David Watson is an English record producer, singer and musician. Born and raised in North London, he has produced albums for

Paul Wassif Paul Wassif (born 1963 in Bristol, England) is a British musician, guitarist, and singer songwriter. Early career Paul Wassif's early career included a brief spell with Punk music, Punk/Rock band The London Cowboys. This was followed by various ...

Mark Abis Mark Abis is an English singer-songwriter and musician. His album ''Changing Inside'', produced by Eg White was released on 13 June 2005 on the Serpent label. Nick Drake's record producer Joe Boyd became interested in the album and reviewed it sa ...

Sam Sallon Sam Sallon (born 6 January 1980) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Born in London and raised in Manchester, he is the fourth child of eight. His first release ''Kathy's Song EP'' was released on Indigo-Octagon in January 2013, follo ...

Dylan Howe Dylan Lee Howe (born 4 August 1969) is an English drummer, bandleader, session musician and composer. The son of guitarist Steve Howe with whom he has sometimes collaborated, Dylan is also noted for his work with rock band the Blockheads ( ...

and

Claudia Brücken Claudia Brücken (born 7 December 1963) is a German singer and songwriter. She is best known as the lead vocalist of the synth-pop band Propaganda. In 1996, Brücken started working with Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark co-founder Paul Humphre ...

, and has worked with artists such as OMD,

Rufus Wainwright Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded 10 studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set ...

Neil Cowley Neil Cowley (born 5 November 1972) is an English contemporary pianist and composer. He has also released music as part of Fragile State, the Green Nuns of the Revolution, and the Neil Cowley Trio. With his trio, he appeared on '' Later... with ...

Beth Rowley Beth Ann Rowley is an English singer-songwriter. Early life Rowley was born in Peru to British parents who moved back to Bristol, England when Rowley was two years old. Career Early career She was influenced by her family's love for many differ ...

, Eric Clapton and

Bert Jansch Herbert Jansch (3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011) was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter ...

. He is the father of actress

Indica Watson Indica Elizabeth Watson (born 20 January 2010) is an English actress. She is known for her work in BBC television drama series '' The Missing'' and for playing the young Eurus Holmes in British crime drama '' Sherlock''. Career Watson's first ...

As a producer

In 2006 Watson recorded and produced ''Translation Volume 1 – Live in Soho'' by the Dylan Howe Quintet with

, and the album was released to critical acclaim.''

London Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'', Jazz CD of the week; published by Jack Massarik; August 2006 In 2009, Watson began work on an album by the blues/folk guitarist

, which featured the musicians Eric Clapton and

. The album ''Looking Up Feeling Down'' was recorded in London's

Metropolis Studios Metropolis Studios is a music production and entertainment industry company established in 1989 by Gary Langan, Carey Taylor and Karin Clayton.Donald Brackett It is located in the Powerhouse, a Grade II listed building, at 70 Chiswick High Ro ...

, and was released in 2011 on Black Brown & White. It turned out to be Jansch's last appearance on a record before his death in October that year. Along with

Paul Humphreys Paul David Humphreys (born 27 February 1960) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who is best known for his contributions to Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), a new wave band which he founded alongside Andy McCluskey in 1978. ...

of British electro band OMD, Watson produced German electropop singer

's live retrospective album ''This Happened'' in 2012. The album was recorded and filmed at the Scala in London's King's Cross, and features guest appearances from

Heaven 17 Heaven 17 are an English new wave and synth-pop band that formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of Martyn Ware (keyboards) and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) (both previously of the Human League), and ...

, Andy Bell, Andrew Poppy and Propaganda. Watson worked for over two years on singer-songwriter

's debut album ''One for the Road'' which was released in 2013 on Indigo-Octagon. The album features contributions from

The Rails The Rails is a folk rock band from London, England, composed of husband and wife James Walbourne and Kami Thompson. Thompson and Walbourne first met during the recording sessions for ''Versatile Heart'' by Thompson's mother Linda Thompson in 2 ...

singer

Kami Thompson Kamila Thompson is a singer-songwriter based in London and New York. She is more commonly known as Kami Thompson. She has been seen touring with Bonny Prince Billy, Teddy Thompson, Sean Lennon and others, as well as appearances with the Wainwr ...

, guitarist

and pianist

Mojo Magazine ''Mojo'' is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom, initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer. Following the success of the magazine '' Q'', publishers Emap were looking for a title that would cater for the bur ...

praised the album as ''"a finely crafted debut"'',''

''; Issue 239; page 98; published October 2013 while Maverick Magazine called it ''"a potential album of the year"''.''Maverick'' Magazine; Issue 121; page 88; published July/August 2013

As a performer

Watson has performed and recorded with many various artists and groups. In July 2004, he sang the Italian piece "L' Ombra della Luce" by

Franco Battiato Francesco "Franco" Battiato (; 23 March 1945 – 18 May 2021) was an Italian musician, singer, composer, filmmaker and, under the pseudonym Süphan Barzani, also a painter. Battiato's songs contain esotericism, esoteric, philosophy, philosophica ...

with the Remasterpiece Orchestra featuring Chris Coco and Sasha Puttnam headlining at The Big Chill festival. Watson sang with

at her career retrospective concert ''This Happened'' in March 2011. The CD and DVD was released on There (There) in 2012, and he subsequently toured as a member of Brücken's band in the UK and Europe. In 2013, Watson contributed backing vocals to

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic band formed in Wirral, Merseyside, in 1978. The group consists of co-founders Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals), along with Martin Co ...

's '' English Electric'' album. In 2017, Watson again contributed backing vocals to OMD's ''

The Punishment of Luxury "The Punishment of Luxury" is a short story written by Michael Carson. It was published within the book '' Serving Suggestions: Stories'' (a collection of 26 short stories) in 1993. This utopian, or rather dystopian story deals with the conse ...

''. In December 2013, Watson performed and sang with

at the concert "A Celebration of Bert Jansch" at London's Royal Festival Hall alongside Robert Plant,

Lisa Knapp Lisa Knapp (born 1974 in Balham), is an English folk singer, songwriter, fiddle player and multi-instrumentalist. Her singing voice has been described as "crystal clear" and reminiscent of Anne Briggs or Jeannie Robertson. Two of her three album ...

, Donovan and various members of Pentangle, amongst others. The concert was broadcast by BBC Four in the UK on 28 March 2014 under the name ''The Genius of Bert Jansch: Folk Blues and Beyond''. He is currently a member of blues folk trio, Three Pilgrims, with

and

Selected discography

* Dylan Howe Quintet - ''Translation Volume 1 - Live in Soho'' (2006) * Dylan Howe Quintet - ''Translation Volume 2 - Standards'' (2007) *

- ''Looking Up Feeling Down'' (2011) *

- ''This Happened'' (2012) *

- ''Kathy's Song EP'' (2013) *

- ''One for the Road'' (2013) * Linda Thompson - '' Won't Be Long Now'' (2013) * OMD - '' English Electric'' (2013) * OMD - ''

'' (2017) *

- ''I That Am Lost '' (2017) * Jack Adaptor - ''The Spoiler Versions'' (2018) * Jack Adaptor - ''Spirit Is The Power'' (2018) * Brücken/ Froese - ''Beginn'' (2018) * Jack Adaptor - ''The Gilded Sound'' (2019) *

- ''Live at Broadhempston'' (2019) * Andrew Poppy - ''Hoarse Songs'' (2019) *

- ''China Ship'' (2020) *

Wolfgang Flür Wolfgang Flür (born 17 July 1947) is a German musician, best known for playing percussion in the electronic group Kraftwerk from 1973 to 1987. Flür claims that he invented the electric drums the group used throughout the 1970s. However, pa ...

- ''Magazine 1'' (2022) * OMD - ''

Bauhaus Staircase ''Bauhaus Staircase'' is the fourteenth studio album by English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), and the fourth since their 2006 reformation. Released on 27 October 2023 by White Noise Records (and by 100% Records in the ...

'' (2023)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, David English record producers English male singers English folk guitarists English male guitarists English male songwriters Singers from London Musicians from London Living people Year of birth missing (living people)