Spider from Mars: My Life With Bowie

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David Bowie tribute band remove unvaccinated drummer Woody Woodmansey". NME. 31 January 2022 . Retrieved 3 May 2022. 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. Pegg, Nicholas (2016). The Complete David Bowie (Revised and Updateded.). London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-1-78565-365-0. 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.)

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.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 despair of a future in a small town with no opportunities, the discovery of music as a means to escape it, the serendipitous introduction to people who set the wheels in motion... Spiders details the union with Bowie and early days at the now legendary Haddon Hall. Yet, there's nothing in Woodmansey's voice that comes off as salacious. If you're looking for stories of Bowie banging people of various genders on coffee tables or sidewalks, while rolling in a veneer of coke, this isn't the book. Granted, Bowie isn't drawn as a saint here, but Woodmansey's narrative of whatever conflicts he endured with the singer is diplomatic.

In hindsight, it was an audacious move. Bowie could have been Ziggy for the rest of his life but he wouldn’t and couldn’t. He was always moving forward, always changing, never predictable. But not so much fun for the Spiders who had to go and find other work. 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. Woody did not even like Bowie's music, but he decided to go to London thinking he might regret it after he did not.

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 Cann, Kevin (2010). Any Day Now – David Bowie: The London Years: 1947–1974. Croydon, Surrey: Adelita. ISBN 978-0-9552017-7-6. O'Leary, Chris (2015). Rebel Rebel: All the Songs of David Bowie from '64 to '76. Winchester: Zero Books. ISBN 978-1-78099-244-0. 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. And his times with others bands, his frienship with great musicians, playing for Art Garfunkel. Family. Creation of other bands. And , finally, Tony Visconti joining him for touring The Man Who Sold the World album with Holy Holy.