We typically remember most forms of pop music by the vocal hooks. From there, a guitar (“Panama”) or possibly the piano (“Don’t Stop Believin’”) helps define the song. But in the 1980s, the drum machine was equally as crucial, as you’ll hear below.
“When Doves Cry” by Prince
Prince created the knocking rhythm that powers “When Doves Cry” on a LinnDrum. Designed by Roger Linn, the drum machine became a defining feature of music in the 1980s—from pop and rock to hip-hop and R&B. With detuned samples, Prince’s groove remains one of his funkiest. Even on a track without bass, it’s hard to find a groover deeper than this one.
Why do we scream at each other?
This is what it sounds like when doves cry.
“The Boys Of Summer” by Don Henley
Released in 1984, the same year as Purple Rain, Don Henley’s signature solo track was written on the above-mentioned LinnDrum. Tinkering with the drum machine and an Oberheim synthesizer, guitarist Mike Campbell created an instrumental that he presented to Tom Petty. But Petty didn’t think it fit the Heartbreakers, who were recording Southern Accents at the time. So Petty’s producer, Jimmy Iovine, played it for Henley, who penned an iconic lament about fading youth and lost ideals.
Out on the road today,
I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac.
A little voice inside my head said:
“Don’t look back, you can never look back.”
“In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins
Though many drummers may have feared the popularity of drum machines in the 1980s, it didn’t put them all out of work. Phil Collins, one of rock music’s best-known percussionists, crafted what remains one of the most recognizable machine-generated grooves in pop history. Producer Hugh Padgham, who helped pioneer the gated reverb sound that became a feature of the decade, perfected the technique on “In The Air Tonight”. A Roland CR-78 drives the track for nearly four minutes before Collins enters with an epic acoustic drum fill.
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh, Lord.
And I’ve been waiting for this moment, for all my life, oh, Lord.
Photo by Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
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American musician Stevie Nicks performs onstage during the US Festival, Ontario, California, May 30, 1983. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)