Drumming Frenzy with Ronny Kae

Ronny Kae was a fixture in the Denver club scene for many years, slamming the skins for Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin, among many others. He also got to record a handful of singles on his own, notably for Denver-based Band Box Records. Two of those Band Box 45s are the subject of this entry, and both of them are pretty damn crazy. You could call Kae Colorado's answer to Sandy Nelson (who I dig), but these two records go a little bit more over the top than Nelson usually did, at least in the rawness (Which is not to say that Nelson didn't wax some killer sides, but we'll get to him in another entry one day.)

Both records could be characterized as raw guitar/drums rockers.
We start off with "Drums Fell Off A Cliff" (Band Box #339), which is the "tamer" of the two....but that's still not very tame. It opens with Kae growling "DRUMMMMMS FELL OFF DA CLIFF!!" followed by a swingin' combo of Kae's drums and a stinging surf guitar riff and a bit of pounding bass, pausing only for a few clicks on Kae's high-hats. Then, everything builds to a crescendo and comes to a halt for Kae to yell out "DRUMMMS OFF DA CLIFF!!" We get another repeat of this and two more rounds of the main riff before the record finally ends.

"Swingin' Drums" (Band Box #336), though released earlier, follows pretty much the same formula, but with a couple of differences. First off, gone is the bass. It's just Kae, his drums and a guy with a twangy guitar. Second, there's more emphasis on the percussion this time. Third, there are no pauses, except for those brief clicks of Kae on the high hats. The rest is all full-tilt percussion and guitar insanity with Kae growling out "LO DO DO, GO EVERYBODEEEEEEEEEEEE, YEAH!" at a couple of intervals.

Kae released several more 45s, but I could not find a discography of his work anywhere. Let it be said, though, that if you're looking for some tunes for a good wild time, these two records just might help.

Ronny Kae died in 1995.