Woody Woodmansey Q&A!

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Thanks to all of you who sent in a question for legendary Spiders From Mars drummer Woody Woodmansey who has very kindly agreed to a Q&A for David Bowie News.

Read your questions along with Woody’s answers below…

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Mick

Which song did you least like drumming on.

Cheers

Michael Anthony

WW/ PROBABLY WOULD HAVE TO BE ‘RUPERT THE RILEY’

Hi Woody!

In the recent article in Quietus, you discussed some of your favorite songs and drum parts in Bowie’s catalogue, starting with Five Years. As you know, the outro from that song appears again in David’s You Feel So Lonely You Could Die on The Next Day.

When you listen to music that David wrote after your time with him, how do you feel when something so iconic makes a reappearance?

Thanks!

Ley Killeya-Jones

WW/ I FELT HONOURED! I LIKE TO THINK IT MEANT SO MUCH TO HIM, HE RE-VISITED IT…

Hi Woody

When did you last meet or have contact with David and what did you talk about?

Are Holy Holy planning a EU tour ? Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and especially Belgium ? 😉

Thanks in advance

Veronique Desamoury

WW/ THE LAST TIME I HAD CONTACT WITH HIM WAS ON HIS BIRTHDAY 2016. HOLY HOLY WERE PLAYING AT THE HIGHLINE IN NY. TONY VISCONTI , DAVID’S LONG TIME FRIEND AND PRODUCER PHONED HIM DURING THE SHOW. WE HAD THE AUDIENCE SING ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’ TO HIM WHICH HE REALLY LIKED. HE ASKED THE AUDIENCE WHAT THEY THOUGHT TO ‘BLACKSTAR’ & THEY WENT MENTAL! HIS PARTING WORDS WERE ‘THANK YOU, GOOD LUCK WITH THE TOUR AND CATCH YOU LATER’….

NO DEFINITE PLANS FOR EUROPEAN TOUR, JUST A FEW POSSIBILITIES.

Hi Woody

Personally how did David Bowie change your life? And How long do you think you will tour the Ziggy material?

Thanks

Viv Jackowski

WW/ HE HELPED ME ACHIEVE MY DREAMS AS A MUSICIAN. IT WAS AN ADVENTURE BEYOND MY WILDEST DREAMS. GREAT MEMORIES.

HOW LONG WILL WE TOUR ZIGGY? NOT SURE YET…

Hi Woody,

Thank you for taking the time to answer the questions that people are sending in. What is your fondest memory of performing live with David?

Best regards,

Dakota Summer

WW/ I’D HAVE TO SAY BEING ABLE TO PLAY LIVE TO AUDIENCES THAT WERE REALLY IN TO THE MUSIC WE HAD CREATED AND THE ATMOSPHERE DURING THE SHOWS. THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT.

Hi there, Woody!

My question: When you listen to old Bowie recordings with you on drums, can you detect some kind of little mistake or something that could be better?

Jesus Q.

Mexico City

WW/ WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED RECORDING A SONG, YOU GAVE IT ALL YOU COULD AND WHEN IT WORKS THERE IS NO PURPOSE IN RE-EVALUATING WHAT YOU DID…EVEN IF THERE ARE MISTAKES!

Hi Woody

Did Bowie come to see Holy Holy rehearse or perform?

Trish Berryman

WW/ NO DAVID NEVER CAME TO A GIG BUT TONY VISCONTI PLAYED HIM A VIDEO OF US PLAYING AT SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE PLUS HE PLAYED HIM THE LIVE ALBUM WE RECORDED THERE. ACCORDING TO TONY HE GRINNED ALL THE WAY THROUGH BOTH.

Hi Woody

Which David Bowie song is your all-time favorite?

-Amy

WW/ TWO REALLY….’LIFE ON MARS’ AND ‘FIVE YEARS’.

I’m sure Woody won’t answer this…..

Why did he expediently leave out what the typical musician’s salary was when he was working for David?

I didn’t buy Woody’s book after reading in the press about his complaint that their pay was only x amount,

WITHOUT mentioning what the typical going rate was, which because the book was written today, it made it seem like David paid them *nothing*.  By the way, Garson did deserve more, based on his credentials and experience. If David and/or his then manager were THAT cheap, they wouldn’t even have taken the job in the first place.

Charles Zac

WW/ YOU ARE, OF COURSE, ENTITLED TO YOUR OWN OPINION,

HOWEVER YOUR FIRST STATEMENT IS CORRECT…

Hi Woody.

If you could change anything in your life, past or present, what would it be?

SteveZiggy66

WW/ I GUESS IT’S TEMPTING TO SAY I’D CHANGE SOME OF THE BAD MOMENTS BUT I’M NOT ONE FOR REGRETS, LIFE IS IN YOU TODAY AND YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR TOMORROWS.

Hi Woody

Re. Underhill Studio – when and how often did you go there please?  I was and remain a huge Spiders’ fan and I lived on Blackheath Hill so was gutted to only find out in the last few years that Ziggy was born under Gee Pharm at the Jct Blackheath Hill/Lewisham Road. – Saw you at Lewisham Odeon fella and really glad and privileged that I did!

Thanks

Marion

WW/ ‘UNDERHILL STUDIOS’ WAS AROUND 1971 I THINK, WE WENT THERE TWICE I BELIEVE.

What 1972 and 1973 shows were recorded by RCA?

David Gibbs

WW/ I DON’T THINK RCA RECORDED ANY SHOWS! WE DID USE THEIR STUDIOS IN THE US DURING THE RECORDING OF ‘ALADDIN SANE’ ETC.

Hi Woody

Having spent the last few weeks working on the new edit of the John I’m Only Dancing video, I’ve listened to the track hundreds of times, paying very close attention to every beat and every note. It now seems to me to be a really superb musical arrangement: very sparse, just enough of everything to maintain perfect tension and release. So I’m wondering how the arrangements came about for that song specifically, and maybe the songs in general. I would like to know something of the process involved in constructing the arrangement, and maybe who was responsible for which element.

Thanks

Nacho

WW/ MOST SONGS WERE RECORDED IN ONE TO THREE TAKES IN THE STUDIO WITH NO PREPARATION. BOWIE WANTED THAT FRESH APPROACH TO EVERYTHING. IF YOU PLAY A SONG LOTS OF TIMES IT DOES LOSE THAT EDGE. THE EXCEPTION WAS SONGS LIKE ‘LIFE ON MARS’ WHERE MICK WAS DOING A COMPLICATED STRING ARRANGEMENT. HE WOULD PLAY ON HIS LES PAUL ROUGHLY HOW AND WHERE THE STRINGS CAME IN, SO WE HAD TO MATCH THE RHYTHM TO THE SYNCOPATED STRINGS AND ENSURE WE DIDN’T CLASH!

I GO IN TO THIS IN MORE DETAIL IN MY BOOK, SONG BY SONG!

How different do you think Diamond Dogs would have been if he’d kept the Spiders together for that album.

Anthony Stobart

WW/ GOOD QUESTION, PROBABLY NOT VERY DIFFERENT. HE HAD DONE VERSIONS OF SOME OF THE SONGS WITH US, THE SPIDERS. ‘1984’ WAS ONE OF THEM.

I DON’T KNOW WHERE THE RECORDINGS ENDED UP.

Hi Woody

Which Bowie album did you most enjoy recording? Any funny stories you can share?

Thanks

Nick, David Bowie News.

WW/ I ENJOYED RECORDING ALL THE ALBUMS AS THEY WERE ALL UNIQUE.

I REMEMBER WE WERE DOING BACKING VOCALS IN OLYMPIC STUDIOS FOR A SONG AND IN THE MIDDLE OF IT, ROD STEWART AND THE FACES , BURST IN TO THE ROOM. THEY WERE DANCING AND SINGING OOOH’S AND AAGH’S ALL OUT OF TUNE. WE ALL CRACKED OUT LAUGHING AND THEY CONTINUED  DANCING AND LEFT THE ROOM VIA ANOTHER DOOR. IT WAS UNEXPECTED AND VERY FUNNY.

Competition!

Woody has very kindly given us 2 pairs of tickets to see Holy Holy performing The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars live in it’s entirety at the beautiful Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on April 13th.

For your chance to win a pair, simply answer the following question…

Who co-produced The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars album along with David Bowie?

Please email your answer to competitions@davidbowienews.com with Woody as the subject.

This competition is now closed and was won by John Carroll and Karen Smith who correctly answered Ken Scott.

The competition closes at midnight on Sunday 2nd April (GMT) Both winners will be notified by email on Monday 3rd April. Please ensure that you are able to travel to Liverpool on April 13th before entering.

As with all our competitions this is open to everyone who has LIKED the David Bowie News Facebook page

Good luck!

Holy Holy’s 2017 tour continues tonight with their second sold out show in Hull, some tickets are still available for the rest of the tour, details below…

Tickets are available from https://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/holy-holy
Sun 26 March Hull City Hall SOLD OUT!
Mon 27 March Glasgow O2 Academy
Tue 28 March 17 Manchester Bridgewater Hall
Thu 30 March 17 London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Sun 2 April Norwich UEA
Mon 3 April Aylesbury Friars
Thur 13 April Liverpool Philharmonic http://www.liverpoolphil.com/whats-on/holy-holy
Friday 14 April Sheffield Foundry
Sat 15 April Bristol Colton Hall.

Woody’s excellent autobiography Spider From Mars is out now!

Many thanks to Woody Woodmansey.

http://www.woodywoodmansey.com/