Top 10 Punk Drummers
Top 10 Punk Drummers
Number 10
Charlie Quintana
Charlie has been at this for a long-ass time; his time with the Plugz, Cruzados, and now Social Distortion. Charlie’s style meshes with every band he sits in with.
Number 9
Topper Headon
Topper performed great drumming for the Clash; his heroin addiction got him booted from an otherwise flawless career with the band.
Number 8
Tommy Ramone
Innovator and guru to the Ramones. Tommy created the blueprint sound that the Ramones used for twenty plus years.
Number 7
Casey Royer
Whether Casey was drumming for Social Distortion or the Adolescents he has always been great. The “Blue” album stands the test of time.
Number 6
Lucky Lehrer
The Circle Jerks Group Sex album has some of Lucky’s best drumming ever recorded. Great shit. He also drummed for the Darby Crash band.
Number 5
Nicky Beat
One of the first L.A. punk drummers, Nicky brought the Weirdos to notoriety, and contributed to early Germs material as well as sitting in with the Darby Crash Band.
Number 4
Don Bolles
The oddball of the Germs (is that possible). Don played for the Germs, 45 Grave, and Vox Pop – which he posed nude for. Odd, but damn good.
Number 3
Paul Cook
From his punk defining work with the Sex Pistols or his slowed down stuff with the Professionals Paul Cook has always been one of the best, often overlooked, but freaking great!
Number 2
Robo
From his classic stuff with the mighty Black Flag to his drumming with the Misfits (with and without Danzig) Robo’s sound has always been very distinctive, one of my first favorite punk drummers.
Number 1
Todd Barnes
Todd Barnes played great hardcore on TSOL’s classic Posh Boy EP, and helped introduce L.A. to Death Rock with their ultra-classic Frontier released, Dance with Me!! He could play it all, and well. I think he sat in on a Vandals reunion about twelve years or so back.
Honorable Mentions: Marky Ramone, Terry Chimes, Bill Stevenson, DJ Bonebrake, Chris Wahl, etc.
These are my choices, I’m sticking to them, but I’d love to see some feedback, the comments section doesn’t get enough action or debates, let’s hear something. I know some will whine that I included three drummers that worked with Darby, well, maybe he picked great drummers.
Some good choices there! I’m happy to see Nicky Beat and Lucky Lehrer making the list. A couple that would have made my list: Earl Hudson from Bad Brains and George Hurley from The Minutemen.
December 12th, 2008 at 7:20 pmPretty great choices, all of which I would agree with as drummers that had genre-defining style. However, by the same token, I think it’s remiss to leave out Earl Hudson of Bad Brains, Bill Stevenson (Black Flag, Descendents) and Chuck Biscuits. All three of them are far more influential, inventive and significant than Casey Royer!
Nonetheless, an enjoyable list. Thanks.
December 12th, 2008 at 8:40 pmThe absence of Chuck Biscuits makes me wonder if this list is a joke.
Kidding…but still…no Chuck Biscuits? Really?
December 12th, 2008 at 11:53 pmAs a former contributor to this site (heya! :>) I must interject! Where’s Rat Scabies??
Everyone loves “Top 10″ or “Top xxx” lists because they always provide a good jumping-off point for debate. But, seriously, Scabies has GOTTA be one of the better ones out there. Just listen to such 1976 powerhouse gems like “Stab Yor Back.” I agree with Panzram’s choice of Chuck Biscuits.
A drummer who rarely gets the credit he deserves is Minr Threat’s Jeff nelson. I always felt like he set the bar/standard for the thrash that would come after.
Sentimentally, I would also include Big Paul Ferguson of Killing Joke, who co-started that band, and who really introduced a lot of the tribal, heavy-on-the-toms type of drumming that would heavily influence Amebix.
Cheers – glad to see Strange Reaction is still going strong.
-Oliver
December 13th, 2008 at 12:09 amI am so glad others have mentioned Chuck Buscuits! He was/is incredible. The best punk drummer is by far Brian Betzger while in Jerry’s Kids. It is mind blowing!!! Thanks Oliver for the Scabies mention…another awesome drummer. Thanks again Mike!!
December 13th, 2008 at 2:06 amYeah, thanks for the reminder, Oliver. Jeff Nelson is another woefully overlooked, great drummer. As a drummer myself — hence my passion for this “debate” — Jeff Nelson’s power and precision at such a fast pace is really incredible. I suppose the only reason that I do accidentally overlook him is that Earl Hudson (Bad Brains) pretty much invented that style and Jeff just played it really well. Again, we are talking about Top 10.
And, with that, Chuck Biscuits really deserves a spot in the Top 10 for his near-jazzy, Keith Moon-esque and dare I say nearly hummable melodic style. Lucky Lehrer? Sure, he fits that description too, but Chuck’s got more personality to his playing.
Regardless, Mike’s picks are certainly all great and it’s great to see drummers getting a little respect for once…
December 13th, 2008 at 2:58 amBrian Betzger…Jerry’s Kids. Definitely the greatest punk drummer!
December 13th, 2008 at 2:18 pmOops…I forgot to mention how fucking annoying I can be when I am bored. hahaha
December 13th, 2008 at 2:18 pmThanks for all the comments. Earl and Chuck and all the other guys, probably, should’ve been added, but I only had room for ten. I would’ve added Jay Ziskrout if I did the list again. Thanks for reading!
December 13th, 2008 at 2:56 pmRat Scabies, definitely. Ted from the original Dead Kennedys lineup. Lucky Lehrer (Circle Jerks). Scott Asheton (Stooges). Maybe make a top 20 list?
December 13th, 2008 at 10:18 pmThese are all great picks, however, despite all of this I will also reflect Panzram’s referral to Bill Stevenson and also add my pick of Husker Du’s “Grant Hart” who was able to batter the skins with reckless abandon, yet carry the double duty of having to sing half of the bands songs as well.
December 14th, 2008 at 2:52 amCool list…Bill Stevenson should be in top ten… And I thought I would be truly clever and put Brian Betzger for Jerry’s Kids in my comment but I see theonlytruepunk beat me too it. A good band but amazing drumming!
December 14th, 2008 at 11:20 amOh yeah… How can I forget John Wright of Nomeansno – should be everyones #1.
December 14th, 2008 at 1:37 pmI was also shocked by not seeing Chuck Biscuits on that list. I would have put him pretty far up the list. Earl was a no-brainer, as well. Johnny Feedback from Kraut is another phenomenal drummer.
December 17th, 2008 at 12:38 pmBill Stevenson and Chuck Biscuits would have been on my list too!
December 19th, 2008 at 5:57 pmI’d definitely put John Wright, Bill Stevenson, but also Graham Churchill (Belvedere), Derrick Plourde (Lagwagon and many others), Louis Lévesque (Genetic Control), Big Jon (Cigar), and George Hurley (Minutemen). Some of these guys are more ‘new school’ than most of what’s on this list, but they can play.
December 29th, 2008 at 10:14 pmUmmm…
Spit Stix from FEAR!
D.H. Peligro from Dead Kennedy’s.
Lad from Red Scare.
Lance Kranz from DETOX.
There are a lot more…
April 4th, 2009 at 7:55 am