The Spiders From Mars

Bio:

"The Spiders. The stuff of legend, rock n roll style. Nothing as worldly as The Crickets or The Beatles. These insects were from Mars. At first they were The Rats (from Hull, birthplace to all Spiders). Then Ronson was lured into the Bowie fold, followed at intervals by drummer Woody Woodmansey, then bassist Trevor Bolder. After recording the Ziggy Stardust album it was decided that to promote the record these three should be dubbed The Spiders From Mars. Thus they were restyled, from head to toe, and the illusion was complete .... Weird and Gilly - Trevor and Woody. Not as noticeable as the multi-talented Ronno, but an essential part of the drama. And they knew how to play. The Spiders were a hot band. The hard thing for Trevor and Woody was all the attention devoted to Bowie and Ronno, of which they got to share little. And when the band broke up they slipped back into obscurity, though Trevor would surface a few years later with Uriah Heep. The Spiders From Mars. What would Ziggy have done without them?" - Mick Rock (1984)

Member Since:

April 15, 2006

Members:

british rock and roll musician, actor, and artist who has had a profound influence on rock and roll from the 1960s to the present. He is commonly known as the greatest chameleon of music history, constantly changing his musical style to suit the times, while always holding on to his own ideas and creativity. the Spider's band leader and guitarist. On and off-stage Ronson and Bowie were the perfect pairing, with Ronson providing not only dynamic acoustic and electric guitar, but importantly the skilful studio arrangement of Bowie's songs. "Mick was the perfect foil for the Ziggy character. He was very much a salt-of-the-earth type, the blunt northerner with a defiantly masculine personality, so that what you got was the old-fashioned Yin and Yang thing. As a rock duo, I thought we were every bit as good as Mick and Keith or Axl and Slash. Ziggy and Mick were the personification of that rock n roll dualism" - Bowie (1994) joined the next Bowie band configuration called The Hype when a new drummer was needed to work on Bowie's album THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD (1970). This group featured Tony Visconti on bass and Mick Ronson on guitar. Woodmansey was born in Driffield, England, and began drumming at the age of five. He started his own group at fifteen, and later joined a band known as the Roadrunners. He played with them for three years before joining Mick Ronson in the Hull-based Rats. joined Bowie's band on bass after Tony Visconti left to produce Marc Bolan and so the three members who would eventually make-up the The Spiders From Mars (officially un-named until the Ziggy album was released in June 1972) were complete. Prior to Bolder's inclusion fellow Rats bassist Rick Kemp was considered for inclusion in The Spiders From Mars and actually rehearsed with them for a week. However, Bowie's manager Tony DeFries did not think that Kemp's image (he had a receding hairline) was right for the group. He went on to become bass player for Steeleye Span.

Sounds Like:

Record Label:

RCA