Phenomenal drummer and percussionist was an equally accomplished songwriter who embodied the band’s bloody-minded spirit
Ask Midnight Oil fans what drummer Rob Hirst will be remembered for, and the most likely answer will be his drum solo on Power and the Passion, one of the band’s big early hits. It’s an explosive minute of almost literal madness – Hirst was on the verge of a breakdown when the track was recorded in 1982, for their breakthrough album 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Drum solos had, by that time, become a symbol of rock excess. But this wasn’t just another vulgar display of virtuosity. It was more musical than most guitar solos, enhancing a song already full of moving parts. Live, much of it was played on a corrugated iron water tank Hirst retrieved from the desert on the Oils’ Blackfella/Whitefella tour in 1986.