by Robert Drake, Producer/Host, WXPN

As a child I grew up around music … a mix of pop, rock and R&B. However my world changed in 1975 when, at the age of 12, I purchased my first LP (with my own money, thanks to an allowance) – it was a record I had heard at a friend’s house one afternoon and I was so hypnotized by its content, that I had to own it for myself.

My first purchase? AUTOBAHN by Kraftwerk!

The concept of creating music from machines intrigued me … to be able to make melodies without using standard instruments, to create a space-age sound that was so new was one thing – however to break free from the constraints of a 3:30 song by making one track take up the entire side of an LP… I was hooked!

Thanks to a friend, that that year I discovered another unique LP that broke the mold on song length and electronica production; Donna Summer’s “Love To Love You Baby”.

That LP – again with one song on one side – showed me just how creative one could be with computers and music. It also introduced me to one of my true musical icons, Georgio Moroder. Between Georgio and Kraftwerk, I learned to appreciate electronic music as a teenager and, as the rest of my friends gathered together to blast the latest LP from Aerosmith or Foghat … I was immersed in the first era of what would be known as electro music.

By 1977, I was all about electronic sounds – and that’s when Georgio took me (and millions of others) to a whole new level of appreciation for electronic dance music with the release of “I Feel Love”.

I hunted down albums and 12″ singles from any band that embraced keyboards and computers. In 1979, I purchased Reproduction, which was the debut album from a band across the Atlantic called The Human League. I became a fan of them and of the developing new wave scene from then on!

(From Reproduction — Empire State Human)

(From their smash 1981 LP Dare — Do Or Die)