Pre-Acid 303 - Early Roland TB-303 Tracks

The subject of a TB-303 revival came up on the Analog Heaven mailing list. The discussion lead to some sharing the first tracks featuring the 303, including of course pre-Acid tracks. The following are a few of them including a couple by Alexander Robotnick I tracked down. They are in order of release by year ending with Phuture's "Acid Tracks", credited as the first Acid track ever, for good measure. Wikipedia on Acid. If you know of any others pre 1987, feel free to comment or shoot me an email and I'll add it to the post. I know there was a track which used the 303 as a traditional bass guitar, but I forget what it was.

Update: Two from Heaven 17 via Pea in the comments added to the top:

Let Me Go (12" version) - Heaven 17 - 1982

YouTube via 4urlisteningpleasure — April 11, 2009 —

non embeddable 2006 digital remaster here

Update: new Crushed by The Wheels of Industry vid (old one here if interested)

Heaven 17 - Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry (part 1 & 2)


Reason for new video via Pea: "i should have specified the *album* version of "crushed by the wheels," as the single version you posted doesn't appear to have any 303 in it. i couldn't find the exact version i meant on youtube, but you can hear a remix of it starting at 3:55 on this video. seems to me the 303 is more plainly audible in the actual mix on the album, though."


Alexander Robotnick - Computer Sourire - 1983 - embedding disabled, so click through.

ALEXANDER ROBOTNICK PROBLEMES D'AMOUR - 1983

YouTube via chicagohouse1 — May 31, 2008 — WBMX ITALO DISCO

Description from Computer Sourire above:
"The alias of jazz keyboard player and vocalist Maurizio Dami, Alexander Robotnick existed for several years during the mid-'80s as an Italian synth-pop/disco crossover for the Italian label Materiali Sonori. Robotnick enjoyed a healthy fan base far beyond Europe, however, as thousands of import copies of the single "Problèmes d'Amour" ended up influencing many later house and techno pioneers in Chicago and Detroit.

Dami, who began his musical career during the early '80s with visions of being an electronic cabaret singer, bought two Roland synthesizers (the seminal TR-808 and TB-303) to begin recording. Convinced by Materiali Sonori's Giampiero Bigazzi to move into the still fertile Italian disco scene to score a quick hit, Dami recorded "Problèmes d'Amour" and released the single on the Materiali Sonori subsidiary Fuzz Dance in 1983. It became quite an import hit in America's underground club scene, and sparked the mini-LP Ce N'est Qu'un Début that same year. Additional singles like "Computer Sourire" and "C'Est La Vie" appeared on Fuzz Dance during the mid-'80s, but Dami had already moved on by then, later recording under his own name and as GMM, then playing with the ethno-ambient band Masala in the 1990s."

Ice-T - Reckless feat. Chris "The Glove" Taylor - 1984

YouTube via johnniewalker23 — March 04, 2010 — 1984 - Breakin' (Original Soundtrack)

Shannon - Let The Music Play - 1984

YouTube via DjPaulCartel — March 28, 2009 — ill production and nice diva like vocals! http://www.discogs.com/labe...

Mantronix - Bassline - 1985

YouTube via VintageHipHopSeattle — November 13, 2007 — 1985 Album: "Mantronix"

Update via Synth Snight in the comments: "Lots of chicago acid in 1986 on trax and DJ international. this one for example"

Adonis - We're Rockin Down the House - 1986

YouTube via CraazyAcid — October 01, 2009 — 1986

Phuture - Acid Tracks - 1987

YouTube via CraazyAcid — September 26, 2009 — 1987

And don't miss the first known recorded track to feature a TB-303 here.