John Panozzo
So when you're a kid learning to play drums like I did in Northern NH there are not a lot of teachers. I found myself digesting the snare drum workbook I had in school and turning to records - ANY records that grabbed my ear and had, what I thought at the time, a cool drum lick. Enter John Panozzo and STYX. One tune in particular that I remember to this day is from the Paradise Theater album released in 1981. Not a particularly notable record in my collection although there were some hits "The Best Of Times" (a staple at the local bowling alley) and the Tommy Shaw penned "Too Much Time On My Hands" and "Snowblind" which apparently contained "secret, backward messages" according to Tipper Gore and subsequently banned by the PMRC.
But I digress - the reason I believe it was an important record to my young drumming career was I had only been playing drums for a short time and had a Sears & Roebuck 3-piece kit from Christmas and a $20 splurge on a VERY Frankenstein drum set purchased from one of the older kids in town who was also a drummer. I heard the song "Rockin' The Paradise" and John Panozzo has a 1 measure drum fill: 4-16ths on the snare, 4-16ths on the tom and repeat. Simple, but for a young drummer of 11 years old it was very effective! I played the song over and over and practiced the lick. Eventually I transferred it around the drums. In the long run it taught me speed, dexterity and musicality. It's the simplest of "fast" drum solos but it was cemented in my small but growing arsenal of drum fills.
John's birthday was September 20. He passed away in 1996 after a battle with cancer. Thanks John for being a part of my drumming life in a small but powerful way.
