The failed collaborative album between Damon Albarn, David Bowie and Ray Davies
There are very few trios that could incite more excitement with a potential collaboration than David Bowie, Damon Albarn and Ray Davies. It’s hard to imagine a record that could fuse the glam rock of Ziggy Stardust, the so-called ‘Godfather of Britpop’, and the mind behind Blur and Gorillaz, but it’s a collaboration that very nearly came to fruition.
Blur frontman Albarn has consistently declared his love for Bowie, even suggesting that a part of him “lives on through” him in an interview with Marianne. He said: “In any case that I extend his work, that I add my own melodies, my sensitivity… And I also owe him a lot in terms of vocal presence, scansion, theatrical inspiration in the way of singing.”
The two had similar backgrounds, according to Albarn, both attending art school, which suggests led to him adopting Bowie-inspired vocals. Though Albarn was clearly inspired and enamoured by Bowie, it was the glam-rock legend who once suggested that they collaborate on an album: “Him and I got along very well,” Albarn said. “We even planned to make a record together in the late 1990s. David’s idea was to get three of us together, the two of us and Ray Davies, from the Kinks. Too bad, right?”
Albarn further explained how the idea came about during a conversation with The Herald Scotland, confirming that it was “actually a serious thing” before explaining how Bowie approached him while he was on tour.
He recalled: “He summoned me when he was playing in Switzerland into the labyrinth of his backstage and I went to see him and he said, ‘Well, we’re going to do this but if this tour keeps doing as well as it is then I’m going to carry on touring.’”
Unfortunately for the crossover of Bowie and Blur fans, Albarn did continue touring, “And that’s why there’s no album,” he said. Though he was enjoying his live activity at the time, Albarn has since mourned his mistakes, stating, “I regret that one. I just imagine what that might have sounded like.”
Albarn may have missed out on a partnership with Davies and Bowie, but he has still honed an impressive discography of collaborative releases. Releasing under the project Gorillaz, he’s worked on songs with the likes of Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks, The Cure frontman and goth icon Robert Smith, and New Order co-founder Peter Hook.
A full collaborative album alongside Bowie and Davies would only have elevated his collaborative output as well as allowing him to record with two artists whose footsteps he followed.
