When was the last time you heard a decent cowbell in a song? Of course, you can hear your run-of-the-mill “Low Rider” and “Hey Ladies” any damn day.
But a well-placed cowbell is really a gift. Deceptively tinny and deceivingly lowbrow, the cowbell is a creeper instrument. It starts out with a little tink-tink sound – you barely know it’s there – often growing more pronounced until folks are shaking asses up, down and all around without even knowing what got them there.
However! The cowbell can also be an instrument of evil. Beware the cowbell’s unnatural power over weddings and bar mitzvahs, as evidenced in Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music” and the most wretched of all cowbell songs, Tone Loc’s “Funky Cold Medina.”
Let’s get to the awards: here are my five all-time favorite cowbell joints, in ascending order.
5.
Master Jay & Michael Dee
T.S.O.B.
12″, 1980
Perfect, perfect. So perfect. Master Jay & Michael Dee spit over the Sound of Brooklyn, which I guess is a couple of hot boogie breaks, a kick, a snare and a cowbell the size of Madison Square Garden.
4.
Sugarhill Gang
8th Wonder
8th Wonder, 1981
Cowbell use here is almost under the radar, creating the unconscious funkiness. But still: Woo-Hah! They got you all in check.
3.
Michael Jackson
Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
Off The Wall, 1979
Nothing much needs to be said here, except DAMN, MIKE! If you were thinking right, you woulda spent all that surgery money on a time machine and a week of Quincy Jones’ production. You coulda been somebody again…
2.
Quincy Jones
Sanford & Son (The Streetbeater)
45, 1973
And speaking of Quincy, how could such a fine-ass man write such a nasty, funky TV theme? It sounds like a LeMans with no muffler, Fat Albert and a rusty old cowbell.
1.
Sergio Mendes Brasil ‘88
I’ll Tell You
Magic Lady, 1979
This has got to be the hottest cowbell song of all time. It has everything: handclaps, growling female vocalist, and the lyrics make no damn sense. It’s like somebody poked their head in the studio to ask for directions to the Piggly Wiggly or some shit, and Sergio said, “Write zees down! Eet’s a song!” or however you say it in Brazilian. And then he brought out the cowbell and it was ON.
So what about you? What’s your favorite cowbell song? Don’t act like you don’t have one.
11 comments ↓
what? no “don’t fear the reaper”? more cowbell!
Oh jeez, Michael Jackson! I forgot about the cowbell in that song. I’ve been too fixated on “Thriller” lately… Jamsbio.com is doing a contest about the best memories from “Thriller,” and the special edition CD of “Off the Wall” is one of the prizes. You should enter! You clearly remember more than I do about Michael, and it sounds like you’d appreciate that album, maybe more than most…
It’s not of your ilk, but Head East’s “There’s Never Been Any Reason” is cowbell in yer face.
Gotta love the cowbell in “Taxman” by the Beatles as well.
I want to trade the demo version of don’t stop till you get enough for ‘get off’ by foxy. I know you want it, it’s sooo good!
Awesome and thank you!
nice cowbells, “jump on tha scrape” by Nump has a killer cowbell that makes you move.. Might be a lil new school for ya.
Daaaaang. I THOUGHT I was DYNAMIC.
Sis, I was NOT expecting this post.
It ROCKS!
[...] your run-of-the-mill ???Low Rider??? and ???Hey Ladies??? any damn day. But a well-placed cowbelhttp://morebounce-oz.com/2008/04/14/the-cowbell-awards/YouTube – Fat Albert Classic Theme Song 2I guess the fat albert theme song changed a little bit [...]
Two of my favs are both from Sharon Redd “Never give you up” and “you are the one”.Check out the intros…..
is that a cow bell or a bell ride in harder better……(cola bottle baby)?
sorry.
yes.
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