100 Favorite Drummers

100 FAVORITE DRUMMERS

Now we are onto another list that I began awhile ago yet left to dangle in the wind for a number of months.  I blame the schools.  Anyway, here we arrive at my "100 Favorite Drummers of All Time" list.  This is the only such one that I shall be doing regarding peoples who play an instrument, (hence my singers lists not counting).  That is because I have been playing drums since I was twelve years old.  So for more than half of my life and counting, the drums have been my main instrument.  On a good day I can fake guitar or bass, (and on a very good day I can play keyboards really, really badly), but for the most part, the drum set is the one place where I can sit fairly confidently behind when making music with others.  What I am getting at is that I could not do a hundred favorite guitar players or bassists, but a hundred drummers?  Sure why not?

This sexy man was number 101, sadly just.

As is always the case with the silly little lists that I flood this blog with, these inclusions are based on favoritism, not technical greatness.  Of course I do have a number of freaks represented here whose technical abilities are on par with the gods, but that is because I also really like a lot of those players.  I am not one of those idiot snobs who thinks "raw" always equals "good" or "playing from the soul" always equals "minimal technical ability".  There are no absolutes in music or any art obviously.  At times yes, a musician who can play every note on earth in any number of speeds or configurations is also a very, very good thing.  To hell with this preaching nonsense though.  These are a hundred drummers I like for a hundred different reasons and they are all ranked according to my mood at this very moment.  Which is as it should be.

On that note, you will see really famous drummers ranked "too low".  You will see very well respected legends ranked "too low".  You will see one guy who is a superhero behind the kit topped immediately by a guy who has showcased virtually zero technical wizardry in their entire career.  There is a boatload of metal drummers, fusion drummers, rock drummers, and the lot of them all share equal space and take no preference.  All of these guys are good.  All of them have an impressive body of work.  All of them have done outstanding things on the drum set.  All of them have inspired me in some small or ginormous way to pick up a pair of sticks and hit things with them.  So as Todd Rundgren would say, "My voice goes so high you would think I was gay, but I play my guitar in such a man cock way".  Wait, sorry, that is not the Rundgren line I was thinking about at all.  What is that other song?  About banging something all day?  Damn, I guess it will come to me later.