As the musical styles of the 1970s moved from Prog Rock to Disco, to Punk and New Wave, there were early signs that drummers were tiring of the same old sounds from their acoustic drums, and looking for something a bit different to come along. By the late 1970s, the wait was finally over.

Soon the sound of the Pollard Syndrums – the distinctive “Peow!” sound began to be heard on tracks from the likes of Rose Royce, Anita Ward, and The Cars, and a host of drummers added the Syndrums set into their acoustic kit set-up. Star Instruments also rivalled the Syndrums with their Synare series.

In England, electronics engineer Dave Simmons was working on his own electronic drum module designs, and with help from drummer Richard Burgess (of Landscape) developed what became the Simmons Drum Synthesizer (SDS) V kit, released at the end of 1980. By the end of 1981, these distinctive hexagonal-shaped drums began to be heard on chart records, and were now appearing in front of drummers on Top Of The Pops and other European TV music shows.

The Electronic Drum Kit (EDK) had truly arrived. Vintage Electronic Drums features the electronic drum kits, modules, pads and accessories manufactured worldwide on five continents (USA, UK, Europe, Japan, and even from Australia and New Zealand), taking the reader from 1973 and all the way through to the end of 1989 – the successes, the failures, and even the totally obscure!Featuring over 200 electronic drum systems, and packed into nearly 200 colour pages; this is to date the most comprehensive book on electronic drums ever compiled.

. .