Iconic Rock Drum Intros – IOTW Report

Iconic Rock Drum Intros

Guy compiles a list and adds crap I never heard of and leaves off some great ones.

Be My Baby

The Cars “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight”

Alice in Chains- no excuses

For the record, American Band should have been number one.

65 Comments on Iconic Rock Drum Intros

  1. I am with you BFH… I didn’t even recognize a couple of his top 20 drum intros but Ronnie always gets my vote as do the Cars. Alice in Chains came around a bit after I stopped listening to music regularly… started working climbing utility poles 7 days a week 12 to 14 hours per day. Couldn’t accommodate a walkman or boombox….
    “Speaking the truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act.” Geo. Orwell

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  2. Most of these wouldn’t have been on my list, but then again, I shut down my new music appreciation in the early 80’s, so I didn’t recognize a lot of these songs. Oh well, so it goes.

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  3. never heard of the ‘Leeches’

    for my money it’s ‘Rock & Roll’, but can’t argue w/ ‘Levee’ … Bonham was a beast!

    his top 5 is hard to argue with … at least not too much

    ‘You’re All I’ve Got Tonight’ would be in my top 5 too
    Deep Purple’s ‘Fireball’ is a good one
    The Baby’s ‘Looking For Love’ maybe
    love the ‘Superstition’ intro too

    & no ‘Wipeout’???

    8
  4. The Edgar Winter Group
    They Only Come Out At Night

    The mountain is high, the valley is low
    And you’re confused on which way to go
    So I’ve come here to give you a hand
    And lead you into the promised land, so
    Come on and take a free ride
    Come on and sit here by my side

    3
  5. Weird… the only rock drummers I can even think of are Baker, Bonham, Mitchell, Radle, Moon, Starr, Mason, Baker, Radle, Mitchell, and Bonham. And Ginger Baker. And the guy who did the Drumming for Blind Faith. And Carl Radle… THAT dude! Not flashy, but HE was the one.

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  6. A Frankstein solo that blends and times perfectly with Children of the Sun. It sounds great.
    People of the Earth can you hear Me
    Came a Voice from the Sky on that magical night

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  7. Let’s put this in perspective, shall we?

    https://theweek.com/articles/861750/coming-death-just-about-every-rock-legend

    Behold the killing fields that lie before us: Bob Dylan (78 years old); Paul McCartney (77); Paul Simon (77) and Art Garfunkel (77); Carole King (77); Brian Wilson (77); Mick Jagger (76) and Keith Richards (75); Joni Mitchell (75); Jimmy Page (75) and Robert Plant (71); Ray Davies (75); Roger Daltrey (75) and Pete Townshend (74); Roger Waters (75) and David Gilmour (73); Rod Stewart (74); Eric Clapton (74); Debbie Harry (74); Neil Young (73); Van Morrison (73); Bryan Ferry (73); Elton John (72); Don Henley (72); James Taylor (71); Jackson Browne (70); Billy Joel (70); and Bruce Springsteen (69, but turning 70 next month).

    Ahhhhhhh. So good. Like hpt sake and unagi.

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  8. Love the intro to Bell Boy by The Who

    PHenry Lipstick Vogue is jaw-droppingly good. Pete Thomas is a powerhouse, and knows how and when to cut loose and pull back.

    I enjoy Ringo/Moon style players much more than say Peart, who is a much better technical player. Bill Bruford and Phil Collins are two technically amazing players who have fantastic style and feel.

    1
  9. Who here plays drums?

    After playing guitar for the last 40 years, I took up drums about a year ago. Love it, and wish I’d started years ago!

    Actually let me change my question – Musician’s out on this board, what is your instrument?

    2
  10. wait! … what about ‘That Thing You Do!’?

    @Bdict ~ guitar (badly), bass (passable), drums (eh), clarinet (ok), sax (meh), piano (poorly, but not my Aunt Pat’s fault. I was just too lazy), flute (not too shabby; can still play ‘Color My World’), organ (amateurly; my Grandmother is ashamed), bugle (used to be able to play ‘charge’, but butchered ‘taps’; bugle takes talent) glockenspiel (never)

    1
  11. I play guitar, piano somewhat, and on the alto sax I can do scales. And I learned how to sing after I stopped smoking cigarettes.

    Just this evening my son asked, “You can read that?”, referring to notation and tabs from the Layla Album I had on the table.

    “Yes, my son, I can read that.” It seems like a world far away, and in a time far away. But yes, I can read music.

    3
  12. my mother and her family were super talented. Mom could play the sax like nobodies business and would sit and play hymns on piano. My sisters all played instruments well. I tried the piano and trumpet and had yrs of lessons but all to no avail so i quit trying.

    2
  13. Mr. Fur Hat, I respectfully ask if you’d do a reader poll, since my question came up very late in the conversation.

    Who are the musicians in our little community, and what do you play?

    I know there are quite a few, and it would be good to get to know people a bit better.

    1
  14. The Kinks beat Steve Miller with their intro to Sleepwalker – always happier to hear the Kinks song when that riff started on the radio. Keith Moon’s intro on The Who’s Pure And Easy is a thing of beauty. I play guitar, drums, bass, keyboards, I sing and have a large collection of vintage guitars amps and drums.

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  15. Good call on ‘Bell Boy’ by The Who. I love Moon on ‘I Can See For Miles’ too.

    As for my musical chops I played guitar in grammar school. I was in a Monkees cover band named ‘Purple Haze’. ‘I’m a Believer’ is still one of my all-time favorite songs. I was mediocre at best and quit playing after 8th grade. About all I can muster up now is a mean air guitar version of Pete Townshend’s windmill.

  16. Wadda ya call a dude who hangs around musicians?
    Drummer, badda boom.
    Chronologically:
    Clarinet, guitar, bass, harmonica, tenor sax, barry sax, bass clarinet, spoons.
    Now I just play a grumpy old man.
    Lost the delicate use of my right hand, nerve damage, still can play a mean mouth organ.
    Never have mastered the chromatic harmonica.

  17. I had two piano lessons my whole life, taught by dear Mrs Henry, sweetest old lady ever. In the first one I managed to master Yankee Doodle.

    It was in my second lesson that the trouble began — with “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” I dont know, I just couldn’t find the note for that third iteration of Little Lamb. Finally.I just stopped trying

    At which point, dear Mrs Henry exploded and said, “Are you quitting on me? Get the fuck out of my living room; get the FUCK out of my living room!

    Needless to say, this was too much for my five year old mind to take. So I never tried to play a musical instrument again; not even a kazoo. So you could say that “Mary Had a Little Lamb” was my musical Waterloo.

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