Album dossier / 1986

Planet Rock: The Album

Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force · Hip-Hop/Electro

A compilation of Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force's early-80s Tommy Boy singles, built around the 1982 landmark 'Planet Rock,' recorded at New York's Intergalactic Studio by producer Arthur Baker and synth player John Robie on a shoestring budget -- an 808 drum machine, a Fairlight (used only for the orchestra-hit stab and explosion sound), a MicroMoog for bass and a Prophet-5 for strings, all cut through a Neve board. Baker was inspired to fuse Kraftwerk's 'Trans-Europe Express'/'Numbers' with hip-hop after watching Black club-goers in Brooklyn ask 'what's that beat?' when the German group's records played; Bambaataa initially resisted a direct Kraftwerk lift out of respect, but label boss Tom Silverman pushed the group to use the 'Trans-Europe Express' melody outright, and Kraftwerk -- reportedly furious they weren't credited or asked -- ultimately settled for a per-record royalty. The single took roughly 30 hours to record, mix and tape-splice (editor Jazzy Jay called it 'the most tedious thing'), and its fusion of European synth-pop with Bronx breakbeats became the founding blueprint for the electro genre, feeding directly into Detroit techno, Miami bass and freestyle.