David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars

I'm sorry, but this is just not true. Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was just the title of an album.

Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Woody Woodmansey may have been referred to in the press as the Spiders from Mars; but that was journalistic licence. And yes, Bowie almost certainly did refer to them on stage as the Spiders; but that was part of the act. When Bowie was on stage, at that stage of his career, he was Ziggy Stardust; so naturally he referred to his backing group as the Spiders. But the records were credited to David Bowie – not David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars, and certainly not Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars – and so were the live gigs.

I have gone into this at much greater length on my personal quiz website, the Quiz Monkey.