The Invention Of Electro

When asked about the recording of Planet Rock by Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force in early 1982, producer Arthur Baker has said that he went home to his wife and told her that he had help make music history that day. If this is indeed what he said, he was right. Planet Rock is a pivotal record in the development of Dance music specifically and popular music generally. It marked the beginning of a new genre of Dance music called Electro, combining intensely electronic and synthesized backing tracks with soulful vocals or raps, that would influence in some way the vast majority of Dance music to come in the future. It's invention occurred through at least 3 elements fortuitously coming together at once - these included Arthur Baker and his interest in use of samples in constructing records, Afrika Bambaataa and emerging Hip-Hop, and the music of German band Kraftwerk.

Arthur Baker began his career as a club DJ in Boston, Massachusetts. He soon shifted his focus to music production and made his way to New York by the early 1980's. He joined the Tommy Boy Records production staff shortly after the founding of the label in 1981. He worked with co-producer Shep Pettibone to put together Afrika Bambaataa's Jazzy Sensation and then was given sole production control for the creation of Planet Rock. Arthur Baker was interested in finding a way to utilize Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express that had been popular in clubs and on the street in New York since its initial release in 1977.

Afrika Bambaataa was a key figure in New York City for a number of reasons. In the mid-1970's Bambaataa decided to abandon violent gang action in favor of putting together the Zulu Nation, a peaceful way to bring honor to the black community. He also had a well-earned reputation as one of the top Hip-Hop DJs. Bambaataa was known for having an amazing collection of records he would use at parties ranging from the Rolling Stones to Gary Numan to James Brown. He signed with Tommy Boy Records shortly after the formation of the label. Bambaataa agreed with Arthur Baker that combining Kraftwerk with the positive raps of Planet Rock was a worthwhile experiment.

The members of Kraftwerk are revered as groundbreaking performers for the development of what they refer to as Robot Pop. Their style utilizes electronics to create what is, at times, surprisingly humane music. The album Trans-Europe Express, released in 1977, caught the attention of club DJs in New York City. Striking minimalist electronic instrumentation combines with catchy melodies to create a futuristic spacey atmosphere. The track Trans-Europe Express remained a favorite among DJs for years. In 1981 Kraftwerk embraced the coming computer revolution on their album Computer World. Once again club DJs took notice and a number of the cuts on the album were successful on the dancefloor. Arthur Baker and Afrika Bambaataa took notice of this and dug back into the Kraftwerk catalog for Trans-Europe Express.

Although the elements that brought together Planet Rock and invented Electro are impressive individually, it is evident that they created something even greater than the sum of the parts. Arthur Baker proved that records could be sampled (a portion removed and added to a new recording) to produce something entirely new...not just a medley moving from one song to another. Afrika Bambaataa proved that rapping and Hip-Hop music could be universal in a way others had not yet conceived. And the Robot Pop of Kraftwerk had just begun to demonstrate its influence on the dancefloor. Much of the Dance music to come in the 80's would be impacted by Kraftwerk's experiments in humanizing electronic music.