That Drum Intro Again
Some musical ideas behave like memes.
One drum intro has been quietly travelling through pop music for sixty years. The opening of ‘Be My Baby’ by Ronettes is just four beats. Simple, dramatic, instantly recognisable.
And over time, that rhythm started living its own life. A pattern that musicians keep repeating, reshaping, and passing on to the next song.
Once you start listening for it, the same dramatic entrée appears across decades and genres.
‘Just Like Honey’ – The Jesus and Mary Chain, almost a direct recreation of the intro. The song became even more iconic when it closed Lost in Translation, introducing the pattern to a completely new generation.
‘Say Goodbye to Hollywood’ – Billy Joel wrote it as a tribute to Phil Spector and the entire Wall of Sound era, and the drum intro is a conscious reference.
‘Bye Bye Baby’ – US punk rock giant Ramones also used it almost like a loving tribute. Ronettes singer Ronnie Spector later covered the song as a duet with Joey Ramone.
‘A Question of Lust’ – Depeche Mode used a slower, more dramatic synth pop variation. As Alan Wilder put it: “With it’s main focus of a big Phil Spector beat, the current spirit of improvisation manifested itself clearly in this track.”
‘Don’t Worry Baby’ – The Beach Boys song quotes the pattern at the very beginning. It was conceived as a response to ‘Be My Baby’, inspired by Brian Wilson’s admiration for the song.
There is more. Duran Duran built an early-80s pop version of the same idea (‘Is There Something I Should Know?’), Pet Shop Boys slowed it into something almost cinematic (‘King’s Cross’), The Cure folded it into gothic atmosphere (‘Kyoto Song’), Lykke Li turned it into modern dream-pop (‘Sadness Is a Blessing’, with a very long intro featuring Stellan Skarsgård) and surprisingly retro-pop revivalist Lana Del Rey didn’t use the signature beat more often, but here it is once (‘Lust for Life’).
Bum-ba-bum-BOOM! Different decades. Different genres. One drum pattern quietly travelling through pop history.
A musical meme that refuses to disappear. All because four drum beats opened ‘Be My Baby’ in 1963.
In this week’s newsletter you can read the full story of the song that created a rhythm other songs keep returning to.