Description
Herman Kelly & Life – Dance To The Drummer’s Beat – RSD 180 Gram Vinyl Record
Blue Vinyl
Record Store Day 2024 reissue with extra tracks. 500 numbered copies.
“Dance to the Drummer’s Beat” by Herman Kelly & Life is a landmark funk track released in 1978 that became a cornerstone of early hip-hop and breakbeat culture. Although it didn’t make a major splash on mainstream radio at the time, the song’s infectious groove, driven by tight drum breaks, Latin percussion, and a hypnotic bassline, earned it cult status among DJs, breakdancers, and crate diggers. Its simple, chant-like vocals—“Dance to the drummer’s beat!”—encouraged crowd participation and made it an instant dancefloor favorite.
The song’s drum break in particular became one of the most sampled in history, frequently used by pioneering hip-hop DJs like Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa. It was also heavily sampled in Miami bass and electro-funk, helping shape the sound of those genres in the early ’80s. Artists such as Public Enemy and DJ Shadow have incorporated elements of it into their work, further cementing its legacy. Despite Herman Kelly & Life being a relatively obscure group with few releases, this track has had an outsized impact on music history, especially in the evolution of hip-hop and breakdance culture. “Dance to the Drummer’s Beat” remains a timeless example of how rhythm, energy, and raw groove can create a track that resonates across generations and genres.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Track Listing
Dance To The Drummer’s Beat (Disco Version)
Easy Going (Noches Eternas)
Dance To The Drummer’s Beat (Remixed By Jim Burgess)
Who’s The Funky DJ?
