But Spider from Mars is a record of a man who’s still in love with music and drumming having worked with the greats and one of the most influential artists of all time. The book begins with an introduction from Tony Visconti, a long time Bowie collaborator, who discusses the recording of The Ma Who Sold the World. This and the Ziggy era has been described as the most creative time of Bowie’s career. He saw his chance and he went for it full throttle. The prologue discusses the legendary rediscovered Top of the Pops performance of the Jean Genie form the 4 Jan 1973 which was re broadcast at Christmas 2011. I remember it vividly as it was Bowie and the Spiders at their very best. Absolutely mesmerising. Wolk, Douglas (4 November 2016). "How David Bowie Realized Theatrical Dreams on 'The Man Who Sold the World' ". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020 . Retrieved 28 March 2023. The book is well written, and reads like a documentary concerning the arc of the bands existence and a complete index to the songs performed and concert locations the book revolves for the most part on Mr. Woodmansey's life as a musician, and the history of events from youth through his musical legacy.

With my life enriched by Bowie, and his death making a major impact as well, I was seriously looking forward to reading this book. Here would be a book that had not been touted as a tell-all, or a mud-slinging gossip piece. This book was written by someone who truly knew Bowie, lived with, created and played music, & toured with him. What can go wrong?... In May 1978, he became the drummer of the band Screen Idols, who had success with two albums in the UK. This book is recommended to all Ziggy Stardust fans and it is a good reminder that behind every great man (and David Bowie was one of the greatest), there are many others who have contributed to his success. It is nice to get to know them as well. If anything, in this day and age, Woodmansey’s life story is a good reminder that it’s worth pursuing our dreams for no other reason that we won’t regret later that we haven't tried. Woody’s auditions for Dexy’s Midnight Runners amongst others made for fascinating reading as was his experiences of playing for Art Garfunkel, Edgar Winter and other diverse names. It’s a lively, often entertaining read and Woody has some wonderful anecdotes to tell.

Martian Drummer unravels web of intrigue

After finishing the book I immediately had to listen to the albums from this period out of the Five Years vinyl boxset to really immerse myself, yet again, in the amazing music of David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars David Bowie tribute band remove unvaccinated drummer Woody Woodmansey". NME. 31 January 2022 . Retrieved 3 May 2022. Woodmansey converted to Scientology after being introduced to it by Mike Garson [11] and had his wedding service at a Scientology church in Sussex. [12] I enjoyed this book. As a big fan of the Spiders-era Bowie music it was nice to read some of the stories about Ronno and Trevor Bolder and how things went down in those early days. David Bowie aka Ziggy Stardust was that man and this is the biography of one of his band members. The last Spider from Mars still standing. Woody Woodmansey.

So here we are, blood, toil, tears and sweat - and not a lot of cash... but then great things are seldom accomplished without casualties. Well, the biggest problem I had was trying to get through a book that was written by a man from North-Eastern England. Although my own family is of Australian (Irish, Scottish, and British) heritage, I admittedly was not used to the "feel" of someone from where the author, Woody Woodmansey, was from. He left school when he was in the middle grades, so couple a lesser education with a form of speaking I was not used to, I would find myself having to think harder when reading his stories. He would sometimes get caught up in his own exuberance and make things feel a bit repetitive. I wanted things fleshed out more. I think he was so rapt in his own memories, with them so strong in him, that he would forget that we the readers, were not always "in" on what he was retelling. I also found myself rereading because of punctuation and style differences. However, I never gave up. I had to let go of his and my respective shortcomings and muddle on. The Spiders’ contribution to The Man Who Sold the World, with producer Tony Visconti, documents in fascinating detail, that although still Bowie’s vision and voice, this was very much an album by a band finding each other’s musical strengths and exploiting a wealth of talent from all involved. (And like 95% of the material on the RCA albums, it passes the test of time with honours.) 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. [13] The album was subsequently re-released in 2006 as Woody Woodmansey's U-Boat ( Castle Music ESMCD895). [14]

Woodmansey has also played with Art Garfunkel, [15] was a member of the band Cybernauts, [16] and is currently the featured drummer with 3-D. He also co-led, with Visconti, the supergroup Holy Holy, performing 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, US and Japan during the following two years. The group has featured Erdal Kızılçay, Glenn Gregory, Steve Norman, Marc Almond and James Stevenson. [ citation needed] It was announced that Woodmansey would not be participating in the 2022 Holy Holy tour, due to his being unvaccinated with regard to COVID-19. Woodsmansey said he had a "medical exemption" from the vaccine while saying he harbouring no "negative feelings" towards the band and a spokesperson for the band issued a statement that "It is incredibly sad that personal beliefs over the vaccine has lead[ sic] to the break-up of the original incarnation of the band". [17] The title of the book "Spider from Mars: My Life with Bowie" by Woody Woodmansey for me was a bit misleading. Yes Mr. Woodmansey was a "Spider from Mars" (the bands amazing drummer) and according to this book he did live in the same house as Me. Bowie there are little and few mentions of interactions with the MAN. I’d been listening to bands such as Led Zeppelin and Cream over the previous couple of years; Bowie’s influences were obviously completely different. My friends wouldn’t even know who Bowie was if I asked them about him. Woody comes across as a lovely man. He was treated shabbily by Bowie and his manager, being unceremoniously booted out of the band, but the two were reconciled in later life and Woody is simply too nice to bear a grudge. And then comes the choice – travel to London to be in Bowie’s band or stay in Driffield and have a normal life. We all know the answer to that one.