drummage digression : drumcentric hits

Great thing about pop music, there are always things to discover. Case in point, this record: "Neanderthal", by Hotlegs, a prototype of 10cc. Strangely, although it got to #2 in  the UK  in 1970 (and was a big hit elsewhere in the world too) I have no memory of ever hearing it. Included here not because I like it particularly but because offhand I can't think of another pop record where the drums are mixed so upfront, to the drastic expense of everything else on the record. Apparently the song only came out because they were messing around with a new kit and trying drum layering at Strawberry Studios.

Well, actually, now I think of it -- there is another song where the drums are mixed so upfront to the expense of everything else on the record - mostly because there's not much else on the record -- and it's this tune, which I do remember from Top of the Pops as a kid: Cozy Powell, "Dance With the Devil"

That was a Number 3 hit, in January 1974, would you believe?

Here's the B-side:

Amazingly Cozy Powell had two other hits in 1974 with "The Man in Black"  and "Na Na Na".

Regarded by drummers as one of  THE great drummers of all time...  but man, he drummed on a lot of shit records by a lot of shit bands: Rainbow, Graham Bonnet & the Hooligans, Michael Schenker Group, Whitesnake, Emerson Lake & Powell, Black Sabbath 1988-91, The Brian May Band, Tipton Entwistle Powell, Yngwie Malmsteen....