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Alan Myers (drummer)

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Alan Myers
Myers, 2006
Background information
Also known asHuman Metronome
Born1955
Akron, Ohio, United States
Died(2013-06-24)June 24, 2013 (aged 58)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • music programmer
  • electrical contractor
Instruments
  • Drums
  • percussion
Years active1976–2013

Alan Myers (1955 – June 24, 2013) was an American rock drummer whose music career spanned more than 30 years. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as the third and most prominent drummer of the new wave band Devo, replacing Jim Mothersbaugh. Myers was known for the precision of his drumming, especially on the complex and often bizarre rhythms Devo used on their albums. He was often referred to as the Human Metronome.[4]

Early years

Alan Myers was born in 1955, in Akron, Ohio, and came from a jazz background. He graduated from Firestone High School in 1973. In 1976, he met Bob Mothersbaugh in a café in West Akron and went to the house Bob and Gerald Casale were renting for an audition.[5] Alan was Jewish and had been playing percussion since at least junior high school.[6]

Career

Devo

In early 1970, Bob Lewis and Gerald Casale formed the idea of the "devolution" of the human race after Casale's friend Jeffrey Miller was killed by Ohio National Guardsmen firing on a student demonstration.[7] Myers joined Devo in 1976, replacing Jim Mothersbaugh following his departure and played on a conventional, acoustic drum kit. After the band underwent a few line-up changes, Myers became part of the most popular five-piece incarnation, which included the Casale brothers: Gerald and Bob ("Bob 2") and the Mothersbaugh brothers: Mark and Bob ("Bob 1") and played on Devo's first six studio albums. In 1981, Myers with Devo served as Toni Basil's backing band on Word of Mouth, her debut album, which included versions of three Devo songs, recorded with Basil singing lead.[8][9]

Myers became discontented as Devo began to add drum machines to some of their songs. New Traditionalists featured them for the first time, and most of the music on their next album Oh, No! It's Devo was created by electronic means, while Shout was made almost entirely using the Fairlight CMI digital sampling synthesizer.

Myers left between 1986 and 1987 following the commercial failure of their sixth studio album Shout. According to the book We Are Devo, Myers cited a lack of creative fulfilment as his reason for leaving the band. This was something that he had felt since Devo's move to Los Angeles, California in the late 1970s, partly due to the band's drum machines and electronics use which had greatly reduced his role in the band. He left even though Gerald Casale had begged him not to.[10]

Among all of Devo's drummers, Myers is the one most associated with the band.[11] In 1987, Devo reformed with new drummer David Kendrick, formerly of Sparks to replace Myers.

Other work

After he had left Devo, Myers went to work as an electrical contractor, but also remained active in the Los Angeles music scene.[4] He recorded a demo with Babooshka, a band that was his girlfriend Greta Ionita's creation, using live drums as well as electronic percussion similar to his last two albums with Devo. Myers also played drums with the Asian-themed pop band Jean Paul Yamamoto.[12] In 2005, he founded the band Skyline Electric which played monthly shows in art galleries and clubs in Los Angeles. The line-up at the time of Myers death included his wife, Christine (Sugiyama) Myers, and an assortment of other experimental musicians.[13] In 2010, Myers began playing in the live ensemble of musical project Swahili Blonde with his daughter, Laena Geronimo (Myers-Ionita).[14]

Death

On June 24, 2013, Myers died at the age of 58, in Los Angeles, California, due to stomach cancer[4][15] News reports at the time of his death incorrectly cited a brain tumor as the cause.[4][16][17] Myers' death was first reported on Facebook by his friend Ralph Carney, a jazz musician who knew him in Devo's hometown of Akron, Ohio and his death came a month before the release of Devo's compilation album Something Else for Everybody.

Gerald Casale tweeted that Myers was "the most incredible drummer I had the privilege to play with for 10 years. Losing him was like losing an arm."[18] Josh Freese tweeted that Myers was "1 of [his] all time favs. An underrated/brilliant drummer. Such an honor playing his parts w/Devo. Godspeed Human Metronome."[19]

On June 28, 2013, Skyline Electric performed a tribute to Myers at Human Resources Los Angeles in Los Angeles's Chinatown.[20]

References

  1. ^ Long, Pat (May 2, 2009). "Pat Long meets new wave 80s oddballs Devo, who are intent on making a comeback". The Guardian. London. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
  2. ^ "Devo". AllMusic. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
  3. ^ Steinberg and Michael Kehler (2010), p.355
  4. ^ a b c d Danton, Eric R (June 26, 2013). "Alan Myers, Devo Drummer on 'Whip It,' Dead at 58". Rolling Stone.
  5. ^ Diehl, Matt (June 28, 2013). "Devo Bandmates Remember Late Drummer Alan Myers". Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  6. ^ "Alan Myers (1955-2013), Devo Drummer by Mark Bloch". panmodern.com. Retrieved June 27, 2013."NEW YORK CITY, JUNE 26, 2013- Alan Myers, the Devo drummer from ... we were in a Jewish youth group together and Alan's nickname was 'Aleph Ernie'."
  7. ^ Paul Vermeersch: A brief history of Devo, Part 1, October 21, 2014, retrieved August 4, 2015
  8. ^ "Mickey — Toni Basil". Top One Hit Wonders. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  9. ^ Gruber, Xaque. "'Mickey' Turns 30: A Closer Look at the One and Only Toni Basil". The Huffington Post. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  10. ^ "Gerald Casale on Twitter: "RE: Alan Myers. I begged him not to quit Devo. He could not tolerate being replaced by the Fairlight and autocratic machine music. I agreed."". Twitter. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  11. ^ "Former DEVO drummer Alan Myers loses cancer battle". uberrock.co.uk. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  12. ^ "Jean Paul Yamamoto". Retrieved January 25, 2011.
  13. ^ "Skyline Electric". Retrieved September 12, 2007.
  14. ^ "Devo whipping up first album since 1990". Reuters. Retrieved March 10, 2009.
  15. ^ "Alan Myers Obituary". Drum Magazine. Archived from the original on July 23, 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Roberts, Randall (June 26, 2013). "Alan Myers, longtime Devo drummer, has died". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 27, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ "Devo drummer Alan Myers dies of brain cancer". Associated Press. June 26, 2013. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "Gerald Casale on Twitter: "In praise of Alan Myers, the most incredible drummer I had the privilege to play with for 10 years. Losing him was like losing an arm. RIP!!"". Twitter. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  19. ^ "Josh Freese on Twitter: "RIP Alan Myers. 1 of my all time favs. An underrated/brilliant drummer. Such an honor playing his parts w/Devo. Godspeed Human Metronome."". Twitter]]. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  20. ^ Danton, Eric R (June 26, 2013). "Alan Myers Dead; Ex-Devo 'Whip It' Drummer Was 58, Had Cancer". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 31, 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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