This week on the show we marched to the beat of our own (snare) drum! The snare drum is descended from the medieval tabor, a drum with a single-gut snare strung across its bottom. It has its origins in warfare, but is now a central feature of any modern drummer’s kit. Tonight we heard interesting snares from all kinds of music, from marching snares in noughties pop to electric snares in hip hop pre-history.
Supremes & David Bowie
The Supremes recorded Stop! In the Name of Love for the Motown label in 1965. The song was written and produced by Motown’s main production team of Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland; Dozier said he got the idea for the song after being cheated on… The song topped the Billboard pop singles chart, and went to number two on the Soul chart. It was included on the Supremes‘ sixth album More Hits By The Supremes (1965), and was nominated for the 1966 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Rock & Roll Group Vocal Performance. Stop! features Benny Benjamin on drums; Benjamin was one of the Motown label’s in-house drummers (along with Richard “Pistol” Allen and Uriel Jones), known for the snare-heavy groove that helped to define the ‘Motown sound’.
David Bowie released Sound and Vision in 1977 on side one of his eleventh studio album Low, and was later released as the album’s first single. Like the rest of the album, Sound and Vision is classified as a ‘song fragment’ rather than a song. It was co-produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti, with further contributions from Brian Eno. The album’s drum sound was achieved through Visconti‘s use of an Eventide H910 Harmonizer, the first commercially available pitch-shifting device that could alter the pitch of a sound without changing the speed. The Harmonizer was rigged to Dennis Davis‘ snare drum, and the result is very similar to that of a gated snare (i.e. the snare sound that defined the 1980s!).
Rodney O, Joe Cooley & Massive Attack, Tracey Thorn
Rodney O and Joe Cooley were an American rap group from Southern California, comprised of rapper Rodney Oliver, AKA “Rodney O”, DJ Joe Cooley, with Jeffrey Page, AKA “General Jeff” also acting as a contributing producer. At height of their popularity, they toured with MC Lyte, N.W.A, Kool Moe Dee, and Grandmaster Flash. Rodney O and Joe Cooley released Everlasting Bass on their 1988 album Me and Joe. The song never charted but has gone on to become a cult classic and has been sampled in nearly 100 songs, including Like That by Future, Metro Boomin, and Kendrick Lamar (2024). The drum sounds on Everlasting Bass were made enteirely on the Roland TR808 drum machine. The 808 was one of the first drum machines to allow users to program rhythms themselves instead of using preset patterns, and generated sounds using analog synthesis rather than by playing samples. It has been used on more hit records than any other drum machine, and has been described as Hip Hop’s equivalent to the Fender Stratocaster.
Protection is a collaboration between English trip hop collective Massive Attack and Tracey Thorn from English duo Everything but the Girl. The song appears on Massive Attack‘s second studio album Protection (1994) and reached no. 14 on UK Singles Chart. Protection was co-produced by Nellee Hooper, who also produced Björk’s Debut (1993). The song samples the hi hat, bass, and guitar from James Brown’s The Payback (1973). The sampled drums are layered with both an 808-style kick/snare pattern, as well as a piccolo snare and snare ‘buzz’ with tail.
Destiny’s Child & Little Simz, Michael Kiwanuka, and Yussef Dayes
Lose My Breath by Destiny’s Child samples the marching snare drums from “Taps” performed by the University of Michigan Marching Band. The song appeared on the group’s fifth and final studio album Destiny Fulfilled (2004), and was written by Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, Rodney Jerkins, LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III, Sean Garrett, and Jay-Z. Lose My Breath peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and was nominated for the Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.
Lotus is from Little Simz‘s 2025 album of the same name. The song explores imagery of a lotus flower blooming from muddy waters, and features contributions from singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka and drummer Yussef Dayes. Dayes is an English jazz drummer, composer, and record producer known for his work with keyboardist Kamaal Williams (as the duo Yussef Kamal) and with English singer and guitarist Tom Misch. Dayes released his debut solo album Black Classical Music in 2023 and, like his work on Lotus, the album is a tour de force in modern jazz drumming.
Think (About It) by Lyn Collins
Our soundslike this week looked at the sample history of Think (About It) by Lyn Collins (1972). The song was produced by James Brown, and is now among the most-sampled songs of all time!
Snare Quiz
For our quiz this week, you heard the opening snare hit from famous songs (yes, just the first hit…) – guess the artist and song!
As always, find the show and blog at joebennett.net/5live, with occasional Instagram extras at @joebennettmusicology. With a new show comes a new Spotify mega-playlist, which contains all songs featured on the show:
And you can still listen to our old mega-playlist here.
- Words: Joe Bennett, John Pierce O’Reilly
- Audio production: Joe Bennett, Rafi Waters
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