Breaking down David Bowie's 'Heroes' - Tony Visconti & Erin Tonkon
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- Опубліковано 27 кві 2020
- This film is an extended version of BBC Four programme Music Moguls: Masters of Pop (Episode 2: Melody Makers).
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p039...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03g...
Check out also Tony Visconti co-producing Bowie's Warszawa, doing a lot of co-production (probably more than people think): • David Bowie, Brian Eno...
Erin is the unsung hero of this video.
I came here to write this
Unless the song is about her. Which it most likely is.
Erin!
@@jfkesq and she is purdy too.
Erin was a hero. Just for one day.
Nice job Erin.
Erin Tonkon?
I feel sad for Erin. He points. She stops.
@@samxday Don't feel 'sad' ... that's what assistants do!! Any assistant in a studio!
@@samxday Sometimes she waits a little bit
@@samxday a simpleton comment, effortless
That man needs to get himself a play button on his console.
He’s got one. It’s called Erin.
More Erin!
More than his job's worth
and put a piece of gaffa tape under it with ERIN written on it
It’s space bar per default weather you are using Pro Tools or Logic ... virtually the largest key on the board ... should be manageable.
I’m 55. I’ve heard a lot of music. Rock, classical, country, soul, funk. Nothing tops this. All time favorite song. The time these men spent on this song are some of the greatest hours spent by anyone on this earth.
Well said, I completely agree. 👍
You look 68
@@joeldavidssonparodies670 what'd ya say big nose?
What the first guy said. Am also 55.
@@rogerpattube But he looks 20 years older than you
Tony I sent you a demo tape back in 89 any news ?
🤣🤣🤣🤣
I have some bad news...
@@Gynecologist lol.
Hang in there!!
Should be any day now.
For me, Heroes is the ultimate triumph in popular music. It cripples me every time
It's a soaring tune alright.
It's hugely significant bc usually when artists of any genre have their weird, experimental phase, what is produced is nowhere near two albums considered near perfect and one of the greatest songs of all time.
I bought it when I was 14 later I was in Iggy Pop , Blondie , Techno
and so on , but there is something dominant
in his record , in his voice .....but maybee
Bang Bang is better
than Heroes ? I don't
know !
EVERY time...
Touche
I never realised there was so much in this song...
But you wondered...how?
Don't you wonder sometimes...
I could always make out some simple synthesizers, sure. But Fripp's wild guitars, the gated echo, the mellotron, the clanking tape reel, the sneaked kiss by the wall?! Soooooo much!!
@@provocaseoh no...not me
9:52 when he smiles at the genius of the complete overlay, a man who knows he caught lightning in a bottle.
I like how they're both so into the tune that they started bopping their heads to the beat in the few seconds after that. Erin starts first, then Tony does the same but without noticing her doing it.
Fripp Eno and Bowie are all absolute legends. To have them collaborating like this is remarkable.
Imagine being a fly on the wall for those sessions. Holy shit
@@ncapone87 There is nothing more to life than an experience like that. End of.
My favorite three Bowie albums are the trilogy they did.
And Visconti too, tbh
the song without them is average - as subsequent live versions prove
You can see the joy and happiness at the 9:50 mark when all of the backing tracks are played together. You can see the satisfaction on his face. You can kind of see him transported back 40+ years to the first time he heard that sound. It is like he is visiting an old friend that he had not seen (heard) in years. The innocence of hearing something for the first time is something I miss....
He was just thinking of the money.
Music is the ultimate form of transportation, and he just got transported back in time. Lovely moment.
Erin you're a star.
Erin Tonkon.
Goddammit, Erin!
lmfao
Tough Job.
🤣
Kiiiiinda wondering if Erin played "The Gimp" in Pulp Fiction at this point...
I just spit my drink.
Tony Visconti did a lot of co-production, probably more than people think.
Well, Visconti was, in fact, in the co-producer of the album (w/Bowie).
If Visconti got the respect he deserves, the song would have more cowbell
And he kissed, as though nothing could fall.
I was gong to say that! Gotta ziggy?
Visconti's, absolute legend, when I was younger always read the info on my favourite artists, bolan, Bowie,lizzy etc I soon realised one big denominator the name of Mr visconti's kept appearing I then began to appreciate the big impact the producers had in any recording. Mr visconti's the man, thank you sir!!👏👏👏👏
I've always thought this song was the ultimate "wall of sound". Now I know it is a very complex wall haha!
You can really hear the influence of Neu, Roedelius, Möebius and all the other German pioneers.
I could listen to Eno’s Heroes synth drones on loop for hours
Same. I would pay for those tracks alone.
Time dilation
Oh yes! Great music to go to sleep to. and I mean that as a compliment.
I consider it a Brian Eno song with a David Bowie vocal.
This album came out 44 years ago today. Still and forever a masterpiece.
I can almost see an SNL skit with Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig playing these two. “ERIN PLEASE, cut it out. HIT IT! Christ Erin.”
She should be thankful.
Definitely but Fred Arminsen needs to play Visconti. He even looks like him!
i think erin is sophisticated enough to respect the room she is in and the master tape she’s playing
Eno is mostly an instinctual musician, and IMO his briefcase synth contribution is the real glue that makes this song work and sound unique right from the very beginning,,,, the mic gates with DB's singing then sends it right over the top
That EMS aks sythi briefcase just did it for this classic🎶🎹🎛️🎚️
Behringer will be making a cheap vcs3 clone and Erica made an expensive Synthi one
These stories are just fuckin awesome.
Just a second of appreciation for Erin
David's quite impatient in the studio ... ERIN
We *could* be heroes, Erin *is*
Tony was immortalized for his bass playing on The man Who Sold The World!
The man plays some helluva bass!
Love how they clearly PLAYED in the studio. “Hey, let’s try this.”
For crying out loud, Erin!
That Brian Eno briefcase synth sound was extraordinary.
And Robert Fripp... My god.
Thanks for uploading this.
That could be ems synthi
@@TheMazo02 I am positive that it was indeed the EMS Synthi AKS. Brian used this extensively at this period in time
Wish with all my heart I could hear that entire Eno synth track in high fidelity. Same with the Fripp tracks. Sounds so good. What a song.
Yes lot going on with this tune.
For real. Gorgeous.
Honestly I wish recording studios would release these digital files with 8-16 track masters so we can hear each isolated instrument. Sort of like the quad days. I would pay a lot of money for some of my favorite songs.
Based on the sample of it that he played, I am guessing portions of that track went into Neukoln
"and off in the corner, Eno was playing with his... um.... well.."
No better description of him
"Knob"? Is that what we were all thinking? lol Just add "s" and it's accurate.
Probably with his silly gloves
He was probably playing an EMS VCS3 synthesizer as used with Roxy Music
@@cakodemone Probably the only synth I can think of that came in a suitcase at the time. Floyd used one on many songs also.
Culture Wikia: [14] Producer Tony Visconti took credit for inspiring the image of the lover's kissing "by the wall", when he and backing vocalist Antonia Maass (Maaß) embraced in front of Bowie as he looked out of the Hansa Studio window.[15] Bowie's habit in the period following the song's release was to say that the protagonists were based on an anonymous young couple but Visconti, who was married to Mary Hopkin at the time, contends that Bowie was protecting him and his affair with Maass. Bowie confirmed this in 2003.[1]
ua-cam.com/video/VudyGkGWDlc/v-deo.html
@Procommenter - Antonia Maaß? That's also *my* surname! 😀 How cool to hear about this! Thank you for sharing that info! 😀
@@danielborgogni6716 Thank you for including this link... makes sense out of the name of the song combined with the imagery of a couple having an affair.. they were heroes.. for awhile.. lovely
Yet ANOTHER tasty piece of trivia in the making of HEROES! Thank you!
Those Fripp parts are so emotive. They get me every time I hear this tune.
One of the first who used an e-bow i believe.
Interesting...
High art.
@@pete5534 e bow is very cool indeed.
@@madisntit6547 You mean he did not use an e-bow? Well, the track(s) we hear here, were 100% played with an e-bow, i have an e-bow, it sounds like that. And the e-bow was invented in the 1st half of the 70s or mid 70s.....
@@madisntit6547 I actually don't know anything about Fripp, i was going to say, if it's not an e-bow, it probably is the measured feedback thing....i never tried it with a guitar, only with my kalimba on which i have a contact mic and then going through the amp and effects....when it works...it is pure magic, every tiny movement produces a different frequency and you can literally feel the entire room filling up with one standing freq after the next....it is amazing...but i only accomplished it on 2 concerts so far.....well, i have not tried it very often, but i know it is not something i can force, at least that is how it felt to me.
The thing about the built-in sustain, is that from back then or what he does now? As i said, i don't know much/nothing about him. But this Fender Sustainer must be amazing, i would love to try that, but i don't like Stratocasters....haven't looked into it enough to know if you can build it in other guitars too. Another thing i have my eyes on, or my ears for that matter, hehe, is the Gizmotron....but with that, you have to dedicate one guitar to it, because taking it off and back on all the time is probably not good for the longevity of the fragile thing. Do you know that thing? Not a lot of info about it around, they also lost a lot of distribution, so now the only place to get it pretty much is directly from them....and i am in Austria and they are in the States, and that makes the whole thing kind of unaffordable.
Anyway, thank you for the detailed replies and info!
You can see his emotion talking about it, a few tears in the eyes.
It reminds me of George Martin when he is listening to John’ Lennon’s s isolated vocals on “A Day in the Life”, he really looks so moved hearing John again. It gets me teary eyed thinking about it.
Lay on a couch and talk to somebody.
Thank you, Erin.
I always found this song so magical, now I get why.... There's so much life in it.
Noise, chaos, industrial sounds, you'll hear it later in Skinny Puppy and NiN. :)
In 1979 I bought “David Live”. Somewhere in the credit notes it said “David Bowie - Chamberlain”.
I tried to find out then what this meant and couldn’t!
42 years later I find out. Thank you 🙏🏻
He played the Chamberlain on Stage album 1978 not David Live 1974.
Note that the instrument is spelled "Chamberlin" 😎👍 If you search for “David Bowie - Chamberlin” you'll get better results.
that look he gives at 9:51 says so much! love it
holy heck,those isolated David vocals at 14.38 are haunting,like i felt voyeuristic ,like maybe i shouldn't be hearing this.wow....and his vocal quality on that one track....amazing. truly amazing.Thanks for this Tony
Nothing else sounds like 'Heroes' - one of the best pop songs ever.
Well, at least a pop song. Nothing special or ambitious.
@@anonymusum you probably think ELP were ambitious and not pompous at all
@@romo2674 Ridiculous - you show nothing else than a Pavlov´s dog reflex. You hear ELP and you immediately think of pomp. OK - for non-musicians like you that may be understandable. Still, do somehing for your musical education instead of listening to some poor pop music.
@@anonymusum ''for non-musicians like you'' really made my day
@@romo2674 It could have made your month or year, that doesn´t change the fact that you have no clue about music, or let´s say about ambitious music.
it's like watching how magic happens
Yes, I have a home studio and produce my own music, so vids like this are of great interest to me.
EXACTLY!
That is exactly what happens when great songs are given birth :-) MAGIC
I love the way Mick Ronson played this on his Tele at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert (not long before his passing) RIP Mick
Just saw a documentary about Mick, never knew him and liked Bowie but he could have given Mick some money his last year.
In my view its the best live rendition of the song.
MICK RONSON will always be my favorite guitar player. I never knew that he was a classically trained musician and gifted arranger. He did a lot of uncredited work, like producing Walk on the Wild Side and convincing John Mellencamp to fish Jack and Diane out of the trash 🗑 can and Mick made it a hit. I loved watching the Freddie Mercury tribute. He used an Ebow on HEROES. I went out and bought one, now where did I put that thing!?
What a masterpiece. I will never listen to this song the same again.
One of my favorite songs, and to stumble upon this is very cool. Nice Job Erin....
Let the girl talk!!
"That's how we did it!" I love the fact that David is basically screaming all the loud parts, mostly out of tune sometimes reaching the right note sometimes not. On the record it sounds great because of the performance. If he'd done ten takes or 20 these days to comp it that would have destroyed the performance. I need to learn from this! If I get ONE missed note in a line I redo it from force of habit. I know I've lost great performances (for me) doing this and still not been happy with the result. I will swear after hearing this I will change my method.
Maybe it's the video compression, but the parts of Bowie screaming sounds like the mics were over-modulating and giving a harshness to the singing. I didn't like it. However, you're right, once it's in the full mix it's fine.
Fuck all that perfection!
(said the perfectionist 😅 ...)
If you're bothered by a bad note but don't wanna waste a good performance, I highly recommend using some pitch correction software (i.e. something like Melodyne, NOT autotune). That way you get to make small tweaks without losing the intensity/feel of a good performance. Of course you could also just leave them in, but I know the struggle of forcing oneself to do so!
@@lennardvaarten7791 YES Absolutely !!! Melodyne is AMAZING its algorythms are so pure you can adjust 1 note inside a Melody You can even convert a wav or aiff to midi and save it Lets ssys you wanna double your melody with strings like a Quartet or even Symphonic orchestra you can! & its not the Awful autorune that they put on every record they make
@@drakedebalmont5345 yeah it's great! I even use it on lead guitar parts.
Got goosebumps listening to all the layers of the song being built up. Ended up with tears in my eyes with the isolated track of Bowie singing. My absolute favourite Bowie song.
Probably my favorite song ever written.
I feel like sampling all the Erin lines and setting them to music.
Bowie was genius in maximizing the poential of a song especialy when working w Tony Visconti. Heroes is really a mopy ballad turned into a powerful rock anthem
Wow how interesting so many different instruments used.
I’ve always knew this song was complex but not to that extent. It was also nice to really hear David’s voice minus the instrumentals how strong it is. IMHO he had the best full range, and instantly recognizable voice in the industry so I love to hear him ‘unplugged’ in a sense.
Thx so much for this I thoroughly enjoyed!!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🙌👐
Great way to put it. I don’t know if that’s a known term, but full range is a great term.
I think another thing really amazing about his artistry as a singer is that he could alter his timbre to imply a higher tone while he was singing in a lower, underlyingly low register.
He was also insanely good at modulating the intensity of breath. The greatest example I know of this is the “Oh You Pretty Things” performance on the Old Grey Whistle Test. He starts with this less breathily voiced timbre when he sings the solo parts, and when the band kicks in, he amps the volume and fullness in a way that’s just…
I dunno, it’s just the height of artistry to me.
Didn't think I could love this song anymore then I saw this.
Finally the best video on the whole of UA-cam is back!:D
I hear this song today and still get goose bumps
This is absolutely beyond epic.
Incredible story of a track coming to life. Loved Bowie so much. Visconti, Eno, Fripp all brilliant. Got to meet Bowie twice briefly in the 80s in NYC, once when I played Hurrah, and again at a Rock Against Racism meeting. Probably even more meaningful was when I got to sing several Bowie songs with our cover band in Scarsdale, with the amazing Dennis Davis sitting in on drums! Sweet memories!
Wow, you're so lucky to have met Mr. Bowie, and working with Dennis Davis must have been an absolute treat! His drumming is so creative and original.
@@KlausBahnhof thank you! They were among my most exciting musical memories!
Wow
Wow! I'd love to know more about the performance with Dennis. When was it? And do you have any video / photo / audio?
@@NachoVideo don't I wish! It was Tramps Disco in Scarsdale, NY, ca. 1975-6. My band Harper was going over like a lead balloon, because by this time, we'd gone more rock cover than disco. Dennis had just come from Manhattan where he was recording with/for Bowie. Looking very dapper, he approached our road manager/soundmen and said "Tell the boys that David Bowie's drummer is here." Brian relayed that to us, and a bit skeptically, we invited him up. I was lead singer at that point, and our Bowie 'specialist.' As he adjusted Kenny's drum kit, I (stupidly) asked, "Do you know Young Americans?" to which he replied, "Uh-huh." "Well, you start it." To which he said, "I know." And he went right into that incredible drum intro. He was the kind of player, even to seasoned pro musicians, that you took a step back from and thought "Wow!" Just as tight as a machine, a consummate player! We would have then done Golden Years, Fame, and Suffragette City together, at least, and it was wonderful! I only wish we'd had time to chat. I've read that he was very funny too and we would have had a great time talking with him. Alas, it was one of those magic moments that I've been able to treasure.
Well done Erin!
Mr. Visconti is an iconic producer. His work has been enjoyed by millions, and influenced as many. This is (not so) simply an incredible recording! Bowie and friends created something marvelous!
Such a great sound engineer with a sense of simple artistry. The anecdotes and insight into this song are fantastic. The kiss by the wall story worth the price of admission! I always thought it was 3 genius artists who created this. To my surprise I've now discovered it was actually 4. Hats off to you Tony!
Not sound engineer --- producer. I've seen some very successful producers who couldn't read music, play an instrument or sing. Mr Visconti was a producer who did all of these things.
@@joelbrittain6379 "Producers" who can't even play an instrument shouldn't be called producers...
Why has this not got ten million likes?
This is a re-upload. There used to be a version of this on youtube that got removed
This is so freaking cool! People dont understand they were pioneers of sound, between the voice gates and the primitive electronics and tape loops they worked with! Like Apollo 13 ! Amazing! ohh.... I want an Erin !!
Tony's career is absolutely amazing...check out his CV minus Bowie and its staggeringly incredible...Trex Bolan,Stranglers,Boomtown Rats,Deram records,The Alarm etc
I'm glad you mentioned that, I was just thinking how amazing he is!
Mozza!
Les Rita Mitsouko's The No Compreendo...
Heroes gives me goosebumps everytime i hear it. Not many other songs have that effect on me.
Thanks Erin
Tony is an amazing talent and a wonderful communicator
Thanks for this. I always thought Eno sang on the backing vocals but it was Mr. Visconti.
"Celestial Fripp Sound"
The temptation to have another go at mixing a legendary track like that must be very strong indeed.
Erin is amazing in this. She knows what Tony wants instantaneously!
And she can often been seen bopping along to the track - absorbing and living it.
Lol. The men who created it are amazing.
@@v-town1980 I see you commenting on a ton of threads, are you really that upset over women in places you'll never get to be?
I love Tony’s accent. I could hear him talk all day.
One of the greatest songs ever. This is a song that can reduce me to tears and I don't know why........it just really hits me in my tracks
Im an aspiring producer and this is just inspiring. Genius.
Vocals without auto tune, full of nuances, beautifully imperfect, the way music should be.
Although I had mixed feelings about Bowie in the early-70s, I've come to treasure the song "Heroes" more and more as I get older. It is truly one of the finest pieces of music recorded during the great popular music era.
One generation's "cheesiness" is the next generation's nostalgia.
The guitar is so obviously Frippy... Those are wonderful 3 or 4 Bowie albums. They had a wonderful clarity and depth. They'll always be a "set". This is a great upload. ...teaching the 21st century kids something about invention bucking convention. Bowie's humongous voice is for the ages. The backing vocals remind me of some Eno albums from around that time too. The gated mics are a brilliant effect. Regards.
Now that i know what the kiss by the wall means, i can die in peace
Oh please, don't leave yet... 😲🙃 ( The place became famous afterwards ).
The story lives up to my imagination of the story.
🤣🤣🤣
You can tell a lot about the quality of a person by how they treat their assistants......time after time he follows a request to his assistant with a please. A great inside look at one of the most powerful songs ever recorded.
....alright
Too true.
I've heard several live versions of "Heroes", and I've always thought that while David sang the live versions admirably, the end product was never half as good as the studio version. Watching this, it's no wonder! David, Tony, Fripp, Eno, and the rest of the band combined in the studio to create something magical, that could not be repeated or bettered without, say, an entire orchestra behind them.
15:21 "... and we had a great assistant engineer there..."
Hang on, Erin..
By the 10 min mark, I was bobbing my head up and down just like Tony and Erin!
That song is otherworldly in a beautiful way. Like an orchestra of the future.
Fascinating! Layers of brilliance!
Genius! Something about the way he screeches on this and also on It’s No Game Pt 1.
When we perform this live the crowd loves it... it’s a great song, survives our level of musicianship because of our heart and the heart in the words, and melody, and the riffs in the bass and guitars, plus we have some cools synth patches we created
Easily my favourite Bowie song (even though it seems strange to pick a favourite from his many many amazing pieces). Love hearing how this was built up. Thank you for sharing. I could listen to just that backing track for hours, and still not have enough. Genius.
I think I remember seeing part of this clip, back in 2007 on danish television (DR2) where they had a David Bowie themed saturday night program, in honor of Bowie turning 60. I always wanted to rewatch it. So cool to stumble upon it again. Any Danish people here who remember this?
The sound of the song is astounding... I can't think of any songs that sound remotely like this... never tire of listening to it
it’s those heavy dissonant melodies mixed with that driving beat. it’s truly a masterpiece song. possibly the greatest sounding record of all time. goosebumps no matter how many times you hear it.
I love this so much ............
Tony Visconti: (David Bowie) He's a good percussionist.
The knowledge behind a great track like this is what makes it inmortal. You can tell Erin can mix and knows what he's talking about in details like the synth "brass" 07:34 and the tambourine 09:00 to help the song not being too repetitive and keep it moving towards the end. Thank you
they both start banging their heads when “cowbell” and tambourine play together. bowie knows what he’s doing!
Fantastic! Thanks so much for posting this
What a great video!
Thank you for this incredible dissection of a masterpiece!
That tape flange sounds better there than a cowbell would have.
What a rare and wonderful treat! - thank you !!
nhl 99 is the game of my childhood, this song used in the opening intro video of that game is as nostalgic as anything could ever be for me
Thanks so much Grant.
Oh this is how he looks and sounds! What a producer!
Amazing! After 40+ years this song still sends chills. I feel like I'm floating through the universe every time I listen to it.
Wow...eye opener...thanks for insight into a classic
absolutely love this sort of break down - !
Brilliant insight into a brilliant song.
For sure.
I recently read some statements about this song that changed my perspective somewhat. I remember seeing this video a few years ago and I thought it was interesting how this 'stolen' kiss made it into a section of the song. However, recently I read that there's more to this real life event than just a verse in the song. David Bowie didn't want to "out" Visconti's kiss because what Visconti didn't mention in this video is that he was married at the time. This song should be viewed from a bigger perspective -- the whole SONG is about Mr Visconti's 'kiss by the wall'. The singer and Mr Visconti were engaged in an affair that was doomed right from the beginning since he was married. Despite the obvious truth of this, the affair happened anyway. And despite its doomed nature, it might still have had value, at least to them. "Though nothing, nothing will keep us together -- We can beat them, forever and ever -- Oh, we can be heroes, just for one day"
Spot on.
you're a smart guy joel..
Interresting inside information! Thanx
fascinating breakdown. Thank you!! Great song with artful production.