Oh My God, what a video this is. I see 2 children listening to one of the most inspiring tracks of all time. ..." It's your Dad"..."It's not simple rock"...." I love the hi hat psh psh psh".....Tears came to my eyes eventually. "Now you know guys".
Message to Hikaru Davis: I met your dad in 1978 when he was touring with David Bowie in Australia. I was a teenager playing live disco 6 nights a week in a 'discotheque' in Brisbane. David Bowie and entourage came up one Monday night, a night off for them. There wasn't many people in the club on a Monday night, so it was good for David as he wouldn't be hassled. The drinks were flowing freely and there was a lot of jamming going on. Your dad introduced himself to me and looking like a million bucks in his white 3 piece suit, he would regularly ask me to get on my drum set and play, to which I was happy to oblige. He loved to play the music we were doing (BT Express, T Connection, Stevie Wonder etc) and was absolutely ferocious on the kit. I dont remember too much more about that evening, other than to recall me playing drums and a heap of musicians on stage with your dad and Bowie up the front singing .. something. Sadly, this was WAY before smartphones and social media. Forward to 2005, I was in New York. It was a steamy hot August night and my friend said, lets go up to Harlem and catch some jazz. We found a club, got a drink and settled in. The jazz band was on fire and it wasnt until he was introduced, that I realized it was your dad. I told my friend the Bowie story from the late 70's in Brisbane, he said: "go on, go say hi" .. I said "nah, he wont remember me". I didnt go and say hi, somewhat regrettably. Dennis Davis was next level drummer, frighteningly talented and sorely missed. Respect .. Peter 'Maz' Maslen
Having a serious nerdgasm.... My favorite david bowie song. The driving force even has a heavy metal vibe.... Sounds so amazing isolated.... So glad I found this!
Un-be-fuck-ing-lievable. What a class drummer. I was 14 at the time this came out and as a starting drummer myself I was totally blown away by this funky, fierce piece of drumming. Still does.
Like, WHOA. I've been listening to this song for almost 30 years and it feels like an absolute luxury to get such a look under the hood. Thanks, Hikaru. Your Dad was a genuinely extraordinary talent.
Yes, this is fascinating! Dennis Davis was such a great drummer, flamboyant and funky, and I've known ever since I first heard this song in the mid-1980s that it had this rich, huge, soulful sound - lots of things happening at once but it never descends into mere rumble. It's a late-sixties kind of sound with that big phased echo and the power drumming - close to Spencer Davis Group/Traffic (Paper Sun!) or Small Faces. Great to hear the drumming and congas highlighted by itself here.
I had the pleasure of Meeting Dennis when he was playing with Roy Ayer’s. And I was running monitors for that particular show in Marietta, Georgia he was an amazing drummer and very down to earth guy. I probably still have got the autograph he gave me after the show. The whole band was truly a class act. I am a drummer myself so I spent my time after the show talking with him. The whole show was truly magical. My position was on the side of the stage with the band and I was responsible for everything that each musician heard in their monitor speaker so I had to connect and communicate with each of them Dennis would just look and nod while he was playing and I would make the adjustments. I probably enjoyed my part as much as he obviously enjoyed playing. I didn’t know that he had passed away until just now. I am sorry for your loss and he will live on in our hearts . 💜💜💜
I was just listening to 'Look Back in Anger' and thought "I've got to know more about this drummer". Googled Dennis Davis and the first thing I found was this video. Perfect!
Look back in Anger is my favourite Bowie track, in part due to the brilliant drumming. Thank you Hikaru for this amazing insight into your brilliant father.
My notes about the video, on my own social media: To me, Dennis Davis was indeed one of the greats. As I wrote on Hikaru’s RU-vid channel: I am very proud to working on this project with the Davis family. I first noticed the drumming of Dennis Davis on tracks like Look Back in Anger, when I was about the age that Hikaru is now. At that time, I had no idea who Dennis Davis was, but I loved what I was hearing. And my appreciation and enthusiasm for the music that Dennis made such an important contribution to, has never really waned. Four further videos are planned for this series of The HD Projects interviewing Tony Visconti. The interview with Tony Visconti took place in 2018. Hikaru wrote to Tony to request the interview two years ago. Tony’s response was affirmative, but at that time, he was very busy and couldn’t commit to a date. Furthermore, he needed to wait for permission from the Bowie Estate to present some track breakdowns of Dennis Davis drumming, as per our request. So Hikaru and I waited with considerable anticipation. Finally in March last year a date was arranged at Tony’s NYC recording studio. A little later, I received the material Hikaru and his Mum Chie had captured that day, and it exceeded all expectations. I was both thrilled by it, and also staggered at the monumental task ahead that was shaping up in my mind. Thankfully Hikaru and Chie had managed to capture great sound at Tony’s studio. Two Look Back in Anger track breakdowns sounded absolutely great and were an obvious standout in the material. The classic Bowie rocker from his 1979 album, Lodger has long been a favorite of mine. It’s a track dominated by Dennis Davis’ drums, and is rightly regarded as one Dennis’ signature tracks with Bowie. Dennis’ Davis drum tracks for the Lodger album were in all likelihood recorded at Mountain Studios, in Switzerland in September 1978, during the break in the David Bowie Isolar II World Tour. Tony presented two different breakdowns from those sessions. Both had vocals and lead instruments stripped away. One breakdown brought Dennis extraordinary drumming to the fore, retaining low in the mix the track’s long ominous chords, and hints of Brian Eno’s subtle electronic flourishes. A second breakdown revealed a previously unidentified (unknown to me anyway) Dennis Davis conga drum track, subtly hidden in the finished mix. And thus I felt that the material warranted a stand-alone Look Back in Anger video. On the audio side, I have edited the two breakdowns into one track. I have also mixed back in elements of the original track, including some of Bowie’s vocal low in the mix. Basically I’ve tried to produce a semi-instrumental drums and conga dominated remix, to give Dennis’ magnificent drumming more context and impact. Something needed to be done for the visual element. Tony’s explanations and enthusiasm for Dennis drumming is a delight. But, he and Hikaru looking at a computer screen throughout the playback was not a satisfying visual. I recalled a great Look Back in Anger drum tuition RU-vid video I had seen, here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-q81NoZY4Gm8.html. The uploader was kind enough to send me the raw drum cam footage for my use, and that footage was synced to Dennis’ drumming. I also recut David Mallet’s video for Bowie’s Look Back in Anger, to accentuate Dennis’ drumming, and superimposed it in. Finally, I synced in footage of Carlos Alomar playing his classic Look Back in Anger guitar break. The intro / credit sequence, is a recut of / homage to, the wonderful intro sequence of the 1959 movie of John Osborne’s play, Look back in Anger, directed by Tony Richardson and starring Richard Burton. Here’s the original intro from the Look Back in Anger movie: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_U4yU-gtbPo.html Hope you dig it! More videos to follow, so please keep your electric eye on me babe! Please Share, Like, Comment, Subscribe Facebook.com/TheNachoVideos RU-vid.com/nachomarcho Vimeo.com/NachosProductions
Yes a great congratulations to u for honouring this man and how he elevated the song to higher levels. I've been loving this song since I was 19yrs old when it came out. I've introduced the song to people over the past 40yrs so they can reveal the song to others. Thankful for this and your devotion. I still remember this incredible song as the opener to the 2nd time I saw Bowie live. What a genius song to open with. As we all know Bowie continued to open with it from time to time,but nothing can quite match it w hen it was first used. I was turning to people and saying"yes! Look back in Anger yeah!"
Nacho you've said and most thankfully produced all that needed to be regarding this dark horse, obscure legend, one of the world's greatest unknown popular drummers. I'd long ago ferreted out the likes of Earl Palmer, Ronnie Hawkins, Hal Blaine, Ed Greene, Bernard Purdie et al (btw all guilty as charged Your Honor) through sheer determination, intense liner note study and the passed down somewhat sage knowledge of "experienced musical types" whom you'd be better of not contradicting with. But honestly, before hitting on your work a couple years back, I'd just accepted that most likely I'd never decipher the enigna that was the man behind the Main Man. Ok enough. Thank you, thank you for the communion. Shoot one to Tony for sharing the magic/de-mystification. Thank the gods for the current wellspring of how its done from the engineer/producer world, just sayin. Bless you all (and Hikaru too).
peter hlinka thanks so much for the comment. By coincidence I just watched this video again today with a friend who hadn’t seen it before, and wasn’t particularly aware of the brilliance of DD’s drumming. As I’ve said many times, I’m proud that it fell to me to be the one to make some clear, watchable material to bring Dennis genius to light.
His drumming on "Stay" was the light-bulb moment for me - both the studio take and the live version (from New York/Nassau '76) have the same mix of power and funky abandon as on the amazing song here. The groove on Stay is completely unstoppable . and I love the duelling guitars (by Slick and Alomar) on that track! 💘
As a drummer, I can tell you his playing is pushing all the right buttons, he's ON FIRE on this track! Visconti is mistaken, he's not playing triplets on his fast fills; they are 32nd notes! He does do a couple of fills where he puts a "ruff" (2 very fast 32nd. notes with the right hand followed by left-right triplets down the toms) @ 2:42 & 3.47. His playing is very heavily 16th note syncopated , this allows him to do a lot of "offbeat 16ths" on his open and closing hihat making it sound very funky. I'm just discovering this guy, drummers don't play like this anymore!!
Thank you to Hikaru and Nacho for this whole series, especially this video. This song came to mean a lot to me regarding the death of my own father last year and I'm a huge fan of the DAM era of Bowie. As a drummer, I'm still working on getting this track nailed down, and it's a pleasure to glean it. Cheers.
Nacho's videos brought me here, and I want to say how thankful I am that you can learn about your father through his extraordinary work. He's the drummer on some of the most important albums in history, and I've long wondered about what his life was like. Before RU-vid and Wikipedia, it was a lot harder to learn about people. I'd like you to know that Lodger was the first new Bowie album to be released after I saw him and the band live in 1978, and that's when I became a fan. This song in particular still inspires me. The period in which your father played on Bowie's albums is unparalleled. It's hard to explain how unique this music was then, but it's because of people like him and Bowie and Visconti that we have the musical options that are available now. It just wasn't like that then. It can't have been easy being a musician before or after the Bowie spotlight swung around, and for what it's worth I hope that he was able to keep doing what he loved until the end. My deepest regard to you and your family. Thanks to you and Nacho both for this great video. I really learned a lot.
Dennis' playing is so damn cool. Station to Station is a masterpiece of drumming feel and support, while keeping a creativity and power. His fills go against the grain of the tune, but stay in the pocket and add to David's phrasing. Love this stuff.
Tony mentions on another clip that Dennis can maintain a steady & pulsating beat on the Bass drum. If you listen to Red Sails on the same album, that constant unwavering beat is there. Pure Genius.
I saw the incomparable Mr David Bowie twice in the 70's.Empire pool[76] and Earls court [78], as a young,just learning drums,16 year old,being a massive fan through my youth,since Hunky Dory/ Starman period and was delighted to get a ticket to the,Pool,went on my own, as none of my mates could go. I distinctly remember, Denis Davis,who i knew nothing about at the time,going a drum solo that lasted about 12/15 minutes. To me,bliss,others around,i was in the stalls,chatted,went for a drink,but i was mesmerised,as not only was he Amazing,but half way through it,he started chanting too,blew me away and was an inspiration,still to this day. Still can't find that on you tube,but i want to say,Thank you for this upload,information from all involved,,,Banging,,,,peas n' love
Fantastic! Just listened to the Bowie track and thought I've got to check out this drummer...first search result was this. That relentless driving energy....LOVE IT!
Congratulations, Hikaru and Nacho. A well deserved homage and a much appreciated analysis of one of rock'n roll's finest pieces. Bowie was great, but he would have been much less efficient without the wonderful musicians with whom he worked along his career. Dennis Davis was the core of that amazing funk rock sound of the second half of the 70s!
When this album was released this song jumped out at me, grabbed me and never let go because of Dennis Davis. Hearing the isolated track is such a treat!
How wonderful to hear the drums isolated and Tony's insightful commentary! A real treat to someone who has loved this song since 1979 - my favorite on the Lodger album.
As the kids used to say: This? *IS AMAZEBALLS!* The drumming is the engine that's propelling this track. Thank you, Hikaru, Nacho, and Tony for the deep dive on Davis' work here. @2:49, wow.
Thanks a lot for the video, it's fantastic. Dennis is genius, it's both about virtuosity and respecting the song written by David. Also, I really enjoy seeing Tony excited as a kid when he listens to those crazy grooves and fills. A good man. Complete joy. Thank you Hikaru.
Perfect. And a much more fitting tribute to Dennis and David's legacies than the stream of pointless re-releases and cash-ins that keep getting pushed out
Oh my goodness this is off the scale. What a phenomenal drummer. DB worked with so many great musicians. Agree that this is the drumming highlight on the album.
Wow! Dennis Davis was one of my biggest inspirations when I started to dive deep in drumming about ten years ago. His grooves were immaculate and his fills had just the right level of chaotic energy but executed with precision. I used to be so frustrated that there was barely any information about him around, but today I just found your channel! You're doing such a great honor to your father and thank you for your work! It's fascinating learning more about someone that I have been looking up to for so long!
Dennis Davis won't be forgotten too soon! He is my favorite from among lots of great musicians that worked with Bowie, and I remember being so stunned by both of them passing away with such a short time in between. Just wishing that someone could have written down the incredible life stories that Dennis had told David and that left him so in awe!!! Missed but never forgotten!
Absolutely stunning drumming and conga work by the genius that was Dennis Davis on this superb Bowie track and a fascinating and deeply touching interview with the brilliant Tony Visconti by Dennis’ son. Thanks for sharing this! 🙏
nacho & hiraku , you have done justice to this track, thanks for making it very informative as i knew dennis back in the roy ayers into bowie merge, i remember dennis coming home with a big drum set ( when he lived at 20th st , right down the block from bowie !) & it was when he told me it was from bowie & told me he was going to play with bowie, a great day for us all as i was very happy that dennis finally made it as he deserved it, a great down to earth humble guy who deserved the best , i miss him so , RIP dennis
Hikaru, I just want to say how much your Dad's music has meant to me, and I'm happy you (and Nacho) have put these videos up to share with us. Thank you.
@@carnmarth334 You have got to be kidding... obviously it adds to the video as visuals give extra insight! And it's not that many drummers could fill the role Otto took on even though it's musically basically copying, it's obviously hard to do not to say impossible for most drummers.
WOW! I just discovered this great video. Truly amazing drumming! I've always loved "Lodger". It's an underrated album of David's. "Low" and "Heroes" always seem to get noticed more, but I think "Lodger is as good if not even better than those other "Berlin Trilogy" albums. "Look Back in Anger" was always my favorite track on the album and this video shows one of the reasons why. Dennis Davis was simply amazing on this!
I thought this album was fantastic when it came out and was fascinated by the drumming on this track in particular. I know that Visconti has gotten some grief for the 2017 remaster/remixings he did, but I've got to say I've been waiting for decades for exactly what he did to Lodger...it sounds exactly has it should now. Makes me love the album even more that I can hear so much of what's really going on.
Fan-bloody-tastic. Quality content! Congratulations (and "thanks!" as a fan) to everyone involved on a great video about one of my favorite Bowie songs-and one of the main reasons it's a fave is because of the spectacular drumming of your father.
Thanks a million! Always loved and hugely admired Dennis Davis' playing - his (and George Murray's) contribution to Bowie's best period was way underrated.
Thanks for this. Lodger was the first album I bought back in 1980 (second hand) when I was 9. Loved it then and still do now, Look Back In Anger is an outstanding track and for me the drums make it happen. FFWD 39 years and I now play guitar and drums, Lodger was my inspiration and I still listen to it. Thanks to all who made it happen.
