Luisma
Years Wasted
Yes
Short-answer questions
- Thread starter GroundZero
- Start date
Siddharth
Long Distance Trooper
While Nicko's drumming is great for Maiden's galloping riffs, I wonder why he choses to stay away from double bass drumming? And for that matter, each of the previous drummers have avoided double bass, be it Clive Burr (an awesome drummer as well!), Doug Sampson, Thunderstick and others. Is there any such norm in the band?
Ascendingthethrone
Ancient Mariner
According to Bruce, Nicko thinks it’s ‘undrummerish’.
Siddharth
Long Distance Trooper
I see but what about the previous drummers?
The_7th_one
Ancient Mariner
They were fired
Or succumbed to Spinal Tap-like incidents.They were fired
I can’t think of Maiden songs that would have really required double kick prior to Where Eagles Dare/The Trooper. Whether Steve started writing to Nicko’s capabilities right away or coincidence is unclear to me, although the level of musical technicality took a pretty big leap going into Piece.
One thing to keep in mind is that rock drumming in Nicko’s time (I.e the 60s) isn’t what it is now or what it would become in the later 80s. With a few exceptions (Motorhead, Priest) I imagine a lot of drummers used double kick drums as a crutch to play simple fast kick patterns. There’s probably an amount of pride to being able to use a single kick on those parts but also it’s hard to switch your setup around and your whole way of playing when you’ve developed a certain style. Nicko famously (?) ended up using double kick on face in the sand so he clearly doesn’t have something against doing it, but obviously it’s a tool that he rarely reaches for. It’s also just not that interesting of a drum part. When you think about players who really furthered drumming using double kick (Binks, Peart, Portnoy, Hoglan, Reinert, Menza) it’s an entirely different style from what Nicko plays.
By the way, not to take anything from Nicko as a drummer, I think he’s the gold standard for single kick playing in rock music. I coached some kids playing Maiden songs on drums a few years ago who were really quite talented and had a lot of modern metal influences but really struggled to capture Nicko’s feel. He’s a unique example in the metal genre.
One thing to keep in mind is that rock drumming in Nicko’s time (I.e the 60s) isn’t what it is now or what it would become in the later 80s. With a few exceptions (Motorhead, Priest) I imagine a lot of drummers used double kick drums as a crutch to play simple fast kick patterns. There’s probably an amount of pride to being able to use a single kick on those parts but also it’s hard to switch your setup around and your whole way of playing when you’ve developed a certain style. Nicko famously (?) ended up using double kick on face in the sand so he clearly doesn’t have something against doing it, but obviously it’s a tool that he rarely reaches for. It’s also just not that interesting of a drum part. When you think about players who really furthered drumming using double kick (Binks, Peart, Portnoy, Hoglan, Reinert, Menza) it’s an entirely different style from what Nicko plays.
By the way, not to take anything from Nicko as a drummer, I think he’s the gold standard for single kick playing in rock music. I coached some kids playing Maiden songs on drums a few years ago who were really quite talented and had a lot of modern metal influences but really struggled to capture Nicko’s feel. He’s a unique example in the metal genre.
Black Bart
Ancient Mariner
Only The Good Die Young perhaps.
Came a few albums after the songs I named. I’m talking about the first three Iron Maiden albums specifically.
chaosapiant
Ancient Marinade
None of their songs require it, but Genghis Khan wouldn’t have been amiss with a touch of double bass.
Yax
Ancient Mariner
Gangland would've been sweet too. Think "Hot For Teacher" kicks.
Ruflux
Ancient Mariner
The fast section in BTATS apparently originally was intended to have rapid double kicks rather than a single-kick imitation, apparently. I forgot the details. Somebody mentioned it on these very forums after I posted about a confusing snippet of an interview with Nicko from 2006, where he (mistakenly, I guess?) claimed it was Lord of Light where he and Steve had a bit of a row over the bass drum part.
I remember this, but also don’t have the source.
Black Bart
Ancient Mariner
I think that is Paul Di'Anno, who had longer hair for some time (1978 I'd wager).
The_7th_one
Ancient Mariner
I would say it's a picture from a European tv show from 1980-81. I think Clive is on the drums.
chaosapiant
Ancient Marinade
Good ol Paul Di’Afro
ok that's hysterical.
matic22
Ancient Mariner
I think this should be one of the first gigs played with the Kossoff Strat, which was purchased and painted just before this.
Murder of Rue Morgue
They're never gonna find me!
Double bass or double kick weren't even remotely known in the '70s and the early '80s as they are now. Some drummers used it, but not as extensively as, say, "Animal" Taylor would do on Ace of Spades (or, later, Dave Lombardo on Reign in Blood and Ingo Schwichtemberg on Walls of Jericho); anyways, it was a completely different style. Both of the two most influential hard rock drummers of the '70s, Keith Moon and John Bonham, didn't use double bass.
Also, Nicko started to play in the mid-late '60s in the jazz/blues scene. The drums kicked in (no pun intended) on him when he heard The Dave Brubeck Quartet and by the age of 14 he was already playing in pubs. When he joined Trust and later Iron Maiden, he wasn't a heavy metal / hard rock drummer, rather a blues rock one, and during the sessions for Piece of Mind, he proved with facts that he just didn't need a second kick.
Also I cannot think of many Iron Maiden songs before Nicko that would work with double bass. Phantom of the Opera (between the verses), Transylvania (fast section), Genghis Khan maybe. The opening to Gangland, drawing inspiration from Hot for Teacher as someone mentioned?
Neither after Piece of Mind, to be honest.