This may seem like a funny question but I was born in 1977 and I'm curious what the drum world was like in the late 70's? What company was controlling the market? What businesses were falling apart? Who was Starting to make an impact? Why did companies stop making 3 ply drums? This is just for fun.
Curtis
In 1977 the american companies were starting to feel the pressure of the Japanese foray into Pro and mid level drums.I remember seeing the Tama Superstars,Imperialstars,Yamaha 700 and 900 series,one of which would become the Recording series.Both pro series were all birch straight sided shells,and both had a tom mount that was based on the Rogers swivomatic design,and the hardware was heavy duty.By this time Sonor was the premium status kit to have,and they were the ones that started the thick heavy shell trend.
I think 77 was Camcos last year.Ludwig had just changed over to the unimold straight sided shell,Slingerland had started making a 5 ply unimold a few years earlier,but you could still order 3 ply shells.
I really don't know why Sling and Ludwig switched to Unimold,they both tooled up for it and made their own,which had to have been quite expensive.
This is also about the same time I noticed Evans and Remo offering specialty heads like the Hydraulic and Pinstipes.
Zil and Paiste were the two pro cymbal companies,Meinl had not offered pro series at this time and you rarely saw a UFIP pro series.
As far as molded, straight shells were concerned, I think it came about because of the extra strength needed to support bigger, heavier hardware. And they are easier and cheaper to make.
A great plague swept the world... worse than the Black Death.... wreaking near unimaginable destruction and havoc on minds, bodies and music. It was called...... DISCO. Everything else is just details.
A great plague swept the world... worse than the Black Death.... wreaking near unimaginable destruction and havoc on minds, bodies and music. It was called...... DISCO. Everything else is just details.
LOL!!! So true but, I thought that Donna Summer was pretty damned hot back in the day!
Brian
Salty - Loved Donna Summer. What a voice!
EC - The 70s sound of pop/rock music (resonant side heads coming off, ugh) wasn't my favorite. Fashions were changing and it seems the American companies had had their day. Same thing with other instrument manufacturers (Gibson going through the Norlin era, etc). The Japanese companies were eating our lunch in many facets of manufacturing (remember the Datsuns?). It took a revolution in the culture of business to right the ship but many drum companies went the way of the rising sun, well the setting sun. I hate that the surviving companies had to go the "boutique" model, where you pay top dollar for the Made in America label, but the competition is very fierce.
But, the 70s had Lenny White, Billy Cobham. And Stewart Copeland came out of that era as well and his playing and sound is the ultimate reaction to that 70s sound. If you listen to The Police you can hear his tuning going up up and up with each record.
Very interesting topic and thanks for asking the question. I'm sure most of us have our take on this history and the above is only mine.
-Doug
Okay, so not all disco was bad... close enough. I was just a little guy back then. I'm surprised some of the older guys haven't chipped in more. You guys can correct me....
Tama and Pearl were just really coming into their own... quality way up and prices very competitive.
Don't know much about the USA made drums of the time. They had not gone out of business yet, but Rogers was trying really hard.
The first commercial electric drums came out about the time you were born. Drum machines were about to become a thing, too. The Linn then the Roland 808 and 909? were early 80s.
Lots of stuff going on musically. Lots of great fusion, the ska/reggae thing in Brittan that led to popular bands like the Police, etc, 'heavier' rock that spawned all of the 'hair bands' of the 80's started in the late 70s... Van Halen, etc, hip hop/rap was laying its foundations though it took a while to catch on.... 'New Wave' was just starting... lots of synth bands being spawned... pop-punk stuff like Blondie (god, I like Clem Burke) lots of stuff. FM AOR radio stations were big. 'Singles' could still be found on 45rpm vinyl. 8 tracks were about to die. CDs were over a decade away. The Lawrence Welk show could still be tuned in to on broadcast TV once a week. The polka revolution did not seem to take off. MTV was a couple years away.
People still had not come to their senses with the whole concert tom thing... or even put their bottom heads back on, yet. But they had not yet gone mad in another way by buying power toms..... I think there was a lot of smoking funny cigarettes going on...
Bonham, Moon and Buddy had not croaked yet.
Oh, and bell bottoms. Lots of denim and bell bottoms. Yeah, some things were better not experienced.
Slingerland was still a big name, esp in the Rock area. Ads featuring Phil Ehart of Kansas, etc. To me that was Slingy's golden era. My kit is awesome.
