All Drummers Are Animals: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''"A drummer's job is to use big sticks and beat on animal skins stretched across round pieces of wood. This takes absolutely no formal musical training to accomplish, of which the drummer has none anyway. To put it frankly, drummers just aren't too long out of the caves. They are primal, and fundamentally flawed in their genetic code."''|'''Billy Queen''', [[Self-Deprecation|former drummer]] of Jacob's Dream [http://www.billyqueen.com/writings/personalities.html on drummers].}}

 

Compare [[Cymbal-Banging Monkey]], [[Dumb and Drummer]].

{{examples}}

== [[Advertising]] ==

* The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvJ6Z8TNaKs Cadbury's] commercial with a gorilla drummer.

* The Energizer Bunny, a toy rabbit playing a large (for its size) bass drum that keeps going...and going...[[Overly Long Gag|and going...]]

 

* Nishida, drummer of the eponymous ''[[Detroit Metal City]]''. He isn't just an animal when drumming, his whole character is, um, well, only driven by basic needs.

* Veffidas, the Zentradi drummer of Fire Bomber in ''[[Macross 7]]''. On the other hand, despite being one of the main characters she has the least lines of dialogue in the entire series; not because she appears rarely but because she's [[The Stoic]]. While the others do the talking, she's practicing drum soloes in the background on the nearest wall with her sticks.

 

* Subverted by Beast of [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]], who is a drummer, but only because his mutation prevents him from playing guitar like he used to. He is rather calm, and incredibly intelligent.

* While usually more of a [[Deadpan Snarker]], Kim Pine becomes this the moment she gets behind the drums in the ''[[Scott Pilgrim]]'' comics. Taken up to 11 in [[Scott Pilgrim vs. the World|the movie]].

 

* In [[The Commitments]], both drummers of the group fit this to a tee.

* Subverted in ''[[That Thing You Do]]'' where drummer Guy Patterson is probably the sweetest, most grounded member of the band. Their manager Mr. White plays up the image though dubbing him the "bad boy" of the group and creating the alter ego "Shades" accordingly.

 

* Animal from ''[[The Muppet Show]]'' was apparently inspired by Keith Moon of [[The Who]].

** in the 2011 [[The Muppets (film)|film]], Fozzie was found working in Reno with a "tribute" band called The Moopets made entirely of [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute|suspiciously similar substitutes]] of the real muppets with the exception of Animal, who was impersonated by [[Foo Fighters|Dave Grohl]].

* Jack's dog from ''Jack's Big Music Show'' (he has a name, don't know it right now) is the drummer whenever necessary.

* In ''[[The Banana Splits]]'', the group's drummer was a monkey named Bingo.

** And an elephant played the keyboard, so it's not much of a stretch.

* In ''[[Jonathan Creek]]'', Edwin Drood's drummer, Marty Crowe, was known for urinating on the audience.

* Brought up in [[Never Mind the Buzzcocks]] (s23 ep 11, to be specific) during one of the "odd one out" sections.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* In ''[[Spellsinger|Chorus Skating]]'', Jon-Tom finds the drummer in a displaced Earth band...easy to identify.

 

== [[Music]] ==

* Dennis Wilson of [[The Beach Boys]], to a T. At the ''T.A.M.I Show'', while performing "I Get Around", he actually [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|shattered a drumstick mid-song]].

* Stewart Copeland of [[The Police]] has been known to bust a snare open in the middle of a number.

* Darren King of [[Mute Math]] comes off less as an animal and more as a robot, combining computer-like precision with raw mechanical power. He's been known to drop a stick in mid-performance and complete the rest of the section ''with one hand'' with no noticeable difference. Every fan who sees the band live for the first time will eventually have that moment where they realize, "Wait a minute -- that part of the song WASN'T an electronic loop?" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4r6M22oTao#t=4m00s As David Letterman once remarked]: "How 'bout that drummer? Lookit that guy!"

* In a funny subversion, Max Weinberg, long-time drummer for [[Bruce Springsteen]] seemed more straight laced and less colorful than the rest of the E Street Band. Then he became the bandleader for ''[[Late Night]] With [[Conan O'Brien]]'' where they developed a comic persona for him which was more perverse and disturbing as this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3PGuce8LoY fake PSA] and this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPJWG84fWwE skit] demonstrate.

* Ian Paice of [[Deep Purple]] is known for his explosive drumming style (see intro to the title track of "Fireball", all of the title track of "Burn" and the second half of "Space Truckin'" from the drum solo onwards) but is known for almost never talking during interviews and being generally very reserved. Given that much of Deep Purple's lineup problems were due to the presence of huge egos in the group (Vocalists David Coverdale and Ian Gillan, and most notably guitarist Ritchie Blackmore), it is perhaps not a surprise that he is the only remaining founding member of the band.

* Mike Wengren of [[Disturbed]] is a completely straight example. He's not just the craziest member of the band, his style often plays with booming tribal-beats and he's well-known for his bass-kick speed and polyrhythm. He's not just an animal himself, he invites ''you'' to become one.

* [[Kiss]] takes this literally with the Cat (Peter Criss, then Eric Singer). Eric Carr never wore the Cat make-up; he was the Fox.

* [[Aerosmith]]'s Joey Kramer is both an example and a subversion. Onstage, he pulls all the funny faces and during his solos he tends to abandon his sticks and use his hands, forearms, elbows, and ''head'' to drum. Then you read his book and his Twitter and discover he's a [[The Quiet One|quiet]], [[Shrinking Violet|shy]] gentleman who mostly tweets about his [[Sickeningly Sweethearts|wife]] and [[Ridiculously Cute Critter|Labrador]] [[Precious Puppies|puppy]].

* [[Dream Theater]] have had two; original drummer Mike Portnoy and current drummer Mike Mangini both play with considerable energy and tremendous skill. Mangini currently holds the world record for the most strokes in 60 seconds.

* Nicko McBrain of [[Iron Maiden]] (he even invented a technique where he kicks the snare drum instead of using a pedal!), helped by the fact that he's [[Crazy Awesome]].

* Matt Morley of [[Everything Else]].

* Terry Bozzio, [[Frank Zappa]]'s most famous drummer.

* Just ''guess'' what instrument [[GG Allin]] got his start by playing.

 

* Jeremy in ''[[Zits]]'' tries to get Pierce to be in his band as a drummer because he says "All drummers are jerks". (This was before Pierce's [[Flanderization]]) To his credit though, Pierce is quite hyperactive while drumming.

 

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* Subverted in ''[[Grand Theft Auto Vice City]]'' where Love Fist's drummer is, by far, the smartest member of the band (and the only one capable of {{spoiler|defusing a bomb that was planted in the band's limo.}}

* [[Donkey Kong]] plays Bongo.

 

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* Tailsteak's comic ''[[Band]]'' is about a band named Band who, after losing their drummer, find a squid-like being in one of their houses, name it Tyler, find it has a perfect rhythm sense, and put it in their band. Of course, it's probably more complicated than that.

* Subverted with Hannelore from [[Questionable Content]]. She's quite sweet, and likes drumming because appeals to her OCD. To quote her, it's "like counting with your whole body".

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

** Actually arguably a subversion, depending on how you look at it: The Cheat is the literal animal of the band, but Strong Mad (who plays bass guitar) is the [[Big Guy]] and the most primal one.

* ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'s'' Maria "[[Lampshade Hanging|Animal]]" Graham, certified [[Cloudcuckoolander]], plays the drums for Blank Nation.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

** Something of a subversion, as Brian is one of the calmest and most sensible characters on the show.

*** During THAT time period, anyway...

* Subverted like hell in the ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers|Galaxy Rangers]]'' episode "Battle of the Bandits," where the crew had to infiltrate a galactic rock show (it was [[The Eighties]], that's the only excuse that can be given). It's [[The Stoic|Zachary]] that gets shoved on drums.

* Also subverted on ''[[The Amazing Chan and The Chan Clan]]''; the band's drummer is the mature, responsible Henry and in one episode the mild-mannered Tom had a short turn at the drums.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Music Tropes]]