Not Quite What I Had Planned

I was initially planning to try to put the last show of Friends into some sort of sitcom context. I don't think Friends was all that great of a show; it had its moments. More than anything, I think it was sort of a Paris Hilton of a show—it was famous for being famous. I can't front, there were some episodes that I thought were pretty funny, but aside from that, it was solid. If Friends were a player on Madden, I would put it somewhere in the 80-85 range. Frasier, I think, is a much better show. Neither of them can fade Cheers, which is the original Thursday night, 9 o'clock, no-Black characters show on NBC. While I was writing that piece, "Assembly Line" by the Commodores came on. The song itself is interesting. Its basic premise is that we are "manufactured" to be the way we are; that society has roles for us and we fit into them without much evaluation of the validity of those roles. There's something for me to talk about in there, but this is not the time for that. What got me about "Assembly Line" yesterday, and every time I've ever heard it, was the drum break at 4:10. (It's the drum sample used by NWA's "Straight Outta Compton.") That piece is ferocious. The drum beat is sickening. Boom Boom BAP bap (bap) Boom BAP, onomatopoetically speaking. But then, throughout the second half of the song, the band is in the background yelling Hut – 2-3-4. During the drum solo, they only say HUT! (on the one, of course.) That joint is hot. So, while I'm thinking about it, here are some of the hottest drum solos I know…or that I have on my laptop, at least. Maybe when I get back from visiting my mom, I'll have a chance to sit down at the desktop and see if there are some records I missed. But anyway… Hot Drum Solos (In the order I think of them) -(with the time that the drum solo appears in parentheses) [Prominent sampling song in brackets.] I guess I should note, while many of these breaks have been sampled, at least one of them has not. The sampling of a beat has no impact on whether I think it's hot or not. Sometimes a beat is good for the song it's in, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's funky all by itself. On the other hand, some solos, even though they're not particularly suitable for sampling, are just funkified. • Assembly Line – The Commodores (4:09) Just talked about this one. [Straight Outta Compton, NWA] • Funky Drummer – James Brown (5:22) – This is the one. There were drum breaks on records before this, but to my mind, if you can't feel this one, you just ain't got no soul. Clyde Stubblefield killed it. And the craziest part about it is that it's not a wild show-me-everything-you-got solo. In fact, right before the break, James goes, "You don't hafta do no soloin' brother, just keep wha'chu got. Don't turn it loose, cuz it's a mutha." And it is. It's THE Mother. (By the way, one of these days, I will get to part 2 of that James Brown joint.) [Too many songs to mention] • James Brown – Cold Sweat (4:21) - Most notable because the phrase "Give the drummer some" originated here. • James Brown – Cold Sweat (live in Dallas) (5:57) Two drummers killing it, mixing the drums from "Cold Sweat" and "Tighten It Up," with one of the most sickening dismounts ever. Un-believable. In-credible. Mag-nificent. • Kool & The Gang – Give It Up (1:37) Brutal. [Check the Technique- Gangstarr] • Ohio Players – Never Had a Dream Come True (4:36) [some other record] • Bill Withers – When I'm Kissing My Love (0:01) [Hola Hovito]