The Greatest Drummers of All Time

Glenn Kotche (Wilco)

Glenn Kotche focused on pushing every boundary he could, drumming on things that aren’t traditionally used as drums (ping pong balls, hubcaps, chains, ball bearings, air tubes, you name it, he’s hit it). Kotche is also well known for his use of a MIDI pad on stage to play compressed drum sounds to pair with his actual drumming. Kotche wasn’t the first person to do this (lots of Japanese bands; Fishmans, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Haroumi Hosono), he was the first to record unusual or “unintentional” polyrhythms and replay them via software during his set for added flair.

Advertisement

Next Page →

The More You Know

  • Courtney Love was briefly the singer for Faith No More in the early 1980’s.
  • Before they became (arguably) the biggest pop act of all time, The Beatles had a hard time convincing record labels to sign them. In 1962, they were rejected by Decca Records, whose boss said “guitar groups are on the way out.”
  • During a fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, someone donated $35,000 so that VH1 Classic would have to play “99 Luftballons” on repeat for an entire hour.
  • While on tour with Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page dated a 14-year-old girl. Try getting away with that today.
Next Page →