Dave Grohl's 17 Greatest Non-Foo, Non-Nirvana Contributions to Music
Plus thoughts on the new Foo Fighters album 'Medicine at Midnight'
There are few things you can truly count on in this world. Death? Certainly. Taxes? You bet. A brand-new Foo Fighters album every three to four years? Like freaking clockwork.
Last week, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame hopefuls unveiled their latest creation, a 36-minute, 9-track collection of songs titled Medicine at Midnight. I’ve listened to it a few times since, and honestly…it’s fine. If you like Foo Fighters, chances are better than good you’ll find something here to enjoy. On the other hand, if you are largely indifferent about them – *cough* Pitchfork *cough* – you’re not missing much.
Medicine at Midnight has its moments. “Shame Shame” is far and away the most compelling song on the record and really made me wish they had further explored that oddball percussive, funk-fueled territory on some of the other tracks. Then again, oddball percussive funk was never really part of Foo Fighters appeal. Big drums, tasty guitar riffs, massive choruses, and Dave Grohl’s charcoal-infused wail; THAT’S the Foos that people know and love.
If I’m being completely honest, Wasting Light from 2011 is probably the last Foo Fighters I’d consider “essential.” Sonic Highways has its moments, sure, but the documentary series recounting its creation is vastly more interesting. The Chicago episode where they record “Something From Nothing” with In Utero producer Steve Albini is especially fascinating. If you’re looking for a more extensive accounting of the best, the best, the best, the best of Foos, I’d recommend checking out Steven Hyden’s recent list ranking their finest songs.
Of course, Grohl hasn’t limited the use of his singular rawk talents to Foo Fighters records alone. The drummer broke into the national consciousness decades earlier manning the kit while recording one of the greatest albums of all-time: Nirvana’s Nevermind back in 1991. He’s continued to participate in a whole, helluva lot of cool and interesting side-collaborations ever since.
So, instead of rehashing some of Grohl’s finest moments while fighting Foos or backing up Kurt Cobain, I thought I’d remind you of 17 different moments when he stepped outside the box and ruled, both musically and otherwise.
17. Grohl vs. Animal
Bonham. Moon. Peart. Animal. These are just some of the names that regularly pop up when discussing who, in fact, is the greatest percussionist of the rock and roll era. Ignore the “Learn to Fly” intro here –- or don’t, I don’t make the rules –- and fast-forward to 2:27 mark of this video to watch a true battle of the titans. “I’ve been waitin’ years for this Animal,” Grohl promises. Haven’t we all?
16. “Fortunate Son” with Bruce Springsteen & John Fogerty
What this performance of “Fortunate Son” lacks in choogle, it more than makes up for in sheer ferocity. This trio, along with Zac Brown, ripped into this rendition of the CCR classic for the Veterans Day Concert for Valor in Washington, D.C. back in 2014. Unfortunately, they later came under fire by some for electing to perform a song that deigned to criticize a system where the poorer members of society are left to fight rich men’s wars on their behalf. Whatever. As a veteran myself who was no Senator’s son, I wholeheartedly approve of their choice, and anyone who kicked up a fuss at the time seriously needed to chill TF out.
15. Buzz Osbourne — King Buzzo EP
Folks these days might have a hard time understanding what an immense impact the rock band KISS had on so many of the grunge era's most notable artists. For instance, in 1992, the Melvins decided to ape Paul Stanley and co.’s 1978 move of individually releasing solo albums under their own names. Grohl played drums on frontman Buzz Osbourne’s entry, and also received a producer’s credit. If you’re looking for his name on the original packaging however, you won’t find it. Due to legal reasons involving Nirvana, he couldn’t use his real name at the time, so he opted to don the moniker “Dale Nixon,” instead.
14. Audioslave – “Show Me How to Live”
In 2019, basically ever celebrity and major rock star on Planet Earth gathered at the Forum in Inglewood to pay respect to the legendary, Chris Cornell. Foo Fighters were on the bill, naturally. They played a tender, acoustic version of their song “Everlong,” but also Soundgarden’s “No Attention,” “Earache My Eye,” and “Girl U Want.” Grohl’s finest moment came however, during Audioslave’s set, when he stood in for Chris and delivered a vocal-cord shredding take on “Show Me How To Live.” Few people that evening managed to top the raw, aggressive display that Grohl exhibited while backed by Tom Morello, Brad Wilk, and Robert Trujillo from Metallica.
13. “Play”
If you’re of the opinion that Dave Grohl is the best contributor to any band he’s ever been a part of, then boy do I have the perfect, 23-minute long opus for you! Grohl was inspired to put out the song “Play” back in 2018 after watching his kids start to learn how to play instruments themselves. He was so inspired in fact, that he elected to play all the instruments himself and film the entire thing. “Play” is a symphony of Dave’s. There he is on drums. There he is on guitar. There he is on tambourine and…why not, xylophone. I mean, after all, what’s better than one Dave Grohl? SEVEN Dave Grohl’s, of course.
12. Mike Watt – “Big Train”
Mike Watt, Dave Grohl, Eddie Vedder and Pat Smear all jamming econo. What’s not to love?
11. Scream
Before Foo Fighters, before the documentaries, even before Nirvana, Dave Grohl was just another Reagan-hating, D.C. punk raging away on drums like his very life depended on it. His great musical awakening occurred back in 1983 at a Dead Kennedy’s show on the National Mall. “There were cops on horses beating the [expletive] out of people. There were police helicopters…To see Jello Biafra come on and talk about ‘the great Klansman in the sky with the blinking red eyes’ as he pointed at the Washington Monument…It was like my Woodstock.” After that he started hanging around the 9:30 club, hooked up with a local band named Scream and never looked back. Take just one look at the footage above and you’ll automatically understand why Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic coveted his abilities so badly.
10. Led Zeppelin – “Rock and Roll”
Okay, so yes, this is probably technically falls under the umbrella of Foo Fighters-dom considering it went down at a Foo Fighters show. But you know what? Fuck it. Rules are meant to be broken. You just know that for a guy who gave himself a tattoo of three, interlocking circles at the age of 16, cosplaying as John Bonham behind Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones at Wembley Stadium was the grand fulfillment of a lifelong dream for Dave Grohl and who am I to deprive him of his moment in the sun. The moment he steps out from behind the kit to sing “Ramble On” is pretty excellent as well.
9. Tom Petty – “Honey Bee” on SNL
In 1994, Tom Petty along with the Heartbreakers were booked to perform some of the songs from his recent magnum opus Wildflowers on Saturday Night Live. The only problem was that he didn’t have a drummer. Stan Lynch had recently left the fold after butting heads with Petty one too many times over a variety of issues. With a seat to fill, Petty put in a call to Dave Grohl, who was still reeling from the tragic death of his Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain just seven months earlier. It was a pivotal moment for Grohl. “It was the first time that I’d really looked forward to playing drums since Nirvana ended,” he said. And as you can tell from the clip above, he made the most of his opportunity.
8. Nine Inch Nails – “You Know What You Are”
There’s a very simple reason Trent Reznor enlisted Dave Grohl to play drums on the 2005 Nine Inch Nails album With Teeth. “I wanted someone to just pound the shit out of the drums,” he told Kerrang. So, he “called him up and he was here the next day. Before I knew it I had rough versions of the songs with him drumming over them. Grohl instantly knew what I was looking for; he’s not some old buddy of mine, we met on tour in Australia sometime, but we clicked instantly.”
7. Soundgarden’s “By Crooked Steps” Video
Dave didn’t play a single note on this King Animal single. He did, however, direct Soundgarden in the subsequent video. I’m not sure if it was specifically his idea to dress the band up in their toughest-looking biker gear and then throw them onto a quintet of Segways, but the man deserves a massive amount of credit for turning that dream into a hilarious reality.
6. The Nandi Bushell Drum-Off
In the thick of quarantine, when things were truly going off the rails, election fever reached an inescapable boil and the return of live music seemed like a far-away dream, Dave Grohl entered the breach to delight the Internet with his epic, heart-warming drum off against 10-year old Nandi Bushell. No one was immune to the power of this charming, cross-generational interchange of musical excellence. I loved it. You loved it. Your Mom’s sister’s cousin LOVED it. Dave later recorded a theme song for Nandi with the help of his daughters – The Grohlettes – and that was pretty damn charming too.
5. “New Fang”
There are super groups, and then there are Supergroups. Without question, Them Crooked Vultures falls into the latter category. On guitar and vocals, Josh Homme; frontman for Queens of the Stone and Kyuss. On drums, Dave Grohl; Nirvana and Foo Fighters. And on bass John Paul Jones, a man who definitely doesn’t need an introduction and who I won’t insult by giving him one.
I love this album. I was deployed to Iraq when it initially dropped and actually tried to plan my two-week R&R trip back home to catch one of their gigs in Las Vegas. “Elephant” and “Mind Eraser, No Chaser” were played frequently in the unit truck, while driving around the VBC. Sadly, military priorities took hold, and I was forced to miss that run. Here’s hoping we get Them Crooked Vultures II sometime in the next decade and I can make up for it.
4. Tenacious D – “Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown)
Okay, one more Army story. The year was 2006. I had just literally graduated from Basic Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and had a rare day off to myself. It was around 2 pm in the afternoon and I ventured off post to the nearby mall/movie theater complex. I’m a Tenacious D fan, and it just so happened they were showing their new film The Pick of Destiny. I paid my $5 or whatever, bought some popcorn, and for the first, and to-date, only time in my life, watched a film in a movie theater entirely by myself. After spending the last 10 weeks getting yelled at non-stop by Drill Sergeants, I genuinely appreciated the alone time to sit and enjoy Jack Black and Kyle Gass going toe-to-toe with the Devil for their very souls. I had no idea until years later that underneath all of the red paint and prosthetics was one of the greatest drummers of all-time.
3. “Cut Me Some Slack”
July 19, 2003. I was at Safeco Field covering a Paul McCartney concert for the Seattle Weekly. I think I had seen Paul for the first time about a year earlier, and already knew to expect three hours of superbly performed solo deep cuts, Wings favorites and Beatles classics. I was totally unprepared for the encore when Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, and Pat Smear emerged from the shadows and ripped into “Cut Me Some Slack,” the song they had recorded together for Grohl’s recent Sound City documentary. There I was, in the heart of Seattle, the cradle of Grunge, watching a full-blown Nirvana reunion with a fucking Beatle obstensibly subbing in for Kurt Cobain. Then they played “Long Tall Sally.” Then “Helter Skelter. Then “Carry That Weight,” “Gold Slumbers,” and finally, “The End.” On the long list of incredible things I’ve been fortunate enough to witness in my life, this ranks firmly near the top.
2. Queens of the Stone Age – “No One Knows”
A little while back — time is a flat circle and it might’ve been two weeks or it might’ve been three months — Twitter seemingly spent an entire day ranking Queens of the Stone Age’s complete discography. While I won’t begrudge anyone their Rated R is No. 1 takes, let’s get really, real here. Songs for the Deaf is the king of the mountain. The biggest reasons for its superiority is the songwriting, sure, but also the supermassive drums sound conjured by one, Mr. David Eric Grohl.
In 2001, Grohl was completely and totally burned out from the fraught process of recording Foo Fighters fourth album One By One, and was looking to take a break. A break for most people might mean mai tai’s on a tropical beach somewhere, but Grohl much preferred linking up with Josh Homme and bashing the ever-loving shit out of some drums. “They’re one of my favorite bands and I haven’t played drums in a long time,” he explained at the time. “It’s a nice change of pace. Not being in the spotlight is kinda nice. Their music is really fun to play drums to because I’m used to playing more back in the back 4⁄4 sort of stuff. So this was a lot more interesting.”
I could’ve just as easily slotted “Go With the Flow” in this spot, but “No One Knows” features one of the most savage riffs of the entire decade so it won out.
1. Fresh Pots!
To get to the core of who Dave Grohl is; to understand at a fundamental level what he’s all about, you truly need to observe this 2:08 seconds clip. It’s a truly hilarious collection of illuminating behind-the-scenes footage collected while he was busy working with Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones on Them Crooked Vultures’ only album. Everything you need to know about the man is right here. The obsession. The humor. The mayhem. The chops. The goofiness. The unbridled, uncontrollable, and slightly unnerving love of coffee. This is Dave Grohl.
I’d like to offer my sincerest apologies in advance if this spectacular video consumes your entire day. It took me an extra three hours to finish writing this thing, because I couldn’t remove the cry of “FRESH POOOOOOOTTTTTSSS,” from my mind.
There goes my hero, indeed.