Release · 1983 · Detroit [42.33, -83.05]
Cybotron — "Clear" (single)
Released in 1983 by Cybotron, "Clear" is one of the defining electro records and a direct ancestor of Detroit techno. Its crisp synthetic bassline and machine rhythm were widely sampled and echoed across early hip-hop and dance music. The single captured Atkins and Davis at the threshold between electro and the purer techno to come.
Evidence1
- MusicBrainz: Clear (Cybotron)MusicBrainz
musicbrainz.org/release-group/27234f7b-d32a-3769-97ab-84296dc98773
accessed 2026-06-04
Connections1
influenced by → Planet Rock (1982 single)
Afrika Bambaataa's 'Planet Rock' (1982) is a foundational electro record, the genre Wikidata dates to 1980 and files under electronic dance music built on synthesizers and drum machines. That machine-funk template fed directly into the Detroit electro of Cybotron, whose 'Clear' shares the same Roland-driven, robotic aesthetic on the road to techno. The cited sources confirm 'Planet Rock' as electro and the genre's synthesizer-and-drum-machine foundation that the Detroit records extended.