Dan Woodgate

Daniel "Dan" Mark Woodgate or Woody Woodgate (born 19 October 1960) is an English musician, songwriter, and record producer. He gained fame as the drummer for the ska/pop band Madness and was also a member of the rock band Voice of the Beehive in the late 1980s. Woodgate has also pursued a solo career and released his debut album In Your Mind in 2015.

Background

Daniel Mark Woodgate was born in Kensington, London, on 19 October 1960. As children, he and his younger brother Nick lived with their divorced father in a big house in Camden Town, north London, and were cared for by nannies. Dan Woodgate attended Haverstock School from 1972–1978. After leaving school, he worked for a time as a sign writer/printer and then as a building work/labourer.

Woodgate received his first drum kit when he was 12 years of age. When Woody was 14, he and Nick started their first band called Steel Erection. Interviewed by the Daily Express in 2013, Woodgate recalled: "We were really close and spent every hour of every day together. When Nick was about 10, dad realised he had a real talent for playing the guitar. I couldn't play a thing so I took up the drums and we formed a band together called Steel Erection." The two went on to play in other bands.