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In the late 1970's, electronic
music as we know it today was
beginning to emerge.
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00:01:38,064 --> 00:01:42,400
Early hip-hop and electro music
was rarely heard outside New
York,
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00:01:42,402 --> 00:01:43,567
and was yet to make
it onto record.
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00:01:43,569 --> 00:01:48,572
In Europe, bands like Kraftwerk
were experimenting with
revolutionary,
5
00:01:48,574 --> 00:01:50,174
futuristic electronic sounds,
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00:01:50,176 --> 00:01:53,010
sounds that would prove
hugely influential.
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00:01:53,012 --> 00:01:57,915
Most people had never seen a
computer, let alone used one.
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00:01:57,917 --> 00:01:59,917
One machine was about
to change everything,
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00:01:59,919 --> 00:02:04,021
sparking a musical revolution
and helping lay the foundations
10
00:02:04,023 --> 00:02:06,056
for modern electronic music.
11
00:02:06,058 --> 00:02:10,428
The sound that would kick-start
a musical revolution across
America,
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00:02:10,430 --> 00:02:14,565
Europe, and around the world
was born in Japan.
13
00:02:14,567 --> 00:02:15,699
♪♪
14
00:02:15,701 --> 00:02:23,073
During the late 70's, the
Japanese electronics industry
was experiencing a period of
huge innovation.
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00:02:23,075 --> 00:02:28,078
New advances in technology
meant relatively cheap
electronic instruments,
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00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:32,216
and basic computers were
being manufactured.
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00:02:32,218 --> 00:02:38,522
You know, the only thing that I
knew by that point was the
electro drums that are inside
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00:02:38,524 --> 00:02:41,158
of your Grandma's organ, you
know the church organ,
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00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:47,565
the little rhythm machine that
Sly and the Family Stone used
to use back in 1971.
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00:02:47,567 --> 00:02:53,838
That's the very first
futuristic look into the idea
of drum machines,
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00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,707
but no one ever wanted to make
that the primary sound,
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00:02:56,709 --> 00:02:59,109
you only used that when
you had no drummer.
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00:02:59,111 --> 00:03:00,511
There were a few records
here and there,
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00:03:00,513 --> 00:03:03,948
say like, 'Why Can't We Live
Together' by Timmy Thomas
25
00:03:03,950 --> 00:03:05,216
that obviously was using
some kind of those,
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00:03:05,218 --> 00:03:10,187
I think they used to call them
combo rhythm units because they
were built into organs
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00:03:10,189 --> 00:03:12,723
so that somebody could just
have a little rhythm background
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00:03:12,725 --> 00:03:18,562
while playing the organ or
something like that, that was
the classic, typical thing.
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00:03:18,564 --> 00:03:21,165
♪ Everybody wants
to live together ♪
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00:03:21,167 --> 00:03:24,168
♪ Why can't we live together ♪
31
00:03:24,170 --> 00:03:25,669
♪♪
32
00:03:25,671 --> 00:03:28,272
It's quite common to use
drum machines on records,
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00:03:28,274 --> 00:03:30,074
that Timmy Thomas record
was a massive record.
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00:03:30,076 --> 00:03:38,649
Even, there's like a drum
machine track on 'Yellow Brick
Road', an Elton John thing.
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00:03:38,651 --> 00:03:42,019
You know... They were being
used,
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00:03:42,021 --> 00:03:45,956
but they weren't kind of a
common language.
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00:03:47,260 --> 00:03:51,729
This story begins with one
man, Ikutaro Kakehashi,
38
00:03:51,731 --> 00:03:54,532
or Mr. K. Born in Osaka in 1930,
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00:03:54,534 --> 00:03:59,103
Mr. K studied mechanical
engineering in high school
before opening a
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00:03:59,105 --> 00:04:01,605
watch repair shop at sixteen.
41
00:04:01,607 --> 00:04:02,740
Following a period
of ill health,
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00:04:02,742 --> 00:04:06,243
Mr. K decided to concentrate on
creating electronic instruments,
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00:04:06,245 --> 00:04:12,082
launching Ace Electronics who
made combo rhythm boxes for
Hammond organs
44
00:04:12,084 --> 00:04:14,218
before launching Roland in 1972.
45
00:04:14,220 --> 00:04:20,190
By 1978, Roland had built a
global name for itself in the
music industry,
46
00:04:20,192 --> 00:04:22,560
and had even released the CR-78,
47
00:04:22,562 --> 00:04:24,995
a rhythm machine with basic
programmable features.
48
00:04:24,997 --> 00:04:30,668
Back in the sort of late 70s
there was a band I used to
rehearse in the same place as,
49
00:04:30,670 --> 00:04:32,570
they had a drum machine,
a Roland CR-78,
50
00:04:32,572 --> 00:04:37,207
it was a band called Crispy
Ambulance and they were using
it on records.
51
00:04:37,209 --> 00:04:43,280
Then in 1980 Roland released a
machine that would change
everything.
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00:04:43,282 --> 00:04:45,149
I think I heard about
it in Japan,
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00:04:45,151 --> 00:04:48,118
and I think it was from a
band called The Plastics.
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00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:54,325
A new wave Japanese band and
they were real hip and they
said,
55
00:04:54,327 --> 00:04:57,695
"Oh TR-808, so cool," you know.
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00:04:57,697 --> 00:05:00,064
I remember somebody said, "Hey
you gotta check out this box,
57
00:05:00,066 --> 00:05:01,899
"it's called the 808, you can
actually program it."
58
00:05:01,901 --> 00:05:06,203
I went somewhere in Manhattan
or whatever, it was Sam Ash or
something like that,
59
00:05:06,205 --> 00:05:10,274
and the guy had a drum machine,
but it wasn't the 808 at first
60
00:05:10,276 --> 00:05:11,775
it was like some DR-55.
61
00:05:11,777 --> 00:05:15,379
I remember going down to the
music store on 48th Street,
Manny's Music.
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00:05:15,381 --> 00:05:17,881
And then we saw the 808,
it was like, "Ahhhhhh..."
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00:05:17,883 --> 00:05:21,919
There is was, and the guy said,
"Oh, this is, this is the new
thing.
64
00:05:21,921 --> 00:05:23,988
"You can, you can program this
however you want."
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00:05:23,990 --> 00:05:26,023
It's got red buttons
and white buttons,
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00:05:26,025 --> 00:05:30,094
it's got knobs, it looks
like a computer man.
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00:05:30,096 --> 00:05:32,396
Got to get an 808,
got to get an 808.
68
00:05:32,398 --> 00:05:36,934
Credited to two Roland
employees, Mr. Nakamura and Mr.
Matsuoka,
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00:05:36,936 --> 00:05:41,171
the 808 was created by Roland
as a rhythm machine for backing
tracks.
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00:05:41,173 --> 00:05:46,043
Like its predecessors, it was
aimed at musicians without a
drummer,
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00:05:46,045 --> 00:05:48,278
who simply wanted to make demos.
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00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:49,380
Initial reaction was mixed,
73
00:05:49,382 --> 00:05:53,017
not least because the 808
didn't sound like real drums.
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00:05:53,019 --> 00:05:56,920
I think when I first heard it I
didn't realize what a cool
sound it was.
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00:05:56,922 --> 00:06:01,659
It sounded so much like what an
808 sounds like and not like
anything else,
76
00:06:01,661 --> 00:06:05,829
that I probably was looking for
something that sounded more
like drums,
77
00:06:05,831 --> 00:06:08,132
but it didn't sound like drums
it sounded like an 808.
78
00:06:08,134 --> 00:06:10,267
Because at the time it
was competing with
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00:06:10,269 --> 00:06:13,937
the Linn and the DMX which
actually like I said sounded
like drummers,
80
00:06:13,939 --> 00:06:17,074
the reviewer said the maraca
sound in particular
81
00:06:17,076 --> 00:06:21,011
sounds like a hoard
of marching ants
82
00:06:21,013 --> 00:06:22,880
and it's like, well, yeah, yeah,
83
00:06:22,882 --> 00:06:25,949
yeah that's it, that's
what's good about it.
84
00:06:25,951 --> 00:06:32,723
But the fact that it didn't
sound like real drums would end
up being the 808's attraction.
85
00:06:32,725 --> 00:06:34,224
It sounded otherworldly,
futuristic.
86
00:06:34,226 --> 00:06:40,731
The low sonic boom of the kick,
the tinny snare, cowbell, and
odd sounding handclap.
87
00:06:40,733 --> 00:06:45,936
These elements all combined to
make it completely unique.
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00:06:45,938 --> 00:06:46,704
♪♪
89
00:06:46,706 --> 00:06:48,806
What Mr. K and Roland could
never have predicted
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00:06:48,808 --> 00:06:54,878
was the 808 would be adopted
and championed by a new breed
of electronic musicians,
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00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:59,450
who would use the 808 as an
instrument in its own right.
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00:06:59,452 --> 00:07:00,451
♪♪
93
00:07:00,453 --> 00:07:04,021
House, electro, Miami
Bass, hip hop, R&B,
94
00:07:04,023 --> 00:07:07,257
trap, crunk, pop, rock,
drum and bass,
95
00:07:07,259 --> 00:07:11,462
all of these genres and more
have been touched by the 808,
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00:07:11,464 --> 00:07:13,430
driven by its iconic sounds.
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00:07:13,432 --> 00:07:19,002
Without it, music would sound
completely different today.
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00:07:19,004 --> 00:07:23,006
But to tell the story properly,
we need to rewind slightly.
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00:07:23,008 --> 00:07:26,877
Back to a pre-808 New York City.
100
00:07:26,879 --> 00:07:30,814
♪♪
101
00:07:30,816 --> 00:07:36,086
The vibrant beats and break
scene was being led by a group
of DJ's from the Bronx.
102
00:07:36,088 --> 00:07:39,923
Inspired by legends like Kool
DJ Herc and Kool DJ Dee.
103
00:07:39,925 --> 00:07:43,994
Block parties were popular and
a place for DJ's to experiment,
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00:07:43,996 --> 00:07:47,297
isolating percussive breaks
in popular songs.
105
00:07:47,299 --> 00:07:51,835
One of the key figures in this
scene was DJ Afrika Bambaataa,
106
00:07:51,837 --> 00:07:54,838
the self styled leader
of the Zulu Nation.
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00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,275
Back in the early days we was
playing a lot of different music
108
00:07:58,277 --> 00:08:02,479
dealing with the soul and the
funk that was happening at the
time.
109
00:08:02,481 --> 00:08:07,384
I was also into a group called
Yellow Magic Orchestra
110
00:08:07,386 --> 00:08:10,220
from Japan and a group
from Germany
111
00:08:10,222 --> 00:08:14,391
that struck a big chord in
myself was Kraftwerk.
112
00:08:14,393 --> 00:08:18,829
So with the funk of James
Brown, Sly and the Family Stone,
113
00:08:18,831 --> 00:08:21,231
Uncle George 'Parliament
Funkadelic' Clinton,
114
00:08:21,233 --> 00:08:22,966
and also my, my homeboy
Gary Numan,
115
00:08:22,968 --> 00:08:29,439
I decided to mash it up, thus
became the birth of this sound
called the electro funk sound.
116
00:08:29,441 --> 00:08:30,908
♪ Get up for the down stroke ♪
117
00:08:30,910 --> 00:08:35,179
In the late 70's, future Tommy
Boy Records founder Tom
Silverman
118
00:08:35,181 --> 00:08:38,348
was working on his magazine
Dance Music Report,
119
00:08:38,350 --> 00:08:39,349
when he heard about Bambaataa.
120
00:08:39,351 --> 00:08:44,521
I heard about this thing that
was happening called The
Breakbeat Room at Downstairs
Records,
121
00:08:44,523 --> 00:08:47,124
and this was a record
store that was down in,
122
00:08:47,126 --> 00:08:52,563
down below on the way to the
subways on 6th Avenue and 43rd
Street,
123
00:08:52,565 --> 00:08:53,931
and there was a line
out the door
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00:08:53,933 --> 00:08:57,467
of kids like sixteen and
seventeen year old kids, black
kids,
125
00:08:57,469 --> 00:09:00,337
waiting to get to the front so
that they could buy these
records
126
00:09:00,339 --> 00:09:02,139
and it was like a phenomenon,
I'd never seen anything like it.
127
00:09:02,141 --> 00:09:05,909
I said what is... What's going
on, and what do these records
have to do with each other?
128
00:09:05,911 --> 00:09:09,513
And the kids would say that
these are the records that
Afrika Bambaataa plays.
129
00:09:09,515 --> 00:09:13,283
And so I asked the guy who was
sort of running that part of
the store
130
00:09:13,285 --> 00:09:15,319
selling records about how I
could reach Bambaataa,
131
00:09:15,321 --> 00:09:17,621
and he gave me a phone number
and I called Bambaataa
132
00:09:17,623 --> 00:09:19,089
and he told me, "Come
up and hear me play,
133
00:09:19,091 --> 00:09:22,526
"I'm playing at the
T-Connection on Thursday
night," or whatever it is,
134
00:09:22,528 --> 00:09:24,928
and I went up to, to hear him
spin.
135
00:09:24,930 --> 00:09:28,866
It was a disco, T-Connection it
was on White Plains Road in the
Bronx.
136
00:09:28,868 --> 00:09:31,034
There were some guys at the
door and I said I was here to
see Bambaataa
137
00:09:31,036 --> 00:09:35,138
and I think they looked at me
like they had never seen a
white guy in the club ever.
138
00:09:35,140 --> 00:09:37,474
They wanted to know who was
this black young man
139
00:09:37,476 --> 00:09:41,011
who was playing all of these
different sounds of music
140
00:09:41,013 --> 00:09:42,613
to a large black,
Latino audience.
141
00:09:42,615 --> 00:09:46,083
They were hearing about me and
the different songs I was
playing.
142
00:09:46,085 --> 00:09:50,621
This is the time when we was
just giving the birth of hip
hop.
143
00:09:50,623 --> 00:09:54,191
I asked Bambaataa that night,
I said, "Do you want to make a
record?"
144
00:09:54,193 --> 00:09:57,895
and he said, "Ok." And I never
made a record before,
145
00:09:57,897 --> 00:10:00,063
I didn't really know
what that entailed
146
00:10:00,065 --> 00:10:03,033
except from hanging out with
other people in the business
147
00:10:03,035 --> 00:10:06,403
that were making records,
so I said, "Alright let's
start working on it."
148
00:10:06,405 --> 00:10:12,242
Tommy Boy was born in 1981 out
of Silverman's West 85th Street
apartment,
149
00:10:12,244 --> 00:10:14,044
and set about making records.
150
00:10:14,046 --> 00:10:17,414
Hip-hop as we know
it was being born.
151
00:10:18,350 --> 00:10:21,251
Silverman and Bambaataa got
together to work on ideas,
152
00:10:21,253 --> 00:10:27,391
recording a demo for a record
that would define modern-day
hip-hop and dance music.
153
00:10:27,393 --> 00:10:29,393
We cut a demo for what would
become 'Planet Rock'
154
00:10:29,395 --> 00:10:33,530
and it had three or four
different songs that we wanted
to incorporate
155
00:10:33,532 --> 00:10:35,098
and that Bambaataa was playing.
156
00:10:35,100 --> 00:10:38,602
We used 'I Like It'
from BT Express,
157
00:10:38,604 --> 00:10:41,338
we used a Rick James
song, Kraftwerk,
158
00:10:41,340 --> 00:10:43,507
and we used Babe Ruth
'The Mexican',
159
00:10:43,509 --> 00:10:47,244
and we made this eight-track
demo. I ended up having a
cassette of it
160
00:10:47,246 --> 00:10:49,179
and I played it for Arthur
Baker, he flipped out.
161
00:10:49,181 --> 00:10:52,049
He said, "This is great, lets
do a full out recording of it,"
162
00:10:52,051 --> 00:10:54,651
so I said, "Alright cool,
let's put this together."
163
00:10:54,653 --> 00:10:56,954
In an uptown Manhattan
recording studio,
164
00:10:56,956 --> 00:11:01,191
Silverman, Bambaataa, Baker,
John Robie, and Jay Burnett
165
00:11:01,193 --> 00:11:02,292
set about producing the track.
166
00:11:02,294 --> 00:11:07,698
One of Bambaataa's MC crews,
The Soulsonic Force, joined
them in the studio that night.
167
00:11:07,700 --> 00:11:13,603
The original Soulsonic Force
was Mr. Biggs, Pow Wow,
G.L.O.B.E, Jazzy Jay.
168
00:11:13,605 --> 00:11:17,641
We was trying to do that whole
family of funk or family of
hip-hop,
169
00:11:17,643 --> 00:11:19,543
like James Brown when he
had the family of soul,
170
00:11:19,545 --> 00:11:22,045
or George 'Parliament
Funkadelic' had in Parliament.
171
00:11:22,047 --> 00:11:28,418
There could be five or six on
the stage or sometimes we might
have twenty on the microphone.
172
00:11:28,420 --> 00:11:31,288
This gentleman here, first
Soulsonic Force member.
173
00:11:31,290 --> 00:11:35,292
My name is Mr. Biggs, Soulsonic
Force, peace to the world.
174
00:11:35,294 --> 00:11:38,495
Afrika Bambaataa's first MC.
175
00:11:38,497 --> 00:11:41,098
Released on Tommy Boy
Records in 1982,
176
00:11:41,100 --> 00:11:44,701
'Planet Rock' was the result of
a perfect fusion of people,
177
00:11:44,703 --> 00:11:48,171
from diverse racial, social
and musical backgrounds.
178
00:11:48,173 --> 00:11:54,511
A melting pot of musical
genres, attitudes, style,
mentality, and beneath it all,
179
00:11:54,513 --> 00:11:59,549
a visionary use of a drum
machine, the 808.
180
00:11:59,551 --> 00:12:03,253
♪ Just taste the
funk and hit me ♪
181
00:12:03,255 --> 00:12:06,256
♪ Just get on down and hit me ♪
182
00:12:06,258 --> 00:12:09,393
♪ Bambaataa's gettin'
so funky, now hit me ♪
183
00:12:09,395 --> 00:12:13,530
♪ Yeaaaa, just hit me,
it's time to chase
your dreams ♪
184
00:12:13,532 --> 00:12:15,632
♪ Up out your seats,
make your body sway ♪
185
00:12:15,634 --> 00:12:18,802
♪ Socialize, get down, let
your soul lead the way ♪
186
00:12:18,804 --> 00:12:21,471
♪ Shake it now, go ladies,
it's a livin' dream ♪
187
00:12:21,473 --> 00:12:26,676
♪ Love, life, live,
come play the game, our world is
free, do what you want but
scream ♪
188
00:12:26,678 --> 00:12:31,381
808 was definitely a serious
sound that gave that extra funk
and grunt
189
00:12:31,383 --> 00:12:34,618
to the record. Because if you
heard Kraftwerk they was funky,
190
00:12:34,620 --> 00:12:39,556
but they didn't have that
soulful bass bottom that was
needed.
191
00:12:39,558 --> 00:12:41,792
That was definitely the
first time I saw an 808,
192
00:12:41,794 --> 00:12:44,694
and it was also probably the
first hands on
193
00:12:44,696 --> 00:12:47,564
computer that,
that I used in music.
194
00:12:47,566 --> 00:12:52,135
-We heard that them drums come
out the 808 and we was like...
-That was the end.
195
00:12:52,137 --> 00:12:54,805
-Yo what the hell.
-There was no bass like the 808.
196
00:12:54,807 --> 00:12:58,842
-It would just hit you in the
head like your whole body would
just shake.
-Yes.
197
00:12:58,844 --> 00:13:02,345
Oh it was the key,
it was the bottom,
198
00:13:02,347 --> 00:13:04,448
and if you listen to the rock,
199
00:13:04,450 --> 00:13:07,617
the way Arthur and John mixed it
200
00:13:07,619 --> 00:13:11,321
they had to play with that 808
for a while to give it that
201
00:13:11,323 --> 00:13:12,823
whrump, whrump, whrump you know.
202
00:13:12,825 --> 00:13:16,359
It was very fast, the record
was one hundred and twenty nine
beats per minute,
203
00:13:16,361 --> 00:13:20,530
and in urban dance music at the
time, one hundred and twenty
was speedy.
204
00:13:20,532 --> 00:13:22,599
The rappers definitely weren't
into 'Planet Rock' when we did
it,
205
00:13:22,601 --> 00:13:29,206
they thought it was a weird
beat, they thought it was too
fast or too slow because it was
sort of half time.
206
00:13:29,208 --> 00:13:31,208
It was so different it
has us startled like,
207
00:13:31,210 --> 00:13:33,276
either this shit is
going to be a hit,
208
00:13:33,278 --> 00:13:34,611
or we ain't going
to rap no more.
209
00:13:34,613 --> 00:13:36,279
G.L.O.B.E was the guy who wrote
the stuff so basically
210
00:13:36,281 --> 00:13:41,518
G.L.O.B.E had to take it back
and come up with phrasing and
sort of do half time stuff.
211
00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:45,122
G.L.O.B.E was the masterpiece
he came up with the blue print.
212
00:13:45,124 --> 00:13:47,457
The things he could do with a
rhyme was just crazy.
213
00:13:47,459 --> 00:13:51,661
We were so into what we had done
we didn't know what the
outcome was going to be.
214
00:13:51,663 --> 00:13:57,667
We were just relieved that it
was over and we knew that
something was going on in that
room.
215
00:13:57,669 --> 00:13:59,636
You really can't predict a hit.
216
00:13:59,638 --> 00:14:00,604
You can wish it to be a hit,
217
00:14:00,606 --> 00:14:03,406
you can want it to be a hit,
you can construct it to be a
hit,
218
00:14:03,408 --> 00:14:08,512
but we knew, gut feeling that
we had done something nobody
else could copy.
219
00:14:08,514 --> 00:14:13,450
We weren't sure if it was going
to be a hit or a stiff, it was
just an experiment.
220
00:14:13,452 --> 00:14:14,451
It didn't sound like a hit,
221
00:14:14,453 --> 00:14:17,420
because there was never a
record before that sounded like
that.
222
00:14:17,422 --> 00:14:19,422
I thought we had something
really special.
223
00:14:19,424 --> 00:14:21,291
To me it felt more like a
Talking Heads record,
224
00:14:21,293 --> 00:14:24,861
I was like wow, because of the
clavinets and all the different
things.
225
00:14:24,863 --> 00:14:27,631
I was super excited by it
even without the rap.
226
00:14:27,633 --> 00:14:30,500
♪ Soul Sonic Force ♪
227
00:14:30,502 --> 00:14:34,638
♪♪
228
00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:38,575
'Planet Rock' was fast becoming
a worldwide musical phenomenon.
229
00:14:38,577 --> 00:14:42,846
Its distinct beats echoed
throughout nightclubs and on
the streets,
230
00:14:42,848 --> 00:14:44,648
inspiring the development
of new musical genres,
231
00:14:44,650 --> 00:14:51,321
and in turn the producers and
artists who would continue to
innovate with the 808 sound.
232
00:14:51,323 --> 00:14:58,195
When we heard 'Planet Rock' it
was like a great twist on
'Trans-Europe Express' because I
loved the theme out of it.
233
00:14:58,197 --> 00:15:02,599
It was just like a fantastic
new look at it, you know.
It was like Kraftwerk go tribal.
234
00:15:02,601 --> 00:15:07,270
You would never imagine
Kraftwerk doing that, which was
the brilliant thing about it.
235
00:15:07,272 --> 00:15:10,273
I mean it was great, but it was
like a really clever twist.
236
00:15:10,275 --> 00:15:13,843
You heard keyboards, you heard
bass lines, but what's this
drum sound.
237
00:15:13,845 --> 00:15:17,948
It's like Kraftwerk, but it's
urban, it's funky, it's cool.
238
00:15:17,950 --> 00:15:21,952
It was new territory because no
one had really used an 808 on a
record
239
00:15:21,954 --> 00:15:23,954
and it has this low end that
you couldn't really hear.
240
00:15:23,956 --> 00:15:26,556
You wouldn't know it was there
and then it would just blow up
a speaker.
241
00:15:26,558 --> 00:15:30,227
I said they are using this drum
machine and it's a viable piece
of equipment
242
00:15:30,229 --> 00:15:33,530
that can actually, you can make
records out of and people are
accepting it
243
00:15:33,532 --> 00:15:36,733
because people hit the
floor and danced to it.
244
00:15:36,735 --> 00:15:39,736
♪♪
245
00:15:39,738 --> 00:15:43,373
I can remember very distinctly
the first time I heard 'Planet
Rock'.
246
00:15:43,375 --> 00:15:45,942
I think I must have turned
eighteen and moved to Brighton
247
00:15:45,944 --> 00:15:48,345
and started going to this club
called Sherry's
248
00:15:48,347 --> 00:15:52,349
on a Wednesday night in
Brighton, alternative dance.
249
00:15:52,351 --> 00:15:55,952
These kids came by basically
with a boom box,
250
00:15:55,954 --> 00:15:58,355
and they also had
the fresh BMXs.
251
00:15:58,357 --> 00:16:00,590
For me it was really
a revelation.
252
00:16:00,592 --> 00:16:03,593
It was like futuristic,
but making me dance.
253
00:16:03,595 --> 00:16:07,731
It was something that was very
techie, when we didn't know
what techie was
254
00:16:07,733 --> 00:16:10,433
we just knew it was
electrifying.
255
00:16:10,435 --> 00:16:12,669
And we knew that there was
something very us about it.
256
00:16:12,671 --> 00:16:16,640
We heard the music but were like
what is that music, and they
were playing 'Planet Rock'.
257
00:16:16,642 --> 00:16:20,844
And we were like what is this,
this is? And someone said it's
kind of, sort of
258
00:16:20,846 --> 00:16:24,281
this American thing called
electro or hip-hop.
259
00:16:24,283 --> 00:16:27,450
Instantly we all were like, we
have to find that record.
260
00:16:27,452 --> 00:16:31,688
This is probably the moment
where my brain like clicked,
261
00:16:31,690 --> 00:16:33,857
and I was like, wow, electronic.
262
00:16:33,859 --> 00:16:39,562
'Planet Rock' was definitely
one of those like eureka
moments for me.
263
00:16:39,564 --> 00:16:42,666
'Planet Rock' started a
new movement in music.
264
00:16:42,668 --> 00:16:43,667
A movement headed by the 808,
265
00:16:43,669 --> 00:16:50,407
and one that would mark the
beginning of electronic music
as we know it today.
266
00:16:52,678 --> 00:16:54,444
♪♪
267
00:16:54,446 --> 00:16:57,080
Following on from the huge
success of 'Planet Rock',
268
00:16:57,082 --> 00:16:59,316
the 808 became a defining
sound in New York clubs.
269
00:16:59,318 --> 00:17:06,389
New York at the time man, you
know every record had to have
an 808 in it, in order for it
270
00:17:06,391 --> 00:17:08,825
to have any sort of success in
the dance floor.
271
00:17:08,827 --> 00:17:12,362
It was at the end of new wave,
the beginning, you know, of,
this,
272
00:17:12,364 --> 00:17:17,400
which we used to call hip-hop,
now it's freestyle, and today
it's electro.
273
00:17:17,402 --> 00:17:23,406
One of the first tracks to
explode after 'Planet Rock' was
'Hip Hop, Be Bop' by Man
Parrish.
274
00:17:23,408 --> 00:17:26,776
I'm not a trained musician. I
can't read or write music, I
still can't.
275
00:17:26,778 --> 00:17:30,847
So, I basically learned music
by just experimenting.
276
00:17:30,849 --> 00:17:32,515
But I didn't want
real drum sounds,
277
00:17:32,517 --> 00:17:35,485
I wanted to be Kraftwerk, you
know? That was my influence.
278
00:17:35,487 --> 00:17:39,989
I could be a band and not have
to deal with band members, you
know.
279
00:17:39,991 --> 00:17:45,662
This was a way of having a
drummer without having a guy
there,
280
00:17:45,664 --> 00:17:47,664
you know the 808.
281
00:17:47,666 --> 00:17:48,631
♪♪
282
00:17:48,633 --> 00:17:52,535
'Hip Hop, Be Bop' was actually
one of those experimental
things that I did.
283
00:17:52,537 --> 00:17:59,476
I didn't have a record deal,
it wasn't meant as anything but
just playing around with some
rhythms.
284
00:17:59,478 --> 00:18:06,116
♪♪
285
00:18:06,118 --> 00:18:11,388
I wound up doing a sound track
for a porn movie
286
00:18:11,390 --> 00:18:14,791
and the record label said, "Do
you have any other tracks?"
287
00:18:14,793 --> 00:18:16,793
And I said, "Well I have
this, this and this,"
288
00:18:16,795 --> 00:18:18,128
and they said, "Well,
what's that?"
289
00:18:18,130 --> 00:18:20,597
and I said, "Oh, it's something
experimental I did,
290
00:18:20,599 --> 00:18:22,565
"let's see if we can develop
this into something."
291
00:18:22,567 --> 00:18:24,968
And John Robie came in
put some keyboards on,
292
00:18:24,970 --> 00:18:28,471
it was just basically an open
free form piece of music,
293
00:18:28,473 --> 00:18:30,940
there was no verse, there was
no chorus, there was no
structure to it.
294
00:18:30,942 --> 00:18:38,748
We took about six ten-inch,
twelve-inch, reel-to-reel mixes
filled sixty minutes each.
295
00:18:38,750 --> 00:18:43,753
The guys from the label stayed
home one weekend, did a bunch
of coke and MDA,
296
00:18:43,755 --> 00:18:48,825
edited everything together with
razors and 'Hip Hop, Be Bop'
came out.
297
00:18:48,827 --> 00:18:51,060
♪♪
298
00:18:51,062 --> 00:18:53,196
So when they played it for me
they said, "Well this is going
to be the single,"
299
00:18:53,198 --> 00:18:58,468
and I said, "You can't do this,
I, you know, this is
embarrassing it's not a real
piece of music
300
00:18:58,470 --> 00:19:02,439
"there's no verse, there's no
chorus, you know, everybody is
gonna laugh at me."
301
00:19:02,441 --> 00:19:05,909
Back in those days there was no
DJ culture, there was no dub
music.
302
00:19:05,911 --> 00:19:07,577
You can't put out music like
this it doesn't exist.
303
00:19:07,579 --> 00:19:15,752
Sure enough they put it out, I
hid under a bush, and later on,
you know, it is what it is.
304
00:19:15,754 --> 00:19:18,488
There was a club here in New
York called The Funhouse.
305
00:19:18,490 --> 00:19:20,523
John 'Jellybean' Benitez
was the DJ.
306
00:19:20,525 --> 00:19:22,058
We used to bring acetates
for John to play,
307
00:19:22,060 --> 00:19:25,695
and if the crowd liked the
music they would bark, woof,
woof, woof, woof.
308
00:19:25,697 --> 00:19:29,232
So we said, "Right, we need
another track for this thing,
let's throw on some dog barking
309
00:19:29,234 --> 00:19:33,970
"because I'm sure they will
only play it in this one little
club and they will
310
00:19:33,972 --> 00:19:35,138
"recognize the dog barks."
311
00:19:35,140 --> 00:19:40,243
We were kissing ass and trying
to get our record played at The
Funhouse.
312
00:19:40,245 --> 00:19:44,013
♪ Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof ♪
313
00:19:44,015 --> 00:19:48,618
♪♪
314
00:19:48,620 --> 00:19:50,920
♪ Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof ♪
315
00:19:50,922 --> 00:19:52,722
There wouldn't be a freestyle
scene if it wasn't for
316
00:19:52,724 --> 00:19:55,592
'Planet Rock' because that
gave birth to like that
317
00:19:55,594 --> 00:19:57,794
whole scene of melody records,
you know,
318
00:19:57,796 --> 00:20:01,498
R&B and pop records written
on 808 drums.
319
00:20:01,500 --> 00:20:05,034
Those were R&B records,
with 808s.
320
00:20:05,036 --> 00:20:07,237
Alright that sounded amazing.
321
00:20:07,239 --> 00:20:11,574
And the 808 drum machine had to
be prominent. It was like all
the other keyboards in
322
00:20:11,576 --> 00:20:13,710
the background, all the other
musical stuff yeah that's cool,
323
00:20:13,712 --> 00:20:17,547
but as long as those drums was
prominent, this record's a
smash.
324
00:20:17,549 --> 00:20:21,618
'Play At Your Own Risk' was the
record, when that came on the
party got crazy.
325
00:20:21,620 --> 00:20:23,786
That was kind of almost the
first free style records,
326
00:20:23,788 --> 00:20:26,623
I mean if you want to deem
singing over 'Planet Rock',
327
00:20:26,625 --> 00:20:31,027
if you want to just use it
in that layman's terms,
328
00:20:31,029 --> 00:20:32,195
that was Planet Patrol.
329
00:20:32,197 --> 00:20:35,765
Every time I heard that,
"Well, Well, Well,"
330
00:20:35,767 --> 00:20:39,269
it was just, everybody
would run to the floor.
331
00:20:39,271 --> 00:20:41,204
It was really, really
influential, and it
332
00:20:41,206 --> 00:20:43,006
had that sound that you hadn't
heard before.
333
00:20:43,008 --> 00:20:45,041
You might have heard
the beat before, and the beat
334
00:20:45,043 --> 00:20:47,544
a million times after of course
as we know,
335
00:20:47,546 --> 00:20:50,914
but the sound of that record
was definitely unique.
336
00:20:50,916 --> 00:20:53,082
It created a whole
other sub-genre,
337
00:20:53,084 --> 00:20:57,086
one record with a beat
in it, and a feeling
338
00:20:57,088 --> 00:20:58,821
creates a whole other segment.
339
00:20:58,823 --> 00:21:02,725
Slowly rap pulled away from
that 'Planet Rock' sound,
340
00:21:02,727 --> 00:21:06,663
things started to get slower
and freestyle took off.
341
00:21:06,665 --> 00:21:13,036
♪♪
342
00:21:13,038 --> 00:21:17,707
♪ Where ya at, where ya at,
where ya at, where ya at ♪
343
00:21:17,709 --> 00:21:20,643
The drum sound of 'Let
the Music Play',
344
00:21:20,645 --> 00:21:21,978
the ambient drum sound,
345
00:21:21,980 --> 00:21:26,616
specifically came from me
describing to Mark Liggett and
Rod Hui,
346
00:21:26,618 --> 00:21:34,290
"Guys can we have the beat of
the record like this part,
listen to this part it goes..."
347
00:21:34,292 --> 00:21:36,125
♪ Your own risk, your own risk ♪
348
00:21:36,127 --> 00:21:38,695
♪ Play at, play at,
play at, play at ♪
349
00:21:38,697 --> 00:21:42,932
♪ Play, play, play at your
own risk, your own risk ♪
350
00:21:42,934 --> 00:21:46,836
I said, "Do you hear that echo
in the beat, boom boom boom
boom boom boom,
351
00:21:46,838 --> 00:21:50,873
"can we have that echo through
the whole record?"
And they thought I was crazy,
352
00:21:50,875 --> 00:21:57,180
but it was because every time I
played that part it was like
whoa this is bad,
353
00:21:57,182 --> 00:21:58,348
this is when the crowd
is going nuts.
354
00:21:58,350 --> 00:22:02,685
And of course you can't have
all that decay throughout the
whole record as the kick.
355
00:22:02,687 --> 00:22:05,855
What we ended up doing was
doing that but then gating it,
356
00:22:05,857 --> 00:22:09,959
that's how that sound
came to birth.
357
00:22:09,961 --> 00:22:11,628
♪ With someone else ♪
358
00:22:11,630 --> 00:22:17,934
♪ We started dancing and love
put us into a groove ♪
359
00:22:17,936 --> 00:22:20,103
♪ But now he's with
somebody new ♪
360
00:22:20,105 --> 00:22:24,674
When I heard that sound back as
a full song when I was driving
home
361
00:22:24,676 --> 00:22:28,645
I don't know why but I was
just like tearing up.
I was like this is awesome,
362
00:22:28,647 --> 00:22:30,146
I guess it because it
was my first song.
363
00:22:30,148 --> 00:22:32,982
You could have sang Cracker
Jacks over it.
364
00:22:32,984 --> 00:22:36,119
♪ Let the music play,
he won't get away ♪
365
00:22:36,121 --> 00:22:41,658
♪ Just keep the groove and then
he'll come back to you again,
let it play ♪
366
00:22:41,660 --> 00:22:44,861
♪ Let the music play
he won't get away ♪
367
00:22:44,863 --> 00:22:49,899
♪ This groove he can't ignore,
he won't leave you anymore, no,
no, no ♪
368
00:22:49,901 --> 00:22:52,201
I think the first freestyle
records that got me into it,
369
00:22:52,203 --> 00:22:56,673
obviously because I was coming
from a hip hop background was
George Simms.
370
00:22:56,675 --> 00:22:57,707
Because that... And Shannon.
371
00:22:57,709 --> 00:23:00,309
That was like my intro because
it was cool it was like oh
372
00:23:00,311 --> 00:23:02,211
I can breakdance to this or I
can dance with a girl.
373
00:23:02,213 --> 00:23:08,217
You know, that's kinda like, it
was like oh, it was serious
R&B. You know.
374
00:23:08,219 --> 00:23:11,320
What is really, really
significant
375
00:23:11,322 --> 00:23:15,158
about that moment
in time is that it created an
376
00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:16,926
entirely different space
sonically in music.
377
00:23:16,928 --> 00:23:22,031
When the relationship between
the bass and the snare became
something entirely different,
378
00:23:22,033 --> 00:23:28,871
you know, and I'm talking about
the sonic landscape of just
those two elements.
379
00:23:28,873 --> 00:23:32,408
For a lot of people it would
have been, really their first
380
00:23:32,410 --> 00:23:35,745
sort of subliminal influence
to Latin sounds
381
00:23:35,747 --> 00:23:41,884
-with all of the percussion
that came with those rhythms,
you know.
-Yea.
382
00:23:41,886 --> 00:23:46,322
That's why it was simply
a revolution.
383
00:23:46,324 --> 00:23:50,727
Strafe was around that time for
me, and I remember when it came
out
384
00:23:50,729 --> 00:23:52,462
it was just one of those
slower records,
385
00:23:52,464 --> 00:23:57,366
kind of like a rap beat, you
know, but it got played in the
big clubs, you know.
386
00:23:57,368 --> 00:24:01,738
It like... It's weird because
it's, it's quite an anomaly that
record.
387
00:24:01,740 --> 00:24:06,075
It's like nothing sounds like
it, nothing has sounded like it
since.
388
00:24:06,077 --> 00:24:07,477
It's super sparse and minimal,
389
00:24:07,479 --> 00:24:10,213
but does all the right
little things, you know what I
mean,
390
00:24:10,215 --> 00:24:13,750
it's just one of those classic,
classic dance records.
391
00:24:13,752 --> 00:24:16,119
"Y'all want this party
started right."
392
00:24:16,121 --> 00:24:19,489
That was kind of the last
thing I laid on the track,
393
00:24:19,491 --> 00:24:22,058
and when I laid that on the
track the principals
394
00:24:22,060 --> 00:24:23,793
at the company thought
I was crazy.
395
00:24:23,795 --> 00:24:25,261
They was like, "Get him
out of the studio."
396
00:24:25,263 --> 00:24:27,330
I was supposed to be in there
doing a pre-mix of the track
397
00:24:27,332 --> 00:24:31,367
and I said, "I've got to throw
this down on the track, this
needs to be here."
398
00:24:31,369 --> 00:24:34,971
♪ Y'all want this party
started, right? ♪
399
00:24:34,973 --> 00:24:39,041
♪ Y'all want this party started
quickly, right? ♪
400
00:24:39,043 --> 00:24:43,212
♪ Set it off I suggest ya'll,
set it off I suggest ya'll ♪
401
00:24:43,214 --> 00:24:48,384
♪ Set it off, set it off, set it
off, set it off, set it off ♪
402
00:24:48,386 --> 00:24:53,556
What made the 808 a better
tool was that I was able to
403
00:24:53,558 --> 00:24:55,191
tweak and tune the toms,
404
00:24:55,193 --> 00:24:58,194
and even adding the extra
snap on the snare,
405
00:24:58,196 --> 00:25:03,866
as well as widening the decay
on the kick drum made a
difference
406
00:25:03,868 --> 00:25:06,002
and the 808 boom
was a big thing.
407
00:25:06,004 --> 00:25:08,304
That was one of the initial
discrepancies I had with the
408
00:25:08,306 --> 00:25:12,909
initial mix of the record being
released. It was great that
Walter Gibbons mixed the record
409
00:25:12,911 --> 00:25:19,015
but he had just come out of
retirement and he was a born
again Christian at the time.
410
00:25:19,017 --> 00:25:22,318
He felt that bass was an
instrument of the devil.
411
00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:26,322
♪♪
412
00:25:27,025 --> 00:25:33,062
Snare drum, open hat, just
starting with this intro
pattern here,
413
00:25:33,064 --> 00:25:35,431
I just want to get the levels
right on everything.
414
00:25:35,433 --> 00:25:40,269
It's one of the special things
about this machine, I'm sure
everybody's been talking about
it,
415
00:25:40,271 --> 00:25:45,208
that, that decay you
get on the kick.
416
00:25:45,210 --> 00:25:49,278
And the accent actually helps to
417
00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:52,982
bring more emphasis to
certain parts of the
418
00:25:52,984 --> 00:25:54,317
♪♪
419
00:25:54,319 --> 00:25:59,155
pattern. Put some snap
on that snare.
420
00:25:59,157 --> 00:26:02,325
Hi-hat on it's gonna clip.
421
00:26:02,327 --> 00:26:04,961
♪♪
422
00:26:04,963 --> 00:26:07,196
Clip that track nicely.
423
00:26:07,198 --> 00:26:22,178
♪♪
424
00:26:22,180 --> 00:26:27,049
♪ Set it off, I suggest y'all,
set it off, I suggest y'all ♪
425
00:26:27,051 --> 00:26:30,987
♪ Set it off! Come on
let's set it off ♪
426
00:26:30,989 --> 00:26:35,658
♪ Set it off on the left y'all,
set it off on the right y'all ♪
427
00:26:35,660 --> 00:26:39,428
♪ Set it off! Come on
let's set it off ♪
428
00:26:39,430 --> 00:26:42,565
♪ Set it off! Set it off! ♪
429
00:26:42,567 --> 00:26:45,635
♪♪
430
00:26:45,637 --> 00:26:50,339
But the 808 didn't only feature
on club, hip-hop and electro
records.
431
00:26:50,341 --> 00:26:53,976
The 808 sound was quickly
adopted by pop musicians.
432
00:26:53,978 --> 00:26:56,045
Some of music's biggest
stars embraced it.
433
00:26:56,047 --> 00:27:00,616
Marvin Gaye used Motown's
in-house band The Funk Brothers
on most of his hits,
434
00:27:00,618 --> 00:27:03,486
but by 1981 he looked to cut
ties with the record company,
435
00:27:03,488 --> 00:27:11,427
moving to Ostend in Belgium,
where he wrote what would
become his biggest selling song
ever.
436
00:27:11,429 --> 00:27:14,130
So when you have family
problems, drug problems
437
00:27:14,132 --> 00:27:17,400
and tax problems, you come to
Belgium.
438
00:27:17,402 --> 00:27:19,035
Well I was living in Belgium
in the, in the 70's.
439
00:27:19,037 --> 00:27:23,105
I originally worked for a
studio in London and they
opened a studio in Brussels.
440
00:27:23,107 --> 00:27:26,175
And I got a call from a guy
saying that he was
441
00:27:26,177 --> 00:27:28,611
Marvin Gaye's manager.
"Can we meet you tomorrow?"
442
00:27:28,613 --> 00:27:30,713
"Yeah, sure." He liked the
studio and said,
443
00:27:30,715 --> 00:27:33,082
"Well can we start next week?"
444
00:27:33,084 --> 00:27:33,716
"Yeah, sure."
445
00:27:33,718 --> 00:27:37,553
♪ Get up, get up,
get up, get up, get up ♪
446
00:27:37,555 --> 00:27:38,587
Having broken ties with Motown,
447
00:27:38,589 --> 00:27:43,359
Gaye started writing in a more
stripped down style, based on
an 808.
448
00:27:43,361 --> 00:27:46,462
A big departure from
his previous sound.
449
00:27:46,464 --> 00:27:48,364
♪♪
450
00:27:48,366 --> 00:27:52,735
Marvin did tell me that it was
going to be with drum machine
and synthesizers,
451
00:27:52,737 --> 00:27:55,004
so the TR-808 and a Jupiter-8.
452
00:27:55,006 --> 00:27:58,240
He planned to do a lot himself
and he wanted to have some
control,
453
00:27:58,242 --> 00:28:01,510
so he could spend some time
doing the recording without
454
00:28:01,512 --> 00:28:03,980
getting too many other guys
to come in and play.
455
00:28:03,982 --> 00:28:07,583
When he came in the studio the
patterns, the basic patterns
had been programmed
456
00:28:07,585 --> 00:28:11,220
and he had the tempos all
written down and that you
couldn't touch it.
457
00:28:11,222 --> 00:28:15,725
That was very important that
nobody especially the
fine-tuning of the tempo,
458
00:28:15,727 --> 00:28:19,128
don't touch it. That's fixed.
459
00:28:19,130 --> 00:28:23,466
So he just said, "Well this is
song number one, ok, record it."
460
00:28:23,468 --> 00:28:26,669
And you just sat there,
listening to it.
461
00:28:26,671 --> 00:28:28,137
And then, stop.
462
00:28:28,139 --> 00:28:32,174
And that was the song and there
was nothing else it was just
the pattern.
463
00:28:32,176 --> 00:28:36,379
♪ Sexual healing baby
is good for me ♪
464
00:28:36,381 --> 00:28:41,617
It is quite a cold way of
working, working with
electronic instruments.
465
00:28:41,619 --> 00:28:45,087
And then everything happened
when he put the vocal down
466
00:28:45,089 --> 00:28:47,590
and it warmed the whole track
up and it all made sense.
467
00:28:47,592 --> 00:28:53,362
♪ And my emotional stability
is leaving me,
there is somethin' ♪
468
00:28:53,364 --> 00:29:00,069
You have these sexual lyrics
and this electronic groove and
it kind of went,
469
00:29:00,071 --> 00:29:01,103
yeah, it works.
470
00:29:01,105 --> 00:29:04,807
It's kind of weird that, one of
the biggest hits of his career,
471
00:29:04,809 --> 00:29:10,713
the only song that got him a
Grammy was probably one of the
most
472
00:29:10,715 --> 00:29:16,685
coldest, frozen, instrumental
songs of that period.
473
00:29:16,687 --> 00:29:20,289
This was one of the first
records to really use this
instrument
474
00:29:20,291 --> 00:29:25,094
as its own instrument as a
totally different sound.
475
00:29:25,096 --> 00:29:28,831
♪ Let's make love tonight,
wake up, wake up, wake up ♪
476
00:29:28,833 --> 00:29:31,133
The marriage of that R&B thing
with the
477
00:29:31,135 --> 00:29:33,469
percolating groove
underneath really works.
478
00:29:33,471 --> 00:29:36,839
After 'Planet Rock', Marvin Gaye
comes in and kicks ass
479
00:29:36,841 --> 00:29:39,175
with the very same sound
and drum machine.
480
00:29:39,177 --> 00:29:42,445
We really couldn't believe it,
it was like yo he's using 808.
481
00:29:42,447 --> 00:29:47,783
How do you figure that out, now
I've listened to it on YouTube
I'm like, duh.
482
00:29:47,785 --> 00:29:52,354
We heard the beat and everybody
was like wait a minute Marvin
Gaye's got a funky beat like
that,
483
00:29:52,356 --> 00:29:54,256
like a rap beat in his record,
we couldn't believe it,
484
00:29:54,258 --> 00:29:58,794
we heard the tones of it. We
were like, "Wait who made that
beat for him?"
485
00:29:58,796 --> 00:30:00,129
We wanted to know
who made the beat.
486
00:30:00,131 --> 00:30:05,835
Nearly two decades later,
Belgium band Soulwax acquired
an 808 from a second hand shop
in Ghent.
487
00:30:05,837 --> 00:30:11,774
They were told it was the same
one originally used to record
'Sexual Healing'.
488
00:30:11,776 --> 00:30:13,876
They rang us to say, "Like,
we've got an 808."
489
00:30:13,878 --> 00:30:17,213
And they sold it to us for
eight hundred and eight Euros.
490
00:30:17,215 --> 00:30:24,386
They said to us, "This one was
used in an Ostend studio, it had
been there for twenty years."
491
00:30:24,388 --> 00:30:28,557
The guy actually said, "It's
probably the one that was used
on 'Sexual Healing' by Marvin
Gaye."
492
00:30:28,559 --> 00:30:33,496
But we never believed him, so
we took it back to the studio,
and I remember when we plugged
it in,
493
00:30:33,498 --> 00:30:37,199
one of the first presets that
were in there, we hit it,
494
00:30:37,201 --> 00:30:40,302
and I was like, "No way..."
495
00:30:40,304 --> 00:30:49,512
♪♪
496
00:30:49,514 --> 00:30:54,517
I was really confused I thought
well this doesn't sound like a
normal drum,
497
00:30:54,519 --> 00:31:00,356
drum track, I thought it
sounded like something you
would hear in a restaurant
498
00:31:00,358 --> 00:31:03,325
with a guy playing a little
keyboard in the corner
499
00:31:03,327 --> 00:31:06,228
while you're having a pizza.
500
00:31:06,230 --> 00:31:06,695
♪♪
501
00:31:06,697 --> 00:31:09,698
I think something is going on
with this machine guys,
502
00:31:09,700 --> 00:31:14,703
because it's not really doing
what I want it to do.
503
00:31:14,705 --> 00:31:17,373
I'm trying to get it to
be doing other stuff.
504
00:31:17,375 --> 00:31:20,910
Maybe the ghost of Marvin is
here right now saying,
505
00:31:20,912 --> 00:31:25,481
"No, no, no, no, no, that's not
the way to do it, that's not
what I want."
506
00:31:25,483 --> 00:31:29,318
'Sexual Healing' was just the
start of the 808's journey into
pop.
507
00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:35,457
Legendary production team Jam
and Lewis also decided to make
it the defining sound
508
00:31:35,459 --> 00:31:37,693
on their work with the SOS Band.
509
00:31:37,695 --> 00:31:41,297
Well I think we incorporated
the 808 into
510
00:31:41,299 --> 00:31:43,966
a sound specifically for
particular artists.
511
00:31:43,968 --> 00:31:47,603
So when we did the SOS songs we
did 'Just be Good To Me',
512
00:31:47,605 --> 00:31:50,606
I don't even know whether we
even cared at the time
513
00:31:50,608 --> 00:31:54,210
what kind of drum machine it
was because we recorded those
tracks in Atlanta
514
00:31:54,212 --> 00:31:56,378
and they just said, "Oh
well we got an 808."
515
00:31:56,380 --> 00:31:59,515
We're like, "Ok fine,
plug it in and lets go."
516
00:31:59,517 --> 00:32:01,917
And those songs hit huge.
517
00:32:01,919 --> 00:32:05,521
♪♪
518
00:32:05,523 --> 00:32:09,325
The next record we did after
that was Cheryl Lynn, 'Encore'
519
00:32:09,327 --> 00:32:12,294
and we went back to like a DMX
or a Linn drum or something
520
00:32:12,296 --> 00:32:14,630
because it was like we
didn't want that sound,
521
00:32:14,632 --> 00:32:16,232
we kind of thought that's
more the SOS sound,
522
00:32:16,234 --> 00:32:19,535
so we don't want to really take
that sound and use it
everywhere.
523
00:32:19,537 --> 00:32:22,404
And the exception to that was a
group we did called Change
524
00:32:22,406 --> 00:32:24,773
because we went over to Italy
to record that album
525
00:32:24,775 --> 00:32:28,644
and once again that's what was
in the studio was an 808.
526
00:32:28,646 --> 00:32:32,014
After that we kind of reserved
the sound just for SOS Band.
527
00:32:32,016 --> 00:32:37,486
So whatever the 808 lends, it
causes you to create a whole
different
528
00:32:37,488 --> 00:32:39,021
underlying thing that
you build on.
529
00:32:39,023 --> 00:32:44,927
It was a huge part I think in
how we created especially for
the SOS Band because
530
00:32:44,929 --> 00:32:47,596
I totally identify with
the SOS Band and the 808
531
00:32:47,598 --> 00:32:52,701
and if I hear another drum
machine it kind of doesn't
sound like SOS to me.
532
00:32:52,703 --> 00:32:53,769
♪♪
533
00:32:53,771 --> 00:32:56,639
♪ People always talkin' 'bout ♪
534
00:32:56,641 --> 00:32:58,007
♪♪
535
00:32:58,009 --> 00:33:00,276
♪ Your reputation ♪
536
00:33:00,278 --> 00:33:02,478
♪♪
537
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:06,915
♪ I don't care about
your other girls ♪
538
00:33:06,917 --> 00:33:08,484
♪ Just be good to me ♪
539
00:33:08,486 --> 00:33:12,321
We were just really lucky
that, you know, fate had, you
know,
540
00:33:12,323 --> 00:33:14,890
put an 808 in our session
a couple of times,
541
00:33:14,892 --> 00:33:18,560
which turned out to be really
pivotal records for us.
542
00:33:18,562 --> 00:33:21,697
And then we heard other records
like Phil Collins with the 808
543
00:33:21,699 --> 00:33:24,433
and we was like wait a minute
were late we've got to catch up,
544
00:33:24,435 --> 00:33:30,606
Phil Collins is rocking the 808
like we've got to get into this
now.
545
00:33:30,608 --> 00:33:48,524
♪♪
546
00:33:48,526 --> 00:33:50,793
I use drum machines
as a tool, you know,
547
00:33:50,795 --> 00:33:55,464
I mean, and for me it opened
up my world for writing.
548
00:33:55,466 --> 00:34:00,369
To me the way I write is,
I need an atmosphere.
549
00:34:00,371 --> 00:34:03,405
Atmospheres will tell
you where to go next,
550
00:34:03,407 --> 00:34:06,975
and suggest what you could
do after this chord,
551
00:34:06,977 --> 00:34:13,782
and sometimes those, those 808s,
you know, patterns that you
write
552
00:34:13,784 --> 00:34:16,085
would give you a great platform
553
00:34:16,087 --> 00:34:21,090
and something that not a lot
has to happen which is why on
my stuff
554
00:34:21,092 --> 00:34:26,729
certainly there is a lot of
space when there's a drum
machine.
555
00:34:26,731 --> 00:34:29,765
♪ Oh think twice ♪
556
00:34:29,767 --> 00:34:35,037
♪ 'Cause it's another day for
you and me in paradise ♪
557
00:34:35,039 --> 00:34:42,845
♪ Oh think twice, 'cause it's
just another day for you ♪
558
00:34:42,847 --> 00:34:46,582
♪ You and me in paradise ♪
559
00:34:46,584 --> 00:34:49,885
♪♪
560
00:34:52,690 --> 00:34:53,555
♪♪
561
00:34:53,557 --> 00:34:56,792
The sounds I found very,
kind of stimulating,
562
00:34:56,794 --> 00:34:59,928
particularly the conga sounds
and the bongo sounds
563
00:34:59,930 --> 00:35:02,631
and the kind of 'pop' sounds.
564
00:35:02,633 --> 00:35:05,601
You could do a lot with them.
You could make them kind of,
565
00:35:05,603 --> 00:35:08,837
kind of mellow, you know with
the desk and things and
566
00:35:08,839 --> 00:35:12,107
you'd put a little bit of
reverb on and they would go back
567
00:35:12,109 --> 00:35:15,010
and they would be a panorama to
whatever you were writing.
568
00:35:15,012 --> 00:35:17,713
You know, you could use them
and know that you were going to
replace
569
00:35:17,715 --> 00:35:21,750
this, and this, and this with
real drums but this, and this,
and this could stay.
570
00:35:21,752 --> 00:35:28,157
And then sort of sit there for
ten minutes and the thing just
carried on, you know quite
happily.
571
00:35:28,159 --> 00:35:30,726
♪♪
572
00:35:30,728 --> 00:35:34,062
You know, you try to get a
drummer to play something simple
573
00:35:34,064 --> 00:35:36,532
for ten, fifteen minutes
he won't do it.
574
00:35:36,534 --> 00:35:42,971
We get bored, we'll play...
Doom da da cha...
575
00:35:42,973 --> 00:35:48,577
No don't do that, you know. Just
play... Doom da da cha...
576
00:35:48,579 --> 00:35:49,978
And drummers they kind of
get bored
577
00:35:49,980 --> 00:35:53,148
and they want to show they can
do more than that so they do
that.
578
00:35:53,150 --> 00:35:55,784
Where as a drum machine will
just, as long as you turn
579
00:35:55,786 --> 00:35:58,987
it on and you turn it off it
will just play that forever.
580
00:35:58,989 --> 00:36:00,722
And so that was the
beauty of it.
581
00:36:00,724 --> 00:36:04,693
The joke is you can't pour beer
over a drum machine because it
will
582
00:36:04,695 --> 00:36:08,730
stop working but you can
pour beer over a drummer.
583
00:36:08,732 --> 00:36:11,166
He'll just keep going.
584
00:36:11,168 --> 00:36:11,767
♪♪
585
00:36:11,769 --> 00:36:17,840
Back in the clubs of New York,
hip-hop culture was continuing
to grow.
586
00:36:17,842 --> 00:36:21,043
I was a fan of hip-hop,
and would go to,
587
00:36:21,045 --> 00:36:23,712
at that point it was a club
called Negril on 2nd Avenue
588
00:36:23,714 --> 00:36:28,584
but that was the only place
really that had a regular
hip-hop, I think it was Tuesday
nights.
589
00:36:28,586 --> 00:36:32,921
Hearing the hip-hop records
that I was hearing at the time
didn't really
590
00:36:32,923 --> 00:36:35,123
reflect what was going
on at the club.
591
00:36:35,125 --> 00:36:39,027
Really just as a fan I wanted
to try to make something that
sounded like
592
00:36:39,029 --> 00:36:41,597
what the experience was
of hip-hop in a club.
593
00:36:41,599 --> 00:36:43,665
Being as the Treacherous Three
were my favorite group,
594
00:36:43,667 --> 00:36:48,070
met Mo Dee, I asked him if, you
know, we could make a record
together.
595
00:36:48,072 --> 00:36:49,872
And he said, "Well, you know,
we're signed."
596
00:36:49,874 --> 00:36:53,141
I didn't know that there were
labels or signing or what
producers did,
597
00:36:53,143 --> 00:36:54,843
I really didn't know
anything at all.
598
00:36:54,845 --> 00:36:57,779
I just wanted to make a good
record with them and I felt like
599
00:36:57,781 --> 00:37:00,983
I had an idea of what it would
sound like to make a good one.
600
00:37:00,985 --> 00:37:05,821
And he said, "You might want
to talk to Special K
601
00:37:05,823 --> 00:37:08,624
"because his brother
is a good MC."
602
00:37:08,626 --> 00:37:10,959
So I talked to Special
K. We became friends.
603
00:37:10,961 --> 00:37:18,534
Special K wrote the rhymes and
he got T, his brother T La Rock
to perform the rhymes.
604
00:37:18,536 --> 00:37:22,604
I was working at the time. I
worked for Leroy Pharmacy in
Manhattan,
605
00:37:22,606 --> 00:37:27,109
and my brother said he had an
opportunity to record a record.
606
00:37:27,111 --> 00:37:30,812
But the producer wanted only
607
00:37:30,814 --> 00:37:32,848
my brother Special K and Kool Mo
Dee.
608
00:37:32,850 --> 00:37:35,317
He did not want LA Sunshine.
He only wanted the two.
609
00:37:35,319 --> 00:37:40,656
Three weeks later, four weeks
later my brother came to me,
knocked on my door,
610
00:37:40,658 --> 00:37:46,695
and said, "Listen, I want you
to record a record." with the
persons name,
611
00:37:46,697 --> 00:37:48,130
who's name by the way
was Rick Rubin.
612
00:37:48,132 --> 00:37:54,870
And I wasn't interested. I
said, "No, you know I just want
to do this on the side
613
00:37:54,872 --> 00:37:56,071
"I don't want to
record a record."
614
00:37:56,073 --> 00:37:58,574
Though my brother pushed me and
pushed me and pushed me.
615
00:37:58,576 --> 00:38:03,612
I went downtown to meet Rick
Rubin and I remember we met at
NYU.
616
00:38:03,614 --> 00:38:07,249
Rick played this beat for
me and blew me away,
617
00:38:07,251 --> 00:38:08,817
and that was 'It's Yours'.
618
00:38:08,819 --> 00:38:13,889
And he used this drum machine
called the Roland 808.
619
00:38:13,891 --> 00:38:15,123
♪♪
620
00:38:15,125 --> 00:38:15,891
♪ Commentating ♪
621
00:38:15,893 --> 00:38:17,726
The only reason that was the
drum machine on 'It's Yours'
622
00:38:17,728 --> 00:38:22,130
was because it was the only drum
machine we had and that was
where the beat was programmed.
623
00:38:22,132 --> 00:38:26,602
It wasn't like we tried all the
great machines and ended up
with the 808 as our choice,
624
00:38:26,604 --> 00:38:31,239
it just worked out that way. I
do remember that in our search
for bass,
625
00:38:31,241 --> 00:38:34,009
I think we were in a
sixteen track studio,
626
00:38:34,011 --> 00:38:39,348
and I think six of the tracks
of the sixteen track were all
the kick drum.
627
00:38:39,350 --> 00:38:42,150
♪ Hell yea, well it's yours ♪
628
00:38:42,152 --> 00:38:43,752
♪♪
629
00:38:43,754 --> 00:38:45,621
♪ Taking a record that's
already made ♪
630
00:38:45,623 --> 00:38:48,056
♪ With the help of a mix board
using the cross-fade ♪
631
00:38:48,058 --> 00:38:51,660
♪ Rhythm can be kept to a
self-choice pace,
depending on moment ♪
632
00:38:51,662 --> 00:38:56,665
I remember sitting there just
look... staring at the 808
saying,
633
00:38:56,667 --> 00:38:59,901
"My God all of this is coming
out of that machine?"
634
00:38:59,903 --> 00:39:06,274
And I remember being afraid to
touch it, but I wanted to.
635
00:39:06,276 --> 00:39:07,042
♪ It's yours ♪
636
00:39:07,044 --> 00:39:12,881
After I recorded 'It's Yours' I
forgot about it. I went back to
work the next day.
637
00:39:12,883 --> 00:39:18,053
And I turned the radio on and I
remember the radio personality
she says,
638
00:39:18,055 --> 00:39:23,058
"The number one requested song
of the day and hip-hop
lovers..."
639
00:39:23,060 --> 00:39:26,228
And I'm thinking here we go
another Run DMC record.
640
00:39:26,230 --> 00:39:32,234
And I heard that opening.
Duh duh duh...
641
00:39:32,236 --> 00:39:36,271
I grabbed Ken, the pharmacist,
yanked him over,
642
00:39:36,273 --> 00:39:39,708
before he could get this
close the lady says,
643
00:39:39,710 --> 00:39:43,912
"Brand new number one requested
song by T L.A. Rock."
644
00:39:43,914 --> 00:39:48,850
And I said, "Oh my God she said
my name wrong, but my record's
on the radio."
645
00:39:48,852 --> 00:39:50,385
I put it on and I heard
it and I said, "Wow,
646
00:39:50,387 --> 00:39:53,989
"this record sounds like one of
the demos that we were making."
647
00:39:53,991 --> 00:39:59,194
To me that was like the
official version of hip-hop as
I knew it.
648
00:39:59,196 --> 00:40:04,766
Everything slowed down, and now
all of a sudden the groove was
a little slower,
649
00:40:04,768 --> 00:40:08,203
you could hear more of the rap
as opposed to the rap just
650
00:40:08,205 --> 00:40:09,838
kind of like flying over the
beat.
651
00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:13,275
Fast forward, Danceteria,
record release party.
652
00:40:13,277 --> 00:40:16,912
Beastie Boys. They were
the under card.
653
00:40:16,914 --> 00:40:22,017
For those that don't know
Danceteria was the big scene
back then, but not really for
hip-hop.
654
00:40:22,019 --> 00:40:25,353
I'm thinking, "Oh my God, how
are these people going to react
to me?"
655
00:40:25,355 --> 00:40:30,892
I went out, the record came
on... I'm talking about
everyone,
656
00:40:30,894 --> 00:40:33,328
the entire club just erupted.
657
00:40:33,330 --> 00:40:36,231
They were drowning me
out, put it that way.
658
00:40:36,233 --> 00:40:39,034
Once again I have to come
back to that drum machine.
659
00:40:39,036 --> 00:40:41,203
I had those speakers at
Danceteria booming.
660
00:40:41,205 --> 00:40:45,907
Now everything is great with
'It's Yours' but I have one
major complaint.
661
00:40:45,909 --> 00:40:49,845
This guy walks up to me and I
thought I had some kind of beef
with this guy.
662
00:40:49,847 --> 00:40:53,949
I'm like no I'm this
gentle giant, this nice guy,
what kind of beef can he have
with me.
663
00:40:53,951 --> 00:41:00,021
And he goes, "Oh man, if you
weren't such a super star man
me and you would have problems."
664
00:41:00,023 --> 00:41:04,059
"Why?" He says, "Man your
record blew out my speakers."
665
00:41:04,061 --> 00:41:06,895
I said, "Oh my God..." I
said, "Are you serious?"
666
00:41:06,897 --> 00:41:11,433
He says, "Man I turned the bass
up. My whole system just
blew out."
667
00:41:11,435 --> 00:41:14,469
I said, "Well..." In my
mind I'm like, "Yay!"
668
00:41:14,471 --> 00:41:18,306
but in front of him I'm like,
"Hey man... Sorry about that,
669
00:41:18,308 --> 00:41:23,478
"but that might be the best
story I've heard all year."
670
00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:25,380
True story now.
671
00:41:25,382 --> 00:41:25,981
♪♪
672
00:41:25,983 --> 00:41:31,019
After the success of 'It's
Yours', the kick drum and low
bass of the 808
673
00:41:31,021 --> 00:41:33,021
became key building blocks
of early hip-hop.
674
00:41:33,023 --> 00:41:37,192
It's one of the defining
sounds of hip-hop, from 'Planet
Rock' to,
675
00:41:37,194 --> 00:41:40,128
I mean we used it on
'99 Problems' you know with
Jay-Z.
676
00:41:40,130 --> 00:41:44,199
Rick Rubin was the King of the
808. He put the rock in the 808.
677
00:41:44,201 --> 00:41:47,969
The album that he definitely
utilized the 808
678
00:41:47,971 --> 00:41:51,540
in its finest moments to me was
'Licensed to Ill' by the
Beastie Boys.
679
00:41:51,542 --> 00:41:57,813
The fact that he was able to
get so many ideas out of the
808.
680
00:41:57,815 --> 00:42:00,582
Well I think before
we talk about
681
00:42:00,584 --> 00:42:02,083
Well what happened
682
00:42:02,085 --> 00:42:05,153
Before we talk about the
impact of the 808
683
00:42:05,155 --> 00:42:07,022
and everything on the album,
684
00:42:07,024 --> 00:42:09,925
to get there I am just going to
go in baby steps, I think.
685
00:42:09,927 --> 00:42:15,530
Adam, to give credit where
credit's due, procured our
first 808.
686
00:42:15,532 --> 00:42:20,836
Right. We put out our song
'Cookie Puss' and it was a
twelve-inch
687
00:42:20,838 --> 00:42:24,906
with some other sort of dubbed
versions of it and stuff on the
B-side.
688
00:42:24,908 --> 00:42:26,141
And we had come into
some money as a band
689
00:42:26,143 --> 00:42:33,248
regarding a lawsuit against a
well-known airline company that
used the song, part of it.
690
00:42:33,250 --> 00:42:34,616
-Without licensing it.
-Without licensing it.
691
00:42:34,618 --> 00:42:39,321
And so I went to the used music
store Rouge Music and I was
going to buy,
692
00:42:39,323 --> 00:42:41,489
I had two hundred and fifty
bucks and I was going to buy
693
00:42:41,491 --> 00:42:46,127
a Rickenbacker guitar like Paul
Weller's, the exact guitar.
694
00:42:46,129 --> 00:42:48,196
And then there was an 808
and I'd heard about it,
695
00:42:48,198 --> 00:42:51,867
and I'd heard like, "Oh that's
the 'Plant Rock' thing." or
something like that,
696
00:42:51,869 --> 00:42:54,202
like I'd heard... And I
wanted a drum machine,
697
00:42:54,204 --> 00:42:56,004
and I was like well fuck it
I'll just buy this one.
698
00:42:56,006 --> 00:42:57,439
So instead of the guitar I
brought the drum machine.
699
00:42:57,441 --> 00:43:01,610
It ended up at the studio, we
all recorded at the studio
called Chung King.
700
00:43:01,612 --> 00:43:08,083
And so like my 808 is on our
album, on the first couple of
LL Cool J albums,
701
00:43:08,085 --> 00:43:09,451
on Run DMC, a couple
of their albums.
702
00:43:09,453 --> 00:43:15,590
And so it was kind of like for
whatever reason became the
Chung King 808 for a while.
703
00:43:15,592 --> 00:43:18,593
♪ Now here's a little story
I've got to tell ♪
704
00:43:18,595 --> 00:43:21,963
♪ About three bad brothers
you know so well ♪
705
00:43:21,965 --> 00:43:24,299
♪ It started way
back in history ♪
706
00:43:24,301 --> 00:43:26,635
♪ With Adrock, M.C.A.
and me, Mike D. ♪
707
00:43:26,637 --> 00:43:29,604
I mean to take an 808 and
reverse it on 'Paul Revere'.
708
00:43:29,606 --> 00:43:35,310
How do you even think about
that? Play the tape backwards
and then they rap to that.
709
00:43:35,312 --> 00:43:37,112
Which is... Who thinks of that?
710
00:43:37,114 --> 00:43:41,483
Basically, Mike was saying
that we would push riffs, or
like push the bass and the kick.
711
00:43:41,485 --> 00:43:47,589
It was really Adam Yauch that
was really the techno wiz, and
so he was very into
712
00:43:47,591 --> 00:43:54,162
production and how to get
certain sounds so he was really
into that sort of thing.
713
00:43:54,164 --> 00:43:57,465
♪♪
714
00:43:57,467 --> 00:44:03,972
The three of us were going to
meet Run and DMC and write a
song, and record a song,
715
00:44:03,974 --> 00:44:07,175
and we didn't really have an
idea we were just going to meet
at some
716
00:44:07,177 --> 00:44:08,610
random studio on twenty
something street.
717
00:44:08,612 --> 00:44:12,180
And so we get there and there's
an 808 there, I don't know
whose it was
718
00:44:12,182 --> 00:44:14,716
maybe it was theirs maybe it
was ours I don't know.
719
00:44:14,718 --> 00:44:17,619
But Yauch was like, "Oh, we
should record it backwards."
720
00:44:17,621 --> 00:44:22,324
And tell me if I'm saying this
wrong, but Yauch was like,
"Because Jimmy Hendrix, I'd
721
00:44:22,326 --> 00:44:24,459
"heard or read somewhere that he
used to do a lot of stuff
backwards."
722
00:44:24,461 --> 00:44:30,198
Like he'd turn the tape over,
record the guitar solo, and
then turn it back over and the
shit would be backwards.
723
00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:35,003
♪ I've got a license to kill,
I think you know what time it
is, it's time to get ill ♪
724
00:44:35,005 --> 00:44:37,305
♪ Now what do we have here an
outlaw and his beer ♪
725
00:44:37,307 --> 00:44:39,341
♪ I run this land, you
understand,
I make myself clear ♪
726
00:44:39,343 --> 00:44:43,478
So he programmed just like the
simplest 808 pattern, but
recorded it on a tape.
727
00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:51,386
-Then flipped the tape over.
-He flipped the tape over so it
was recording it backwards then
played it back so it would...
728
00:44:51,388 --> 00:44:56,725
Yauch recorded the beat, you
know recorded it onto the tape
729
00:44:56,727 --> 00:44:59,327
but then flipped the tape
over. So then the tape's
730
00:44:59,329 --> 00:45:01,363
-He flipped the tape over
then recorded it.
-backwards.
731
00:45:01,365 --> 00:45:04,532
-No. No, other way.
-Yes he flipped the tape
over recorded it.
732
00:45:04,534 --> 00:45:07,635
-See it's like forty years
later and I still don't know
how it happened.
-With the record
733
00:45:07,637 --> 00:45:11,639
-head on, anyway it's not for
the film.
-No it is your telling the story
tell them how it
734
00:45:11,641 --> 00:45:17,112
-actually happened. I don't
remember.
-With the recording head on it
only goes in one direction,
735
00:45:17,114 --> 00:45:19,714
but so you record it... Um...
736
00:45:19,716 --> 00:45:24,152
You record it forward but then
you flip the tape so when its
playing back,
737
00:45:24,154 --> 00:45:31,593
its backwards but everything
else your recording on it is
recording forward.
738
00:45:31,595 --> 00:45:32,627
-Which is what we did.
-Ok.
739
00:45:32,629 --> 00:45:34,596
-Does that make sense or does
it not really make sense?
-No.
740
00:45:34,598 --> 00:45:38,299
And the way you just
looked at me it seemed like you
were really confused when you
said it.
741
00:45:38,301 --> 00:45:44,472
-Not a good sell huh. Alright
I didn't sell that very well.
-But it comes out backwards
which is the whole thing.
742
00:45:44,474 --> 00:45:51,479
-The shit was fucking backwards.
-What I'm saying is, as you can
see in terms of the
technological and
743
00:45:51,481 --> 00:45:55,150
production level of our band it
went Adam, and then Mike
744
00:45:55,152 --> 00:45:57,218
and then myself was
kind of dead last.
745
00:45:57,220 --> 00:45:58,753
♪ Stick 'em up, and
let two fly ♪
746
00:45:58,755 --> 00:46:01,289
♪ Hands went up and people
hit the floor ♪
747
00:46:01,291 --> 00:46:03,058
♪ He wasted two kids that
ran for the door ♪
748
00:46:03,060 --> 00:46:11,132
Now we're hearing the 808 beat
backwards and it went zzzum
zzzum zzz zzzum zzzum and
749
00:46:11,134 --> 00:46:14,402
Run comes running in like, "Yo!"
750
00:46:14,404 --> 00:46:17,705
Just yelling, jumping
up and down like,
751
00:46:17,707 --> 00:46:19,474
"This is the record,
this is the record."
752
00:46:19,476 --> 00:46:23,545
But it really was amazing it
was just one of those moments
where,
753
00:46:23,547 --> 00:46:27,515
inspired by one thing that had
nothing to do with an 808
record, right
754
00:46:27,517 --> 00:46:29,584
like Jimmy Hendrix records,
and Yauch having this
755
00:46:29,586 --> 00:46:33,421
split second innovation. Nobody
could have ever imagined it
would be this
756
00:46:33,423 --> 00:46:39,494
backwards, stripped down drum
machine loop vibrating windows
around the world.
757
00:46:39,496 --> 00:46:43,665
♪♪
758
00:46:44,768 --> 00:46:49,838
We just tried to find ways to
amp it up, to be as over the
top as possible.
759
00:46:49,840 --> 00:46:54,476
Overloading things to just take
them to an extreme place.
760
00:46:54,478 --> 00:46:57,145
Our intension really was to
like shatter windows.
761
00:46:57,147 --> 00:47:03,751
We wanted to take it to a place
where it was really like
abusive kind of.
762
00:47:03,753 --> 00:47:06,387
Rick Rubin had a period in 1985
where
763
00:47:06,389 --> 00:47:08,723
he did 'Together Forever'
for Run DMC,
764
00:47:08,725 --> 00:47:10,558
'Slow and Low' for the Beastie
Boys,
765
00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:13,294
and at the same time Russell
Simmons got a Columbia deal,
766
00:47:13,296 --> 00:47:16,264
two million dollar Columbia
deal, put out 'Crush Groove',
767
00:47:16,266 --> 00:47:18,867
and then boom LL Cool
J is the poster boy.
768
00:47:18,869 --> 00:47:26,174
And suddenly 'Rock the Bells'
is on the top forty charts with
full bass.
769
00:47:26,176 --> 00:47:28,610
'Planet Rock' introduced the
808 to hip-hop music.
770
00:47:28,612 --> 00:47:36,217
From there, Rick Rubin figured
out that you could get bass out
of it by tuning it to full
decay.
771
00:47:36,219 --> 00:47:42,323
The rumor is Dr. Dre of
Original Concept showed him
how to even get a fuller tone
out of it.
772
00:47:42,325 --> 00:47:47,428
To me the most incredible use
of it was Dr. Dre from the East
Coast.
773
00:47:47,430 --> 00:47:50,398
He created the record
called 'Knowledge Me'.
774
00:47:50,400 --> 00:47:54,836
One of the early Def Jam
records that nobody knows,
under the name of Original
Concept.
775
00:47:54,838 --> 00:48:00,175
He took the 808 and did
something to it that made it
huge.
776
00:48:00,177 --> 00:48:03,344
I remember Original Concept,
and they started really
777
00:48:03,346 --> 00:48:06,781
misusing the boom kick drum,
and it just went boom.
778
00:48:06,783 --> 00:48:10,952
♪ -You know what I'm
saying, man? I went to see Rusty
J man
-And where you go next? ♪
779
00:48:10,954 --> 00:48:12,554
♪ Rusty J with the headline
on the radio, man? ♪
780
00:48:12,556 --> 00:48:17,292
♪ Yo man Rusty J be fresh, you
know what I'm saying cuz?
Yo he had a lot of ♪
781
00:48:17,294 --> 00:48:20,195
That record, I would go
in and sample that,
782
00:48:20,197 --> 00:48:24,732
and that was my 808 for the
rest of the records.
783
00:48:24,734 --> 00:48:29,571
'Bring The Noise', 'Rebel
Without A Pause', and the list
goes on.
784
00:48:29,573 --> 00:48:32,874
'Party For Your Right To
Fight', you know, “Terrordome'.
785
00:48:32,876 --> 00:48:36,477
Anything that I could possibly
put, had to have that.
786
00:48:36,479 --> 00:48:39,614
When you listen to Rubin's
stuff or you listen to
787
00:48:39,616 --> 00:48:40,915
the stuff that LL was making
788
00:48:40,917 --> 00:48:44,485
or you listen to the Shocklee
or Eric Sadler
789
00:48:44,487 --> 00:48:45,420
or Bomb Squad Productions,
790
00:48:45,422 --> 00:48:51,559
it was just larger than life. I
mean it literally felt like it
had come from, from Mars or
something.
791
00:48:51,561 --> 00:48:57,799
And a lot of the intrigue was
just trying to work out what
the composite of that sound was.
792
00:48:57,801 --> 00:49:01,002
I was listening to a
Marly Marl record,
793
00:49:01,004 --> 00:49:06,874
and he sampled the kick and the
snare from records all right,
794
00:49:06,876 --> 00:49:18,319
but then he also added a
sustain kick on the one so you
get this kind of like kick-boom.
795
00:49:18,321 --> 00:49:21,556
And I'm sitting there going
like, "Yo, I want to sample
that."
796
00:49:21,558 --> 00:49:23,758
So I sampled that a million
different ways.
797
00:49:23,760 --> 00:49:29,397
And from that point on, that
particular sound was in
everything,
798
00:49:29,399 --> 00:49:32,734
it's kind of like milk
or adding water,
799
00:49:32,736 --> 00:49:37,672
it's like you cannot make a
record without having that 808
sound.
800
00:49:37,674 --> 00:49:41,576
It's just, it's just not, it's
just not hip-hop, it's not
authentic.
801
00:49:41,578 --> 00:49:44,646
♪ I am taking no prisoners,
taking no shorts ♪
802
00:49:44,648 --> 00:49:46,881
♪ Breakin' with the metal
of a couple of forts ♪
803
00:49:46,883 --> 00:49:49,584
♪ While we're hearin' that
boom supplement the mix ♪
804
00:49:49,586 --> 00:49:51,786
♪ Gonna rush 'em like
the Bears in the 46 ♪
805
00:49:51,788 --> 00:49:54,589
♪ Homeboys I don't know but
they're part of the pack ♪
806
00:49:54,591 --> 00:49:56,791
♪ In the plan against the
man, bum rush attack ♪
807
00:49:56,793 --> 00:49:58,960
♪ For the suckers at the door,
if you're up and around ♪
808
00:49:58,962 --> 00:50:02,597
♪ For the suckers at the door,
we're gonna knock you right
down ♪
809
00:50:02,599 --> 00:50:07,001
♪ Yo! Bum rush the show, yo! ♪
810
00:50:07,003 --> 00:50:12,874
Come on man lets go back to
'Yo! Bum Rush The Show',
'Rightstarter',
811
00:50:12,876 --> 00:50:15,643
'My Uzi Weighs a ton'.
It didn't matter.
812
00:50:15,645 --> 00:50:17,011
It's like whatever record
I was making, it's like,
813
00:50:17,013 --> 00:50:20,982
it wasn't complete unless, "Yo,
we've got to put the 808 in
this shit man."
814
00:50:20,984 --> 00:50:25,820
Bang, and now the record's
finished, all right. But I
didn't care if it was a ballad.
815
00:50:25,822 --> 00:50:29,757
It was like, "Okay, I'm doing an
R&B ballad, okay it's not
complete,
816
00:50:29,759 --> 00:50:32,994
"put the 808 in it,
it's hot now."
817
00:50:32,996 --> 00:50:35,063
♪♪
818
00:50:35,065 --> 00:50:36,998
♪ It's been a long time ♪
819
00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:40,034
While hip-hop and electro
dominated in New York,
820
00:50:40,036 --> 00:50:42,704
a new sound was developing
further south.
821
00:50:42,706 --> 00:50:46,474
A sound fueled by
the 808 kick drum.
822
00:50:46,476 --> 00:50:48,910
In the 80s and part of the
90s,
823
00:50:48,912 --> 00:50:52,714
the 808 really found a
home and an identity in Miami,
824
00:50:52,716 --> 00:50:54,048
you know, the whole Miami Bass
sound.
825
00:50:54,050 --> 00:50:57,352
It really comes from 'Planet
Rock' to be honest. I mean the
808,
826
00:50:57,354 --> 00:51:02,590
I wonder if 'Planet Rock' was
done on a different drum
machine if Miami Bass would
sound different.
827
00:51:02,592 --> 00:51:06,894
In New York it was like TKA,
Lisa Lisa and all these people,
828
00:51:06,896 --> 00:51:08,730
so nobody out in Miami
was doing it.
829
00:51:08,732 --> 00:51:10,798
So I go, "You know what,
let me try doing it."
830
00:51:10,800 --> 00:51:15,670
The first record I did was 'Fix
It In The Mix'. That went
platinum.
831
00:51:15,672 --> 00:51:19,073
♪ If you got a problem that
you cannot really fix ♪
832
00:51:19,075 --> 00:51:23,678
♪ Let me hear your problem and
I'll fix it in my mix ♪
833
00:51:23,680 --> 00:51:29,150
♪♪
834
00:51:29,152 --> 00:51:34,489
The problem I had was, the
first record I did went
platinum they go, "He's lucky,"
835
00:51:34,491 --> 00:51:38,693
because if it wasn't from New
York, it can't be real.
836
00:51:38,695 --> 00:51:41,162
Second went platinum,
"He's still lucky."
837
00:51:41,164 --> 00:51:45,566
Third one, "I've got to watch
this guy he might..."
838
00:51:45,568 --> 00:51:48,870
And then by like four and
five I was accepted.
839
00:51:48,872 --> 00:51:50,538
♪♪
840
00:51:50,540 --> 00:51:53,975
I was one of the first people
that I knew about put bass
boom on a record,
841
00:51:53,977 --> 00:51:56,611
and it just sound awesome, so
I was just coming out of being
a DJ,
842
00:51:56,613 --> 00:52:01,449
so I go, I reflected back to my
crowd and I go they would love
this.
843
00:52:01,451 --> 00:52:04,685
Problem was when I went
to the mastering lab
844
00:52:04,687 --> 00:52:06,621
they go, "You can't do that."
I go, "What do you mean?"
845
00:52:06,623 --> 00:52:12,059
"You can't put that boom on a
record." I said, "Well listen
I'm paying you, put it on."
846
00:52:12,061 --> 00:52:17,064
And I took it from the
mastering lab to the radio
station, and it went crazy.
847
00:52:17,066 --> 00:52:21,702
In Miami all of a sudden it was
this very local music, it was
very southern,
848
00:52:21,704 --> 00:52:23,971
and it talked about the
neighborhoods there.
849
00:52:23,973 --> 00:52:27,074
You know, there was probably
six to eight different
850
00:52:27,076 --> 00:52:29,210
acts that were all just 808,
808, 808.
851
00:52:29,212 --> 00:52:33,481
You couldn't use no other drum
machine, for the Miami Bass
852
00:52:33,483 --> 00:52:34,582
style of music, it was a must.
853
00:52:34,584 --> 00:52:39,887
It spawned this huge scene down
in Florida where it no longer
was just in the skating rink,
854
00:52:39,889 --> 00:52:45,726
now it was making its way out
into the masses, and to the
high school dances,
855
00:52:45,728 --> 00:52:47,628
and to the clubs.
856
00:52:47,630 --> 00:52:50,865
My first experience of the 808
came when we were
857
00:52:50,867 --> 00:52:52,733
running a small studio up in
Hollywood.
858
00:52:52,735 --> 00:52:56,571
We used to call it The Box. In
those days Luther Campbell,
859
00:52:56,573 --> 00:53:00,842
Luke Skywalker was running the
place with a song called 'Throw
That Dick'.
860
00:53:00,844 --> 00:53:06,881
So Mr. Mixx, Mr. Hobbs who was
the main guy, who was the beat
producer at that time,
861
00:53:06,883 --> 00:53:10,751
he would come to the studio and
me and my other partner was the
engineers there.
862
00:53:10,753 --> 00:53:15,189
My blueprint was taking
elements of the 'Planet Rock'
record,
863
00:53:15,191 --> 00:53:19,994
you know, using that as the
tempo guide and then actually
taking
864
00:53:19,996 --> 00:53:23,965
hot records that was at the
same beat per minute speed
865
00:53:23,967 --> 00:53:26,701
and mixing those into
the 808 drum machine,
866
00:53:26,703 --> 00:53:30,605
and then putting comedy stabs
of wild and crazy stuff being
said.
867
00:53:30,607 --> 00:53:36,210
You know, that was my gumbo pot
of making what they ended up
calling Miami Bass.
868
00:53:36,212 --> 00:53:41,749
Back in the days the iPhone
wasn't there where you could
film Mr. Mixx making his loop,
869
00:53:41,751 --> 00:53:44,151
and two tracks at a time,
you know what I mean.
870
00:53:44,153 --> 00:53:49,023
He would be using the SP-1200
for his music sampling,
chopping up.
871
00:53:49,025 --> 00:53:52,093
And you'd leave him there
about, say one o'clock in the
day.
872
00:53:52,095 --> 00:53:56,864
By about six thirty you'd
come back and what you would
hear would be crazy.
873
00:53:56,866 --> 00:54:06,274
He would have the meters do do
du dum, do do do do du dum boom.
874
00:54:06,276 --> 00:54:09,176
I pulled the damn needle
off the shit.
875
00:54:09,178 --> 00:54:10,878
Alright, let's do it.
876
00:54:10,880 --> 00:54:13,881
I would just tinker around,
when I actually got one.
877
00:54:13,883 --> 00:54:16,751
I actually take the 808 drum
machine into parties with me,
878
00:54:16,753 --> 00:54:20,288
so, you know, you're playing a
popular record, you know what I
mean,
879
00:54:20,290 --> 00:54:23,658
and then you turn
the machine on.
880
00:54:23,660 --> 00:54:27,328
It's a record that nobody knows,
or at least they think
it's a record,
881
00:54:27,330 --> 00:54:31,632
but they don't realize it's
a drum machine that's up there
playing you know what I mean.
882
00:54:31,634 --> 00:54:36,837
So, you know, then you're able
to solo your scratches and
all of that,
883
00:54:36,839 --> 00:54:39,173
and do your little thing to it.
884
00:54:39,175 --> 00:54:53,588
♪♪
885
00:54:53,590 --> 00:54:58,025
That's what you would do live
and people would just think
that,
886
00:54:58,027 --> 00:55:00,695
"Man what is he doing up there,
he's ruining something,
887
00:55:00,697 --> 00:55:02,830
or he's making something,
he's creating something."
888
00:55:02,832 --> 00:55:06,601
It was all about the bass, it
was all about the bass.
889
00:55:06,603 --> 00:55:09,870
To me the whole world
was about the bass.
890
00:55:09,872 --> 00:55:13,040
♪♪
891
00:55:13,042 --> 00:55:14,809
♪ So many kinds, where
can we start? ♪
892
00:55:14,811 --> 00:55:16,944
♪ We like them dumb and
we like them smart ♪
893
00:55:16,946 --> 00:55:19,046
♪ I like the ones with
the pretty eyes ♪
894
00:55:19,048 --> 00:55:20,348
♪ Well I like all
kinds of guys ♪
895
00:55:20,350 --> 00:55:24,051
♪ Stop. What happened, how
about the ones we especially
like? ♪
896
00:55:24,053 --> 00:55:28,222
♪ Which ones?
You know the ones with
the cars that go ♪
897
00:55:28,224 --> 00:55:30,925
♪ I hear you, hit it! ♪
898
00:55:30,927 --> 00:55:36,297
In Hollis rap music was big but
it was kinda more like Run DMC
and LL Cool J.
899
00:55:36,299 --> 00:55:38,366
You were fly when you had
gold chains and Adidas.
900
00:55:38,368 --> 00:55:43,638
In Miami you were fly if your
speaker system rattled the
windows,
901
00:55:43,640 --> 00:55:44,905
if you annoyed the neighbors.
902
00:55:44,907 --> 00:55:48,409
♪ It was me and the
posse with Bunny D ♪
903
00:55:48,411 --> 00:55:52,813
♪ We were cruising in the
Jags or the Lamborghinis ♪
904
00:55:52,815 --> 00:55:56,751
♪ When low and behold there
appeared a mirage ♪
905
00:55:56,753 --> 00:56:00,388
♪ He was hooking up a car
in his daddy's garage ♪
906
00:56:00,390 --> 00:56:05,092
It was full on culture shock,
the music was different, they
talked with a funny accent,
907
00:56:05,094 --> 00:56:10,831
they wore funny clothes, but,
you know, it kind of rocked my
world. I just adapted.
908
00:56:10,833 --> 00:56:16,771
♪ Bass, I assume,
but then he turned a little
button and the car went boom ♪
909
00:56:16,773 --> 00:56:22,910
You'd be driving any time in
Miami back in those days and a
car would pass you,
910
00:56:22,912 --> 00:56:26,847
and your car would literally
freeze in the road because that,
911
00:56:26,849 --> 00:56:30,251
that 808 would just,
you know what I mean.
912
00:56:30,253 --> 00:56:32,386
Do do do do boom
boom, boom boom.
913
00:56:32,388 --> 00:56:37,458
You know, all bass music, and
people were like, they were
building systems
914
00:56:37,460 --> 00:56:40,127
bigger than any system I'd ever
seen in the back of a car.
915
00:56:40,129 --> 00:56:45,800
♪ They're always adding
speakers when they find the
room, cuz they know we love ♪
916
00:56:45,802 --> 00:56:50,204
The inspiration came from these
two old Jewish dudes in the
studio.
917
00:56:50,206 --> 00:56:51,939
We had recorded the whole album
and they kept pushing,
918
00:56:51,941 --> 00:56:55,810
"Write a song about the cars,
you guys are always cruising
around with these big systems,
919
00:56:55,812 --> 00:56:58,846
"write about that." And we were
like, "Don't nobody want to
hear about that."
920
00:56:58,848 --> 00:57:04,318
So we kind of postponed writing
it and then at the very last
minute we needed an extra track
921
00:57:04,320 --> 00:57:07,121
and we were like, "Oh,
it will be a B-Side."
922
00:57:07,123 --> 00:57:09,824
I wrote it in like
fifteen minutes.
923
00:57:09,826 --> 00:57:10,825
The lyrics and everything,
924
00:57:10,827 --> 00:57:16,263
because we thought it was kind
of silly, and then, yea, and
then it charted.
925
00:57:16,265 --> 00:57:17,198
♪ The cars that go boom ♪
926
00:57:17,200 --> 00:57:20,234
We had other songs that we
thought were going to be the
smashes,
927
00:57:20,236 --> 00:57:21,836
but we loved it, you know,
it was really playful.
928
00:57:21,838 --> 00:57:27,942
It kind of like spoke to our
generation and our culture at
least in Miami.
929
00:57:27,944 --> 00:57:29,376
That's what we did
we cruised around
930
00:57:29,378 --> 00:57:33,881
and we especially liked the
guys with the cars that went
boom.
931
00:57:33,883 --> 00:57:36,517
♪♪
932
00:57:36,519 --> 00:57:40,020
We coming from the reggae
experience, we know what the
deep bass is.
933
00:57:40,022 --> 00:57:45,526
But this is almost like a tone
now, it's not like the bass
guitar it's that
934
00:57:45,528 --> 00:57:47,094
resonance of that low end.
935
00:57:47,096 --> 00:57:48,262
Dynamix II actually did a
record,
936
00:57:48,264 --> 00:57:51,232
I want to say it was in '87
called 'Give The DJ a Break'.
937
00:57:51,234 --> 00:57:56,437
And they were one of the first
groups to tune the 808 drum.
938
00:57:56,439 --> 00:57:59,006
♪♪
939
00:57:59,008 --> 00:58:02,109
♪ Just give the DJ a break ♪
940
00:58:02,111 --> 00:58:04,345
♪ Just give the
DJ a break ♪
941
00:58:04,347 --> 00:58:09,049
We just had an idea to take the
808 and make it the bass line
for the song.
942
00:58:09,051 --> 00:58:14,088
So we took the 808 and married
it with a 909 and an emulator
943
00:58:14,090 --> 00:58:17,458
and brought it into an SP-1200
and played it in multi tones.
944
00:58:17,460 --> 00:58:23,464
As soon as that happened, we
get, we sort of got credit for
being the first record to do
that
945
00:58:23,466 --> 00:58:27,101
down here, and it was a huge
record. Went gold for us.
946
00:58:27,103 --> 00:58:29,804
Eric Griffin was the programmer
on that song
947
00:58:29,806 --> 00:58:37,178
and he took the 808 kick drum
in its full decay and tuned it.
948
00:58:37,180 --> 00:58:40,514
But he did something to it that
gave it a unique sound.
949
00:58:40,516 --> 00:58:47,021
I don't know, I don't know
exactly what he did. I never got
a chance to find that out.
950
00:58:47,023 --> 00:58:51,058
♪ Please stay tuned ♪
951
00:58:51,060 --> 00:58:54,128
♪ Please stay tuned ♪
952
00:58:54,130 --> 00:58:57,331
But I was given that
sound by Dave Noller,
953
00:58:57,333 --> 00:58:59,600
and I actually have
that sound there.
954
00:58:59,602 --> 00:59:06,273
So it's got the punch and the
decay, but it's got almost like
a...
955
00:59:06,275 --> 00:59:10,444
you know, sign wave
or triangle wave,
956
00:59:10,446 --> 00:59:12,379
and that just had everyone's
head spinning,
957
00:59:12,381 --> 00:59:15,115
"Woah, how'd they do that?" You
know?
958
00:59:15,117 --> 00:59:18,118
And that's where the SP-1200
drum machine came in,
959
00:59:18,120 --> 00:59:21,055
which... It enabled us to
tune the sounds, you know,
960
00:59:21,057 --> 00:59:29,129
even the snare drums we would
be able to take the original
snare and we did things like...
961
00:59:29,131 --> 00:59:30,531
♪♪
962
00:59:30,533 --> 00:59:35,169
You know, so it just, it
just hot-roded the 808.
963
00:59:36,138 --> 00:59:37,171
♪♪
964
00:59:37,173 --> 00:59:40,074
In Italy, producer Tony
Carrasco was introduced to the
808,
965
00:59:40,076 --> 00:59:47,381
and would produce a seminal
record that influenced everyone
from New Order to the Pet Shop
Boys.
966
00:59:47,383 --> 00:59:50,251
One of my friends who has, he
had this whole
967
00:59:50,253 --> 00:59:52,052
sound gear, all
of this analog stuff,
968
00:59:52,054 --> 00:59:54,054
he brought it in and said, "I
think you would like this drum
machine."
969
00:59:54,056 --> 00:59:58,959
So he gave it to me and showed
me a couple of the step
programs he was doing on this
drum machine and I said,
970
00:59:58,961 --> 01:00:04,265
"Wow, I've got to try to do
something on this drum machine,
do sort of a record on it."
971
01:00:04,267 --> 01:00:11,205
Carrasco used the 808 on a
couple of recordings before he
began working with Mario
Boncaldo
972
01:00:11,207 --> 01:00:14,041
on what would become
Klein & MBO.
973
01:00:14,043 --> 01:00:17,344
Mario Boncaldo came to me
with this demo and I said,
974
01:00:17,346 --> 01:00:20,915
"Wow I like that. Let's
try to produce that."
975
01:00:20,917 --> 01:00:25,419
The idea was something very
Human League, you know.
976
01:00:25,421 --> 01:00:42,569
♪♪
977
01:00:42,571 --> 01:00:45,072
I knew it was going to be a big
record, because it's just,
978
01:00:45,074 --> 01:00:48,208
it's just one of those things
you feel when the chemistry is
right, you know.
979
01:00:48,210 --> 01:00:52,079
When we finished the mix I took
it back to the club I was
playing in Milan,
980
01:00:52,081 --> 01:00:54,114
people on the dance floor just
responded tremendously and I
said,
981
01:00:54,116 --> 01:00:58,185
"Wow this is going to be big."
Two months later some fashion
model came into the club
982
01:00:58,187 --> 01:01:00,587
and he said, "This record...
They're playing this record in
New York."
983
01:01:00,589 --> 01:01:03,324
I said, "Really?" He goes.
"Yea it's just blowing up."
984
01:01:03,326 --> 01:01:06,327
Thanks to Jellybean, of course,
my best friend, you know.
985
01:01:06,329 --> 01:01:09,630
'Dirty Talk' was really
interesting because it
986
01:01:09,632 --> 01:01:12,032
used the 808 but it also had
this like
987
01:01:12,034 --> 01:01:14,401
Italian thing to it. Tony
Carrasco
988
01:01:14,403 --> 01:01:17,271
who was the writer and
the artist and producer of it
989
01:01:17,273 --> 01:01:19,406
was a New York DJ for a long
time and moved to Italy,
990
01:01:19,408 --> 01:01:24,345
so he sort of fused like sort
of the Italian disco thing but
it also kept
991
01:01:24,347 --> 01:01:28,515
sort of the underground thing
that was happening in New York,
992
01:01:28,517 --> 01:01:30,284
and was a very, very big record.
993
01:01:30,286 --> 01:01:32,586
They really rocked the
percussion and the hi-hats
994
01:01:32,588 --> 01:01:35,289
so now you found another element
of the 808 that was really
995
01:01:35,291 --> 01:01:38,058
interesting, it wasn't
all about just the kick and the
snare no more,
996
01:01:38,060 --> 01:01:42,563
now you had the do do do do do
do do do. And you had all that
type of stuff making you dance.
997
01:01:42,565 --> 01:01:47,201
That's one thing about the
sound of the 808 it had the
ultimate dance feel to it.
998
01:01:47,203 --> 01:01:49,536
Klein & MBO wasn't even a
record it was like ok
999
01:01:49,538 --> 01:01:52,072
what are they saying, nobody
know the lyrics,
1000
01:01:52,074 --> 01:01:54,008
nobody knows the melody, nobody
knows shit.
1001
01:01:54,010 --> 01:01:58,445
Only thing that anybody knows
is, "Yo that beat's crazy."
1002
01:01:58,447 --> 01:02:02,149
♪♪
1003
01:02:02,151 --> 01:02:06,720
Over in Chicago during the mid
80's, early house producers
such as Chip E
1004
01:02:06,722 --> 01:02:08,255
and Jesse Saunders were
working with the 808,
1005
01:02:08,257 --> 01:02:15,129
creating influential tracks
that would help build the
foundations for house music
as we know it today.
1006
01:02:15,131 --> 01:02:16,764
♪ These things inside my soul ♪
1007
01:02:16,766 --> 01:02:19,199
♪ They make me lose control ♪
1008
01:02:19,201 --> 01:02:21,435
♪ It goes on and on ♪
1009
01:02:21,437 --> 01:02:23,037
♪♪
1010
01:02:23,039 --> 01:02:28,675
A lot of dance music was quite
familiar stuff based on R&B.
1011
01:02:28,677 --> 01:02:31,111
House music and techno
music, I mean
1012
01:02:31,113 --> 01:02:33,547
it's all about having this one
bar
1013
01:02:33,549 --> 01:02:37,151
looping endlessly and doing
variations on that.
1014
01:02:37,153 --> 01:02:39,520
For me that's like the
definition of house.
1015
01:02:39,522 --> 01:02:42,056
I think all the early house
producers and stuff
1016
01:02:42,058 --> 01:02:43,457
perfected it in a
more functional,
1017
01:02:43,459 --> 01:02:45,159
rhythmic, just purely
rhythmic sense,
1018
01:02:45,161 --> 01:02:49,296
and it's forever going to be
associated with that sound.
1019
01:02:49,298 --> 01:02:50,397
♪♪
1020
01:02:50,399 --> 01:02:53,834
♪ Just dance until
the beat is gone ♪
1021
01:02:57,706 --> 01:03:01,075
♪♪
1022
01:03:01,077 --> 01:03:03,844
The early days of house and
techno music were beginning in
the mid west
1023
01:03:03,846 --> 01:03:08,348
cities of Chicago and Detroit,
but what can be considered one
of the first early
1024
01:03:08,350 --> 01:03:11,518
experimentations with acid
house sounds actually came from
India.
1025
01:03:11,520 --> 01:03:17,424
Bollywood session musician
Charanjit Singh created an
unusual futuristic blend of 808
1026
01:03:17,426 --> 01:03:20,427
beats on his album 'Ten
Ragas To A Disco Beat'.
1027
01:03:20,429 --> 01:03:22,763
So far ahead of its time,
when released in 1982,
1028
01:03:22,765 --> 01:03:29,803
it pre-dated the first acid
house records to emerge from
Chicago by at least two years.
1029
01:03:29,805 --> 01:03:46,787
♪♪
1030
01:03:47,790 --> 01:03:54,561
♪♪
1031
01:03:54,563 --> 01:03:58,465
♪ Ahhhhhh I've lost ♪
1032
01:03:58,467 --> 01:04:02,636
Marshall was like the... He
lived and died by the 808.
1033
01:04:02,638 --> 01:04:05,772
I think every dude
in Chicago did.
1034
01:04:05,774 --> 01:04:09,643
♪ I've lost control ♪
1035
01:04:09,645 --> 01:04:13,180
♪♪
1036
01:04:13,182 --> 01:04:18,318
♪ I've lost, ahhhhhh, control ♪
1037
01:04:18,320 --> 01:04:21,355
♪♪
1038
01:04:21,357 --> 01:04:24,424
♪ I've lost control ♪
1039
01:04:24,426 --> 01:04:29,763
You know, I would watch like
Marshall and DJ Pierre, Mike
'Hitman' Wilson,
1040
01:04:29,765 --> 01:04:32,266
even Bad Boy Bill, he was
like one of these cats.
1041
01:04:32,268 --> 01:04:34,601
I would sit there and watch
them. I was a keyboard player,
1042
01:04:34,603 --> 01:04:39,239
I was not trying to even come
near a machine that produced
beats, I just wanted to play
keyboards.
1043
01:04:39,241 --> 01:04:50,584
Chicago '84, '83, '85, maybe to
'89 when BMX and GCI went out
over here, that was our shit
right there.
1044
01:04:50,586 --> 01:04:54,821
For us electronic
mother fuckers, the 808 was our
savior.
1045
01:04:54,823 --> 01:04:58,458
What I loved about all of those
records
1046
01:04:58,460 --> 01:05:01,595
at that moment in the
mid 80's was
1047
01:05:01,597 --> 01:05:03,897
their simplicity
and their rhythm.
1048
01:05:03,899 --> 01:05:08,368
The Chicago and the Detroit
stuff was coming from,
1049
01:05:08,370 --> 01:05:09,536
I guess from a European
perspective.
1050
01:05:09,538 --> 01:05:13,874
They, they were taking on
European influences and
bringing that into their music.
1051
01:05:13,876 --> 01:05:16,910
There were a lot of people
trying to bite around that
sound.
1052
01:05:16,912 --> 01:05:21,481
Particularly in Chicago there
were a lot of producers in
Chicago that were just sending
me,
1053
01:05:21,483 --> 01:05:24,218
at the time, letters because
we didn't have emails,
1054
01:05:24,220 --> 01:05:26,353
that they were a very
big fan of that sound.
1055
01:05:26,355 --> 01:05:28,322
And they were saying that it
sort of influenced the whole
1056
01:05:28,324 --> 01:05:32,559
Chicago whole sound, the whole
Detroit sound and all of that.
1057
01:05:32,561 --> 01:05:34,795
♪♪
1058
01:05:34,797 --> 01:05:39,299
In Detroit an 808 driven
electro track was created by
Juan Atkins and Richard
1059
01:05:39,301 --> 01:05:44,738
Davis as the group Cybotron.
Released in 1983, 'Clear' can
be considered
1060
01:05:44,740 --> 01:05:48,375
part of the early evolution
of techno music.
1061
01:05:48,377 --> 01:05:50,644
♪ Clear today, clear today ♪
1062
01:05:50,646 --> 01:05:55,282
♪ Clear, your mind,
Clear, your mind ♪
1063
01:05:55,284 --> 01:05:56,883
♪ Clear ♪
1064
01:05:56,885 --> 01:06:12,633
♪♪
1065
01:06:12,635 --> 01:06:16,803
It's a bit like one of those
things where one day you
realize that almost all the
1066
01:06:16,805 --> 01:06:18,005
music you loved did
have an 808 in it.
1067
01:06:18,007 --> 01:06:23,977
Something like Derrick May
'Rhythim is Rhythim', 'Icon' I
think is one of the
1068
01:06:23,979 --> 01:06:29,316
biggest records for me, most
influential records for me,
that's all 808.
1069
01:06:29,318 --> 01:06:33,654
Turning the 808 on reminded me
of the Juan Atkins records and
also took me
1070
01:06:33,656 --> 01:06:38,659
back to the first records that
really I guess got me into
electronic music.
1071
01:06:38,661 --> 01:06:41,495
Probably my most beautiful
moment with an 808 was
1072
01:06:41,497 --> 01:06:48,001
going back at 8am on a Sunday
morning after listening to
Derrick May play in Detroit,
1073
01:06:48,003 --> 01:06:51,672
and turning on my 808, and
creating a whole song out of
it.
1074
01:06:51,674 --> 01:06:55,976
Trying to make an intense
rhythmic piece out of one
machine,
1075
01:06:55,978 --> 01:06:57,878
and in actual fact it became
one of my biggest songs
1076
01:06:57,880 --> 01:07:03,450
because that was 'Plastikman -
Spastic' which is pure 808.
1077
01:07:03,752 --> 01:07:07,954
In the late 80s an acid house
explosion was taking place in
the UK,
1078
01:07:07,956 --> 01:07:10,757
influenced by the music
pioneered in Chicago.
1079
01:07:10,759 --> 01:07:14,661
I think it's been going back and
forth in a very interesting way.
1080
01:07:14,663 --> 01:07:18,098
You know, house music was born
in Chicago and New York,
1081
01:07:18,100 --> 01:07:23,070
and London and the UK in
general they really have that
thing of turning
1082
01:07:23,072 --> 01:07:30,911
a street phenomenon into,
adding a cool factor to it so
it becomes more like a trend.
1083
01:07:30,913 --> 01:07:34,614
-Me and you were going down
the Hacienda quite a lot
-Yea.
1084
01:07:34,616 --> 01:07:37,651
and hearing the beginnings
of the acid thing there.
1085
01:07:37,653 --> 01:07:42,422
It was natural for us to start
dabbling with a bit of acid
house.
1086
01:07:42,424 --> 01:07:54,034
♪♪
1087
01:07:54,036 --> 01:07:57,871
It was a really, I don't know,
a really old school sound at
the time for me
1088
01:07:57,873 --> 01:08:02,976
because I had kind of gone
through like the whole electro
thing. But I was used to it and
it was a nice sound.
1089
01:08:02,978 --> 01:08:07,881
The acid thing was really
intense at the time. There was a
sort of focus on it where it
1090
01:08:07,883 --> 01:08:14,087
felt like it was in the air and
it was exciting. Therefore when
we first made
1091
01:08:14,089 --> 01:08:19,526
'Newbuild' that first album, it
was about an intensity.
1092
01:08:19,528 --> 01:08:26,133
♪♪
1093
01:08:26,135 --> 01:08:30,103
What you can do with 808's and
those kind of machines is block
them off at
1094
01:08:30,105 --> 01:08:35,075
sevens and nines and things,
put them against each other and
you start getting these
1095
01:08:35,077 --> 01:08:38,044
really interesting polyrhythms
that are really exciting.
1096
01:08:38,046 --> 01:08:42,783
We weren't particularly focused
on making a dance record or
making a club record,
1097
01:08:42,785 --> 01:08:48,755
it was just making it as alien
as possible and pushing into
that alien territory.
1098
01:08:48,757 --> 01:08:51,458
-That's when I got really
excited about that kind of
music.
1099
01:08:51,460 --> 01:08:56,696
-Same here actually, it was a
way of kind of pushing and
experimenting.
1100
01:08:56,698 --> 01:08:59,966
-In some ways we were trying to
emulate the American thing but
not really
1101
01:08:59,968 --> 01:09:03,069
-because we were trying to mess
with that formula,
-I was though.
1102
01:09:03,071 --> 01:09:07,674
Take those sounds that were
familiar and then push it
1103
01:09:07,676 --> 01:09:09,476
out as far as we
could, you know.
1104
01:09:09,478 --> 01:09:13,713
By the early 90s a number of
musical genres began to split
off.
1105
01:09:13,715 --> 01:09:16,950
Producers were experimenting
with break beat sounds and
heavy bass.
1106
01:09:16,952 --> 01:09:23,523
Jungle and drum and bass were
born, and the 808 would play a
key role in their development.
1107
01:09:23,525 --> 01:09:27,627
808 was the soundtrack
to my generation.
1108
01:09:27,629 --> 01:09:31,698
And hearing it and thinking,
"We could really fuck with it.
1109
01:09:31,700 --> 01:09:34,568
"Wouldn't it be great to turn a
whole bunch of people onto it."
1110
01:09:34,570 --> 01:09:40,841
The tunes for me that took up
the mantle of it within my own
music, within drum and bass
music
1111
01:09:40,843 --> 01:09:44,811
was Foul Play, Satin
Storm, Doc Scott, myself, you
know, Waremouse,
1112
01:09:44,813 --> 01:09:50,250
2 Bad Mice, Ibiza Records
especially. They hacked into it
like you wouldn't believe.
1113
01:09:50,252 --> 01:09:52,252
Mickey Finn I think was the
first thing I heard,
1114
01:09:52,254 --> 01:09:55,088
which was just... I think it was
about 6 'o clock in the morning
1115
01:09:55,090 --> 01:09:56,490
at Castlemorton and it was
frightening.
1116
01:09:56,492 --> 01:10:00,927
It was the best day of my life,
and the end of the world had
come at the same time.
1117
01:10:00,929 --> 01:10:07,634
And I found that... I found
Mickey Finn's production
specifically, and then Peshay's
1118
01:10:07,636 --> 01:10:12,939
and people like that, Bukem, I
found that mind blowing.
1119
01:10:12,941 --> 01:10:15,609
♪ Take me up ♪
1120
01:10:15,611 --> 01:10:19,112
♪♪
1121
01:10:19,114 --> 01:10:21,615
♪ Come on take me up ♪
1122
01:10:21,617 --> 01:10:32,692
♪♪
1123
01:10:32,694 --> 01:10:35,562
The thing is with the 808 as
far as drum and bass music was
concerned, from
1124
01:10:35,564 --> 01:10:39,833
the first note, whether it was
Bukem on 'Horizons' rolling it,
or me dropping it
1125
01:10:39,835 --> 01:10:44,271
on one bar on 'Terminator' or
'Satin Storm' or 'Here Comes
The Drums' or any of those,
1126
01:10:44,273 --> 01:10:52,245
or 'Your Sound', any of those
classic tunes, once you
committed to the 808, you
committed to it.
1127
01:10:52,247 --> 01:10:56,716
Gladly for us technology came
along again a decade later
where we could
1128
01:10:56,718 --> 01:11:02,322
bend the 808, where we could,
we could harness its power. You
know what I mean.
1129
01:11:02,324 --> 01:11:06,660
People could tune their kick
drums, so the kick drum could
play the bass at the
1130
01:11:06,662 --> 01:11:09,229
same time, and that was
something that to be honest
when I first put
1131
01:11:09,231 --> 01:11:10,730
headphones on I was like,
"Hang on a minute."
1132
01:11:10,732 --> 01:11:15,335
There was drums and there was
bass, but now the two were sort
of fused
1133
01:11:15,337 --> 01:11:19,806
so the feel was not just
complex and rhythmical but it
was also tonal.
1134
01:11:19,808 --> 01:11:25,679
For me the first idea of
bending it was Hit Factory, KRS
One. I always wanted
1135
01:11:25,681 --> 01:11:30,784
to do a track with Kris, and I
always felt that a homage thing
would use an 808
1136
01:11:30,786 --> 01:11:36,590
on the VIP especially of KRS
One for me was... You know...
that's like...
1137
01:11:36,592 --> 01:11:41,061
I've met my heroes I might as
well go and get hit by a Mack
truck now.
1138
01:11:41,063 --> 01:11:44,798
♪ KRS One, come back
in digital ♪
1139
01:11:44,800 --> 01:11:52,672
♪♪
1140
01:11:52,674 --> 01:11:56,977
♪ KRS One, come back
in digital ♪
1141
01:11:56,979 --> 01:12:02,048
♪♪
1142
01:12:02,050 --> 01:12:05,118
The biggest problem we had with
it was how do you cut it. How
do you effect it
1143
01:12:05,120 --> 01:12:09,122
and cut it on a lathe, because
I'd have people like Stuart at
Masterpiece going, or
1144
01:12:09,124 --> 01:12:13,026
Leon at Music Power, "Boy, the
thing it just jumped out man,
it's blowing the
1145
01:12:13,028 --> 01:12:17,297
"head, it's blowing the head out
man. The thing's got too much
bass man, on
1146
01:12:17,299 --> 01:12:20,133
"the bass man. Too much bass
this and bass that."
1147
01:12:20,135 --> 01:12:22,769
And it was true because
we were cranking it and
1148
01:12:22,771 --> 01:12:26,740
you would see the cutting arm
go across and it would go...
1149
01:12:26,742 --> 01:12:29,776
That's the bass. So we would
have to go back and tone it
down,
1150
01:12:29,778 --> 01:12:35,048
or cut it in mono. And then we
started trying to echo it and
reverb it where it would
1151
01:12:35,050 --> 01:12:42,122
just be shuddering around, and
you would see the speaker
going... Woom woom woom...
1152
01:12:42,124 --> 01:12:43,690
That's the 808 lads,
that's the 808.
1153
01:12:43,692 --> 01:12:48,828
It wasn't until we had spectrum
analyzers where you could see,
ah there's your problem.
1154
01:12:48,830 --> 01:12:53,166
You've got all this sound going
like that and then there's this
one peak,
1155
01:12:53,168 --> 01:12:59,906
that's the bass line, just out
of the roof, there's nothing
else, it's just gone.
1156
01:13:01,943 --> 01:13:05,278
♪♪
1157
01:13:05,280 --> 01:13:10,684
Throughout its life the 808 has
continued to inspire and
influence musicians,
1158
01:13:10,686 --> 01:13:13,720
lending its beats to countless
iconic recordings.
1159
01:13:13,722 --> 01:13:17,057
Throughout the 90s, 2000s
and into the present day,
1160
01:13:17,059 --> 01:13:20,360
the 808 sounds continue to
be as relevant as ever.
1161
01:13:20,362 --> 01:13:25,732
Without an 808 you couldn't
have what we call bass music.
1162
01:13:25,734 --> 01:13:29,936
You couldn't have what I did,
crunk music, you couldn't have
1163
01:13:29,938 --> 01:13:31,004
the Memphis movement,
1164
01:13:31,006 --> 01:13:32,872
you couldn't have New
Orleans bounce music.
1165
01:13:32,874 --> 01:13:39,979
It's the foundation of those
tracks, those tracks won't
sound the same without that
boom.
1166
01:13:39,981 --> 01:13:41,715
It's got to have that drop.
1167
01:13:41,717 --> 01:13:44,451
I think the 808 stayed really
alive in the south
1168
01:13:44,453 --> 01:13:47,253
for a long time as it became
probably dormant
1169
01:13:47,255 --> 01:13:50,156
in the rest of the world and
then southern rap just rose.
1170
01:13:50,158 --> 01:13:53,259
A former Miami Bass producer
out of New Orleans, Mannie
Fresh,
1171
01:13:53,261 --> 01:13:56,996
who was the in-house Producer
for Cash Money Records and
working beneath the
1172
01:13:56,998 --> 01:14:02,035
radar, he kept the New Orleans
bounce sound alive which is
heavily related to
1173
01:14:02,037 --> 01:14:06,106
Miami Bass. And when Master P
became a powerful independent
1174
01:14:06,108 --> 01:14:09,275
record label owner and Universal
Records
1175
01:14:09,277 --> 01:14:11,511
went down to New Orleans to
find out who else
1176
01:14:11,513 --> 01:14:14,848
was working down there, they
found Cash Money they found
Mannie Fresh,
1177
01:14:14,850 --> 01:14:20,120
and that's why the 808 became
today's pop music, today's
hip-hop music,
1178
01:14:20,122 --> 01:14:24,257
because bounce became more
influenced. Lil Jon with the
whole Atlanta
1179
01:14:24,259 --> 01:14:29,095
Crunk scene and TBT Records got
onboard and Atlantic Records
got onboard
1180
01:14:29,097 --> 01:14:32,966
with Trick Daddy, and now we
have today's top 40 music.
1181
01:14:32,968 --> 01:14:36,269
I think my biggest record of my
life ever
1182
01:14:36,271 --> 01:14:40,240
with an 808 is
'Yeah!' by Usher.
1183
01:14:40,242 --> 01:14:42,041
♪♪
1184
01:14:42,043 --> 01:14:44,077
♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
1185
01:14:44,079 --> 01:14:47,781
♪ Okay, okay, Usher, Usher ♪
1186
01:14:47,783 --> 01:14:51,084
♪ Lil Jon, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah ♪
1187
01:14:51,086 --> 01:14:56,890
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
let's go ♪
1188
01:14:56,892 --> 01:15:02,262
It's Usher's biggest record of
his career, the album went on
to sell ten million
1189
01:15:02,264 --> 01:15:07,901
records, and that was the
single that blew that album up.
It was an R&B
1190
01:15:07,903 --> 01:15:16,543
singer, singing over an 808,
and really a dance sound. Like
nobody had really kinda bridged
1191
01:15:16,545 --> 01:15:23,016
those worlds together before
me. And that's also why I see
myself as an 808
1192
01:15:23,018 --> 01:15:27,153
guy because I mean I really had
the 808 booming in that track.
1193
01:15:27,155 --> 01:15:30,590
♪ So I got up and followed
her to the floor ♪
1194
01:15:30,592 --> 01:15:32,959
♪ She said baby let's
go, let's go ♪
1195
01:15:32,961 --> 01:15:34,994
♪ When I told her I said
yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
1196
01:15:34,996 --> 01:15:40,033
What really made that song so
big, it was that it appealed to
people in the hood,
1197
01:15:40,035 --> 01:15:47,540
ghetto mother fuckers, to pop
mother fuckers. And that's a
wide variety and
1198
01:15:47,542 --> 01:15:57,851
range of people to appeal to.
To appeal to super pop and
super hood, you know, is
amazing.
1199
01:15:57,853 --> 01:16:01,154
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
1200
01:16:01,156 --> 01:16:06,226
There is a whole school of rap
beats currently that use the
808 kick pretty
1201
01:16:06,228 --> 01:16:12,498
much exclusively. And the thing
that's amazing is that there
are still new
1202
01:16:12,500 --> 01:16:19,038
patterns being created with it.
The type of really stuttery and
pitched snare and
1203
01:16:19,040 --> 01:16:25,211
hi-hat patterns that you hear
in this current era of Lex
Luger, Drummer Boy, kind of
1204
01:16:25,213 --> 01:16:32,418
post Mannie Fresh southern hip-
hop production, that's a whole
other kind of evolution.
1205
01:16:32,420 --> 01:16:36,122
One really defining 808 thing
for me and I was actually
1206
01:16:36,124 --> 01:16:39,592
talking this yesterday with
Tiga, we started
1207
01:16:39,594 --> 01:16:45,031
talking about how the 808
actually changed both of our
lives quite a bit.
1208
01:16:45,033 --> 01:16:47,934
I was a DJ and I owned a
nightclub and a record store.
1209
01:16:47,936 --> 01:16:50,470
I was doing well for myself in
Montreal in Canada.
1210
01:16:50,472 --> 01:16:52,939
Anyway I had obviously lots of
dreams and stuff
1211
01:16:52,941 --> 01:16:54,040
and it all hinged on production
1212
01:16:54,042 --> 01:16:56,676
and I was a bit lazy. And then
one day my friend Jori
1213
01:16:56,678 --> 01:17:00,613
Hulkkonen, he came to Montreal,
I brought him to Montreal for a
New Years Eve
1214
01:17:00,615 --> 01:17:04,417
party and we had like a day off
or something the next day.
1215
01:17:04,419 --> 01:17:08,187
We had nothing to do
so Tiga had an 808.
1216
01:17:08,189 --> 01:17:10,089
I had a Juno, and
we rented an MPC.
1217
01:17:10,091 --> 01:17:14,160
Miss Kittin & The Hacker had
just done this EP. They had
done a couple of
1218
01:17:14,162 --> 01:17:19,265
cover versions. I think they
had like 'Sweet Dreams' with
Miss Kittin re-singing it.
1219
01:17:19,267 --> 01:17:23,336
Kind of like dirty electro
version and we thought, "Oh we
want to do something like this."
1220
01:17:23,338 --> 01:17:27,273
We started screwing around and
we made 'Sunglasses At Night',
this track.
1221
01:17:27,275 --> 01:17:28,341
It took like an
hour and a half.
1222
01:17:28,343 --> 01:17:33,413
Which is almost entirely 808,
no effects chain nothing it was
just raw 808 to DAT.
1223
01:17:33,415 --> 01:17:40,720
That became one of the biggest
club records of that year and
kind of started Tiga's career.
1224
01:17:40,722 --> 01:17:44,590
♪ I wear my sunglasses
at night ♪
1225
01:17:44,592 --> 01:17:47,226
♪ So I can, so I can ♪
1226
01:17:47,228 --> 01:17:52,598
♪ Watch you weave then breathe
your story lines ♪
1227
01:17:52,600 --> 01:17:55,068
♪♪
1228
01:17:55,070 --> 01:17:58,538
The track became super
successful and it completely
launched me.
1229
01:17:58,540 --> 01:18:00,740
I mean I don't think I'd be
here if it wasn't for that.
1230
01:18:00,742 --> 01:18:06,646
That was the first record that
Tiga was ever part of producing
and making of
1231
01:18:06,648 --> 01:18:09,649
so that kind of started
Tiga's whole career.
1232
01:18:09,651 --> 01:18:13,252
♪ Don't masquerade with the
guy in shades, oh no ♪
1233
01:18:13,254 --> 01:18:17,190
I think the record sold like two
hundred and fifty thousand
copies.
1234
01:18:17,192 --> 01:18:22,328
And it was beyond raw, I mean
beyond ghetto, it was exactly
punk rock or
1235
01:18:22,330 --> 01:18:24,297
exactly how I imagine the old
Chicago guys making their
tracks.
1236
01:18:24,299 --> 01:18:32,038
That kind of changed a lot of
things for us, so the 808
actually has been a big
influence in my career.
1237
01:18:32,040 --> 01:18:35,675
I love the 808 for me
it changed my life.
1238
01:18:35,677 --> 01:18:37,543
♪ Oh no ♪
1239
01:18:37,545 --> 01:18:39,779
♪♪
1240
01:18:39,781 --> 01:18:43,316
♪ I wear my sunglasses
at night ♪
1241
01:18:43,318 --> 01:18:47,687
♪ So I can, so I can, watch you
weave ♪
1242
01:18:47,689 --> 01:18:51,791
A lot of the use of the 808 is
down to people who
1243
01:18:51,793 --> 01:18:56,162
are open to new technology using
the thing.
1244
01:18:56,164 --> 01:18:57,163
Producers, it's like
1245
01:18:57,165 --> 01:18:58,798
the thing that I really like
about Rick and obviously about
1246
01:18:58,800 --> 01:19:02,368
Bambaataa and certain people
that take things and use them
in a different
1247
01:19:02,370 --> 01:19:06,439
way is that they have open
minds towards different music.
So you hear
1248
01:19:06,441 --> 01:19:09,675
Bambaataa and he's like, "Oh I
want to make a Kraftwerk
record." As opposed
1249
01:19:09,677 --> 01:19:12,712
to I want to make these rap
records that are fucking
awesome but they're like
1250
01:19:12,714 --> 01:19:16,516
you know funk records, R&B
tracks that are awesome, but
it's like I want to make
1251
01:19:16,518 --> 01:19:20,319
this other thing. Rick Rubin
was like, "I want to make a Led
Zeppelin rap song."
1252
01:19:20,321 --> 01:19:25,358
And Alec Empire that's like, "I
want to make a fucking Bad
Brains dance 808 track."
1253
01:19:25,360 --> 01:19:30,496
There's people that make some
weird shit, that takes this
thing into a
1254
01:19:30,498 --> 01:19:34,367
whole different direction. That
makes that thing special.
1255
01:19:34,369 --> 01:19:37,470
Have you ever heard this track
I did called 'Kick drum'?
1256
01:19:37,472 --> 01:19:39,605
You hear that 808 blasting. I'm
doing
1257
01:19:39,607 --> 01:19:43,109
shit with the 808 that's never
been done.
1258
01:19:43,111 --> 01:19:44,343
Fuck it let's reference
that shit.
1259
01:19:44,345 --> 01:19:46,846
I'm running that shit through
fucking all kinds of filters and
1260
01:19:46,848 --> 01:19:55,788
chaos and shit. I think I have
the best 808 track of the last
ten years.
1261
01:19:55,790 --> 01:19:59,258
♪ Big fat kick drum makes
you wanna get some ♪
1262
01:19:59,260 --> 01:20:02,295
♪ Makes you wanna get some,
makes you wanna get some ♪
1263
01:20:02,297 --> 01:20:07,834
♪ Big fat kick drum make the
girlies get none, makes the
girlies get none ♪
1264
01:20:07,836 --> 01:20:12,772
The whole track is an 808. It's
like, "My big fat kick drum
makes me go boom, boom."
1265
01:20:12,774 --> 01:20:18,478
It was like... Boom, boom,
boom... Y'all feel that shit?
1266
01:20:18,480 --> 01:20:21,547
♪ Big fat kick drum makes
the girls get some ♪
1267
01:20:21,549 --> 01:20:25,451
♪ Big fat kick drum
makes the girls get some ♪
1268
01:20:25,453 --> 01:20:29,622
♪ Big fat kick drum makes
the girl, girl ♪
1269
01:20:29,624 --> 01:20:42,602
♪♪
1270
01:20:42,604 --> 01:20:51,744
♪ Big fat kick drum makes
you wanna get some,
big fat kick drum
makes the girls get some ♪
1271
01:20:52,147 --> 01:20:56,849
It just filled a massive void
in the sound spectrum that
wasn't there.
1272
01:20:56,851 --> 01:21:01,187
Since its arrival it just
established itself as this
1273
01:21:01,189 --> 01:21:02,788
pertinent frequency.
1274
01:21:02,790 --> 01:21:06,659
People may not have known that
that frequency mattered so much
to them with
1275
01:21:06,661 --> 01:21:12,798
music, but once the 808 started
to occupy that space it became
something you missed if you
didn't have.
1276
01:21:12,800 --> 01:21:20,406
It's like semtex man, it's like,
"Carefully put it in the
arrangement pattern, and walk
away."
1277
01:21:20,408 --> 01:21:21,707
If the 808 never existed,
1278
01:21:21,709 --> 01:21:24,177
where you're sitting now, I
don't know if I'd ever own
1279
01:21:24,179 --> 01:21:27,647
this house, this console. Every
hit record I've done has 808's
in it.
1280
01:21:27,649 --> 01:21:32,718
I've used it throughout my
entire career in one-way or the
other. If not as an
1281
01:21:32,720 --> 01:21:35,555
actual stand alone 808,
1282
01:21:35,557 --> 01:21:38,791
the sounds, because they were
unlike any other.
1283
01:21:38,793 --> 01:21:44,564
I'm assuming any producer that
makes rap music just has one.
1284
01:21:44,566 --> 01:21:49,335
So it's part of your every day
recording. You know what I mean?
It's just there.
1285
01:21:49,337 --> 01:21:53,472
Right? You know what I mean,
it's like having jelly in your
fridge.
1286
01:21:53,474 --> 01:21:54,707
-You just have it all the time.
-Jelly?
1287
01:21:54,709 --> 01:21:57,810
-Yeah. You don't have
jelly in your fridge?
-I have artisanal jams Adam.
1288
01:21:57,812 --> 01:22:03,216
-I'm sure you do but same
thing, you get what I'm saying
right.
-Artisanal preserves.
1289
01:22:03,218 --> 01:22:05,284
Whatever I've got
jelly in my fridge.
1290
01:22:05,286 --> 01:22:08,888
It's not just the sounds that
are in the 808, it's the
1291
01:22:08,890 --> 01:22:10,356
internal rhythm of it that's so
1292
01:22:10,358 --> 01:22:15,661
specific to that instrument,
almost like the way a certain
percussion player plays
something.
1293
01:22:15,663 --> 01:22:19,232
As a musician, if you have a
guitar, if you have a drum, it's
how you interact
1294
01:22:19,234 --> 01:22:22,969
with that machine to create the
nuances that become your
trademark.
1295
01:22:22,971 --> 01:22:26,405
And the trademark of an 808 is
that human interaction.
1296
01:22:26,407 --> 01:22:31,244
Actually, a really nice feature
of the 808 was you had this
huge tempo knob,
1297
01:22:31,246 --> 01:22:32,845
and then you had this smaller
like kinda fine tuning
1298
01:22:32,847 --> 01:22:37,250
which you could play with and
slip and slide the rhythm and
the tempo.
1299
01:22:37,252 --> 01:22:43,623
These are all things that make
808 bass tracks so incredibly
wonderful,
1300
01:22:43,625 --> 01:22:48,561
and again there's a spirit,
there's an energy there from
that machine.
1301
01:22:48,563 --> 01:22:52,431
What happened in the early 80s,
the way that staple became
1302
01:22:52,433 --> 01:22:53,299
the sort of heartbeat of
1303
01:22:53,301 --> 01:22:57,270
dance music, that's, that's the
starting point for where we are
now, you know.
1304
01:22:57,272 --> 01:23:00,740
If it weren't for those
records, I don't think the 808
would carry on because of
1305
01:23:00,742 --> 01:23:05,411
what a great sound it is. In
some ways the idea that it was
obsolete eighteen
1306
01:23:05,413 --> 01:23:10,983
months after was true, it
really was. But because it was
used on these great
1307
01:23:10,985 --> 01:23:17,657
records, and has such a
signature sound, it lives on
forever.
1308
01:23:17,659 --> 01:23:23,029
Every musical movement actually
comes from technology.
1309
01:23:23,031 --> 01:23:25,298
'Cause there are only so many
1310
01:23:25,300 --> 01:23:28,567
chord progressions, there's
only so many notes.
1311
01:23:28,569 --> 01:23:34,807
What makes the difference is
when there's a new instrument
that is created,
1312
01:23:34,809 --> 01:23:39,979
and people are like, ok I'm
going to use it, and I'm going
to twist it.
1313
01:23:39,981 --> 01:23:42,014
I think it happened big
time with the 808.
1314
01:23:42,016 --> 01:23:47,453
I guess the interesting thing
for me would be to be able to
see what Roland
1315
01:23:47,455 --> 01:23:51,524
thinks of what they've created
or if they even understand the
culture that they
1316
01:23:51,526 --> 01:23:56,662
created. They created a whole
underlying musical movement,
you know.
1317
01:23:56,664 --> 01:23:59,799
A few musical movements that's
the thing. There's been a few
of them.
1318
01:23:59,801 --> 01:24:05,438
Yeah, so it would be really
interesting to me to hear what
they think about the
1319
01:24:05,440 --> 01:24:09,075
808 and the music that's
been created from it.
1320
01:24:09,077 --> 01:24:11,410
I have a feeling they
have no idea.
1321
01:24:11,412 --> 01:24:12,545
I don't think so.
1322
01:24:12,547 --> 01:24:16,682
♪ We bring the beats that
make you vibrate ♪
1323
01:24:16,684 --> 01:24:22,054
♪♪
1324
01:24:22,056 --> 01:24:26,726
♪ We bring the beats that
make you vibrate ♪
1325
01:24:32,800 --> 01:24:43,442
♪♪
1326
01:28:34,308 --> 01:28:43,782
♪♪
1327
01:29:08,309 --> 01:29:11,110
♪ 808 kick drum, 808 hat ♪
1328
01:29:11,112 --> 01:29:13,646
♪ 808 snare drum, 808 clap ♪
1329
01:29:13,648 --> 01:29:16,281
♪ Got an 808 this
and an 808 that ♪
1330
01:29:16,283 --> 01:29:19,318
♪ Got an 808 boom
and an 808 bap ♪
1331
01:29:19,320 --> 01:29:28,160
♪ 808 bap, 808 bap,
808 bap, 808 bap ♪
1332
01:29:28,162 --> 01:29:31,030
♪ 808 boom and an 808 bap ♪
1333
01:29:31,032 --> 01:29:33,832
♪ 808 kick drum, 808 hat ♪
1334
01:29:33,834 --> 01:29:36,035
♪ 808 snare drum, 808 clap ♪
1335
01:29:36,037 --> 01:29:38,971
♪ Got an 808 this
and an 808 that ♪
1336
01:29:38,973 --> 01:29:42,007
♪ Got an 808 boom
and an 808 bap ♪
1337
01:29:42,009 --> 01:29:51,050
♪ 808 bap, 808 bap,
808 bap, 808 bap ♪
1338
01:29:51,052 --> 01:29:54,019
♪ This is 404 over 808 ♪
1339
01:29:54,021 --> 01:30:04,463
♪♪
1340
01:30:04,465 --> 01:30:06,331
♪ 808 ♪
1341
01:30:06,333 --> 01:30:13,806
♪♪
1342
01:30:27,021 --> 01:30:28,821
♪ 808 ♪
1343
01:30:28,823 --> 01:30:35,461
♪♪
1344
01:30:35,463 --> 01:30:39,998
♪ Boom clap on the beat
that's a classic ♪
1345
01:30:40,000 --> 01:30:46,739
♪♪
1346
01:30:46,741 --> 01:30:50,409
♪ Boom clap, boom clap, boom
that's what happened ♪
1347
01:30:50,411 --> 01:30:55,347
♪♪
1348
01:30:55,349 --> 01:30:58,350
♪ 808 ♪
1349
01:30:58,352 --> 01:31:01,320
♪ Boom clap on the beat
that's a classic ♪
1350
01:31:01,322 --> 01:31:04,123
♪ 808 kick drum, 808 hat ♪
1351
01:31:04,125 --> 01:31:06,358
♪ 808 snare drum, 808 clap ♪
1352
01:31:06,360 --> 01:31:09,228
♪ Got an 808 this
and an 808 that ♪
1353
01:31:09,230 --> 01:31:12,197
♪ Got an 808 boom
and an 808 bap ♪
1354
01:31:12,199 --> 01:31:21,106
♪ 808 bap, 808 bap,
808 bap, 808 bap ♪
1355
01:31:21,108 --> 01:31:23,809
♪ 808 boom and an 808 bap ♪
1356
01:31:23,811 --> 01:31:26,445
♪ 808 kick drum,
kick drum, hat ♪
1357
01:31:26,447 --> 01:31:28,947
♪ 808 snare drum,
snare drum, clap ♪
1358
01:31:28,949 --> 01:31:31,984
♪ Got an 808 this and an,
this and an, that ♪
1359
01:31:31,986 --> 01:31:35,788
♪ Got an 808 boom and an 808 ♪
1360
01:31:35,790 --> 01:31:40,926
♪♪
1361
01:31:40,928 --> 01:31:43,428
♪ Boom ♪
1362
01:31:43,430 --> 01:31:46,331
♪ Boom clap on the beat
that's a classic ♪
1363
01:31:46,333 --> 01:31:49,001
♪ 808 kick drum,
kick drum, hat ♪
1364
01:31:49,003 --> 01:31:51,336
♪ 808 snare drum,
snare drum, clap ♪
1365
01:31:51,338 --> 01:31:54,473
♪ Got an 808 this and an,
this and an, that ♪
1366
01:31:54,475 --> 01:31:57,376
♪ Got an 808 boom and an 808 ♪
1367
01:31:57,378 --> 01:32:05,017
♪ 808 bap, 808 bap,
808 bap, 808 bap ♪
1368
01:32:05,019 --> 01:32:06,251
♪♪
1369
01:32:06,253 --> 01:32:09,521
♪ 808 boom and an 808 bap ♪
1370
01:32:09,523 --> 01:32:17,329
♪♪
1371
01:32:28,943 --> 01:32:32,110
♪ 808 boom and an 808 ♪
130817
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