Late Night Music Gold Cup Edition Part 202....."Drummer Lead Singers"
I just think it’s cool when I see this. Isn’t it cool when people break the norm and do something different? I don’t know why I haven’t done a list on this before. It just seems like it would be really hard to play the drums and sing at the same time. I guess not for these folks.
To be in this category, the lead vocals had to be at least half way sung by the drummers even if that drummer was NOT the primary lead singer for the band. Also receiving votes in this category were “Glamorous Life” by Sheila E, “Glad All Over” by The Dave Clark Five, and “Octopus’s Garden” by The Beatles- I know I cheated on that one, but I really don’t care.
“Sister Christian”- Night Ranger. Night Ranger drummer Kelly Keagy was shocked about how fast his little sister Christy was growing up when he visited his hometown of Eugene, Oregon in 1984. What came of that was this song about his sister and his reaction. This single became an 80’s staple from the band’s album Midnight Madness where it climbed to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the charts for 24 weeks. This song remains Night Ranger’s biggest hit and still to this day, the only song that uses the word “motoring” as a for real word. Find another one? Also, this song famously led off the movie version of 2012’s “Rock of Ages”. I really hope I can find that bonus video.
“The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”- The Band. The Band included this famous final performance on this 1976 performance from their famous farewell concert album The Last Waltz. This song was originally recorded in 1969 as the B-Side of the Band’s single “Up on Cripple Creek” and was included on their famous self-titled second album. A concept of Americana roots music, this song paints the historical picture of a poor white southerner during the last days of the Civil War. Lead singer/drummer Levon Helm is originally from Arkansas, and felt obligated to spend time doing research to include actual events in the song, like the railroad attack mentioned in the first verse that took place in Danville, Virginia. Despite the band never releasing the song as a single, it was covered by Joan Baez where it reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and this version remains one of the Band’s most famous songs and is sited by many music writers as a one of the best examples of American Roots Rock and one of the best Rock songs of all time. Levon Helm famously refused to play the song after this performance seen here. What a hell of a way to go out! The song has been covered by other artists as well- bonus video on deck!
“Critical Acclaim”- Avenged Sevenfold. Avenged Sevenfold’s late drummer The Rev makes a splash here in this 2008 performance of this song included on their famous 2007 self-titled album. While he wasn’t a permanent lead singer, he proved his ability on this track while adding a sick drum solo to a shredding song. This song wasn’t released as a single, but it shows the chemistry and talent of one of the best metal bands of the era. Sadly, The Rev passed away from an apparent drug overdose just a year later, but he remains one of the best drummers and one of the best singing drummers of all time.
“Boys”- The Beatles. The Beatles covered this 1960 hit from girl group The Shirelles and included it on their 1963 debut album Please Please Me, and despite it being sung originally by a girl group, the song remained popular with crowds and became one a staple of the Beatles live performances until they stopped touring in 1966. It marked the first track Ringo Starr sang lead on and apparently was only chosen as the lead vocalist because the Beatles had done it with Pete Best doing the lead vocals before Ringo joined the band. The band just felt more comfortable keeping it being done the way they were used to. The song was also a personal favorite of Ringo’s. What we got was a rare look at the Beatles in a way we rarely saw them.
“Pleasant Valley Sunday”- The Monkees. Everyone’s favorite TV band released this Carole King penned single in 1967 from their album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones Ltd. where it peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of the Monkees biggest singles and a staple of their 1960’s TV show. The song was written by Carole King while she was living in New Jersey in the Pleasant Valley neighborhood of West Orange, New Jersey. The song was about “keeping up with the Joneses” while seeing the class structure and consumerism of the area. The guitar riff used in the song was actually based on the Beatles “I Want To Tell You” that Mike Nesmith was a huge fan of. While I will allow this video to be included, Mickey Dolenz wasn’t actually playing the drums as he appears to do so in the video. He had no musical training and learned to play the drums good enough for the camera in the early days of the band. He would eventually learn to play on the albums, but this song was not one of those times.
“Hotel California”- The Eagles. Don Henley added a memorable drum part to one of the most iconic rock songs of all time as this title track of the Eagles otherworldly 1977 album, which would take home that years Grammy for Record of the Year while gaining nominations for Song of the Year and Album of the Year. While the Don Felder and Glenn Frey dueling guitar solo has long been the signature of this song, Don Henley adds an impressive drum performance here that would go on to be one of his trademarks while absolutely owning a song he still performs to this day. The lyrical content of this song has long been a topic of discussion as Don Henley himself has given many possible backgrounds to the lyrics of the song, still even leaves it open to individual interpretation. This song unsurprisingly went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains one of the most influential songs of all time.
“Invisible Touch”- Genesis. Like most great ideas, this song came about by accident while Genesis was having a jam session in the studio. Phil Collins has said this song was really influenced by the drumming of Sheila E who was synonymous with Prince at the time. Collins simply came up with the melody line while adlibbing a guitar part that Mike Rutherford had improvised. The song was then written to talk about the people that had gotten under drummer and lead singer Phil Collins’ skin. This song was the title track to Genesis’s 1986 album and became their one and only #1 Billboard Hot 100 single when it went there following the release of this single. Collins and Rutherford even admitted they were surprised by this just due to how they come up with this song.
“Brick by Brick”- Arctic Monkeys- Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders took over lead vocals on this song from the British rockers 2011 album Suck It And See. This short and humorous song was a change for the band because they were used to writing songs with “too many words”. The idea of the song came while the band was on tour saying that everything in life had to be built “brick by brick”. While this song was never a single, it was released as a teaser track for the release of the album and remains a staple on live performances of the song like the one seen here at the 2013 Glastonbury Festival.
“Close To You”- The Carpenters- Karen Carpenter made little girls every where want to be a drummer when this title track from their 1970 smash album shot to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and quickly became one of the most famous guilty pleasures of all time while her amazing voice turned this Burt Bacharach classic into one of the biggest hits of the 70’s. As much as we like to make fun of them, the Carpenters were one of the most talented musical families of all time. Her untimely tragic death cut a career of a lifetime short, but she left us with some of these soft classics that you don’t tell anyone you still listen to.
“Not Gonna Die”- Skillet. British rocker Jen Ledger joined Memphis Christian Metal band Skillet in 2008 and immediately showed her drum talent. She also shows her vocal talent on this single from their 2013 album Rise where it peaked at #1 on the Billboard Christian Rock Tracks Chart and #28 on the Billboard Rock Chart. The success of this song and others helped Rise peak at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. Skillet continues to be a huge crossover Christian act and it’s definitely in part due to the angelic voice and percussion prowess of this woman.
“Beth”- Kiss. Ok, I’m aware I cheated on this one. Peter Criss was/is the drummer for Kiss and actually wrote this song in 1971 when he was a member of the band Chelsea in honor of a bandmate’s wife who’s name was “Becky”, as the original name of the song was “Beck”. With urging from Gene Simmons, Criss changed the word of the song and this single was reluctantly included on Kiss’s 1976 album Destroyer where it peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming the band’s highest charting single ever despite it being a hugely far cry from anything else the band had or has since recorded.
“You’re Ever So Inviting”- Underoath. Before he was fronting Christian rock band The Almost, Aaron Gillespie was the drummer and co lead vocalist for Ocala, Florida’s Underoath. This single from their 2006 album Define The Great Line helped the album peak at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart while topping the Christian Rock and Billboard Rock Albums Chart. The band was also nominated for a 2007 Grammy from the album as well. Aaron Gillespie shows in this video his musical prowess as he shreds the drum part and works a great clean vocal to turn this song into a song that really rocks. I really like Aaron Gillespie with The Almost, I smell a bonus video.
BONUS VIDEOS- “Hands”- The Almost.
“Sister Christian/Just Like Paradise”- Rock of Ages.
“The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”- Zac Brown Band.
“Throwing It All Away”- Genesis.
The Beatles- you knew it was coming!
Arctic Monkeys
Skillet
The Monkees
posted by General 5A Pigott at 9:57 PM
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