Skip to main content

They have a drummer?

By

A short list of drummers who don't get enough credit


When Ola Brunkert, ABBA's tour drummer, died, I circulated the news around the office like a good music nerd. The overwhelming reaction to my macabre message was, "ABBA had a drummer?" Humorous, yes, but it made me think about the percussion profession. Drummers are that integral, yet often overlooked, member of a band whose position at the back of the stage belies his/her importance. This is most true in rock circles. Drummers for jazz and blues bands tend to receive a little more attention, i.e. the drum solo. But unless you are Rick Allen or Mo Tucker, or Animal, your role as percussionist may never be known past the liner notes.


Until now.


Continuing the selfless service on which we pride ourselves at Duck & Cover, here is a small list of (relatively) unknown drummers--or, here is a list of bands on whose mention you might say, "No shit. They have a drummer?":



  • Charlie Adams (Yanni) :: Quell your disbelief--Yanni has a drummer. It's not some one-off thing, either. Adams has been Yanni's concert drummer for nine tours. You know what's weird, though? They met in Minnesota. I know, I know: what the hell is Yanni doing in Minnesota?

  • Steve Barnard (Robbie Williams) :: This would kinda suck, I think. Knowing Williams's preference for repetitive beats, Barnard could probably just whack a few snares and symbols then hit "repeat."

  • Roger Andrew Taylor (Duran Duran) :: My older sister used to have a Duran Duran poster in her room during the 80s when I was just a wee lad. I'm quite sure there were only two of them.

  • Marty Beller, Brian Doherty (They Might Be Giants) :: And here I thought John and John just used a synthesizer to create their beats. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've never seen a drummer the few times I've seen them live.

  • Paddy Boom (Scissor Sisters) :: Besides having the perfect name for a drummer, he also has his own record label called--wait for it--"Boom Boom Records."

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lucero Video for "Darken My Door"

By
Darken My Door from Lucero on Vimeo . It's good to see that a serious band doesn't have to take itself seriously. Even better when a band's fans don't take them too seriously. "Darken My Door" off of Lucero's latest album, 1372 Overton Park , is a song about losing stuff--girlfriend, money, dignity. In fact, a lot of Lucero's songs are like that, but I'm not getting into that now. I'm talking about the video, which has so much to love. Obviously, I love the fact director Alex Mecum has used a puppet as the protagonist. But it's what the puppet does that makes this video so much fun. Puppet eating chili dogs, puppet drinking whiskey, puppet giving blow jobs . . . Hell, there's even puppet vomit! It's ridiculous, yes, but also tragic. By the end of the video, if you don't feel a little sorry for the scruffy faced whore puppet, then you have no soul. Here's a little more about the videos for Lucero's new album: To promot...
Post a Comment
Read more

Okkervil River, Wellington, New Zealand :: Live Music Review

By
There are energetic drummers, and then there is Travis Nelson. Truly, he is 'Animal.' Okkervil River albums have so much personality, the songs themselves become characters: players, people in the guise of animals or gods (and who can tell the difference sometimes?). And like watching a melodrama, we are witness to emotions that heave and plummet with frightening force. The songs can be drunken youth: the rotund boots on their feet knocking wildly on every surface. Or they can be villainous and smart, full of smiles and wishing-you-well up to the second they thrust the dagger into your belly. Pitched, lust-crazed, calculated: that is one half of an Okkervil album. The other emotion is equally intense in its thick, slow agony: the eternity it takes to remove the knife, knowing you have it all to do over. And so it goes: soaring, drunk, angry, knife, stab, agony, pull-it-out-and-let's-do-it-again. At the San Fransisco Bathhouse in Wellington, New Zealand, on a crisp early a...
2 comments
Read more

Best Music of 2008 [Last.FM gobbles our scrobbles]

By
Internet radio / social network / music discover tool Last.FM has released its Best of 2008 list. There are going to be dozens of "best" lists coming out in the next few weeks, but this one should command your attention. The list is not based on radio play, and it is not based on best selling albums. It is based on the number of times we (that's the royal "we" in all it's regal garb) have played tracks from our iTunes, iPods, Songbirds, or any other player that allows scrobbling. It is based on what we wanted to hear. We pressed play. We made the playlists. The only fault I can find lies in the Top 10 Tracks, which basically MGMT and Colplay. But that's what you get with raw data. To me, the Artists list is the most compelling. You will find no Kanye West on this list; no Britney and no Janet. You will only find the artists played incessantly and obsessively.
3 comments
Read more