TR-808[ヤオヤ] fan tribute page

History

A flop, and then the most famous rhythm on earth.

Fewer than 12,000 were ever built. Here's roughly how they got from the clearance rack to the center of pop.

  1. 1980

    A rhythm box walks into a studio

    Roland launches the TR-808 Rhythm Composer: sixteen fully analog percussion voices, a step sequencer anyone could use, and no samples anywhere. It was meant to help musicians demo songs.

  2. 1980

    First on the scene

    By Roland's own account, Yellow Magic Orchestra get there first, taking it out live before most people had heard one.

  3. 1981

    The reviews are in, and they are polite

    Next to the sample-based Linn LM-1, the 808 sounds like a toy: thin, clicky, unreal. The Linn costs many times more, which turns out to matter.

  4. 1982

    Planet Rock

    Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force, produced by Arthur Baker, put the 808 at the front of the record. Electro starts here. So, arguably, does everything else.

  5. 1982

    Sexual Healing

    Marvin Gaye proves the machine can be warm, sensual and entirely unbothered about sounding like a real drummer.

  6. 1983

    Discontinued

    Fewer than 12,000 built in about three years. The story goes that the specific faulty transistors behind that sizzling hi-hat simply stopped being manufactured.

  7. 1984–89

    Cheap, everywhere, unstoppable

    Second-hand 808s turn up in Miami bass, Chicago house, Detroit techno and UK rave — bought precisely because nobody else wanted them. A Manchester group names itself 808 State.

  8. 2008

    808s & Heartbreak

    Kanye West builds an album on that bass drum and hands the sound to a whole generation of producers who have never seen the hardware.

  9. 2015

    It gets a documentary

    Alexander Dunn's film 808 premieres at SXSW, with roughly every producer you would expect explaining why they care.

  10. Now

    Immortal, and slightly overpriced

    Reissues, plugins and clones keep the circuit alive, trap turns the kick into the bassline, and every August 8th the internet celebrates 808 Day. Originals now cost more than a used car.