Damon Albarn nearly recorded with David Bowie and Ray Davies in the ’90s

Damon Albarn reveals he ‘nearly’ made a record with David Bowie and Ray Davies in the late 1990s.

Last night, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett joined The Evening Show with Dan O’Connell on Radio X.

Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett of Gorillaz joined Radio X last night, where Damon revealed that he came close to making an album with David Bowie and Ray Davies in the 1990s. Damon also discussed ‘toying’ with the idea of making a travel TV programme, and said that the English’s ‘inability to relate to each other’ is linked to the country’s ongoing problem with racism.

Key
Damon Albarn – DA
Jamie Hewlett – JH
Dan O’Connell – DOC

Damon Albarn reveals he ‘nearly’ made a record with David Bowie and Ray Davies in the late 1990s

DOC: “It’s 25 years of Gorillaz releasing in music. And so, I wondered if you’d just indulge me and talk to me about some of your, maybe your favourite tune or your favourite collaborator of the last 25 years.”

DA: “Favourites.”

DOC: “You don’t like favourites?”

DA: “There’s some favourites.”

DOC: “Have you got a special one, one that means a lot?”

DA: “Like, people who I’ve gone on to make records other records with tend to be the sort of people you get to know the most. So, I mean, De La Soul, obviously. Probably very, very important to us just as friends and pre-Gorillaz as an inspiration, you know? They’re really, really important; important to just the history of music really. People like Bobby Womack, who I went on to make a record with. Just sitting at the piano with Bobby Womack working out new songs, kind of an incredible experience, a voice.”

JH: “There’s too many really.”

DA: “I mean, you know, finding voices like that. Some someone like Fatou Diawara from Mali who I’ve worked with a lot. Wonderful, wonderful artist. I mean, it just goes on.”

JH: “Ben Mendelsohn. That’s always fun hanging out with Ben.”

DA: “Dennis Hopper. I remember when I first got the opportunity. There was some kind of event at the Hackney Empire, and we were trying to get in contact with him to work with him, and someone had told me he would be there, so I was there as well. And I remember the first time he walked towards me, he was coming, and then I just hid behind a column as he walked past, because I just chickened out!”

[…]

DA: “I mean, you know, then there were people pre that. I mean, someone like David Bowie who… I nearly made a record with Ray Davis and David Bowie back in the late 90s. That didn’t happen. So, I mean, Dionne Warwick.”

JH: “Yeah, we almost had Dionne twice.”

DOC: “Really? Twice! You both said it at the same time!”

JH: “She was in the studio on the piano with Damon saying, ‘I’m not sure about the name of this album. Demon Days. Why have you called it Demon Days?’”

DA: “I think she just found some of the lyrics and sort of some of the ideas a bit problematic. But an amazing, amazing person nonetheless.”

Damon Albarn says he has turned down approaches to make travel programmes over the years despite ‘toying’ with the idea

DA: “The aspirations of Sikhism are something the whole world could embrace and we’d live in a better place. You know, just things, little things like that, just so inspiring moving forward. You know, it’s like, yeah, it is a chaotic country, but there’s a humanity there and a sense of a sense of direction that I really was very inspired by.”

DOC: “Yeah. Nice. It sounds like you two could make a great travel documentary. You better be careful. ITV will be the phone! ‘Damon and Jamie, coming soon to ITV1!’”

DA: “I mean, you know, I have been asked in the past to do travel programmes and I’ve sort of toyed with the idea. But, you know, if you do that, you’re just spending all your time, kind of… I don’t think you get the opportunity to meditate on things enough if you’re doing that. You know what I mean? I think I like to just go somewhere and disappear and come back and try and make a piece of work about it.”

Damon Albarn says the English are bad at dealing with their emotions and our ‘inability to relate to each other’ is linked to the UK’s problem with racism

DA: “England in particular, and I do single out England, because I feel the Welsh and the Irish and the Scots are just better with their emotions in a way than the English are. You know, there’s so much potential here, but we’re quite a repressive culture in many ways, you know? And you know all the problems that we have with racism at the moment, you know, they’re directly linked to this inability to communicate with each other and sort of… You know, it’s just a problem we have.”

DOC: “Yeah. It kind of feels like more of an internal problem though, right, than an external problem? It starts inside before it…”

DA: “Exactly. But it’s the culture. It’s all connected.”