808: The drum machine that changed music forever

Twenty Thousand Hertz

Dallas Taylor

Music, Design, Arts, Music Commentary

4.8 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 29 July 2019

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The 808 is arguably the most iconic drum machine ever made. Even if you’ve never heard of it, you’ve definitely heard it. It’s in dozens of hit songs -- from Usher to Marvin Gaye, Talking Heads to The Beastie Boys -- and its sounds have quietly cemented themselves in the cultural lexicon. In this episode, we try to understand how that happened and follow the unlikely path of the 808. Featuring DJ Jazzy Jeff and Paul McCabe from Roland. Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced out of the studios of Defacto Sound, and hosted by Dallas Taylor. Follow Dallas on Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn. Watch our video shorts on YouTube, and join the discussion on Reddit and Facebook. Become a monthly contributor at 20k.org/donate. If you know what this week's mystery sound is, tell us at mystery.20k.org. Episode transcript, music, and credits can be found here: https://www.20k.org/episodes/808 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's a new year and many of us are committing to exercising and eating healthier.
0:04.8	But another crucial part of staying healthy is keeping on top of your doctor appointments.
0:09.8	That's where Zoc Doc comes in.
0:12.0	Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to Zocdoch.com slash Hertz to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today.
0:19.7	That's Z-O-C-D-O-C dot com slash H-E-R-T-Z.
0:24.1	Zococ dot com slash Hertz.
0:30.6	You're listening to 20,000 Hertz. I'm Dallas Taylor.
0:39.4	The 808 drum machine is everywhere,
0:42.4	and even if you don't know it by name,
0:44.2	you have definitely heard it before.
0:45.9	Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:50.2	Woo!
0:50.3	Woo!
0:52.3	Oh, I want to dance with somebody.
0:56.8	Please don't go, girl.
1:02.3	Brass monkey, that funky monkey.
1:06.4	Brass monkey chunky, that funky monkey.
1:15.2	I laugh because if I listen to the radio for an hour,
1:18.8	there's not one record that you hear that's not an 808.
1:20.5	That's DJ Jazzy Jeff.
1:25.0	He's a world-renowned DJ, musician, and one of the early innovators of hip-hop. In the place that about this time, DJ, Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince just bug,
1:28.6	bug, bugging out.
	...

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