aaaaand... CHASER!
August 29, 2013 3:12 AM   Subscribe

Sam Ulano appears to have been drumming, non-stop, since he arrived on the planet in 1920. Sam Ulano is a drumming MACHINE. He's drummed on more gigs than anybody. Anybody. He's also a celebrated educator, who, throughout his long career, has taught and inspired thousands of drummers. But those aren't the reasons Sam Ulano is appearing today at Metafilter. No, Sam is here because of this: Little Red Rhumbahood. That's right. And this: Santa And The Doodle-Li-Boop. Because you've never heard anyone tell a nutty story while accompanying himself on the drum set, and doing it this, um... well, with this kind of verve, spontaneity and deliciously crazed energy. Sam Ulano is a law unto himself, a category of one. Ah, but the pièce de résistance, friends, the crowning achievement of this mad genius, the epic masterpiece which simply must be heard to be believed, is HOW TO PLAY A SHOW. Thank you, Sam Ulano, you joyously inspired lunatic!
posted by flapjax at midnite (5 comments total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
 
Little Red Rhumbahood is from this LP release, which I simply MUST get my hands on. If anyone out there, by some chance, has it to share, please please please contact me. Please.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:15 AM on August 29, 2013


That "How to Play a Show" track is nuts (also he does a more credible impersonation of the singer than some singers I've seen). Where did that come from?
posted by ardgedee at 3:59 AM on August 29, 2013 [1 favorite]


Where did that come from?

I think it was a record.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:13 AM on August 29, 2013


He was the drummer who backed up Bobby on his Big Hit Tune?! (I think it was a rhumba or a beguine, I forget exactly). Sweet.

Most of the time drummers have that slack-jawed drooly stare but if they were able to process language at the same time it would have to sound like this. Sam's multitaskin' it.
posted by petebest at 5:40 AM on August 29, 2013


Thanks for this Flapjax! (Your music posts never fail to make me smile).

I've appreciated Sam Ulano's work since I first heard him as part of WFMU's "365 Days" project, in which the station posted an interesting/unusual mp3 each day of 2003. (Ten years ago already?). They played Little Red Rumba Hood, which I instantly loved. I thought that was my first exposure to Ulano. But looking now at Ulano's web page that you linked to, it turns out that 22 years prior to that, I was actually at a gig where Sam Ulano played: the infamous PiL RIOT SHOW of May 15th, 1981 - that's right, I was there, as a slightly underage teen, thrilled to be seeing one of my heroes of the day. This is the gig where PiL played behind a video screen, so I didn't really even see who was on drums, but, remarkably, the band had hired Ulano for the session! And as is well known, the gig was cut short due to the audience's, umm, failure to fully appreciate the high concept. Here's (via perfect sound forever) a more detailed (and less humorous) account of that night, where Ulano's name is unfortunately misspelled as Ulamo.

Although I idolized Lydon as a teen, and still appreciate some his work, my musical interests have changed - I'm much more interested in jazz and free music now (PiL having been an important step from punk orthodoxy to more adventurous stuff, now that I think about it). At this point in my life I'm more excited to say that I was at a Sam Ulano show rather than "I saw Johnny Rotten!". Unfortunately, I remember the spectacular fiasco way better than I remember any of the music. Maybe I'll have to track down the bootleg LP.
posted by crazy_yeti at 7:17 AM on August 29, 2013 [2 favorites]


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