Every once in a while, a song pops up on a playlist that stops you in your tracks — not because it’s great, not because it’s bad, but because something in it is just so weird you can’t un-hear it.
In this case, I wasn’t digging through Alabama’s catalog on purpose. The Closer You Get (1983) just surfaced on an Apple Radio playlist one day. Left to my own devices, I never would have clicked play. But there it was — and suddenly I was laughing out loud at the snare drum.
Because it doesn’t sound like a snare. It sounds like someone was mashing the big red fire button on a Space Invaders arcade cabinet. Pew! Pew! Every backbeat feels like a digital missile shooting across the room.
🔊 Hear it for yourself: Alabama – The Closer You Get (Official Video) — skip to around 0:22–0:38. There’s a little drum break under the vocals where the snare is loud and clear. You’ll hear exactly why I call it the Space Invaders snare.
Musicians vs. Civilians
Here’s the best part: I thought this was hilarious, so I sent it around to some non-drummer friends. Surely they’d laugh too, right? Nope. Not a single one noticed.
To them, it was just “the drums.” Time being kept. Background. Nothing weird at all.
But to musicians — especially drummers — it’s impossible to miss. That snare is so thin, plasticky, and oddly processed that it jumps out of the mix like a neon sign. It’s the classic divide: musicians obsess over the details, while everyone else just vibes with the song.
How Did We End Up With Arcade Snare?
This was the early 80s. Studio producers were chasing pop crossover, and everyone was in love with shiny new tricks:
- Gated reverb (thanks, Phil Collins).
- Electronic snare pads (Simmons kits were everywhere).
- Drum triggers and early sampling that let you layer or replace an acoustic hit.
In my opinion — and I admit this is just an educated guess — it sounds like a Simmons snare pad or a similar trigger was blended into the track. There’s that unmistakable plasticky zap to it. Add in some gating and EQ, and suddenly you’ve crossed the line from “modern pop polish” to “arcade sound effect.”
At the time, it probably sounded cutting-edge. Now it just sounds like a Space Invaders cameo.
Sidebar: The Simmons Craze 🎛
For the gear nerds: by 1983, Simmons electronic drum kits were everywhere. You’ve seen them — the hexagonal pads that looked like stop signs. They weren’t subtle, but they were futuristic, and producers loved dropping their snappy, electronic-sounding snares into mixes.
From Phil Collins to Duran Duran to random country crossovers, the Simmons snare became shorthand for “modern.” If one was lying around the Nashville studio that day, it’s not far-fetched to think someone said, “Hey, let’s try this thing out.”
Alabama’s Winning Formula
I’m not an Alabama fan by any means, but credit where it’s due: they tapped into a formula that worked — and worked so well other acts rushed to emulate it.
- Country roots gave them credibility.
- Pop production made them radio-friendly beyond the country charts.
- Tight vocal harmonies and accessible hooks made their songs stick.
That balance between Nashville tradition and mainstream polish helped define 80s country. You can hear echoes of it in Eddie Rabbitt, Ronnie Milsap, Restless Heart, and later, in the arena-sized approach Garth Brooks would take into the 90s.
So while the Space Invaders snare is funny to laugh at today, it was part of a bigger formula that shaped country-pop crossover for years to come.
Influence & Clones
Here’s the thing: Alabama and their production staff were really onto something. The success of The Closer You Get wasn’t a fluke — it was a sound that many tried to copy.
A big part of that came from producer Harold Shedd, who gave Alabama’s records their radio-ready punch. His production style blended country roots with pop polish, creating a sound that was fresh in the early 80s and impossible to ignore on FM radio.
Even Exile — the band best known for their 1978 pop hit Kiss You All Over — felt the pull. When Alabama covered their song Take Me Down in 1982, it went straight to #1 on the country chart. That success was so defining that Exile themselves pivoted into country music soon after.
Other groups followed, trying to emulate the same blend of harmony vocals, crossover polish, and country hooks. But none of the imitators — not even Exile in their new incarnation — ever quite matched the original. Alabama’s version of the formula just worked.
It was, in some ways, the big-hair era of country production — glossy, oversized, and built for FM radio domination. And Alabama owned it.
Which makes the Space Invaders snare even funnier in hindsight: this oddball production choice wasn’t just a quirk, it was baked right into the sound that everyone else wanted to chase.
Why It’s Funny Now
Forty years later, the rest of the mix sounds pretty normal. Guitars, bass, vocals — all solid. But that snare hasn’t aged gracefully. To modern ears, it’s less “slick” and more “digital pew pew.”
It’s not bad enough to ruin the song — Alabama still had a massive hit — but it’s distracting in the best possible way. It’s like finding Pac-Man sound effects in the middle of a George Strait tune.
The Space Invaders Snare Preset™
Want to recreate it at home? Here’s my tongue-in-cheek recipe:
- Take a Simmons snare pad (or any electronic trigger that goes “pew”).
- Gate the reverb until it sounds like you’re firing it in a tiled bathroom.
- Carve out the lows and highs so you’re left with pure arcade zap.
- Layer in an Atari 2600 shooting noise if you want extra authenticity.
- Mash the fire button on beats 2 and 4 — congratulations, you’re Alabama in 1983.
Final Thought
Most listeners never noticed. To them, it was just drums doing drum things. But to musicians, it’s one of those moments you can’t stop laughing at — the earnest attempt at modern pop production that ended up sounding like Space Invaders in cowboy boots.
It’s a perfect little time capsule of when country music tried to go digital — and accidentally went arcade instead.
So thanks, Apple Radio, for serving me Space Invaders in cowboy boots. I never would have played this track on my own, but now I’ll never forget it.
If you know the real story behind that snare, let me know.