Carl Holmes:
"How about some love for Simon King? 'Silver Machine' an obvious
clip but doesn't he look cool? More like a lead guitarist of the Michael Karoli
school than a drummer.
"King also played on Eno's Here Come the Warm Jets, check out
his minimal underpinning of' Driving Me Backwards'"
"More David Essex with Rock On - bit of an
Eno vibe about it dontcha think?
[as with 'Jump Into the Fire', I think bassman Herbie Flowers steals the show here but yeah drumstuff's great - Barry DeSouza again + percussion from Ray Cooper]
"Surprised The Fall haven't been mentioned yet. [think they have actually] Smith's
always had good drummers behind him. Here's two, Karl Burns and Paul
Hanley, on Tempo House . Listen to that (those) snare(s)!
"Finally an honourable mention for Phil Calvert with Zoo Music Girl and Big Jesus Can"
Robert Dansby:
"I
suppose we are overlooking Mr. Prog/Jazz - Bill Bruford - work with
early Yes was actually amazing ( particularly Fragile ) among his best unsung
work was HQ with Roy Harper. Very NASTY precision, but also keen moments
of rock-out-ness.
"Side
2 of Starless and Bible Black ( title track & Fracture) are
live and almost entirely improvised. These tracks are some of the most complex
and at the same time amazingly aggressive percussion I've ever heard… The
signature snare drum sound sets him apart as well... The
work he did with Jamie Muir on Larks Tongue's in Aspic set up a
psychological space that at the time was pretty ahead of it's time both
technically and conceptually"
[after years of taking for granted the punk position on Yes, based on barest acquaintance plus received prejudice, i was surprised -- finally giving them a fair and proper listen -- by how aggressive and fierce the playing is on a lot of the stuff]
[this thing of putting whole albums up on YouTube....]
[Re the Gap Band/snarethwack, Dansby notes: "that snare wasn't programmed - too early ( 82?) - but Bowie
has already done treatments with tony V. & eno on snares along these lines
circa 77 - 79. eventide, aphex and delays really changed how the snare
operated in the mix."]
Ed Crooks:
"1) The instrumental (not exactly a solo) in Lynyrd Skynyrd 'Freebird'
has always reminded me of a trance anthem, the way it cycles around ever-higher
peaks towards the climactic summit.
What makes it explicit is the point when the drums rise
up out of the mix, pushing the intensity way into the red.
Here, it kicks in at about 9'20".... It's not quite as obvious here as in the album version or
the OGWT studio performance (also available on YouTube), but I like this one
for the shots of the Knebworth '76 ravers getting into it, and out of it.
Collective ecstasy or what?"
[ooh gosh... in the long hot summer of 76, on the Wrong Side of History but gloriously so]
2) We've had some Motörhead already, but this is my
favourite bit: the seven-second bursts of syncopation in 'Ace of Spades', first
heard here at 1'11":
Like everything in the song: concise, economical, and devastatingly
effective.
The additional percussion effect is known to the band as
"the tap-dancing bit", according to Fast Eddie Clarke. It sounds like
it is played on the spoons, apparently because it is actually played on the
spoons, by Philthy Animal Taylor.
3) We've also had Stephen Morris, but this is my
favourite performance. He plays with such concentration and intensity that you
can't take your eyes off him:
4) There hasn't been any discussion of drumming in the
European Classical tradition so far, but if we can have jazz, then why not some
of that as well? I wouldn't claim to be any kind of expert, but of the pre-20th
century composers, Beethoven seems like the king of rhythm. There's a great
moment where the drums come in at the start of the fourth movement of the Ninth
symphony that always reminds me of Bonham's entry in 'Stairway to Heaven',
His greatest percussion moment, though, must be the first
movement of the Seventh symphony where the interplay between the strings, reeds
and drums on the main riff (sorry, "theme") is almost funky.
Check it out here, from about 4' 23":
Julian Bond:
"Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy -- This is the finest 2m47s of pop single, evah, is it not?
Clearly there are lots of elements here that define the sound but it wouldn't
have worked as well without that tribal drum beat."
[actually saw Bow Wow Wow this year, they were bottom of the bill of a 80s lineup at Hollywood Bowl headlined by the Go Go's, who were great. Bow Wow, which now comprises Annabella and Matthew the slapbassman + two hired hands, tried gamely, and made for an endearing spectacle. But in the absence of half the original band -- and with original drummer Dave Barbarossa particularly missed -- you could say that Bow Wow Now most definitely ain't Got the Beat]
John Lydon (via Ashley Bodenham):
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
and a smatter of bloggage about drummage:
Aaron At Airport Through the Trees picks up again with more tipsy thoughts, part 1 of promised 2 on the Seventies
Phil Zone with a provocation