Alan Drumming on "Watch Us Work"

[Rev. Richard Skull]

I read on Wikipedia that the drums on 'Watch Us Work" were Alan Myers.

They pulled the Drum Track of one of the Nu-Tra Songs and used it on
the new song!

[flamingkitties]

Post by Rev. Richard Skull
I read on Wikipedia that the drums on 'Watch Us Work" were Alan Myers.
They pulled the Drum Track of one of the Nu-Tra Songs and used it on
the new song!

I thought it was the same drums as Super Thing?

[Gary Childs]

Post by flamingkitties

Post by Rev. Richard Skull
They pulled the Drum Track of one of the Nu-Tra Songs and used it on
the new song!

I thought it was the same drums as Super Thing?

That's right, it's the drums from The Super Thing. It's not Alan though.
Devo used a drum machine on The Super Thing.
Most of the tracks on New Traditionalists were done with a drum machine.
He did play on a couple of songs: Race Of Doom & Enough Said.

[n***@sbcglobal.invalid.net]

Post by Gary Childs

Post by flamingkitties

Post by Rev. Richard Skull
They pulled the Drum Track of one of the Nu-Tra Songs and used it on
the new song!

I thought it was the same drums as Super Thing?

That's right, it's the drums from The Super Thing. It's not Alan though.
Devo used a drum machine on The Super Thing.
Most of the tracks on New Traditionalists were done with a drum machine.
He did play on a couple of songs: Race Of Doom & Enough Said.

Ok I'm confused.. When we see Alan playing drums in e.g. Devo's
"Fridays" appearance in '81 (Jerkin' Back 'N' Forth, etc), it's really
a drum machine? If Alan played these songs live, why would Devo
have used a drum machine for the record?

[Gary Childs]

Post by n***@sbcglobal.invalid.net
Ok I'm confused.. When we see Alan playing drums in e.g. Devo's
"Fridays" appearance in '81 (Jerkin' Back 'N' Forth, etc), it's really
a drum machine?

He played the parts live on stage. On the album it's a drum machine.

Post by n***@sbcglobal.invalid.net
If Alan played these songs live, why would Devo
have used a drum machine for the record?

The drum machine had a more compressed, robotic, electronic sound, which
they liked.
It was a Linn drum machine with digital samples.
Listen to the snare rolls on Jerkin' Back 'N' Forth on the album, and then
on Fridays, and they sound very different.
On stage a real drummer looks better than a black box and a blinking tempo
light.
The thunderous drum fills on Race Of Doom & Enough Said required a real
drummer.
A song like Working In A Coalmine sounds better with a drum machine, because
it's more mechanical.

[Todd Spango]

Post by Gary Childs

Ok I'm confused..  When we see Alan playing drums in e.g. Devo's
"Fridays" appearance in '81 (Jerkin' Back 'N' Forth, etc), it's really
a drum machine?

He played the parts live on stage. On the album it's a drum machine.

 If Alan played these songs live, why would Devo
have used a drum machine for the record?

The drum machine had a more compressed, robotic, electronic sound, which
they liked.
It was a Linn drum machine with digital samples.
Listen to the snare rolls on Jerkin' Back 'N' Forth on the album, and then
on Fridays, and they sound very different.
On stage a real drummer looks better than a black box and a blinking tempo
light.
The thunderous drum fills on Race Of Doom & Enough Said required a real
drummer.
A song like Working In A Coalmine sounds better with a drum machine, because
it's more mechanical.

...

Also, it was just the style in those days. A lot of bands programmed
their drum sounds because with the tech of the time it was easier to
get a clean, streamlined sound if you used Linn drums. It's one of
the reasons I hate eighties mainstream music -- I like things to be a
bit more organic.