Hey, it's Alan, and I just wanted to let you know that you can now listen to the ongoing

history of new music early and ad-free on Amazon music, included with Prime.

Some of the most important parts of music are beat and rhythm. Without beats, without rhythm,

there's no groove. Without a groove, there's no movement or dancing or really physically getting into the music.

Beats and grooves are essential building blocks for so much of modern music. In some songs,

the beat is subtle, but it's there. You feel it without someone having to keep it for you.

But in other songs, you need a timekeeper, someone to emphasize and augment the beats and the rhythms.

For centuries, that job has fallen to drummers and percussionists. But what if a drummer or

percussionist isn't available? Or if you want to try something rhythmic but with different sounds,

sounds that a drummer can't make. Well, then you might find yourself reaching for a drum

machine. Since their introduction in the very early 1980s, drum machines have become an essential

part of modern compositions and productions. In fact, it's impossible to imagine the music we have

today without such electronic devices. Oh, we still have human drummers. We always will.

But drum machines have taken us places that human timekeepers never could. And I'm speaking

as someone who plays drums myself. So how did this all come about? Let's investigate. This is

the history of machines that keep time for our music.

This is the ongoing history of new music podcast with Alan Cross.

Eyes without a face.

God know human grace.

Your eyes without a day

It's

Billy Idol from 1983

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