What was the first classic rock song to top the charts with a drum machine?
Rock music is a genre built on emotion, skill, and the power of live performance. Look through the pages of rock history and every revelation within the genre has been the result of someone having their mind blown at a gig.
Consider Jimi Hendrix for instance. This is an artist often celebrated for his ability to play live and capture the hearts of audiences with an unrelenting fire which he packs into every strike of his pick. It didn’t take long for word to travel about his exciting style of guitar playing, and with that word, crowds flocked from far and wide to witness the majesty of the six-string shredder.
“It was probably one of the first shows he did (in London),” said Jeff Beck when recounting the first time he ever saw Hendrix perform live, “It was in a tiny downstairs club in Queensgate. It was a fashion club – mostly girls, 18 to 25, all dolled up, hats and all. Jimi wasn’t known then […] He came on, and I went, ‘Oh, my God.’ He had the military outfit on and hair that stuck out all over the place. They kicked off with (Bob Dylan’s) ‘Like a Rolling Stone,’ and I thought, ‘Well, I used to be a guitarist.’”
Jimi Hendrix isn’t alone in receiving this kind of praise, rock musicians from all around the globe were judged on their ability to play live. If you couldn’t play your instrument, or weren’t too proficient in your speciality, it was hard for the community to take you seriously.
Rock musicians felt so tied to the sanctity of performing live that when career opportunities presented themselves, regardless of how beneficial they might be, bands would turn them down if it meant sacrificing their live sound. Then you had other bands who accepted the offer but used the platform to make a mockery of the censorship of live music.
For instance, when Nirvana were asked to play on Top of the Pops, while Kurt Cobain was allowed to sing live, the rest of the band had to mime. This meant bassist Krist Novoselic played with his bass guitar behind his head, meanwhile, Dave Grohl spent the majority of the song not playing the drums, but instead dancing.
Due to rock’s persistence that live music comes above all else, there has always been a negative stigma attached to the use of instruments that don’t require human intervention, such as the drum machine. People felt as though the use of a drum machine was insulting to the art of drumming. Not to mention, in the early days, their sound could never capture the same vigour or energy that an actual drummer could. That being said, there were some artists who could break the mold and use the drum machine in a way that resonated with rock fans. So, what was the first song to break through the mold and be recognised by the mainstream despite not using a real drummer?
So, what was the first classic rock song with a drum machine to go to number one?
If there was ever a musical mind capable of using a drum machine to a never before seen extent, it was Sly Stone. His song ‘Family Affair’ was the first rock track that managed to make it to number one, granted it was a mixture of rock and funk, but if anything that makes the achievement even more impressive. Sly synced the machine slightly out of time, which gave it an element of character, despite the fact that nobody was playing it.
The use of a drum machine was born out of necessity. Sly and the Family Stone were going through a tumultuous period, and while their previous records had been team efforts, Sly locked himself away and worked on this track alone. Without a band backing him, he opted to use a drum machine, and while there were some music purists who found the move controversial, there were plenty of listeners who adored the decision.
