The Drum Machine That Ate Chicago: How the Roland TR-808 Accidentally Killed and Resurrected House Music episode artwork

EPISODE · May 28, 2026 · 13 MIN

The Drum Machine That Ate Chicago: How the Roland TR-808 Accidentally Killed and Resurrected House Music

from The Second Track · host Podcaster

When the Roland TR-808 was discontinued as a commercial failure in 1984, Chicago producers bought them up for cheap and created an entirely new genre. We dive into how this 'flawed' drum machine's fake-sounding beats became the heartbeat of house music, hip-hop, and everything that followed. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When the Roland TR-808 was discontinued as a commercial failure in 1984, Chicago producers bought them up for cheap and created an entirely new genre. We dive into how this 'flawed' drum machine's fake-sounding beats became the heartbeat of house music, hip-hop, and everything that followed.

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The Drum Machine That Ate Chicago: How the Roland TR-808 Accidentally Killed and Resurrected House Music

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This episode was published on May 28, 2026.

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When the Roland TR-808 was discontinued as a commercial failure in 1984, Chicago producers bought them up for cheap and created an entirely new genre. We dive into how this 'flawed' drum machine's fake-sounding beats became the heartbeat of house...

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