In a recent chat with KLOS-FM’s Marci Wiser, Carmine Appice recalled the 1987 Pink Floyd track he played the drums to. When asked whether Nick Mason was on board with him taking over the drums, Appice said:
“He [Nick Mason] was there. He was in the studio. When Bob Ezrin [keyboards] left me a message he said, ‘I’m producing a band that is screaming for Carmine’s drum fills.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ I called him back and said ‘Whose the band?’ He said, ‘Pink Floyd.’ I said, ‘Pink Floyd? Where is Nick?'”
The drummer added that he couldn’t understand at first why Pink Floyd would want him when Mason was their drummer. He went on to explain how he got to play the drums on ‘The Dogs Of War’ from their 1987 album ‘A Momentary Lapse Of Reason’:
“He [Bob Ezrin] said, ‘Nick’s calluses are really soft he’s been racing a Ferrari. We wanted some new blood. They want your kind of drum fills in this song.’ I said, ‘Great.’ So I spent the day with them Tony Levin was on bass, Nick was around, David Gilmour was there, the keyboard player was there I played all day 13 hours of doing this song.”
Carmine had shared with North Coast Music Beat in 2021 the first time he was able to hear the track. The drummer was in Canada for the film ‘Black Roses,’ when Pink Floyd released the album. He recalled how he listened to the song and what he thought of his part by sharing:
“I found a record store, and I bought the cassette. I put it on my walkman, and I heard it and was blown away. I said ‘Wow, a great drum part!'”
You can listen to Carmine Appice’s interview with KLOS-FM’s Marci Wiser and listen to ‘The Dogs Of War’ below.
