Transport Yourself Back A Decade Or Five With These Classic Rock Videos

In Correlation With Our Drum Charts
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Got your drum charts? Great! Now check out the classic rock videos and play along!

A Note On Playing The Videos: Depending on your browser speed, it might be beneficial for you to, after you first press the play button, pause the video and let it load some before you begin watching. That way your viewing will not be interrupted with periodic loading pauses.

Also: Some of these videos play versions of the song (i.e. live versions) that may differ from the transcribed version in our drum charts. Most, however, are identical to our transcribed version. In any case, the exact audio can always be downloaded for around $1 from the Amazon MP3 store.

Go back to the Videos home page or browse videos by song title:

# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

"San Francisco" by Scott McKenzie

"Shining Star" by The Manhattans

"Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair." 1967 stands as a highwater year in rock music. That summer, known as the "summer of love," one could turn on the radio at any moment and hear the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album in its entirety, the Doors' "Light My Fire," and "San Francisco," an ode to the hippie scene in that city, written by John Phillips of the Mamas and Papas, and sung by his friend from his folk group days, Scott McKenzie. "San Francisco" went to #4 that year.

There is one thing better than to have a hit, and that is to have a hit with a memorable "feel good" hook (the Doobies' "Listen To The Music" comes to mind). On such a hit, a group can tour forever. "Shining Star" is such a hit. "We toured for years behind that record alone," Manhatten singer Blue Lovett said. "It's just one of those tunes that makes you feel good." "Shining Star" was a hit (#5) in 1980.

"Shout" by The Isley Brothers

"Soul Man" by Sam & Dave

Those who doubt the influence of gospel upon early rock 'n' roll need only listen to "Shout," this rave-up from the Isley Brothers in 1959. The organist on the track, Professor Herman Stephens, was the organist at the brothers' church! This song was made up on the spot at a concert that year. It has been an audience pleaser ever since. "Shout" was also used in the movie Animal House.

Sam and Dave (Sam Moore and Dave Prater) were a singing duo in the Miami nightclubs when they were noticed by Stax Records executives in 1965, the year soul music exploded on the charts. "Soul Man," was their biggest hit, going to #2 in 1967. The "Steve" ("play it, Steve!") referred to in the second chorus is guitarist Steve Cropper, songwriter and legendary session musician. This 1967 performance is from the Helsinki Culture House in Finland.

"Splish Splash" by Bobby Darin

"Stayin' Alive" by The Bee Gees

Bobby Darin was a Brill Building writer and a recording artist whose discography leaves us with no particular style. "Teen Queen" and "Splish Splash" were soon followed by "Mack The Knife" and "Beyond the Sea." Later a folk song entered the charts: "If I Were A Carpenter." Darin squeezed a lot into his short life. He must have known it was going to be short. The audio in this clip is actually the first take of the song.

The apex of the '70s disco craze was the film Saturday Night Fever. The soundtrack, which heavily featured the Bee Gees, became the largest selling soundtrack of all time, and for awhile the biggest selling CD of any kind (it was edged out in 1984, by Michael Jackson's Thriller), selling over 25 million copies. "Stayin' Alive" was released on Christmas eve, 1977, and made its way to #1 for four weeks. Here's the music video.

"Steal Away" by Robbie Dupree	"Streets Of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen
This 1980 recording went to #6 on the charts. This performance is actually very recent--2009 in Florida.	This 1982 recording went to #2 on the charts. From the movie Streets Of Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks.

"Sugar Shack" by Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs	"Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2
#1 in 1963, Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs also did "Bottle Of Wine."	Early U2, from the album War. Here's their great performance from the Rose Bowl.