808 Page #3

what that entailed

except from hanging out with

other people in the business

that were making records, so I said,

"Alright let's start working on it."

Tommy Boy was born in 1981 out of

Silverman's West 85th Street apartment,

and set about making records.

Hip-hop as we know

it was being born.

Silverman and Bambaataa got

together to work on ideas,

recording a demo for a record that would

define modern-day hip-hop and dance music.

We cut a demo for what would

become 'Planet Rock'

and it had three or four different

songs that we wanted to incorporate

and that Bambaataa was playing.

We used 'I Like It'

from BT Express,

we used a Rick James

song, Kraftwerk,

and we used Babe Ruth

'The Mexican',

and we made this eight-track demo.

I ended up having a cassette of it

and I played it for Arthur

Baker, he flipped out.

He said, "This is great, lets

do a full out recording of it,"

so I said, "Alright cool,

let's put this together."

In an uptown Manhattan

recording studio,

Silverman, Bambaataa, Baker,

John Robie, and Jay Burnett

set about producing the track.

One of Bambaataa's MC crews, The Soulsonic

Force, joined them in the studio that night.

The original Soulsonic Force was

Mr. Biggs, Pow Wow, G.L.Jo. B.E, Jazzy Jay.

We was trying to do that whole

family of funk or family of hip-hop,

like James Brown when he

had the family of soul,

or George 'Parliament

Funkadelic' had in Parliament.

There could be five or six on the stage or

sometimes we might have twenty on the microphone.

This gentleman here, first

Soulsonic Force member.

My name is Mr. Biggs, Soulsonic

Force, peace to the world.

Afrika Bambaataa's first MC.

Released on Tommy Boy

Records in 1982,

'Planet Rock' was the result of

a perfect fusion of people,

from diverse racial, social

and musical backgrounds.

A melting pot of musical genres, attitudes,

style, mentality, and beneath it all,

a visionary use of a drum

machine, the 808.

Just taste the

funk and hit me

Just get on down and hit me

Bambaataa's gettin'

so funky, now hit me

Yeaaaa, just hit me, it's

time to chase your dreams

Up out your seats,

make your body sway

Socialize, get down, let

your soul lead the way

Shake it now, go ladies,

it's a livin' dream

Love, life, live, come play the game, our

world is free, do what you want but scream

808 was definitely a serious sound

that gave that extra funk and grunt

to the record. Because if you

heard Kraftwerk they was funky,

but they didn't have that soulful

bass bottom that was needed.

That was definitely the

first time I saw an 808,

and it was also probably the

first hands on

computer that,

that I used in music.

- We heard that them drums come out the 808

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