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| quote: | Originally posted by Ishkur
I would say that while Numbers isn't technically the first electro track...it would be the prime ingredient in electro. Not actually Numbers itself, but just that breakbeat, which is in literally 80% of electro and 50% of freestyle, and of that number, almost all of them sample the break from Planet Rock, though a few use the original Numbers, and some reconstitute it piecemeal by themselves (though they don't have to). It's a simple 2-bar break that sounds something like this:
Boom-cha boom cha
boom-cha boom boom-cha-ka-boom
That's it. Probably the most addictive and widely used break of all time, next to maybe the Amen. Beats out everything I've ever listened to in terms of sampling, ripping off, copying, plagiarizing, and flat out emulating. The Numbers break.Did it exist before Numbers, though? That's the big question. I can't find any evidence of it. |
First of all it's a coincedence that Planet Rock sounds like Numbers. It's like saying Paul Van Dyk's 'For An Angel' was sampled from the track 'YMCA' by the Village People just because they both incorporate the same 4/4 dance beat. Planet Rock has nothing to do with electro. It was mainly a contribution by Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force to the then up and coming hip-hop/rap movement of the early 80's.
I also disagree that the prime ingredient in electro is the beat. Electro did not have a completely defined beat. It was one of those genres of music that you could not immediately identify based on the beat alone as opposed to other genres of music such as jungle or drum and bass. Electro is so much more than that 'consisting of synthesizers used for the melodies and basslines, electronic drum machines for percussion and - many times - vocoders or other sound effects for the vocals. In addition to these instruments, tape recorders and later samplers were used to reproduce prerecorded sounds within a song context. Sequencers were used to compose, record and play back the music. Finally, computer software has recently become a popular alternative to create, compose and record electronic music.' Although most of the music used a typical dance beat there were some variations. Below I have provided a zip file with samples that exude the very essence that is the definition of electro:
Electro Samples
Also the samples should answer your question of whether electro had any early beginnings prior to 1980. In one sample there is a song by Kraftwerk themselves called Trans-Europe Express dated 1978 which differ from the 'Numbers' break. My main point is that electro is not defined by its beat nor is it the main ingredient.
Since you mentioned breakbeat I'll let you slide on this one, but I'd be careful how you label electro as 50% Freestyle. Freestyle music is also known as latin hip-hop. Most of the music talks about love's trials and tribulations, breakups, heart-aches, and the like. After freestyle was on it's last leg in the mid-90's it evolved into what we now know as breaks or breakbeats. Below is a zip file full of freestyle samples:
Free Style Samples
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