A to Z Blog Challenge -- C is for Cadence / 5 on Friday -- Set 266

Week 1 of 2015's A to Z Blog Challenge is rolling along smoothly. Here we are at Day 3 already, where C is for Cadence.

Cadence can also be said to be the tempo or rhythm of a thing. In musical terms, a cadence produces a sense of resolution at the end of a phrase.

For today's blog challenge, let me introduce you to my regular Friday feature: 

Spinning Friday tunes since 2010...

For anyone who wants to join in, simply choose five pieces of music and post them for other bloggers to enjoy. Then check out the set posted by the other 5 on Friday blogger -- you can sign in over at Golch Central's Rambling Stuff.

This year I'll be taking a once-a-month look at specific instruments and showcasing five songs or tunes which place that instrument front and center.

This year's feature is called Spotlight On...

...and for our fourth installment, I'm venturing out from the primal body instruments to explore percussion. Here are five songs which shine a spotlight on drums, which turn the discord of cacophony into the resolution of cadence.

1 - Ticket to Ride - The Beatles - drummer Ringo Star - 1965

Ringo was an integral piece of the phenomenon known as The Beatles. He takes his place in the Top 500 drummers according to Drummerworld. Never a flashy soloist, Ringo was instead an equal fourth of a unit that changed the face of popular music.

2 - Babylon Sisters - Steely Dan - drummer Bernard Purdie - 1980

A trailblazing rhythm and blues/funk drummer, Purdie is most famous for his signature 'Purdie Shuffle' which is front and center in this Steely Dan tune. Also known as a Half-Time shuffle, it's "created with six bass, high-hat and snare tones, the Purdie Shuffle is a groove that seems to spin in concentric circles as it lopes forward...a Tilt-a-Whirl of sound," wrote David Segal for the New York Times (March 2009).  

3 - Walking on the Moon - The Police - drummer Stewart Copeland - 1979

Another drummer who is an integral third part of a musical trio, Copeland says: "I was trying to figure out how to drag out my three chops to last long enough to be called a drum solo, as opposed to a drum break." Voted high on the greatest-drummers-of-all-time lists by Rolling Stone and Music Radar, Copeland -- like Ringo Starr -- shines by knowing when not to play.   

4 - Rock and Roll - Led Zeppelin - drummer John Bonham - 1972

Powerful drummer John Bonham is known as the godfather of hard rock drumming, which takes rhythm and blues percussion to a different level. He often rivals the # 5 drummer on this list as World's Top Drummer in fan voting lists, critics choices and influence on the drummers who followed him. Technique alone doesn't place a drummer on those lists. Innovation + heart and soul + technique + intensity = the staying power of this exceptional player.

5 - Tom Sawyer - Rush - drummer Neil Peart - 1981

Currently in the midst of an Ultimate Classic Rock smackdown, Peart battled by reader votes against Keith Moon where he demolished the legendary Who drummer 83% - 17%. Recently holding his own against Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham 67% - 33%, the voting is now closed in the final round of this star-powered showdown. Because Peart has already been named as the top drummer in the world by Rolling Stone magazine, numerous radio station countdowns and fan compilations, I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that he'll emerge triumphant from this final round.