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Link Logen of Akron drums 86 hours plus to raise funds for kids, makes Guinness book
By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal pop music writer
Published on Thursday, Jul 10, 2008
In late June, Akron drummer Link Logen spent a weekend at the Margarita Factory in Jackson Township trying to break the Drum Kit Marathon record set in 2004 by Australian drummer Arulanantham Suresh Joachim, who played the drums along with music for 84 hours with no solos and no improvisation.
Logen, CEO of the Federation of Drums and Percussion LLC in Barberton and an instructor with the BlackHawks Baton & Drum Corps, is already a two-time Guinness Book of World Records holder in the double bass marathon. For record number three, he played the drums along with a 71/2-hour looped mix of songs from a variety of genres for 86 hours and 16 minutes, beating Joachim's record to become the new Drum Kit Marathon king of the world. He also raised $1,000 for the Blackhawks and Akron Children's Medical Center.
But it wasn't easy.
''It was absolutely the hardest thing I've ever done in my life,'' Logen, 37, said in a telephone interview on Monday from his day job at Lambert Buick-Pontiac GMC in Cuyahoga Falls.
He started drumming for the record at noon June 27 and finished up in the wee morning hours of July 1. It was so hard that after surviving the weekend on Red Bull, coffee and no sleep, around 7 p.m. June 30, Logen said, his body and brain began to shut down.
''As I was playing, I literally went into a catatonic state. I mean I thought I was behind the building when I was in front, my whole perception was off,'' he said.
''If I wanted to scratch my ear, my hand would go way back behind my head. I had no depth perception and it got to a point where I started crying because of the extreme mental and physical fatigue,'' he said.
Not only that, but Logen also forgot why he was at the Margarita Factory, what he was doing there and most unnerving, how to get it done.
''I eventually came back and realized 'oh, it's me who's raising money for the kids and it's me who's breaking the world record, but how am I going to do it?' I forgot how to play drums. Twenty-three years of playing and boom, in a flash of a second it's gone, but I didn't want to give up on the kids. So I pushed my support team out of the way and said let me get back to my kit so I can reteach myself how to play drums, and after about two or three songs, it started coming back to me and I went another seven hours to break the record.''
He said afterward it took him a few days to feel normal again and for the blisters covering his hands to abate enough for him to be able to make a fist.
However, he quickly went back to work at Lambert, surprising his supportive co-workers, who assumed he'd take a few days off to recover. (He broke the record on a Tuesday and was back to work on Wednesday.)
He said if someone comes along to break his record, he will be forced to go get it back, but if that happens, he will do it to an entirely new batch of tunes.
''Oh, I don't want to hear any of (those songs) again,'' he said. ''The funny thing is I'm here at work and they play WONE (97.5-FM) and they've been playing about every single song that I played to for the world record.
''I think I'm gonna have flashbacks and go into convulsions. I'm going 'Please, make it stop!' '' he said, laughing.
Logen is already contemplating world record number four, which he originally planned to do next year, but has decided to try later on this year. The record he's after — longest drum roll— stands at 1 hour, 22 minutes and 5 seconds. He said he will try to break that record for a fundraiser for Cleveland's Rainbow Babies and Children's and Akron's Children's hospitals.
It will also be a bit easier on his whole body, though he may come out of the experience with Popeye-like forearms.
Logen said he plans to do an autograph signing and giant check presentation at Margarita Factory in the next few weeks, so if you want to meet a world record holder (or donate to either of the organizations) check out http://www.margaritafactorycanton.com and http://www.drumfed.org for more information.
Say, while we're on the subject of breaking world records, here's one that Northeast Ohio musicians could break easily with a bit of organization and maybe some free beer as an incentive. Back in May at the Thanks Jimi Festival in Wroclaw, Poland, 1,900 guitarists gathered and played Hey Joe to set a new world record for largest guitar ensemble. Naturally, there are clips on YouTube and the tune doesn't sound nearly as horrible as one might expect.
Given the number of working musicians and weekend warriors in the area, Northeast Ohio could easily shatter the record.
Perhaps they could even choose an area-associated tune such as the Dead Boys' Sonic Reducer or Devo's Uncontrollable Urge or something a little easier, such as the Pretenders' My City Was Gone, although the Akron mayor may not appreciate nearly 2,000 locals performing a song that disses the city government. But wouldn't that be fun?
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
In late June, Akron drummer Link Logen spent a weekend at the Margarita Factory in Jackson Township trying to break the Drum Kit Marathon record set in 2004 by Australian drummer Arulanantham Suresh Joachim, who played the drums along with music for 84 hours with no solos and no improvisation.
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