There are many tributes being written about TAYLOR by far more important/qualified people than me but I wanted to share a few precious memories. I saw the great drummer three times and three times for free! ALANIS MORRISETTE, I saw by accident at GLASTONBURY in between two faves of mine THE PRETENDERS and the MANIC STREET PREACHERS and I well remember the amazing ANIMAL style drummer. I also saw the FOO FIGHTERS for free because at GLASTONBURY I had a press pass doing reviews for a local paper. I saw them in 2003 too for free at the beautiful (sadly now knocked down) EARLS COURT ART DECO 1920’s convention centre. A beautiful piece of now lost design and architecture, that saw many a classic gig.
Its so sad addiction took TAYLOR, and it s a pity Cannabis did not help him stop his other substance abuse, as it can be very good for giving up more dangerous substances. I fear DAVE GROHL may give up the music business given his tragic loss of KURT COBAIN early on and now more stark reality. I expect it has opened up old psychological wounds, but given the fact the band did albums pre TAYLOR then I would assume he may continue the band as THE WHO did after KEITH MOONIE but its never the same. However this is different not least as GROHL is an all time great drummer and played all the instruments on the debut album which I played more at the time than NEVERMIND. I am sure a stand in for live performance can be found (how about MARK BRZEZICKI? BRZEZICKI drummed for THE CULT so its possible) but I do wonder if in BILL WITHERS style fashion he might give up the music business and retire into Writing Directing or Acting or to be a solo artist or session guest/collaborator. DAVE did exactly that when he drummed for the fantastic QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE and also in 2003 for the band whose bass line was used for COME AS YOU ARE or was paid homage to (Much as THE JAM did the BEATLES with START!) in the shape of the song EIGHTIES…from the seminal British 80’s group and godfathers of GRUNGE…KILLING JOKE. Lets not forget GROHL paid his respects by drumming on KJ’s 2003 LP. See the incredible highly relevant new single LORD OF CHAOS at the end of this article.
TAYLOR lived in Laguna Cliffs in California, an area i knew for a time. Many will say how can you drum like that without drugs? But that is a tired old argument… It does raise questions about touring and musician exhaustion. I met ROGER TAYLOR of QUEEN briefly many years ago grabbing an autograph and how he his fellow blonde drummer with the big smile. STUART COPELAND meets RT. My OTHERS mate JOE GARDINER LOWE drummed for L7 who know GROHL and HAWKINS well and if I ever interview JOE again I will ask about the connection…
Now GROHL has gone full circle and he has been revisited by tragedy. Who knows if there will be an artistic cathartic creative outcome. Perhaps a darker acoustic album which would be less contrived as was the case perhaps a little with TOM JONES and PAUL WELLER but a more stripped down sound perhaps like HUGH CORNWELL’s recent essential rerecords of old STRANGLERS songs he essentially wrote such as SKIN DEEP. The music world awaits but then again so does the wider artistic one. LENNY KRAVITZ is an architect so DG might be going into another creative field, directing on films perhaps. We shall see…below is where DG’s second chapter all began in the earlier days and just after TAYLOR joined. .
Dreams rarely come true and as i walked home cream crackered after a hard days work (alongside my mate DOM MASTERS at the Design publisher/Events firm I was at) I looked up at the names of FOO FIGHTERS in lights and thought as the show was started five minutes how i wish i could go in…Better go home I thought…Then lo and behold a man in a panic, huffing and puffing down those old steps gave me a ticket for free, as he left the venue in a panic as he had an emergency. Subsequently I was admitted to the greatest excellent masterclass of magnificent passionate brilliance you will ever see in ROCK. Sometimes I felt they were as strong as NIRVANA and the melodies sometimes reminded me of the BEATLES with subtleties. the drum fills mesmeric and solid, yet with a bounty of intricate techniques showing some JAZZ training perhaps. DG actually pretty much wrote the first LP whilst in NIRVANA and you can hear the similar vocals to KURT which, as he has aged have been fascinating to watch or listen mature because unlike a contemporary of COBAIN like MICHAEL STIPE…KC never grew older. TAYLOR didnt, but his death at 50 seems neither the tragic young loss or the decline in health we are seeing with poor PHIL COLLINS who bowed out of performing this week with great humility and grace. Though TAYLOR is young in our minds and looked it, he also had a sizable chunk of work behind him. I cant bring myself to share COLLINS as I want to think of him at his peak (I mean musical not the former widows peak!). Mind you he had many peaks..Not many go from abstract arty cult PROG to successful SOUL/FUNK music. Perhaps ROBERT PALMER in some respects in musical scope and WELLER or STEVE WINWOOD, MICHAEL MCDONALD or even BRYAN FERRY for that matter (from MOOG experiments to JAZZ albums to put it bluntly and to illustrate the musical journey. FOO FIGHTERS had a journey of a different type but GROHL does display depth in a different way rather than too much in terms of Musical genre, keeping the sound pure, original in keeping with the early sound…but fresh. He prefers to dabble in directing and personally I would love to see him dabble more in writing and acting. if he does recover musically I do hope as with the STRANGLERS, GENESIS, or PINK FLOYD and HAWKWIND, that he carries on the sound and band/group’s name. I hate the term “Brand”! Too advertising space in style for me to use to make my point. Anyway this isnt a GENESIS article so apologies readers, my original point being HAWKINS has left us in his prime.
As I was always lucky seeing FOO FIGHTERS it fitted the positive anthemic feel that grew out of the darker GRUNGE roots. It was such a strong positive manifestation of the GRUNGE NIRVANA sound that I bought the 12 INCH of THIS IS A CALL and got complaints as it became so addictive that I played it full volume at least 30 times a day in my digs at Bournemouth Arts and design Uni!
That FF sound and positivity seems at odds with the sad end but in the final concert not only do we see an extraordinary artwork appear from the crowd and a QUEEN cover by the late drummer but best of all a mention of a band I had the pleasure of meeting as a child – SIOUXSIE AND THE BANCHEES,. II was in a video of theirs and 20 years later had my chance to say hello but missed my chance when I saw SIOUXSIE and BUDGIE having a coffee…Anyway i digress, DAVE GROHL cited them in the performance as a seminal early influence randomly during Sunday’s finale concert (which with them seems more an epic event and explosion of way above average brilliance for DAYS LIKE THESE…pardon the pun…). This struck a chord with me for various reasons as they are a great band that though I met and acted with as a kid I never saw live but I well remember the thundering drums and her amazing features during spending time with them and also on the set. SIOUXSIE is an underrated icon of rare brilliance and I became a huge fan myself of her and the bands menacing unique beautiful seminal music and 1920’s and 1930’s Art Deco images and influential GOTHIC style and looks (probably more to the US scene than here).
TAYLOR played like his heroes STUART COPELAND of THE POLICE, BUDDY RICH and with technical skills and power, a rare combo. PHIL COLLINS also loves RICH and its sad to see the great frontman’s state at recent GENESIS shows. TAYLOR went out looking young with the smile so happy,…that in hindsight perhaps reveals its concealing of inner demons, the sinister side to L.os Angeles and access to heavy substances (think BLACK HOLE SUN by SOUNDGARDEN). Sounds cliched but its a reality to fans and band. Like when TOM PETTY died it seems odd and raises questions as PETTY had physical ailments there was some explanation, but mental illness and addiction is just as valid. DAVE is a kind sensitive humble creative, rare in the business. I do hope he recovers to entertain us with his positive creativity and smile and that the smile (so like TAYLOR’S at times) is not hiding inner pain and a darker turmoil, because his humor and positivity have helped so many from the ashes of an original tragedy and a young genius who started it all in KURT COBAIN.
R.I.P TAYLOR. Yet another casualty of the Music business/drugs and the gravy train of ROCK but in every sense he died for his art…He was far from a cliche though. A smile can be false or it can be genuine as the lines get blurred when substances take hold but one things for sure his last performance moved me to tears, to see him celebrated and given an extraordinary painting as well as the ironic nature of the applause lives long in the mind. What a send off…
Fame and success is a double edged sword and as my friends prove if you make music for yourself you can be happy and have a dedicated following and if you can make money and can give up an outside job…then you really made it. These days that is rarer than ever before and talent goes to waste or rarely can create due to life and the struggle. So the success and fame the FOO’s have is rare nowadays and the fact they have integrity rather like R.E.M is rarer (much as I love U2…there are issues there). So whilst my heart goes out to TAYLOR, (having suffered a heart attack myself) it does seem a shame that with the level of success, that also with that comes the tendency to over indulge and lose touch with the inner self. To be fair, in a sense the band never seemed to lose touch of the gritty roots and down to earth DAVE GROHL seems out of place with such a human tragedy, showing great humor and modesty often. But there was a slight showbiz inevitable element just as with the BEATLES, in terms of big fame. Success doesnt mean no substance however. Perhaps it didnt sit well with TAYLORS free bird artistic spirit whilst substances of other kinds took hold. We shall never know but I am sure his soaring musical soul and spirit will wind on through the musical universe for ever more. One of the GREAT drummers.
Ben Manning's Music + Arts 