Dennis' Music
Before the Wood, There Was the Beat
Dennis Elliott was the original drummer for Foreigner, one of the most successful rock bands of the late 1970s and 1980s. The music came first. The wood came after.
Most people who find Dennis Elliott's wood sculpture don't know the other story. Before the studio in the woods, before the lathe, before the vessels and wall sculptures that ended up in museums — there was a drum kit, a band, and a run of albums that sold tens of millions of copies worldwide.
Foreigner
1976 – 1990
Foreigner was formed in New York City in 1976 by British guitarist Mick Jones and American vocalist Lou Gramm, with Dennis Elliott on drums. The band's debut album went platinum within months of release. What followed was one of the most commercially successful runs in rock history — a string of albums and singles that defined arena rock for a generation of listeners.
Dennis was the engine room of that sound. His drumming was powerful without being showy, musical without being fussy. He gave the band its backbone and its feel. Songs like 'Cold as Ice', 'Feels Like the First Time', 'Urgent', 'Waiting for a Girl Like You', and 'I Want to Know What Love Is' were heard everywhere — on radio, in stadiums, in the memories of anyone who came of age in that era.
Discography with Foreigner
Foreigner
Atlantic RecordsThe debut. It went platinum almost immediately and established the band as a major force in rock. 'Feels Like the First Time' and 'Cold as Ice' became instant classics.
Double Vision
Atlantic RecordsThe follow-up matched the debut's success and then some. 'Hot Blooded' and 'Double Vision' were inescapable. The album sold over seven million copies in the United States alone.
Head Games
Atlantic RecordsA harder-edged record that showed the band's range. The title track became one of their signature songs. Dennis's drumming on this album is some of his most assured work.
4
Atlantic RecordsThe band's commercial peak. 'Urgent' and 'Waiting for a Girl Like You' were everywhere. The album reached number one and spent ten weeks at the top of the Billboard chart.
Agent Provocateur
Atlantic RecordsHome to 'I Want to Know What Love Is', one of the biggest ballads of the decade. The song reached number one in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
Inside Information
Atlantic RecordsDennis's final studio album with the band. 'Say You Will' and 'I Don't Want to Live Without You' continued the run of hit singles. He left the band in 1990 to pursue his art full time.
"Playing drums in a rock band and turning wood are not as different as people think. Both are about finding the groove in the material — the place where it wants to go."
From Stage to Studio
Dennis left Foreigner in 1990. He had been turning wood as a hobby for years — something to do with his hands between tours, a way to stay grounded when the music business threatened to become all-consuming. When he left the band, the hobby became the work.
The transition was not as dramatic as it sounds. Both music and wood turning require the same things: patience, physical precision, a willingness to listen to the material. A drummer learns to feel time in his body. A wood turner learns to feel the grain. The skills are different but the discipline is the same.
He has never looked back.
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