Following the loss of Taylor Hawkins, the Foo Fighters need a new drummer, and here are four legends worth checking out
Announcing the cancellation of all tour dates this week following the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, Foo Fighters said it was a time to “mourn, to heal, to bring our loved ones together.”
Hawkins’ death (a preliminary forensic study found traces of 10 drugs in the drummer’s urine) likely hit singer and Foo Fighters founder Dave Grohl very hard for several reasons. First, the former Nirvana drummer has been down this dark path before, losing bandmate Kurt Cobain to drug-related suicide in 1994.
As a timekeeper, Grohl seemed to have a very special connection to Hawkins, who publicly described the founding father of alternative rock as a big brother figure and often acted as his foil during interviews. Then (in what is guaranteed for anyone to buy Bleach the day it was released feel very old), there’s the fact that the two had a 23-year history with Foo Fighters.
Once the wounds from the loss of Hawkins begin to heal, the big question will be who picks up the sticks as the Foo Fighters push forward.
It’s well documented that Grohl – who first surfaced behind the drums at the age of 17 with the Washington, DC punk band Scream – has a serious love for early North American punk and hardcore. .
When Foo Fighters first formed, Grohl enlisted former Germs guitarist Pat Smear as his right-hand man. After leaving the group in 1997, Smear finally joined the group in 2005 and is still part of the group today.
Fear frontman Lee Ving, meanwhile, has not only been known to join Foo Fighters on stage, but also made a studio appearance in the band’s 2013 documentary. city of sound. And Grohl cites not only Minor Threat as one of the bands that changed his life, but also DRI and Naked Raygun.
Given his obsession with punk’s past, one would rightly assume that when he’s ready to take the Foo Fighters forward, Grohl might be seriously thinking about stepping back in time. Here are four of the most legendary first-wave punk drummers, three of whom, at the moment, seem somewhat underemployed.
All of them (sorry Robo!) have skills and chops that Grohl himself would struggle to match – that’s all the compliment that sounds like.
Lucky Lehrer
Resume: Circle Jerks, Redd Kross, Bad Religion, Los Angeles Wasted Youth
From the number of bands he plays with on his Wikipedia page, Lucky Lehrer sounds like one of the busiest guys in rock not named Johnny Marr. Do some research though, and it looks like he was at Bad Religion for a quick no-whip soy latte, and one wonders if he’s ever passed the workout space with Redd Kross.
The only reason he’s often considered the godfather of hardcore drumming? It would be his nothing short of fucking devastating work with the Circle Jerks, especially on the band’s iconic early days. group sex. While punk made Lehrer famous, he credits jazz legends like Buddy Rich with shaping him as a musician. What’s the best compliment you can give to the Godfather of Hardcore Drums then? It would be hard to imagine a Rich in his prime being able to faithfully replicate Lehrer’s work on “Red Tape.”
Although busy backstage as a drum teacher since the Circle Jerks, Lehrer has mostly kept a low profile as the working musician, seemingly most at home on jazz stages these days.
It’s not like he needs the money — in addition to having a law degree, he owns a high-end eyewear store in Chatsworth, California. But the Foo Fighters are looking for a tireless workaholic with top-notch punk credentials, Lehrer fits both criteria. He also has a history with Smear, with whom he played in the post-Germs Darby Crash Band. And, as a bonus, who better to help Grohl nail each of “Red Tape’s” grueling 56 seconds.
Brooch Stix
CV: Fear, Nina Hagen, Lydia Lunch, Dick Dale
Like Lucky Lehrer, Spit Stix seems to have worked with a variety of acts while only really being associated with one. So while the man known to fellow composers, jingle writers and soundscape artists Tim Leitch supposedly survived being on the same tour bus as Lydia Lunch, he is best known as the human locomotive behind Fear’s completely essential kit. The record. Stix knows when to stick to a groove and let the singer shine, which explains his metronome precision on “I Love Livin’ in the City.” The last thing you want to do is distract from lyrics like “My house smells like a zoo / It’s full of shit and puking! / Cockroaches on the walls / Crabs crawling on my balls!”
Leitch, who since leaving Fear has dabbled in everything from composing movies to teaching drums to sound designing online children’s books, is also capable of making a song sound like a full-fledged tribal warfare, as exemplified by “We Destroy the Family.” Fun fact: When asked once how he felt about being voted top punk drummer by the LA influencer Opposite side magazine, Lehrer replied with “Disappointed, because I voted for Spit”.
Earl Hudson
Resume: Bad Brains
If imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, Bad Brains drummer Earl Hudson should be honored to know that his DNA is part of one of rock’s most famous songs. Dave Grohl once admitted that when he was working on the intro to Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” he channeled his inner Hudson. This admiration carried over to Foo Fighters, as Bad Brains’ timekeeper was invited on stage to jam with the band, with Grohl and Hawkins behind the kit.
For an introduction to what makes Hudson so great, start with the let them eat candy version of “Pay to Cum,” the jazz fusion-trained drummer somehow pulls off the impossible feat of slowing down landspeed guitars, while propelling back-forward with dizzying force. He’s heavy, punchy and always in the pocket, even when his bandmates smash the throttle to the floor. Commenting on Hudson, who started out as a jazz-fusion drummer, Grohl confessed that he made it his goal to learn “all of his licks verbatim”. Did we mention that story of imitation and flattery?
Chuck cookies
Resumes: DOA, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Danzig, Social Distortion
In the excellent documentary on the Vancouver punk scene Bloodied but rebellious, human pit bull Henry Rollins appears at one point to marvel at DOA in general, and Chuck Biscuits in particular. His gushing assessment of the tirelessly inventive timekeeper born Charles Montgomery can be summed up as this: he swings.
Any of the records recorded by DOA’s most feared and revered lineup will confirm this, but start with the apocalyptic “World War 3”, the daredevil “The Prisoner” or, well, totally swing “Unknown “. After leaving DOA in 1982, Biscuits bounced from one LA punk band to another, never seeming to find the chemistry he had with Joey Shithead, Randy Rampage and Dave Gregg.
His gigantic talents would end up being wasted in Danzig, followed by a stint in Social Distortion.
Now, seemingly embittered by the music industry, the man often touted as punk’s answer to Keith Moon apparently lives in semi-isolation in Seattle. (Depending on which Reddit page you’re on, he either works as a computer programmer, an artist, or, if you believe Glenn Danzig, a Costco basket collector). That’s right, Seattle, the city where it all really started for Dave Grohl. Sometimes the stars align to send you a message. RIP Taylor Hawkins.
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