Watching the recent BBC coverage of Glastonbury I was enjoying Primal Scream playing their Screamadelica album and got to pondering how many other drummers had gone on to be better known for doing something else. Having racked my brains for all of ten minutes I could only think of drummers who became singers. I'm not sure why this is but there's enough examples to suggest most drummers secretly harbour the desire to be the front person in the band. Let's see if I can get through this without mentioning Phil Collins.
1. Bobby Gillespie - I'm not a very cool person. On a scale of 1 to 11 I'd be struggling to make 1, Bobby Gillespie is off the scale. Not satisfied with playing drums on "Psychocandy" the seminal debut album from the Jesus & Mary Chain he was also vocalist and main man in Primal Scream. Prior to this success he also briefly roadied for Altered Images. I am extremely jealous of his career choices. To be honest I'd have been satisfied carrying Clare Grogan's maracas around.
2. Karen Carpenter - My Mum & Dad's record collection was chock full of Carpenter's albums so I grew up with their melodic but slightly syrupy sound. I love them though. I think some of those tunes are just ingrained in my psyche and Karen's voice is truly beautiful. I love the fact that she considered herself a drummer who sang. People who have greater musical understanding than I do have suggested she was an excellent drummer too. A sad loss but her star shone brightly whilst she was here.
3. Dave Grohl - Nicest man in rock. You don't need me to tell you but Grohl ensured his place in the history of rock by playing drums with Nirvana. He then went on to form Foo Fighters, another multi-million selling rock behemoth, with whom he played guitar and sand lead vocal. Dave can pretty much do what the hell he wants and has also been seen on the drum stool for Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures and thrash metal tribute Probot.
4. Calum Gunn & John Baille Jr - Two people but for the purpose of this post one entity. Calum & John started out alternating between drumming & lead vocal duties for the fight pop noise of Dananananaykroyd but as the gigs inevitably careered towards friendly chaos they'd end up both at the front of the stage. This led to them recruiting another drummer (Paul) to get on with the job of keeping time whilst John & Calum do what they do best in getting the audience to have a ball and cuddle each other.
5. Andy Sturmer - Lead vocalist and drummer with US power pop combo Jellyfish, Sturmer was also the bands main songwriter. Jellyfish were all about Beatles inspired harmonies and everyone in the band contributed. Sturmer was the main man though and played a stand-up drum kit at the front of the stage rather than be relegated to the shadows. After Jellyfish split he became involved in production and wrote a number of theme tunes for Cartoon Network including brilliant catchy efforts for Ben 10 and The Teen Titans.
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1. Bobby Gillespie - I'm not a very cool person. On a scale of 1 to 11 I'd be struggling to make 1, Bobby Gillespie is off the scale. Not satisfied with playing drums on "Psychocandy" the seminal debut album from the Jesus & Mary Chain he was also vocalist and main man in Primal Scream. Prior to this success he also briefly roadied for Altered Images. I am extremely jealous of his career choices. To be honest I'd have been satisfied carrying Clare Grogan's maracas around.
2. Karen Carpenter - My Mum & Dad's record collection was chock full of Carpenter's albums so I grew up with their melodic but slightly syrupy sound. I love them though. I think some of those tunes are just ingrained in my psyche and Karen's voice is truly beautiful. I love the fact that she considered herself a drummer who sang. People who have greater musical understanding than I do have suggested she was an excellent drummer too. A sad loss but her star shone brightly whilst she was here.
3. Dave Grohl - Nicest man in rock. You don't need me to tell you but Grohl ensured his place in the history of rock by playing drums with Nirvana. He then went on to form Foo Fighters, another multi-million selling rock behemoth, with whom he played guitar and sand lead vocal. Dave can pretty much do what the hell he wants and has also been seen on the drum stool for Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures and thrash metal tribute Probot.
4. Calum Gunn & John Baille Jr - Two people but for the purpose of this post one entity. Calum & John started out alternating between drumming & lead vocal duties for the fight pop noise of Dananananaykroyd but as the gigs inevitably careered towards friendly chaos they'd end up both at the front of the stage. This led to them recruiting another drummer (Paul) to get on with the job of keeping time whilst John & Calum do what they do best in getting the audience to have a ball and cuddle each other.
5. Andy Sturmer - Lead vocalist and drummer with US power pop combo Jellyfish, Sturmer was also the bands main songwriter. Jellyfish were all about Beatles inspired harmonies and everyone in the band contributed. Sturmer was the main man though and played a stand-up drum kit at the front of the stage rather than be relegated to the shadows. After Jellyfish split he became involved in production and wrote a number of theme tunes for Cartoon Network including brilliant catchy efforts for Ben 10 and The Teen Titans.
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5 comments:
I'd like to add Duncan Redmonds, drummer and lead singer for Snuff. On top of this he also has a great line in banter with the audience between songs.
There's a girl that's been on my mind...
All the time, Su Sussudio....
Nuff said ;)
@MrFatuous - Hmm. Don't no much about Snuff, Punk band right? Will try and check them out.
@Equalizer - Heh heh. I could have included Phil for his drumming & signing with Genesis but the solo stuff *intake of breath* ...
@Chopper - Punk's probably close enough. As well as their own stuff they do excellent cover versions.
When i was a kid i was forced to listen to The Carpenters and HATED them. More recently I listened to them again and they really were quite good. I might try a bit of Cher and see if that was a fluke or not.
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