Today's guest blogger is NYC drummer John Rogers, and what do you think John will be talking about? The dire economic situation in Greece? Guess again. You got it. The drums. To be even more precise, the drummer. Take it away, John.
The five drummers that I've selected were all emerging artists in the 70s, but for most of them, it really wasn’t until the early 80s when they rose to prominence and super stardom.
Here are my top 5 drummers of the 80s.
Neil Peart
The first time I heard Rush and Neil Peart's phenomenal drumming was in 1981. I was sitting in my friend's bedroom when he put on Moving Pictures. The first cut - “Tom Sawyer” - was all it took to get me hooked.
I had never heard progressive rock drumming like that before. Peart's command of odd times, bombastic drum fills and double bass drum with machine-like precision left me many a day and night trying to figure out how he did it!
The first concert I ever attended was Rush at Madison Square Garden in 1983 in support of the Signals album. What blew my mind was seeing thousands of people air drumming to every song!
My first “new” drum kit was a Tama Superstar in Cherrywine finish like Neil's, though it wasn’t nearly as big. I have way too many favorite songs from the 80s but here are a couple standout tracks: “The Spirit of Radio,” “Freewill,” “Tom Sawyer,” “Limelight,” “YYZ,” “Digital Man,” “The Big Money,” “Manhattan Project” and “Subdivisions."
Phil Collins
Let’s face it, Phil Collins was everywhere in the 80s. You couldn’t go more than five minutes without hearing something Phil played or sang on. He was churning out hit after hit either as a solo artist or with Genesis. Ironically, the first time I heard him play drums was neither as a solo performer nor with Genesis but with a little known fusion band called Brand X. It was then when I began looking into Phil and immediately purchased records by Genesis as well as his first two solo albums Face Value and Hello, I Must Be Going. I became infatuated with Phil’s drum sound...gated reverb.
Phil also played drums on Frida’s “There’s Something Going On," Howard Jones' “No One Is To Blame," and Philip Bailey’s “Easy Lover." I'll never forget his historic appearance at both Live Aid concerts, taking the Concorde from London to play later in Philadelphia with both Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin.
During the late 80s, both Genesis and Phil’s solo records featured a lot of drum machine, but he still played drums on most of the songs, augmenting the use of the drum machine. He embraced the technology when a lot of drummers shied away from it.
Who hasn’t air drummed to his fill in “In The Air Tonight”?
Stewart Copeland
A friend of mine was playing Outlandos d’Amour by The Police on his 8-track player. The track that stuck in my mind, and I’m sure millions of other fans, was “Walking On The Moon." What the heck was this? A band that was mixing different genres and a drummer who was playing grooves I’d never heard before?
The Police mixed punk, reggae, ska, funk and rock then mashed it all together and made it their own. Stewart Copeland’s distinct sound with the high pitched cranked up snare drum, combined with the use of splash cymbals was something new on mainstream American radio.
Copeland was born in Alexandria, Virginia but spent his childhood in the Middle East. There is no doubt in my mind that this is where he absorbed different rhythms and then brought them out in his drumming, making his style pure genius.
Stewart Copeland's drumming introduced me to new styles and music such as reggae, punk and ska. But what makes his drumming genius is that he fused these styles and made them feel so natural in a song. Tracks I highly recommend are: “Roxanne," “Don’t Stand So Close To Me," “Message In A Bottle," “Man In A Suitcase," “Spirits In The Material World," “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," “Walking On The Moon," “So Lonely” and my all time favorite “Murder By Numbers."
Steve Gadd
Steve Gadd is not a household name, but I’m pretty sure every household that has ever played music has heard his drumming. Steve was (and still is) a 1st call studio drummer who has pretty much played on every major artist's record in the 80s including: Eric Clapton, Kate Bush and Jon Bon Jovi.
Gadd was responsible for introducing the 10” tom tom as the first mounted (rack) tom in a setup and suspended floor toms that became the norm in virtually every studio drummer’s kit in the 80s. Smaller toms (rack toms 10”-12”) and suspended floor toms (13”-15”) became the rage because they could be tuned low but maintain the punch and attack needed in the recording studio.
Steve Gadd’s most famous groove is on Paul Simon’s 1975 hit “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover." Years later on another Paul Simon song, Gadd contributes a funky Mozambique groove on “Late In The Evening." Two of my absolute favorite records in the 80s both feature Steve Gadd and drummer Jeff Porcaro, Jarreau and Breaking Away by Al Jarreau. The latter features the hit song “We're In This Love Together” with none other than Steve Gadd on drums.
Jeff Porcaro
Jeff Porcaro is my favorite drummer of all time. He was a founding member of the Grammy award winning band Toto, as well as a studio drummer based in Los Angeles. Like Steve Gadd, Jeff Porcaro was also a highly sought-after studio drummer who played on countless records.
Some of the biggest hits of the 80s have featured Jeff on drums: Michael McDonald's “I Keep Forgettin',” Don Henley's “Dirty Laundry," Christopher Cross' “Sailing," Michael Jackson's “Beat It” and “Human Nature," Eric Clapton's “Forever Man," David Gilmour's “Blue Light” and of course two of Toto’s biggest hits from the Grammy award winning Toto lV, “Africa” and “Rosanna."
Jeff was a huge fan of Led Zeppelin's drummer John Bonham, so when Toto was writing “Rosanna” Jeff came up with a shuffle groove that was inspired by John Bonham’s groove on “Fool In The Rain."
Porcaro became so well known for his signature shuffle groove that he was specifically hired for session work because of it. “Lido Shuffle” by Boz Scaggs, “IGY” by Donald Fagen, “Mornin” by Al Jarreau and “The Girl Is Mine” by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney all feature Jeff Porcaro laying down his famous shuffle.
To this day, I’m still discovering records that Jeff has played on. Sadly, Jeff Porcaro passed away on August 8, 1992. His legacy lives on with all of the great music he recorded in his amazing career.
Honorable mention:
a) Mickey Curry (Hall & Oates/Bryan Adams/The Cult)
Notable tracks: “Maneater,” “Adult Education,” “Cuts Like A Knife," “Somebody," “Run To You," “Summer Of ‘69” and “Kids Wanna Rock," and “Fire Woman."
b) Manu Katche’ (Peter Gabriel/Robbie Robertson/Sting)
Notable tracks: “Sledgehammer," “In Your Eyes,” and “Showdown at Big Sky."
c) John “JR” Robinson (studio legend)
Notable tracks: “Higher Love,' “Split Decision," “Back In The High Life," “Roll With It," “Rock With You," “Off The Wall," “Workin’ Day & Night," “All Night Long," “Easy," “We Are The World," and “Ain’t Nobody."
(John Rogers is a drummer/vocalist and a member of three different groups: The Eastside Mix (corporate band), The Retro Kings (classic rock) and Two Johns (acoustic duo), having played in venues all across the United States. He studied at the Berklee College of Music majoring in Performance. John is endorsed by GMS drums and uses Sabian cymbals, Evans drum heads and Vater drumsticks. For more info, go to: www.myspace.com/jrdafunkydrummer and www.facebook.com/dafunkydrummer.
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