Sound CheckDevo drummer Alan Myers dies
Alan Myers, drummer of the Ohio new wave band Devo from 1976 to 1986, has died.
According to Rolling Stone, the percussionist passed away on June 24 after losing his battle with brain cancer.
Myers was one of Devo’s most well known drummers and is responsible for the beat on albums like 1978's “Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!”, 1979’s “Duty Now for the Future,” 1980's “Freedom of Choice” and more.
“Freedom of Choice” included the hit single “Whip It.” In 2010, Josh Freese, another former Devo drummer, clarified that the song only features Myers on drums, and does not include a drum machine.
“It was the first album I got, when I was eight years old,” Freese told Spin Magazine. “I sat in my basement and played along to it all the time, so it was crazy when we did that tour last year where we played it top to bottom. It's fun in the way that it's very metronomic and the patterns are very deliberate and kind of nursery rhyme. A lot of people think that it's a drum machine on 'Whip It.' But that's Alan Myers."
After learning of Myers’ death, Freese took to Twitter to share his grief:
https://twitter.com/joshfreese/status/349752425843920897
Devo co-founder Gerald Casale also expressed his sentiments on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Gvc3Casale/status/349760677684068352
https://twitter.com/Gvc3Casale/status/349761230120026113
https://twitter.com/Gvc3Casale/status/349762070335590400
Another co-founder, Mark Mothersbaugh, shared his condolences on the band’s website, writing, “Alan Myers’ metronomic drumming style helped define the sparse machinery rhythms that were a signature of our band’s early sound.”
Fans have also begun to post tributes to the late drummer on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/whereiputit/status/349911752198209537
https://twitter.com/mikeorso/status/349911851225714688
https://twitter.com/MrEricSlick/status/349910358233849856
Rolling Stone notes that since his Devo days, Myers had a job as an electrical contractor in Los Angeles and also performed in a band called Skyline Electric with his wife Christine Myers.
