Model 500
Revolutions begin in Detroit. A hundred years ago, the first Model T rolled off Ford's assembly line in Highland Park, forever changing the way automobiles were manufactured. Ford’s main innovation, the assembly line, would eventually be adopted across the United States and Europe, and the result was an unprecedented explosion in manufacturing, as well as international recognition for Detroit as the automotive capital of the world.
Two decades ago it happened again, but this time the upheaval was musical. In 1985 Juan Atkins released the first record on his fledgling label Metroplex, ‘N ...read more
Revolutions begin in Detroit. A hundred years ago, the first Model T rolled off Ford's assembly line in Highland Park, forever changing the way automobiles were manufactured. Ford’s main innovation, the assembly line, would eventually be adopted across the United States and Europe, and the result was an unprecedented explosion in manufacturing, as well as international recognition for Detroit as the automotive capital of the world.
Two decades ago it happened again, but this time the upheaval was musical. In 1985 Juan Atkins released the first record on his fledgling label Metroplex, ‘No UFO's’, now widely regarded as Year Zero of the techno movement. Like Ford’s Model T, the impact of these new machine rhythms was global, hitting especially hard in Europe, where techno subsequently developed into a mass cultural phenomenon.
Model 500 is Juan Atkin's most well-known alias, along with Infinity and the group Cybotron, which he co-founded. He is widely credited as the originator of techno music, along with Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson. The three, sometimes called the Belleville Three, attended high school together in Belleville, Michigan, near Detroit. « hide |
