I don't know. I kinda like Charlie Watt's brand of showmanship. No bull****.

All I know is there are three kinds of drummers; those who can count and those who can't!!!

I know we have strayed from the original issue somewhat, but I think this particular issue is equally relevant and definitely pertinent. Charlie doesn't employ any showmanship, neither does/did Ringo. But despite the multitude of catty comments about their playing over the years, no-one outside the band ever claimed it could have been done better; because if that had been true, then, at least in Ringo's case, it would have been. Charlie, of course, put the Stones together, so nobody was going to shift him, even if it had been necessary. Why does everyone always think the singer is the boss? My point is, very few people know who the Stone's drummer is; everyone knows who the Who's (easy for me to say) drummer was. Besides, bull**** is what greases the axles of the entertainment industry's vehicle; we all know that.

Drum Bosses/Founders:

Mick Fleetwood

Stewart Copeland

Charlie Watts

Some others?

Neil Peart he didn't found but he writes most of Rush's lyrics

I recently played a Jazz gig/benefit, 5 hrs. 5 bands, back line provided. I enquired about the kit beforehand and somehow ended up bringing mine for the entire day. I got nothing but complements from each drummer and the sound guy loved my kit. For the last few years they had used a Tama rockstar,22/12/13/16 wrong kit for Jazz, to begin with. I brought Ludwig standard, 20/14/12 and a Gretsch COB snare, Not a single audience member mentioned the drums.

Let's face it: can we hear the difference between a solid body Les Paul and a 335? I know some of us can, but we are in the minority, are we not? The top and bottom of it all is that our sound affects the way we play, and that is more than sufficient justification for our endless self indulgences. That fact was mentioned earlier by Caddywumpus.

as far as major world success is concerned I can't think of any more.

Ok, true, my guitar player is always bringing some new pedal, or switching up his amp and although I can tell the difference between his les Paul and his strat, I really can't hear a difference in the other stuff. And I guess I must admit I usually notice a different color guitar or amp before I distinguish the sound.

So it really is all about us isn't it!

Absolutely!!!

And as for major influences on the behind-the-scenes of major bands, Mickey Hart played a major roll in the early years of the Grateful Dead. His father had managed the band into bankruptcy and in his embarrassment, left for more than a year. When he came back to the band, he took over many of the management duties for a while, until they managed to get back in the black. Then Phil took over and the rest is, as they say, history.

Many people don't know this, but the modern digital stage was engineered and developed by the Dead. Without all they did on their relentless touring for the modern sound, we would still have archaic sound systems. The "Wall of Sound", anyone....?