The Maniacal Drummer from Hell

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The drummer is something else, but I honestly think that whole thing would be a lot better if they lost those horrible freakin' jackets. >_<

By Luna_the_cat (not verified) on 01 Jun 2010 #permalink

seems i recall that the drummer for grand funk railroad did something similar at a concert back in the early 70s, with his eyes closed the whole time, including juggling the sticks...

without the jacket, of course... :)

Every grrl's crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed band!

By Pierce R. Butler (not verified) on 01 Jun 2010 #permalink

If you take away the crazy flailing the drumming was quite non-descript. Seems to me he would have been better suited working on his actual drumming and less upon the "showmanship" though he was remarkably good at whirling manically.

By bobdelany (not verified) on 01 Jun 2010 #permalink

Pretty amazing. Coincidentally, as I was watching this week's NOVA program on the local PBS television broadcast which happened to be with Oliver Sachs on the subject of music and the human brain. It would be interesting to see this guy's brain via functional MRI while he's performing. It's truly a gift, neurologically based or not. Cheers.

I think the extra flailing and swinging was just compensation for the simplicity of the drums in the song. it probably kept him entertained, as well as the viewers

By I_Love_Lamp (not verified) on 01 Jun 2010 #permalink

I_Love_Lamp is probably right. I play bass, so I've been forced to do my share of mind numbingly boring parts, and often resort to doing "showy" things to keep myself entertained.

fresh air on npr had an interview with artie shaw where he said something similar about being showy, telling his band to stop doing moves with the trombones because, "if you [the band] don't respect the music, how are they [the audience] ever going to?" (well worth a listen http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126972706 )

on the other hand, zz-top, as much as I enjoy them, are not known for really intellectually stimulating drum and bass parts. why not have fun. I seem to recall that the transcript for songs like this have a measure or two of music, and a 'repeat 42 times' notation.