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Okay, this is just a weird personal obsession of mine, but you know that iconic opening to Hairspray? It& #39;s a reference to the 1963 song Be My Baby by The Ronettes. /1
The song begins with this drum phrase by Hal Blaine who dropped a stick during recording, which is why you only get the snare on beat 4. They liked it so much they kept it like that. /2
This one drum phrase was so influential that it has since become a cultural shorthand for & #39;the & #39;60s& #39; and is particularly useful for musicals set in that time period. /3
Here it is in the Prologue to Little Shop of Horrors,though the snare is replaced with a tom hit. /4
And here it is in Dogfight. /5
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend pastiched the song hilariously with Heinous Bitch. /6
And they must have liked the drum phrase because they also used it in their Frankie Valli pastiche, the Santa Ana Winds. /7
Speaking of which, the Four Seasons also used the beat in this song released a year after Be My Baby. /8
I love catching it when the drums appear in random pop songs, like at the very start of Taylor Swift& #39;s Hey Stephen. /9
But it& #39;s made its way across most musical genres. My absolute favourite example is this glorious bit in Kimbra& #39;s Cameo Lover. /10
Even when it appears with variations, it& #39;s undeniably recognisable. Here it is with that explosive snare delayed even more than usual. /11
