Mick Woodmansey

Mick 'Woody' Woodmansey (born 4 February 1951, in Driffield, East Yorkshire) is an English rock drummer from Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire, best 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 classic Ziggy Stardust lineup.

Career

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 leads the supergroup Holy Holy, performing David Bowie songs from the 1970s. Woodmansey toured with Holy Holy in September 2014, and also in June 2015. The group has featured Erdal Kızılçay, Tony Visconti, Glenn Gregory, Steve Norman, Marc Almond and James Stevenson.

Discography

With David Bowie

• 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

• Weren't Born a Man (1974)

With The Spiders From Mars

• The Spiders from Mars (1976)

With Woody Woodmansey's U-Boat

• Woody Woodmansey's U-Boat (1977)

with Screen Idols

• Premiere (1979)

With Cybernauts

• Cybernauts Live (2001)

With 3-D

• Future Primitive (2008)

References

External links

• Official website
• Biography at NNDB.com