Mick’s Hull bandmate Woody Woodmansey also shared insights into his fellow Spider from Mars
Mick Ronson, right, with David Bowie(Image: Reach Plc)
“My God, was that man gorgeous”. That was Suzi Ronson’s initial impression of the rock musician who was to become her husband – even though he “didn’t talk to me at all” on first meeting.
Suzi and her daughter, Lisa, were invited to take part in a special Q&A about the life and loves of Mick Ronson, during the launch of a limited edition collectible guitar, a replica of Mick’s instrument of choice. Also speaking at the event, hosted by Gibson Garage, in London, was Mick’s Hull bandmate, Woody Woodmansey.
Talking to BBC 6Music’s Georgie Rogers, the trio shared insights into the man who went from being a council gardener in Hull to a musical icon. Suzi said she first clapped eyes on Mick at Haddon Hall, a Victorian mansion house in Beckenham where David Bowie had a flat and reportedly wrote most of his Hunky Dory album.
“David and Angie [Bowie’s first wife] were having a party and I’d just done David’s hair,” said Suzi. “I’d seen them play at the college and I was blown away.
“I hadn’t met the band yet, but David was saying that I should do their hair, so I needed to have a look at them. Woody was the first one [who] said hello … and he was very chatty. Mick actually didn’t talk to me at all. But my God, was that man gorgeous.”
Hull’s Wilberforce College honoured Mick Ronson with its music department renaming as The Ronson Rooms, in 2018, and a mural of the musician by local artist Mark Hebblewhite, painted from one of world renowned Sixties photographer Terry O’Neill’s iconic images(Image: Peter Harbour)
She said: “I didn’t want to fancy one of the band. I didn’t, because I really wanted to get a job, so I didn’t want to have a romantic association, because that probably would have ruined everything.
“So that’s the first time I met him. But I didn’t talk too much that night. I talked more to Woody and Trev [Bolder, also from Hull], and I was eyeing up their hair because I knew I had to pull something out the bag.”
Asked about her early memories of her father, Lisa said: “Yeah, there were guitars in the house, but when he was home, he was just a dad at home. And, you know, liked to do normal things.
“We liked to go bowling or go roller skating. He loved The Price Is Right, any of those game shows.
“He just liked those to watch, and he liked to cook. And so, it was mostly that for me, just having my dad at home, and there were always guitars around; there was music around, but mostly he was just a normal guy, normal dad.”
Suzi said: “I think when he came home, he didn’t want to play music, really. I mean, he just wanted to sit and watch the telly and get in the fridge.
“I think that’s what you do when you’ve been on the road for a long time,” she added, revealing that among Mick’s loves were baked beans and curry. “So, for Lisa’s school lunch, he would curry the baked beans. Oh, her face when she opened the little box at lunchtime. I mean, the smell must have been overpowering.”
Woody Woodmansey, Lisa Ronson and Suzi Ronson at Gibson Guitars’ launch of a limited-edition replica of the 1968 Les Paul Custom, the iconic guitar of the late, great Mick Ronson(Image: supplied image)
Asked whether a young Lisa realised that her father was as much of a style icon as Bowie himself, she said: “Not really, except that he did wear mascara to the grocery store, which was a bit unusual. I didn’t think anything of it, because you don’t right, you just…that’s normal.
“What you’re raised with, is normal. But yeah, I guess thinking back that was unusual. He would take your mascaras…” with Suzi adding: “… when they were nearly worn out, you know, so you didn’t get so much.”
Georgie said the Ronson period was “arguably Bowie’s most-guitars-at-the-front time”, and it was clear that David was indebted to and loved Mick, but she asked Suzi how much she thought the success of Bowie was owed to Mick.
“I think David would always have made it because he had that personality and that drove it all,” she replied. “But without Mick, without the Spiders, it would have been a very different David.
“If he didn’t have Mick to play off [off stage], it would have been a very different performance. I mean, on stage, Mick and David were the same.
“Anybody else see the Spiders live? Yeah, well, you know what I mean. When they were on stage, they were equals as far as the performance goes, at the front of the stage, they were really fabulous.
East Yorkshire sculpture trail A Mischief Of Rats was inspired by late Hull musician Mick Ronson, who first made an impact with Hull-based band The Rats(Image: Divine PR/Submitted)
“So, I think it would have been a different David. He still would have made it, I think. But it would have been a really different David.”
Asked about their favourite memories of Mick, who sadly died from liver cancer at the age of 46, in 1993, Lisa said it was “hard to pick one”. She said: “All my memories of him were great.
“He was just a great, great person, a great guy. And, you know, just having him there at home was brilliant. Just being with him. I miss him a lot, and I wish he was here today.”
Suzi recalled a holiday the family went on with Ian Hunter, of band Mott the Hoople, and his wife, Trudi, to Bermuda. “Mick and I had never actually been on holiday before.
“Lisa was maybe two. And that was a really beautiful holiday, and we had a lovely time there. He was relaxed. He wasn’t pressured to be doing anything. And we had a really nice time.”
Woody spoke about the first time he saw Mick play with Hull band The Rats – “really the best rock band” – when he was drumming for another band, The Road Runners. “We lived 30 miles away, and it was when they first did open-air festivals.
“You know, you do all nighters, you have lots of bands on and they were on the same bill as my band. So, I watched The Rats play, and then I found out later that Mick had come to watch me play – we still hadn’t met.”
Six months later, Mick and his fellow Rats “got past security” in the factory where Woody was working, telling him to audition because they wanted him as their drummer. “He was very cool,” Woody said.
“And I found out he was very particular …he would nail the sound. It was just like, wow, spot on.”
Mural honouring legendary Hull musician Mick Ronson being painted in Bilton Grange
He said: “I only found out during probably the Hunky-Dory sessions that he actually played piano, so he didn’t admit that he’d done up to grade six or whatever it was, and he played cello and recorder.
“That was not the cool thing to admit that you play recorder. It didn’t really fit the image. That’s maybe why he didn’t tell us. But he always said he wanted to get that tone that he got when he played those instruments.”
Regarding Mick’s talent as an arranger as well as a musician, Woody said he would get nervous and lock himself in the bathroom, writing the notes out. “You’d be like, ‘I need the loo, Mick’. [It would be] ‘Come on in, go. Let me just finish this line’.”
Woody recalled the time when “three Yorkshire men” were first getting used to the idea of makeup for their stage performances, with Bowie leading the charge. “When we’ve just been introduced to it, we had to do our weekly shop,” he said.
“So we’d go around Beckenham, doing the butcher shop, the bakers, whatever, the vegetables and all that. And we’re getting ready to go out and do the shop, and he – Mick – would say, ‘you putting makeup on?’.
“It was just funny, how quickly, do you know what I mean, we got used to it.” Asked by Georgie what it was about Mick, as a musician and human, that drew other artists to him, Woody said: “I think the talent, just that.
Mick Ronson performs on stage with David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars during the final night of the Ziggy Stardust tour at the Hammersmith Odeon in London on July 3, 1973(Image: Redferns)
“He had that ability to understand a song and what was needed on it, and to play it right. To play, almost as an arranger, but as a lead rock guitarist as well.
“Although he looked like he had one on stage, an ego, he really didn’t have one. He didn’t really know how good he was. He would say yeah, I think that’s it, I’ve nailed it; it wasn’t big headedness, you know. And I think people saw that and thought, well, if you can have that much talent and like, just be normal, it was cool, you know?”
Woody said his favourite memory of Mick would be “just as a mate” who was on the same wavelength. “We hung out as best friends,” he said. “We had laughs until you were in pain. You had to stop just whatever you’re doing because the pain was too much.”
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