The Drummer's Dominion

Drum-Related Blathering and Minutiae

Before Bruce Dickinson, there was FZ

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Zappa Cowbell

Roxy and Elsewhere is one of my favorite Zappa albums for many reasons. The humor, the compositions, the line-up including Napoleon Murphy Brock; George Duke; Bruce, Tom, and Walt Fowler; and the percussion section consisting of Chester Thompson, Ralph Humphrey, and Ruth Underwood. Great, inspiring stuff.

In addition to great lines like “Jazz isn’t dead, it just smells funny,” is this gem at 1:35 in “Be-Bop Tango (Of The Old Jazzmen’s Church)”:

“The cowbell, as a symbol of unbridled passion, ladies and gentlemen!”

If you, too, are aching for more of the ubiquitous percussion instrument, check out www.morecowbell.dj to superimpose a cowbell over any song!

Okay, I’ll admit it: I think the Lexus commercial is pretty cool.

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From Drum! magazine’s “Wiretap”:

Drummers have been buzzing about the new Lexus 2011 IS luxury car commercial, which shows a driver racing through a warehouse containing carefully positioned rows of Yamaha drums and Zildjian cymbals. As the car speeds by the percussion instruments, its wheels roll over pressure-sensitive plates that activate pedals and sticks that play pretty nifty patterns in perfect time to demonstrate the car’s precise handling. Yes, it’s real and to prove it Lexus has released the video seen above about the making of the commercial. Definitely worth a look (even though it’s yet another example of drummers being replaced by machines!).