Beyond Tiki, Bilge, and Test / Bilge / The Dead Thread
Post #250644 by ikitnrev on Fri, Aug 25, 2006 5:28 AM
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Fri, Aug 25, 2006 5:28 AM
RIP, Bruce Gary, the original drummer for the Knack, who died of cancer this past Tuesday at the age of 55. He was the musician behind the drums for the song 'My Sharona'"When the song was first brought in I was a bit dubious of it," Gary said. "I remember saying, 'No, I don't want to play that. It sucks.' " Drummers don't stay employed long by refusing to play the singer's songs, so Gary came up with something to match "My Sharona's" stuttering style. "The way I approached that beat was very much like a surf stomp," he said. "Surf bands play lots of songs with no cymbals, just toms and snare drum." He also borrowed from "Going to a Go-Go," by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Then he added something he considered central to the song's success, something called a flam. A flam is when two drum strokes are slightly staggered, first one drumstick, then the other, just barely apart. It gives a fuller sound. And that's the sound at the beginning of "My Sharona," a ditty that like certain tropical parasites burrows under your skin, lays its eggs and never really goes away. The song swept the country, reached No. 1 and spurred sales of 6 million copies of the "Get the Knack" album "What came out of me was something that was unique. I'm very proud of it. How many drummers can say they have a drum beat that is a total signature beat? Not a lot. . . . I can go up to somebody's door and do the 'My Sharona' beat and they know who I am." Full appreciation can be read at ... Vern |