BURBANK, CA – MARCH 17: (L-R) Musicians Taylor Hawkins, Dave Grohl, Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear perform onstage during the Foo Fighters SONIC HIGHWAYS album celebration hosted by Chelsea Handler on the Honda Stage at the iHeartRadio Theater on March 17, 2015 in Burbank, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia).
As we await Foo Fighters’ take on the Bee Gees with their ‘Hail Satin’ release, Dave Grohl has revealed that disco has always had an influence. In a clip from his ‘Cradle to Stage’ series, Grohl revealed to Pharrell Williams that disco and funk actually influenced his drumming on Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind.’
“If you look at Nevermind, the Nirvana record, I pulled so much stuff from The Gap Band, Cameo and [Chic’s] Tony Thompson on every one of those songs,” said Grohl. “All that [pats legs to drum beat], that’s old disco. That’s all it is.”
The clip then plays “Smells Like Teen Spirit” before The Gap Band’s “Early in the Morning” to show the drumming similarities. Pharrell’s response was appropriate: “Wowwwwww.”
Super dope. Respect to artists that give their inspirations a shout. Pharrell is really big on that so it’s dope that he got the exclusive. lol pic.twitter.com/3N3POZ9Sg2
— Factions2BetaTester (@CR00K__Gaming) June 30, 2021
Be honest: do you like any disco music? Would you be surprised if disco and funk-influenced other legendary rock bands?