- today
Boom! Get ready for an electrifying rhythm journey as we count down the beats that shaped generations of music! From earth-shaking stadium anthems to funk masterpieces that defined genres, these percussion performances have become musical DNA. Which iconic beat gets your hands air-drumming every time?
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MusicTranscript
00:00Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for those songs
00:08that feature some instantly recognizable percussion moves.
00:11Number 10, Message in a Bottle, The Police.
00:21The reggae genre generally doesn't cross-pollinate too often with commercial rock music.
00:34Message in a Bottle by The Police followed in the footsteps of reggae legend Jimmy Cliff's
00:37own mainstream breakthrough with his soundtrack to the film The Harder They Come.
00:41This exposed the band's influences to a whole new generation.
00:50Stewart Copeland's drumming on Message in a Bottle drives the urgency of rock, while
00:54also incorporating that often imitated reggae groove.
01:00Also, Copeland's insistent clicking on the rim of his drums creates an iconic sound that
01:08helped turn the police into superstars.
01:14The somber lyrical subject matter of U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday perhaps influenced drummer
01:25Larry Mullen Jr.'s decision to incorporate a martial approach and feeling.
01:36This militaristic cadence reflects the song's discussion of the 1972 Bloody Sunday tragedy,
01:41when unarmed Northern Irish protesters were shot and killed by British troops.
01:50Mullen's drumming works in tandem with Adam Clayton's melodic bass playing, as the musicians
01:54lockstep to energetically move the song forward.
02:02The end results proved to be massively successful for U2 as well, with Sunday Bloody Sunday enduring
02:07today as one of the band's most beloved hit singles.
02:11The soul and jazz legend Stevie Wonder was a veritable octopus on this classic track.
02:32recording vocals, clavinet, moog bass, and drums?
02:42Yup, it was Wonder who dropped that classic opening breakbeat on Superstition.
02:46An all-time drum intro that leads into four and a half minutes of pure, unadulterated funk.
02:51Granted, the horn and moog assistance wonder received also make Superstition slap and crackle with life.
03:06But we're still astonished at the musical virtuosity Stevie laid down for us on this track.
03:10Those drums never quit either, hammering home a relentless groove behind the layers of jazz fusion brilliance for which he will always be known.
03:27We could be here all day detailing the laundry list of outstanding drum performances laid down by Led Zeppelin's John Bonham.
03:47Immigrant Song and When the Levee Breaks are two great examples to this end.
03:59But there's one particular detail in Fool in the Rain that we absolutely cannot deny.
04:04Yes, that main rhythm is irrepressibly bouncy and catchy.
04:16While that Samba-led midsection is a nice stylistic deviation from Zeppelin's usual hard rock bear.
04:27However, it's those drum fills that Bonham hits coming out of that Samba break that make us raise our fists and yell every time.
04:34Shows like Family Guy have delighted in poking gentle fun at the cult of fan personality that's followed Canadian rock legends Rush over the years.
04:52That said, who can deny the greatness of drummer Neil Peart for his performance on this all-time classic hit?
04:59Tom Sawyer focuses on a lot of moving parts from Geddy Lee's soaring vocals, melodic bass playing and synth to Alex Lifeson's shredding guitar.
05:13It's Peart's dynamic drumming that steals the show, of course, from that smooth opening lead-in to the dizzying fills that close out the solo section.
05:26Peart also does amazing work during the verses.
05:37He's simply outstanding from note one, never letting up blowing minds until the song's conclusion.
05:43It's the drum fill that sounded the clarion call of grunge rock back in the 1990s.
06:00Dave Grohl's metallic and punk pedigree likely influenced the drummer's decision to go as hard as he did with this groundbreaking single by Nirvana.
06:07Kurt Cobain's undistorted guitar intro kicks things off briefly before Grohl pounds that snare and kick drum for all they're worth.
06:21Meanwhile, the verse and chorus sections of Smells Like Teen Spirit also feature a driving drum performance that has become embedded within the memories of grunge fans around the world.
06:30We're probably willing to bet that even young music fans who weren't there back in the day can still appreciate the legacy of this one.
06:43Number 4. Come Together. The Beatles.
06:53Here's a question. Was Ringo Starr the Beatles' secret weapon?
07:02There are many that might agree with that statement, particularly when analyzing Starr's drum performance on Come Together.
07:09There's a lot of earthy sensuality at play within the song's slow lurching groove.
07:19Starr, in the meantime, creates a lot of space by resisting the urge to overplay.
07:24Instead, those slow tom rolls and simple kick and snare interplay feel languid and natural.
07:29Hold you in his object, you can feel his disease.
07:34Ringo essentially plays for the song, choosing his spots and deciding when to branch out from the band.
07:40Meanwhile, each of those movements helps to make Come Together better via their natural cohesion.
07:45The sound you hear is of 1980s sunset strip glam metal being distilled into its purest, most ill-behaved essence.
08:04Van Halen's Hot For Teacher isn't only one of the band's most beloved hits.
08:15It's also a song that features Alex Van Halen's drum skills running side by side with his brother Eddie's generational guitar talents.
08:22Alex's unaccompanied double bass and tom work during the song's intro sets the stage for what's going to be a blazing tour de force of energy and excess.
08:34I think of all the education that I miss, but then my homework was never quite like this.
08:41The chorus and solo sections also showcase Alex Van Halen's hard-hitting style, as his drums propel Hot For Teacher into the hard rock history books.
08:50Does anybody really stop We Will Rock You before it leads into We Are The Champions?
09:09We're not sure, but the combination of those two songs, released together as a single,
09:20back in 1977, is basically peanut butter and jelly at this point.
09:30We Will Rock You is basically a piece for percussion and vocals,
09:33with Roger Taylor's stop-stop clap cadence backing up Freddie Mercury's verses and Brian May's closing solo.
09:45Its rallying call vibe has made it a favorite for sports arenas around the world,
09:49making it one of Queen's most immediately identifiable tunes.
09:59Before we unveil our top pick, here are some honorable mentions.
10:02Wipeout, The Safaris, pounding beats made for the beach.
10:14Walk This Way, Aerosmith, classic stadium rock bombast.
10:17Rosanna, Toto, a slinking, shuffling groove.
10:26All I wanna do in the middle of the evening is supposed to change.
10:32Wipeout, The Physician Ballast.
10:33Fence, a slunken, shuffling groove.
10:34Aaster?
10:35A 89-5-9.
10:36With The Fish-Hour-Fant.
10:37Wipeout, elitual groove.
10:39A page of the beach runs in a...
10:41Call Me, Blondie. Upbeat and energetic new wave.
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11:17Hip-hop sample culture has long gravitated towards a certain elite number of songs time and time again for their percussion.
11:30James Brown's Funky Drummer remains one of the most borrowed tunes of all time,
11:35thanks to the drum performance of Clyde Stubblefield.
11:38The latter's improvisation in the studio led to an all-time classic breakbeat,
11:42a foundation for generations of DJs, MCs, and producers.
11:53The song itself, meanwhile, is a classic slice of Brown's inimitable brand of funk,
11:58a tune cooler than cool and timeless with a capital T.
12:01Stubblefield's drumming is impossibly smooth while remaining in charge,
12:10standing rank-and-file under the Godfather of Soul's Funky leadership.
12:16Are there any drummers you feel are underrated?
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