Spider from Mars

by Woody Woodmansey

  Chicago, House of Blues concert was a wild one, the venue itself looking like the devil’s own apartment, decorated with statues and gargoyles, and every wall – including those of our dressing room – covered by paintings or murals of naked bodies and demons cavorting, signs of the zodiac everywhere. The crowd were fantastic.

  We made our way through Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Kansas City, all of which were amazing nights. Then on to Texas, where our shows on the Ziggy tour had been cancelled all those years ago. Texas is huge. I would look out of the bus window and wonder at the flatness of the landscape, stretching forever in all directions, with nothing to engage the eye except the occasional lone tree and a couple of cows. I lay down on my bunk for a few hours, then came back and the scenery was exactly the same. Twenty minutes later, whoa . . . another tree, another cow.

  We had a great night at Dallas, too, then headed for Arizona. In no time at all we were in cowboys and Indians country, beautiful red and ochre sandstone cliffs carved over the centuries into fantastic shapes. Our gig was at Scottsdale, just outside Phoenix. It turned out to be in a high-class casino owned by Native Americans. We had rooms in the hotel adjoining the casino itself and they were the ultimate in luxury. Every appliance, from lights to the coffee machine, was sensor-operated. Obviously they had been designed to encourage the longest possible stay for the gamblers occupying them. I didn’t want to leave; the place was bordering on perfection.

  Next it was San Diego, then we set off for Los Angeles where we were playing the Wiltern, a fabulous art deco building. It was in LA that Tony and I did the radio interview with Steve Jones on Jonesy’s Jukebox which may have helped sell out the gig, although Rodney Bingenheimer had been promoting us on his KROQ show for weeks so that was probably the real reason.

  Rodney had asked if he could be MC at the gig as he really wanted to introduce us. After all his help in the early days with Bowie and the Spiders, and all he did in later years, we felt this would be perfect. He did a fabulous job.

  Steve Jones actually came to the gig that night and brought friends Billy Duffy and John Tempesta from the Cult with him. Steve, in his usual cool manner, said, ‘I don’t ever come to gigs of people I’ve interviewed but I made an exception.’

  ‘That’s great, Steve,’ I said. ‘I’m glad you did, but just stay away from our equipment, all right?’ He thought that was funny.

  On 29 April we hit the Fillmore in San Francisco. This is an iconic venue and the huge old walls are covered with posters of all the bands that have graced its stage since the sixties. It was a bit of a moment for all the band when it dawned on us we were playing there. The place was jam-packed and I could see the silhouettes of people squashed against the back wall. The crowd went ballistic many times during the show. I could see that not a single person was standing still; the whole place was rocking throughout the entire set even though there wasn’t much extra space. The atmosphere was magic.

  We finished up the American part of the tour in the friendly city of Portland, Oregon, where I’d appeared some years earlier with Edgar Winter. After a fantastic show, we drove for over nine hours, crossing the border into Canada for our next two dates in Calgary and then on to Edmonton. We passed through some of the most amazing scenery any of us had ever seen, with peaks that have been cut by massive glaciers and rapids racing alongside the road.

  The last leg of the journey to Toronto was a solid two full days’ drive and so the band and crew flew, leaving our intrepid driver, John, plus an additional driver, to make that journey alone. We completed our final gig at the Phoenix Theater, Toronto, and as I flew back to England scenes from the tour kept replaying themselves in my mind. I thought about meeting the many fans who told me how Bowie’s songs, and his unique creations in many media, had been inspirational and had, they felt, changed their lives for the better. Hearing their heartfelt accounts was quite humbling and made me wish that Mick and Trev had been present to receive that kind of acknowledgement for their own contributions. I was happy the tour had gone so well and that I’d been in the right place at the right time to be able to play Bowie’s songs to thousands of people who needed a hand through this traumatic loss, who felt that hearing his music live was the best possible solution.

  I also felt very proud of the band, Holy Holy, who had been magnificent, true pros every one of them. Tony’s daughter Jessica could possibly do anything you asked of her musically and pull it off. I was blown away by her voice and natural talent as an artist. She not only supported us on the gigs with her partner Chris Thomas – joined sometimes by her brother Morgan – but as well as backing vocals she had taken on the job of playing twelve-string acoustic guitar and sax when Terry left us in Boston to join PJ Harvey on her tour, something he had committed to before our plans were in place. Terry did a brilliant job while he was with us, and his musicality, especially on the sax, was a real pleasure to play along with.

  Glenn had taken on the daunting task of singing Bowie’s songs to a Bowie audience night after night and pulled it off with incredible style and elegance. I personally don’t know of another vocalist who could have done it better, and he’s a fellow Yorkshireman as well.

  Tony played bass from the heart for over two hours every night and never strayed from the groove; he played every note as if his life depended on it and everyone got it and loved it. His passion for great music was obvious to anyone watching him play. It was great to work with him as a rhythm section again after all this time.

  James and Paul had both stepped into the spotlight knowing they were being asked to fill Mick Ronson’s shoes. It must have been intimidating to play the solos he had created on those Bowie albums but they did them justice. They were the ultimate professionals and entertaining to boot. Mick would have been proud.

  Berenice played parts that were created by virtuoso pianists, one being Rick Wakeman, the other Mike Garson, plus synth lead solos that no one has ever played live, and seemed to take it all in her stride with an air of ‘That’s what I do, what’s next?’

  I was honoured every night to be sharing the stage with such an outstanding band of musicians and singers. I can honestly say it was one of the most enjoyable tours I’ve ever done.

  We returned to England in mid-May with many requests for us to do more back home. Obviously the whole band had individual commitments and tours take time to plan, but one particular proposal came along that was a no-brainer.

  In 2017 the city of Hull becomes Britain’s City of Culture for a year. Of course the Spiders From Mars were Hull’s most famous export and there was only one answer I could give when I was asked if Holy Holy would play a big concert in City Hall on 25 March 2017. We will be playing The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars in its entirety. It will be a first for us as a group. I can’t wait.

  Over the past four decades I’d watched Bowie stay on the cutting edge of music, often creating a completely new character to go with his new musical direction, but always managing to retain that unique quality that was David Bowie.

  I always admired his refusal to rest on his laurels as an artist. There were many times in his career where he could have said, ‘Eureka, that’s it, I’ll stick with this form.’ But change had always been a part of his psyche and always would be.

  I remember during the sixties when everyone was waiting for the next Beatles release, the excitement, the anticipation: what will it sound like, will I like it? I thought Bowie as a solo artist had managed to create that same buzz and kept it going right up to Blackstar. Always surprising and, true to character, always unpredictable.

  I am extremely proud to have been part of what has become regarded by many as an iconic and seminal period of Bowie’s career. From being a gang of friends trying to make ends meet on a meagre seven pounds a week, the Spiders set off on what would become the adventure of a lifetime. I was twenty years old, the others not much older. We used our individual skills to help create music that we loved – for me drumming was and always
has been my passion and to create along with Mick’s incredible artistry on guitar and arranging skills as well as forming rhythm sections with first Tony and then Trevor was an absolute joy. We experienced a lifetime in a few short years.

  We shared that first taste of success, the incredible feeling when a song you helped create is a hit. We were there for the TV and radio shows, the sell-out tours. We worked hard and partied hard. As many wise men have said, ‘Trying to achieve something, trying to be somebody, that’s the real adventure’, and it certainly was.

  Afterword

  by Joe Elliott

  The first time I saw Woody Woodmansey’s ugly mug, it was in the four-square pictures of him, David Bowie, Mick Ronson and Trevor Bolder on the inside sleeve of Ziggy Stardust. I was lying on my bed, aged twelve, listening to him play.

  I met him for the first time three years later. As you’ve just read in Woody’s book, I have a leather cowboy hat that I used to wear to all the gigs when I was a kid. Whenever I saw a rock star coming out of the back door, I used to say, ‘Sign my hat!’ When Woody’s band U-Boat were playing the Top Rank in Sheffield in 1976, me and my buddies all went down there because we were into anything connected with Bowie.

  There was a crowd of about twenty Bowie freaks, all dressed like Ziggy Stardust, bopping up and down like nutters when they played ‘Suffragette City’ – but I wanted to hear the original U-Boat songs: I think U1 is a great album.

  I joined the music industry eight years after Ziggy Stardust came out. When Def Leppard became successful, I became known as a big Bowie fan because I was always going on about him and Mott the Hoople and Mick Ronson. I was an enormous fan of Mick’s, and I worked on his Heaven and Hull album with him before he died.

  A year later Mick’s sister Maggi organized a memorial gig for him at Hammersmith. She said, ‘Do you think you and Phil Collen would stand in for Ronno and Bowie, and play with Woody and Trevor?’ That was the first time Woody and I got together and played. Even though we’d never met, there was a kind of instant mutual understanding, we looked at each other and the bond was there straight away. We had exactly the same sense of humour and we had a great laugh together. He’s my kind of musician: he doesn’t talk shop all the time.

  Woody is a phenomenal drummer. Bowie only did three takes in the studio, so Woody had to pull his best performance out in that time – there was no room for error. He’s like Ringo Starr: one of those drummers who isn’t all flash like, say, John Bonham. That said, when I watched him playing drum solos when Cybernaut played Japan in 2001, it was incredible – and, trust me, I fucking hate drum solos! Woody’s is one of the very few that I can watch.

  Once our paths had crossed, we were destined to become friends. We’re as thick as thieves. Woody is a good man.

  Joe Elliott, 2016

  Select Discography

  DAVID BOWIE

  The Man Who Sold the World, 1971

  The Width of a Circle / All the Madmen / Black Country Rock / After All / Running Gun Blues / Saviour Machine / She Shook Me Cold / The Man Who Sold the World / The Supermen

  Hunky Dory, 1971

  Changes / Oh! You Pretty Things / Eight Line Poem / Life on Mars? / Kooks / Quicksand / Fill Your Heart / Andy Warhol / Song For Bob Dylan / Queen Bitch / The Bewlay Brothers

  The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, 1972

  Five Years / Soul Love / Moonage Daydream / Starman / It Ain’t Easy / Lady Stardust / Star / Hang On To Yourself / Ziggy Stardust / Suffragette City / Rock ’n’ Roll Suicide

  Aladdin Sane, 1973

  Watch That Man / Aladdin Sane (1913–1938–197?) / Drive-In Saturday / Panic in Detroit / Cracked Actor / Time / The Prettiest Star / Let’s Spend the Night Together / The Jean Genie / Lady Grinning Soul

  Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture, 1983

  Hang On To Yourself / Ziggy Stardust / Watch That Man / Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud / All the Young Dudes / Oh! You Pretty Things / Moonage Daydream / Space Oddity / My Death / Cracked Actor / Time / Width of a Circle / Changes / Let’s Spend the Night Together / Suffragette City / White Light/ White Heat / Rock ’n’ Roll Suicide

  Santa Monica ’72, 1994

  Intro / Hang On To Yourself / Ziggy Stardust / Changes / The Supermen / Life on Mars? / Five Years / Space Oddity / Andy Warhol / My Death / The Width of a Circle / Queen Bitch / Moonage Daydream / John, I’m Only Dancing / I’m Waiting For the Man / The Jean Genie / Suffragette City / Rock ’n’ Roll Suicide

  Sweet Head / Velvet Goldmine / Black Hole Kids / Bombers / Shadow Man / Looking for a Friend

  SPIDERS FROM MARS

  Spiders From Mars, 1976

  Red Eyes / Shine a Light / White Man, Black Man / Fallen Star / Summers of Gold (US LP only) / Prisoner / (I Don’t Wanna Do No) Limbo / Stranger To My Door / Good Day America / Rainbow / Can It Be Far / Running Round in Circles (US LP only)

  WOODY WOODMANSEY’S U-BOAT

  U1, 1976

  U-Boat / Movie Star / Slow Down / Star Machine / I’m in Love / Rock Show / Let You Be / Hope They Come Back / Oo La La / From the Top

  Acknowledgements

  These are individuals, friends and artists who I consider have had a positive effect on my life, in no particular order:

  Graham Cardwell, John Butler, Uncle Harold, Uncle Ernie, Tony Visconti, Ken Scott, Nick Hopkins, Tom Wilcox, Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, Tom Vitorino, Rick Wakeman, Art Garfunkel, Chris Cavanagh, Paul Nash, Jenny Scarfe Becket, L. Ron Hubbard, my co-writer Joel McIver, my agent Matthew Hamilton, Ingrid Connell and the team at Pan Macmillan

  THE MUTATIONS

  John Flintoff, Frank Theakston, Paul Richardson, Michael Grice

  THE ROADRUNNERS

  John Hall, Dave Lawson, Dave Westaway, Brian Weeldon Road crew: Chris Cooper, Dave Simpson, Phil Dukes, Dave Owen

  THE RATS

  Benny Marshall, Keith Cheeseman, Geoff Appleby, John Cambridge (without whose courage to venture south, Ziggy and the Spiders might never have existed) Road crew: Dave Walkley, Pete Hunsley, Stuey George

  HOLY HOLY 2016

  Tony Visconti, Glenn Gregory, Paul Cuddeford, James Stevenson, Berenice Scott, Jessica Lee Morgan, Terry Edwards

  HOLY HOLY 2013–2015

  Paul Fryer, Malcolm Doherty, Rod Melvin, Maggi Ronson, Lisa Ronson, Hannah Berridge Ronson, David Donley, Erdal Kizilcay, Steve Norman, Gary Stonadge, Liz Westward, Tracie Hunter, Clem Burke

  TOUR SUPPORT

  Steve McGuire (Sound USA), Hutch Hutchinson (Sound UK) Clark Becker (drum tech USA), David Donley (drum tech UK) Wendy Woo (merchandise UK)

  DRUMMERS

  Charlie Watts, Bobby Elliott, Keith Moon, Ginger Baker, Mitch Mitchell, John Bonham, Mike Giles, Simon Kirke, Carter Beaufort, Dave Grohl, Steve Smith, Sandy Nelson

  My sons Danny, Nick and Joe

  My wife June for being the perfect partner for me in life (I love ya, hun)

  David Bowie, Mick Ronson and Trevor Bolder for their friendship and the incredible journey . . .

  Index

  WW indicates Woody Woodmansey.

  A Clockwork Orange (film) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  ‘After All’ (David Bowie) ref1

  ‘Aladdin Sane’ (David Bowie song) ref1

  Aladdin Sane (David Bowie album) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9

  ‘All the Madmen’ (David Bowie) ref1, ref2, ref3

  ‘All the Young Dudes’ (David Bowie) ref1, ref2

  ‘Almost Grown’ (David Bowie) ref1

  Andrews, Jamie ref1, ref2, ref3

  ‘Andy Warhol’ (David Bowie) ref1, ref2, ref3

  Appleby, Geoff ref1, ref2

  Arnold Corns ref1, ref2

  Artwoods, the ref1, ref2

  Baker, Ginger ref1

  Baker, Roy ref1

  Bass, Billy ref1

  Beatles, the ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13

  Beck, Jeff ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7

&nb
sp; Beckenham, Kent ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13 see also Haddon Hall

  Berry, Chuck ref1, ref2

  Beverly Hills Hotel, Los Angeles ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Bingenheimer, Rodney ref1, ref2

  Birkett, Jack ref1

  ‘Black Country Rock’ (David Bowie) ref1, ref2

  Black Tie White Noise (David Bowie) ref1

  Black, Dave ref1

  Blackstar (David Bowie) ref1, ref2

  Bolan, Marc ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8

  Bolder, Trevor:

  Cyprus holiday with Bowie (1972) ref1, ref2

  death ref1

  Haddon Hall, life at ref1, ref2

  Hunky Dory and ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  ‘The Jean Genie’ and ref1

  joins Bowie’s band ref1

  pay dispute between Spiders From Mars and Bowie, role in ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Pin-Ups and ref1, ref2

  Ronno and ref1

  Ronson death and ref1, ref2, ref3

  Spiders From Mars album and ref1

  Spiders From Mars concerts (1997) and ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Uriah Heep and ref1, ref2, ref3

  WW’s firing from Spiders From Mars and ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Ziggy Stardust tour and ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19, ref20, ref21, ref22, ref23, ref24, ref25, ref26, ref27, ref28, ref29, ref30, ref31, ref32

  ‘Bombers’ (David Bowie) ref1

  Bonham, John ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  Bowie, Angie ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19, ref20, ref21, ref22, ref23, ref24, ref25, ref26, ref27, ref28, ref29, ref30, ref31