Bo Diddly's Meme

In Tom Zarecki’s discussion on rhythm, he points out the major influence that Bo Diddly brought to popular music with his unique rhythm. You can listen to Bo Diddly’s groundbreaking rhythm in the YouTube-video below.



Now listen to the series of different songs that follow. Notice how Bo Diddly’s rhythm is used in these different songs.

• Rolling Stones -- "Not Fade Away" (1964)
• George Michael -- "Faith" (1987)
• U2 -- "Desire" (1989)
  

This rhythm by Bo Diddly has become a successful Rock ‘n Roll meme.

Remember how many songs can share the same chord progression (see “Harmony”) – so too many songs can share the same rhythm. Again, it is the melody that makes the big difference; and of course, the lyrics are also different.