In the great documentary “808,” King Ad-Rock explains that the acquisition of their first Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer was by accident. He’d come up with enough dough to buy a Rickenbacker 330 (“like Paul Weller had in the Jam”), but when Ad-Rock got to the music store, there was an 808 on display near the guitar. Rickenbacker, Roland. Roland, Rickenbacker. He chose the drum machine, and the rest was history. BTW, the 808-produced bass on this track was created by playing the initial recording backwards – inspired by Hendrix, the Boys said.
