Pete York phoned from his home in a snowy Germany and I got the chance to use my new-fangled phone pick up to record his every word. I’d just returned from skiing in Italy and as typical Englishmen our talk immediately turned to the weather. So how is it in Germany? "We had a lot
Who put the beat in Johnny Kidd And The Pirates’ groundbreaking Shakin’ All Over back in 1960, or The Walker Brothers’ 1966 classic The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore? What about Tom Jones’ It’s Not Unusual, or Dusty Springfield’s You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me? Not forgetting Englebert Humperdinck’s Release Me, Love Affair’s
Mark Brzezicki’s is one of those drummers whose playing is instantly recognisable. A busy musician reminiscent of Ginger Baker and Keith Moon, Brzezicki’s wealth of dynamic grooves propels songs but never detracts from them. And his aural assault has won him many friends, allies and people eager to have him play with and for them.
Dave at Cropredy 2007 I first became aware of Dave Mattacks when, as a teenage schoolboy, I clasped my grubby mitts on a copy of Camel’s ‘The Single Factor’. It was in the days when album-buying was a major passion for this erstwhile 13-year-old and it seemed Mattacks’ name would crop up quite a
Bobby Elliott in 1963 There's a subtle difference between an Oxo tin and a Cadbury's Roses box. Bobby Elliott certainly knows what it is. The Hollies' backbone used to play both in a percussive arsenal which also included odds and sods borrowed from his grandfather's plumbing business as a child. This array of "drums"
“I’m not really a drummer,” asserts Kevin Godley laughing. “I’m a creative person who plays drums… occasionally.” But the innovative former 10cc sticksman’s enthusiasm at playing drums again after a lengthy lay-off is clearly evident. Linking up with his former schoolfriend and erstwhile Mockingbirds and 10cc cohort, Graham Gouldman, in gg06, Godley got behind a
Daniel Joseph Anthony 'Tony' Meehan Tony Meehan set the ball rolling as far as British Rock ‘n’ Roll drummers were concerned. It wasn’t so much that he was the first, although arguably he was, he simply was the one with the highest profile. He was on television with the guys everyone wanted to
Rob Townsend Rob Townsend is one of those drummers who have garnered less recognition than they should have done. In fact, he fits the idea behind Mike Dolbear’s Drumming Icons to a T – celebrating those British drummers we may have forgotten in the headlong onslaught to praise American exports with their rows
Keith Moon Keith Moon would have been 62, and fast approaching his second bus pass, on August 23rd 2008. I first met him sometime in the summer of 1965. He was coming out of an independent studio in London called IBC as I was going in. The Who had just been making a
Nigel Glockler Nigel Glockler earnt his first taste of success with singer Toyah Willcox in the early 80’s. However, he was soon to reach new heights standing in for one Pete Gill who had suffered an injury to his hand. This gave Nigel the drum stool in one of the biggest and most
