GENRE

Pop & soul drum patterns.

Backbeats played by session drummers and later programmed: Motown's pocket, funk's emphasis on the one, disco's open hats and R&B's late snare.

400 grooves
4 styles
1963–2000
20 landmarks

Landmark records

20 of 20 grooves

1963
Pop
Be My Baby Open Be My Baby in a new tab
The Ronettes
Hal Blaine's two-bar intro, snare only on beat 4 until the chorus, became one of the most copied drum phrases in pop
1965
R&B
I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)Open I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) in a new tab
Four Tops
Benny Benjamin and James Jamerson lock the driving Motown dance beat; producers would not cut sessions without Benjamin
1965
R&B
In the Midnight Hour Open In the Midnight Hour in a new tab
Wilson Pickett
Al Jackson Jr.'s delayed backbeat, reworked from the Jerk dance Jerry Wexler showed the band; a defining Stax feel
1967
Funk
Cold Sweat Open Cold Sweat in a new tab
James Brown
Root: often called the first funk record; all weight on the one, a late snare in bar one, and the first give-the-drummer-some
1969
Funk
Cissy Strut Open Cissy Strut in a new tab
The Meters
Zigaboo Modeliste's syncopated New Orleans second-line funk; critics heard his drums as the lead voice
1970
Funk
Funky Drummer Open Funky Drummer in a new tab
James Brown
Root: Clyde Stubblefield's improvised ghost-note groove and eight-bar break, one of the most sampled recordings ever
1971
Disco
Theme from Shaft Open Theme from Shaft in a new tab
Isaac Hayes
Root: Willie Hall's constant 16th-note hi-hat, taken from a Stax break; counted among the first disco singles
1972
Disco
Love Train Open Love Train in a new tab
The O'Jays
Philadelphia's MFSB rhythm section; called one of the first disco songs and MFSB's first Hot 100 No. 1
1973
Funk
What Is Hip?Open What Is Hip? in a new tab
Tower of Power
Co-written by drummer David Garibaldi: a tight, busy sixteenth-note groove under Tower of Power's horns
1977
Disco
Stayin' Alive Open Stayin' Alive in a new tab
Bee Gees
With the drummer away, two bars of Night Fever's drums were tape-looped: a played beat used like a drum machine
1979
Disco
Good Times Open Good Times in a new tab
Chic
Tony Thompson and Bernard Edwards's tight, syncopated groove; its bassline became Rapper's Delight
1979
Disco
Ring My Bell Open Ring My Bell in a new tab
Anita Ward
A Synare electronic drum's falling tom on beat one of every bar is the hook: electronic drums as disco's signature
1981
Pop
In the Air Tonight Open In the Air Tonight in a new tab
Phil Collins
A CR-78 preset ticks for minutes, then the gated-reverb tom fill explodes: the best-known moment of the 80s drum sound
1982
Pop
Rosanna Open Rosanna in a new tab
Toto
Jeff Porcaro's half-time shuffle with ghost notes, mixing Purdie and Bonham shuffles; now a standard of drum repertoire
1982
Pop
Billie Jean Open Billie Jean in a new tab
Michael Jackson
Dry, tightly isolated kick, snare and hat (Swedien built a special drum riser): a groove recognisable from its first bar
1984
Pop
When Doves Cry Open When Doves Cry in a new tab
Prince and the Revolution
Linn LM-1 drums carry a No. 1 single with no bass line at all; drum-machine pop at its most stripped and bold
1986
Funk
Kiss Open Kiss in a new tab
Prince and the Revolution
Skeletal drum-machine funk with no bass: the kick runs through a non-linear reverb to fill the low end
1987
R&B
I Want Her Open I Want Her in a new tab
Keith Sweat
Co-produced by Teddy Riley and considered the first new jack swing hit: swung, hard-hitting machine drums under R&B
1998
R&B
Are You That Somebody?Open Are You That Somebody? in a new tab
Aaliyah
Timbaland's stuttering programmed kicks, beatbox and baby samples: off-kilter, syncopated R&B drums go mainstream
2000
R&B
Untitled (How Does It Feel)Open Untitled (How Does It Feel) in a new tab
D'Angelo
Live kit with machine-like evenness, cross-stick on 2 and 4 and a loose kick: the dragged Voodoo-era neo-soul pocket