join a band in London, he knew it was a risky move to give up a good job and a reliable future for an
uncertain life as a working musician. The leader of the band was a polite, sophisticated, and remarkably self-assured
young man by the name of David Bowie. Despite his doubts, Woodmansey said yes, and with that, his life changed.
Woodmansey played on numerous iconic Bowie albums, including The Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory and
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. He recalls the early touring days when Bowie (briefly)
appeared "very anxious," but renown and adulation quickly surged, and Woodmansey struggled to stay grounded. The
more popular Bowie and the Spiders became, the more the preoccupied singer disengaged from his band mates. An
engaging if sometimes downbeat behind-the-scenes look at an early phase in the life of one of rock's most triumphant
figures.--June Sawyers
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Sawyers, June. "Spider from Mars: My Life with Bowie." Booklist, 15 Dec. 2016, p. 15. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA476563420&it=r&asid=aa48223173733937e0c5a1697256f4e2.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A476563420
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Spider from Mars: My Life with Bowie
Publishers Weekly.
263.46 (Nov. 14, 2016): p47.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Spider from Mars: My Life with Bowie
Woody Woodmansey. St. Martin's, $27.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-250-11761-8
Woodmansey, the last surviving member of the Spiders from Mars, David Bowie's backing band in the early 1970s,
gives readers an insider's look at Bowie. In 1970, Woodmansey left a quiet life in rural England for London to pursue
his then-unheard-of dream of being a professional drummer in a rock 'n' roll band. Although the primary focus of
Woodmansey's narrative is his time with Bowie, recording the Ziggy Stardust album as well as Hunky Dory and The
Man Who Sold the World, he spends substantial time on his work with other musicians (including Aft Garfunkel) and
bands (such as U-Boat). Of course, most readers will come for the juicy Bowie details, and won't be disappointed:
Woodmansey has plenty of stories to tell about the band's home in London, a Victorian house called Haddon Hall; the
Triton recording studios; and Bowie's infamous breakup with the band. Casual fans may find the telling a bit dry, but
those interested in rock history won't want to miss this slice of music history. (Jan.)
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Spider from Mars: My Life with Bowie." Publishers Weekly, 14 Nov. 2016, p. 47. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA473459031&it=r&asid=06edc1d499fb0fa7e5e40f78cfcade83.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A473459031
8/13/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Woodmansey , Woody: SPIDER FROM MARS
Kirkus Reviews.
(Nov. 1, 2016):
COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Woodmansey , Woody SPIDER FROM MARS St. Martin's (Adult Nonfiction) $27.99 1, 3 ISBN: 978-1-250-11761-8
One of David Bowie's former drummers recalls his brief and occasionally baffling tenure with Ziggy
Stardust.Woodmansey kept the beat for Bowie during his meteoric rise to stardom in the early 1970s, playing on classic
albums like "The Man Who Sold the World," "Hunky Dory," "Ziggy Stardust," and "Aladdin Sane." But he was
initially skeptical when he got Bowie's call to move to London from Yorkshire in northern England, where he'd
apprenticed under Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson: Woodmansey had just been offered a stable job as an eyeglass-factory
manager, and Bowie was a quirky one-hit wonder ("Space Oddity") without a clear trajectory. By throwing in his lot
with Bowie, Woodmansey hit the glam-rock jackpot, touring the world and honing his craft. However, as his
workmanlike memoir shows, it didn't gain him much insight into the bandleader himself: he recalls being oblivious to
Bowie's growing cocaine use and remembers him as a hands-off frontman who never wanted more than a handful of
takes and trusted his sidemen to handle arrangements (only on "Panic in Detroit" did he deliver explicit directions
about the drum sound). Woodmansey has some tart complaints about his low wages and sudden firing (on his wedding
day, no less) from the Spiders from Mars in 1973. But his memoir is generally absent of bile, as the author prefers to
riff on tour pranks, drum technique, and--especially--clothing and makeup, which played a significant role in the
group's rising fame. (The first thing Woodmansey noticed upon meeting Bowie was his clothing.) Hard-core fans might
thrill to the minutiae about Bowie's classic period, but even they might be tempted to tune out the writer's praise for
Scientology and his dry accounting of post-Bowie stints leading the cult band U-Boat, backing Art Garfunkel, and
playing in a tribute band to his late meal ticket. A genial if surface-level glimpse into a brief but critical period of
Bowie's career.
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Woodmansey , Woody: SPIDER FROM MARS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Nov. 2016. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA468389125&it=r&asid=a46648cbff875c419c18212960b654eb.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A468389125
Ken Grady December 28, 2016 Music, Reviews, The Arts, Uncategorized
BOOK REVIEW: ‘SPIDER FROM MARS: MY LIFE WITH BOWIE’ BY WOODY WOODMANSEY
I have made a conscious decision this year to try and avoid writing about any posthumous David Bowie releases, or other associated Bowie material – his death affected me so profoundly and emotionally that it clouded my judgement to a point where almost anything with a Bowie image or reference to the great man was impossible to assess objectively.
Woody Woodmansey’s memoir, then, is the eighteenth Bowie related book I have accumulated in this year of illogical and undiscerning Bowie ‘smash and grab’, and the one to snap me out of my self-indulgent grieving period and force me to accept this bleakish post-Bowie era as the new reality, and to take a more discerning detached view of the plethora of individual tomes that have crashed into our bookstores in a publication avalanche throughout 2016.
Having come to the Bowie universe in the same manner so many others did – through a life-changing first exposure to Starman in 1972 – I can still feel the panic I felt when Bowie announced the Spiders From Mars were no longer a functional entity. Those three musicians – Woodmansey on drums, guitarist Mick Ronson, and the silver sideburned Trevor Bolder on bass – had become such an integral part of the concept and mystique of Ziggy Stardust that to imagine Bowie as a separate being, set apart from his loyal space lieutenants, was nigh on impossible at the time.
Neither Ronson nor Bolder committed their memories of the tumultuous three and a half years of Ziggymania to paper in their all too short lifetimes. Bowie never published a memoir of any sort either, so Woodmansey is the only one with first hand experience of how it felt to actually be on the stages of the world as Ziggy went from playing to forty disinterested punters at the Three Tuns pub in Beckenham to playing to thousands of fans across the UK, US and Japan within a few brief years. As such, Woodmansey’s account can be seen as an important addition to the Bowie-related literary canon, even if his book is very light on moments of significant epiphany.
To be fair, whilst the man has every right to feel bitter about the way he was sacked from the band by Tony DeFries, he remains calm, and even though it makes for less fascinating reading, he generally resists the urge to do too much overt mud-slinging. In a shocking piece of insensitivity, the news of his sacking from the Spiders was delivered by an impersonal Tony DeFries phone call to Woodmansey at his wedding reception just after Woody had tied the knot with his high school sweetheart, and Spiders’ wardrobe mistress, June – surely reason enough to let fly and release any pent-up anger and frustration that must have naturally followed such an experience? But no, the decision is looked at so rationally here it seems like Woodmansey has had some sort of emotional lobotomy in the years since. Or at least some intensive emotional counselling that has taught him more passive aggressive ways to exorcise his residual demons.
With the benefit of hindsight, and the healing power of time, Woodmansey attributes the cold and callous treatment he received back then to Bowie’s distorted view of reality due to his all consuming seventies cocaine habit. That, and the fact DeFries’ costly strategy of spending lavishly to create an impression that the band were already superstars when they were just starting out, which had left Bowie and the band deep in debt to the record company. So he asserts now that his dismissal was simply collateral damage after he had asked for wage parity with the back-up singers and additional musicians who were receiving significantly more than the members of the Spiders whilst on the touring payroll. He does, however, make sure his reportage of these events includes some of Bowie’s more nasty and personally hurtful comments to him and the band which indicate more clearly how he really feels about his extraction from the Bowie universe.
The saddest thing about this book, is that apart from the heady days of the Ziggy years, Woodmansey never really had anything else of career significance happen in his life. His post-Bowie bands (The Spiders From Mars, Woody Woodmansey’s U-Boat) were one album wonders, and apart from a shortish stint touring with Art Garfunkel, not much else has happened in the ensuing years. A happy marriage, a stable home, and rearing three solid, morally straight kids, unfortunately are not the stuff of best-selling autobiographies. Therefore, the ‘life story’ we get here overly relies upon ‘revelations’ in the book being of the ‘shoulda, woulda, coulda’ variety.
For instance, he was asked to audition for Wings but didn’t take up the opportunity; Bowie apparently floated the possibility of a Spiders reunion in 1978, but that didn’t eventuate; he was approached by Meatloaf, at the height of his Bat Out Of Hell fame, to play in his band, but didn’t jump on board there either. He did play on one song on a Dexy’s Midnight Runners album, and played a short stint with Edgar Winter – but neither developed into any long-standing association.
So no ground-breaking cache of titillating tidbits here, however, compared to most of the other memoirs by those close to Bowie at various times in his career, it must be said this book is slightly more engaging and whilst a bit pedestrian in its prose, is written more competently than many.
Bowie’s former Haddon Hall landlady, and one-time lover, Mary Finnigan’s Psychedelic Suburbia: David Bowie And The Beckenham Arts Lab (Jorvik Press) from earlier in the year is one such early association cash-in that offered Bowie acolytes very little of interest at all – apart from a brief voyeuristic account of their momentary affair – although it was significantly better than the embarrassingly desperate account of the Bowie connection offered up by one-time Feathers guitarist, John ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson in his 2014 shocker Bowie & Hutch (Lodge Books) – the worst Bowie book I have read yet – which stretched out a miniscule amount of information and some tenuous recollections, that could easily have been covered in a short magazine article, to a laborious 373 pages.
Spider From Mars: My Life With Bowie strips away some of the romantic notions long-term Bowie fans may still be clinging on to. The Spiders were not overly worldly – let alone other-worldly – and their touring exploits were pretty mundane and their pranks and high-jinks really lame. In some ways, this gives a more grounded view of the time, but it can also be seen to depressingly demythologize this magical time in rock music history and in the lives of seventies glam-rock starchildren nostalgically holding onto a consciously positively skewed mental image of that golden era in this age of Trump and terror.
And in the year in which the world lost David Bowie for good, and when people are still feeling the pain of that loss, do people really want to read opportunistic passive aggressive carping about the singer’s selfishness and the damaging narcissism he was allegedly guilty of forty plus years ago? Especially from a man who is now currently touring the world, and enjoying another chance at being in the spotlight, playing to huge mourning post-Bowie’s death crowds, in an all-star (and actually quite excellent) Bowie tribute band?
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Spider From Mars: My Life With Bowie by Woody Woodmansey is out now, published by Sidgwick & Jackson