Planet Rock (1982) Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force
Related: 1982 - black music - Kraftwerk - sample - electro - Afrika Bambaatta - hip hop - American music
Bronx, NY based artist Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" (1982) is one of the first electro records, using elements of Kraftwerk's "Trans-Europe Express" and "Numbers".
Description
Urban spaceman Afrika Bambaataa and producer Arthur Baker, plus musician John Robie, were the trio behind a musical revolution called "Planet Rock", Bambaataa's 1982 single with Soul Sonic Force. Following the impact of "Planet Rock", UK groups made Electro-boogie pilgrimages to Baker's studio in Manhattan: Freeze's "IOU" rocketed jazz funk into the infosphere but more significantly, New Order's "Blue Monday" launched indie dancing and sold massively on 12". Also breaking and robot dancing, the acrobatic and simulated machine dances that drew many adolescents into the alien zone of black science fiction. Bleep music was one consequence of this. Hardly adequate to describe and encompass the protozoic chaos of New York Nu Groove, Detroit Techno, Chicago House, [...]. Next came techno. -- David Toop in A - Z Of Electro (1996) via http://www.thewire.co.uk/archive/essays/az_electro.html [Oct 2006]