Drum machines have technically been around
since the 1930s, but the 1st commercial one
was made by Wurlitzer in 1959. Since the 1960s
there has been controversy over the music industry
replacing real drummers. In 1981 Phil Collins wrote
"In the Air Tonight," which was a primal scream
against various betrayals he'd recently experienced;; having started out as a drummer before
becoming the lead singer of Genesis,
those machines were on his mind as well. He cleverly starts the song with a drum machine, revealing how its repetitive drone sounds cheesy compared to the lively guitar work.
Then at 3:16 he breaks into a clear demonstration
of what makes a human musician so valuable.
Caption this Meme