David Bowie - Bring Me the Disco King with Mike Garson (Reality Tour in Tokyo - September 3, 2004)

Amazing! Please do me a favor and share this with the world! A piano student of mine in London shared this amazing video of David and me on tour in Japan. I didn’t even know this existed! Disco King is a relatively unknown and hidden treasure and this is one of the most interesting versions I’ve ever heard! The solo at the end of this one is very fresh. I had never done this ending before and David got a big kick out of what I played. He even asked me to repeat it - so I did!
We recorded four entirely different arrangements of Bring Me the Disco King over a 10 year period: once for Black Tie White Noise, again for Earthling and then a version for the Reality album - none of which ended up being released. At the last minute in desperation, when we were wrapping up the Reality album, David asked me to give it one more go - just the two of us. It was this one that landed on the Reality album as the definitive version. This live version is an extension of that one - possibly even better than the original. I’d love to hear the other versions released someday as they were all quite good in their own way.
David just blows me away here. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. This was such a remarkable duet. To be able to have created that with him in that moment was so special. What a gift this is. Seeing this now in 2020 once again reminds me how much we don’t appreciate what we have when we have it…

[@sarah_pings_witherby]

My favourite track of all of his and it’s because of this collaboration and your solar plexus targeted piano playing …all Bowie’s other tracks tie for 2nd place!❤ Thank you

[@Pablo.Barone]

One of the best songs of David and you are one of the greatest pianists worldwide.

[@niksanike6583]

Thanks Mr. Garson

[@brilliantfish]

WOW. just... wow. one of his finest songs, and one of Mike Garson's finest performances. wow.

[@brilliantfish]

i have to tell you, Mike, that when i was a kid, i came relatively late to Bowie. i had been growing up on all the long-hair 'dirty' UK rock bands: Zep, Sabbath, Deep Purple, Tull, etc. One day, at the tender age of 12, i heard Aladdin Sane and it changed EVERYTHING. i don't have to tell you the influence David had on so many lives - mine was one of them. BUT, when i heard YOUR playing, especially The Solo, something clicked in my mind. you changed the way i listened to musicians, not just the band as a whole. being a drummer, of course Bonham was a massive influence, but you actually helped me begin to understand phrasing, arrangement and the possibilities outside of pentatonic scales. in one go, you somehow melded rock, jazz, classical and avant-garde, (things i, as yet, knew nothing about) and opened up my ears. so, in short - THANK YOU. cheers, fish

[@russellzauner]

@@brilliantfish at least you understood it when you were 12. I've been thorough at least three phases of going back and reviewing everything because something in my brain grew to critical mass and said hey maybe look at it this way - mostly, it just takes some people longer to develop not the musical understanding but the mental sophistication Bowie can require on any but the lightest of occasions. Like Ray Charles, I never got to see him live, nor a lot of artists I now hold in much much higher regard than when I was in my teens. I knew NOTHING of the world outside my own, thankfully it only got better from there. :-)

[@meng-mengluv-luv1267]

Brilliant! Happy Birthday, Mike Garson!

[@piggystardust]

I was lucky to be at some of the "Reality" gigs... This was an absolute highlight ! ♥ ♥ ♥

[@lydiafo1]

I always loved this song ! ❤️❤️ I always was looking forward to it during the 34 Reality shows I saw ❤️❤️ great times

[@jamieholiday5156]

Already sharing it Mike !!! fabulous 8~)

[@hellsbelle7533]

My mother started listening to Bowie in 1968, I grew up listening to Bowie, and my son who is now 15 has grown up listening to Bowie. Of all the artists he has experienced, he has always said Bowie is his favorite artist. Just like me, he agrees that nobody else has the effect that Bowie does. I woke today with Lady Grinning Soul playing in my mind. Absolutely glorious music. Thank you for sharing these moments with us.

[@ItsRyan265]

That's an awesome story. For me, it was Station to Station that piqued my interest.

[@lydiafo1]

I was at the Reality shows in Tokyo great 👍 shows ❤️ great piano 🎹 Mike on bring me the disco king

[@shaunmcgee4204]

The Reality album is my favourite of David’s and this is my favourite song from it.

[@lydiafo1]

Thank you 🙏 didn’t remember how beautiful your piano solo was dear Mike

[@DavidBowieNews883]

I think this was March 9th, Mike. Stunning version. Thanks for posting,

[@opamuller626]

This piece is irresistible. The trance. The journey. The trip.

[@camilleplacebo]

I could listen to this song a million times and it would still not be enough

[@sanjam7764]

You two was wining team! Love you!

[@seosine8480]

Would've been nice to hear an entire album like this

[@minnowpoo]

he always gave 100% no concert is lacking

[@russellzauner]

Sorry I am late. Thank you for this. I've periodically obsessed over this song; I'm sure I'm not the only one. Threw it on my art blog-ish thing and sent it to every Bowie fan I know. :-)

[@SasaPeric]

♥️

[@matildah7374]

That's right, it's a GIFT!! David just blows me away here. Mike just blows me away here! Masterpiece of sound art! UNIQUE! Thank you so much for uploading and also for the wonderful description. 🧡

[@billjohnson1094]

Fantastic!

[@mangasky7]

One of his later period gems and the standout track from Reality. Thanks for helping Bowie get this together, Mike. But, man, how I wished you could've persuaded his nibs to sing Lady Grinning Soul live, even for a one-off performance. Mike, any ideas who the Disco King was? Nile Rodgers? Steve Rubell? Giorgio Moroder? Or Cocaine??

[@russellzauner]

Everyone is the Disco King.

[@dejan_krsic]

great song! and in retrospective, almost as a way towards Blackstar

[@Reprodestruxion]

You should work with Ryuichi Sakamoto, Fennesz Fripp/Belew , Eno and U2/Gavin Friday , Maestro re your melodic chromatic at times melodic at others dissonant technique and use of reverb/echo delay