How Steve Jones Stole Ziggy and Spiders Gear From Their Stage

Sex
Pistols
guitarist

Steve
Jones
recalled
how
he
managed
to
steal
musical
equipment
from

David
Bowie
the
night
before
the
last-ever

Ziggy
Stardust
concert
in
1973.

Versions
of
the
story
have
been
passed
around
for
decades. However,
in
a
recent
interview
with The
Guardian,
Jones
corrected
some
myths and
explained
what
happened
when
he
later
owned
up
to
Bowie
and
Spiders
drummer
Woody
Woodmansey.

Confirming
he
hadn’t
liberated items
from
trucks
outside
London’s
Hammersmith
Odeon,
Jones
said,
“It
was
on
the
stage!
They
played
two
nights,
and
after
the
first
night,
they
left
all
the
gear
up.

READ
MORE: Who
Are
the ‘Big
4’
of
Punk
Rock?

“I
knew
the
Hammersmith
Odeon
like
the
back
of
my
hand
–
I
used
to
bunk
in
there
all
the
time.
I
was
like
the
Phantom
of
Hammersmith
Odeon!

“It
was
about
two
in
the
morning
…
there
was
no
one
there
other
than
a
guy
sitting
on
the
fourth
or
fifth
row,
asleep;
he
was
snoring.
It
was
dead
silent.
I
tiptoed
across
the
stage
and
I
nicked
some
cymbals,
the
bass
player’s
[amplifier]
head
…
and
some
microphones.
I
got
Bowie’s
microphone
with
his
lipstick
on
it!”

He
got
away
in
a
stolen
minivan,
but
Bowie
soon
discovered
who
had
committed
the
crime.
When
asked
if
he
ever
admitted
it,
Jones
said,
“I
kind
of
did,
on
a
phone
call
…
he
thought
it
was
funny.

How
Steve
Jones
Made
Up
for
Stealing
Spiders
Drummer’s
Gear

“Actually,
I
don’t
think
I
nicked
anything
off
him;
I
don’t
think
the
microphones
were
his.
The
only
ones
I
felt
bad
for
were
Woody
and
[bassist]
Trevor
Bolder.”

Jones
described
the
unusual
circumstances
in
which
he
admitted
to
Woodmansey
what
he’d
done.
“He
came
on
my
radio
show
a
few
years
back,
and
I
thought
I’d
tell
him
live,
when
we
were
on
the
air.
…
I
was
like,
‘I’ve
got
to
make
amends
to
you,
Woody,
I
nicked
some
of
your
cymbals.
What
can
I
do
to
make
it
right?’

“He
goes,
‘I
don’t
know
–
give
us
a
couple
of
hundred
bucks.’
I
think
I
gave
him
$300,
so
he
was
well
happy!”