"John Bonham is the best drummer" ever sez Stylus

Chris Frantz should not be on this list, and especially not at #12. I love Talking Heads, and having the drummer play a steady four-on-the-floor beat behind nearly song certainly contributed to their sound, but there's a reason they had to bring in the auxiliary percussion players circa Remain in Light: there wasn't much syncopation coming out of Frantz. Watch Stop Making Sense, and Frantz is consistently the least interesting person on stage, except when he introduces the Tom Tom Club song. Having him ranked above drummers like Clyde Stubblefield, Al Jackson and Hal Blaine is just nuts.

Didn't Deborah Harry call him out for being shitty when they were playing at CBGB's together?

The Heads secret weapon was Tina Weymouth.

betelgeuse otm about a lot. the list is a little depressing in that it gives me the impression people don't actually listen to the drums that much in records

I more or less consider myself a drummer sometimes and I love Gary Young's playing on Pavement. I still find it insulting when "drummers" can only find love for the Bozzios and Colaiutas.

Probably a bit harsh to call the list shite, but it didn't live up to its promise. No Charles Hayward = no credibility.

Besides, I'm a bit surprised not to find either Greg Saunier or Chippendale from Lightning Bolt on there, since they usually are mentioned (for a good reason) in this sort of indie discussion.

and Z S is totally OTM. Chris Frantz is redundant

fuck yeah on Greg and Chippendale

The list is definitely too skewed toward "I like this band a lot and the drummer does more than an adequate job as a contributor". But it's hard to draw the line sometimes between a genuinely good or great drummer and just a drummer that happens to play right in a great band. The tendency in rock is more toward good group chemistry + exciting frontman rather than bunch of awesome individual players like in jazz.

I third Saunier. Deerhoof could not be the same, or as good, with any other drummer.

Shouldn't the most basic criteria for this list be "would you notice immediately if some random dude suddenly replaced the drummer in this band?"

Talking Heads, U2 and many others on the list fail this test miserably. There are two Cure drummers listed, ffs.

Oh and Jimmy Chamberlin fucking sucks.

Saunier was one of the two founding members and plays a big role in Deerhoof songwriting/composition, iirc

John Maher

Elvis Telecom, I have to ask: was this an accidental transposition of John Mayer and Fred Maher? (If not, apologies; just the first thing that came to mind. Fred Maher's great.)

It’s helped make the Boredoms most intriguing rhythmic groups of the last twenty five years. "one of the most intriguing"? i can respect keith and bonham at 2-1, and everyone sticking up for n. peart, but where are john stanier, christian vander, tiki fulwood, jim white, mick fleetwood, john mcentire, scott hartley, and phil collins?

Oh and Jimmy Chamberlin fucking sucks.

uhhh, no

Watch Stop Making Sense, and Frantz is consistently the least interesting person on stage

Isn't this intentional?

You like snare fills, more snare fills, and only snare fills?

i had to look up who the hell jim eno was.

Jim Eno is probably a better producer than drummer. His sounds are the amazing part.

can't believe meg white isn't on that list.

"John Maher"

"Elvis Telecom, I have to ask: was this an accidental transposition of John Mayer and Fred Maher? (If not, apologies; just the first thing that came to mind. Fred Maher's great.)"

john maher would make a list of my favorite drummers. i like him more than any of the punkers on that list. love fred maher too.

oh and he was in the buzzcocks, matos.

my fave punk/indie man/machine drummers are john maher, stephen morris, and the dude from throwing muses.

oh and penny rimbaud too.

He was certainly one of the best recorded.

It was the Buzzcocks guy I was thinking of but yeah, Fred Maher is great too.

No one OTM'ing me on George Hurley? I'm sad...

Elvis T OTM

Meg White is actually a naturally gifted drummer who has been stunted by Jack White insistence that she not practice so that she can serve as his instrument or something.

White's

you meg white apologists are all the same. got boobs in yer eyes. i mean stars.

"Jason Bonham is the best drummer" ever sez Stylus

Boobs sadly less of an explanation for Moe Tucker.

x-post

and the dude from throwing muses.

Oh, David Narcizo, shit yeah. He was a critical part of their sound, although I think roundabout Red Heaven he started to tend towards sameness on a lot of his parts.

god watching soul soldier on youtube now i'm reminded of why i have such high standards when it comes to amerindie rock. that song used to kill so hard live. i would have chills for days.

A third for Fred Maher too, and Steve Ferrone, for that matter.

i'm just glad chad smith and stephen perkins weren't on that list

You like snare fills, more snare fills, and only snare fills?

listen to more than the first 3 seconds of "Cherub Rock"

Dale Crover shut-out speaks volumes of the stylus brain trust deficiency

awesome

in my book it's Ward then Bonham and then everyone else (for rock anyway)

my obligatory "not found" entry: the amazing but under-recorded Bobby Caldwell

i hear ya brother.

Where Is The Love For Bobby Caldwell?? No, Not THAT Bobby Caldwell! Bobby Caldwell of Captain Beyond & Keith Relf's Armageddon & Johnny Winter And & Rick Derringer Fame!!

is Just Jack picking the photos used for Stylus articles?

http://www.richardandkarencarpenter.com/7-0-1%20Karen%201973.jpg

Why didn't Stylus put Meg White on the list just to piss everyone off?

And to get a bit of tit on the page, natch.

What about singing drummers like Don Henley and Phil Collins? Those guys put Neil Peart and John Bonham to shame, especially with their tremendous fashion sensibilities and such.

http://www.drummerworld.com/pics/drum43/john_bonham.jpg

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/wallpaper/R30neil.jpg

That Neil Peart image almost broke my brower.

and the dude from throwing muses.

I was just coming here to give props to Dave Narcizo. He is *awesome*. His style is really unusual.

throwing muses 1987:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=aKgZCRCk-Pw

and 2006 (love this snippet. they have become jam band.)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ggGSbgZ_lAE

OF COURSE JOHN BONHAM IS THE "THE BEST DRUMMER EVER" THIS IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE

HOLY SHIT Skot thanks for those links!!!!

That first Muses clip from 87 is a perfect example of Narcizo's drumming style, thats awesome. Ive seen them live and he was captivating.

Well I've seen them more times than any other band, in the realm of 8 times.

I'm just trying to say I think this thread's purpose is ludicrous. But then everything is.

keith moon doesn't belong with all these "drummers" on this list. he wasn't a drummer at all; he was a lead percussionist. seems like he doesn't get talked about as much as, say, bonham because no one's really caught up to/caught on to the enormity of moon's innovations.

as for omissions, dennis thompson? dave mattacks? and how can such a list exist without benny benjamin, uriel jones, or pistol allen?