What was the first pop song to use a drum machine?
In 1980, the world of music was forever changed when drum machines crossed over from workshopped basics to user-friendly models; it would be a move that pushed artists such as Prince, Kate Bush and more into new realms of creation. Roland’s TR-808 and the Linn LM-1 were both released that year, featuring some of the earliest programmable rhythms that the technology had ever seen. Almost immediately, an explosion of new music came out of these machines, revolutionising the sound of popular music by bringing hip-hop, funk, and even rock music into the future.
But the connection between pop music and drum machines extends back at least another decade. The first “Drum machines” were mostly tape loops of existing rhythms. When the Wurlitzer company released the Side Man music box that allowed users to change the tempo of the pre-recorded rhythm, it created such an uproar with the American Federation of Musicians that Wurlitzer ceased production on the instrument in 1969, only a decade after it was first manufactured.
Still, these were prototypes and early variations. The pioneering Los Angeles electronic psychedelic band The United States of America featured a primitive drum machine on their self-titled 1968 debut album, but it wouldn’t be until the following year that a fully transistorized preset drum machine would be used on a proper pop single. That was thanks to Robin Gibb, the then-exiled frontman of the Bee Gees.
Gibb had left the Bee Gees in early 1969 after clashing with his brother Barry over lead vocal duties. Gibb’s first solo single, ‘Saved By The Bell’, mostly falls within the Bee Gees’ lush orchestral sound that they favoured at the time. However, a notable exception comes from the song’s drum rhythm, which is highly mechanical and rudimentary. It’s not certain what drum machine Gibb had used for the song, but he was known to make demos utilising a Seeburg Select-A-Rhythm, which had presets similar to the ones heard on ‘Saved By The Bell’.
By the time 1970 rolled around, a number of different companies had manufactured their own early drum machines. Sly and the Family Stone leader Sly Stone was an early adopter, having fallen out with most of his bandmates during the recording of 1971’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On. As a result, Stone often put together songs by himself, overdubbing multiple instruments on top of a basic drum machine. Stone had previously used a drum machine while producing Little Sister’s cover of ‘Somebody’s Watching You’ in 1970.
Drummer Greg Errico left Sly and the Family Stone in 1971 before the completion of There’s a Riot Goin’ On. Most notably, Errico’s drum parts were covered by a drum machine on the ‘Family Affair’ single. Stone used a Maestro Rhythm King MRK–2 on ‘Family Affair’ and a number of other songs on There’s a Riot Goin’ On, giving the album its unique groove thanks to the MRK-2’s limited rhythms.
Halfway across the world, German experimental rockers Can were also dipping their toes into the world of drum machines. The band’s 1971 album Tago Mago utilised an Ace Tone Rhythm Ace drum machine that worked in tandem with drummer Jaki Liebezeit on songs like ‘Peking O’. The age of the drum machine was still roughly a decade away, but early pioneers were showing off the capabilities of early electronic rhythms in rock and pop music.
