The CRB-90 appears under Columbia and Denon branding. A Melody Maker classified offered a Denon CRB-90 for £50 on 26 February 1977, establishing its presence in Britain’s second-hand market by that date, not its original retail price or launch year.
The machine in the record
808 State / “Long Orange”.
The 1997 session credits for “Long Orange” name a Denon rhythm box. The credits do not identify its model, so this is a Denon-family connection rather than a confirmed CRB-90 performance.
Read 808 State — State To State 2: ‘Long Orange’ credits ↗More records in the archive
The machine keeps turning up.
Reported association
Graham Massey / 808 State / “Long Orange”
An equipment record citing 808 State liner notes associates a Denon Rhythm Box with “Long Orange”.
Read 808 State / Graham Massey — Denon CRB-90 on “Long Orange” ↗Reported association
DKDENT / Teenage Love EP — reported collection context
A 2010 CRB-90 collector post reports that German artist DKDENT had a pristine Denon Rhythm Box in a classic-synth collection.
Read Denon CRB-90 Rhythm Box collector archive ↗Choose a rhythm, set the pace
Choose one of the white rhythm keys and set the tempo with the large dial. The photographed CRB-90 offers labelled dance rhythms including cha-cha, mambo, rumba, samba and waltz, with separate controls above for its percussion sounds. A carrying handle, front grille and footswitch beside the cabinet give this automatic accompanist the form of a small portable appliance.
A £50 second-hand box
In February 1977, a Lea Valley seller offered a Denon CRB-90 in Melody Maker for £50, describing it as ‘as new’. The classified places a specific example in the British musician-to-musician market. It does not tell us when the model first went on sale or what a new one cost.
Let’s Go Rhythm Box
A Japanese advertisement reproduced by DDN Japan shows the Columbia CRB-90 beneath “Let’s Go Rhythm Box!”. Its one-touch automatic-rhythm sales language matches the preset keys visible on surviving examples. Columbia and Denon both belong to the object’s documented identity; the undated advert cannot settle its introduction date.
DDN Japan: ‘Let’s Go Rhythm Box!’ ↗ Columbia/Denon CRB-90 surviving-unit listing ↗
Behind the front panel
A hands-on repair account shows separate pattern-matrix and voice boards with transistor circuitry. The photographed unit powered up without producing sound, and the repairer found fragile components while tracing the fault. These photographs reveal construction otherwise hidden by the cabinet; the account does not establish a completed restoration.
A Denon rhythm box on ‘Long Orange’
808 State’s published credits for ‘Long Orange’, recorded at PWL in Manchester in April 1997, name a Denon rhythm box alongside a 909 and an Akai sampler. They do not name CRB-90. The connection belongs to the Denon rhythm-box family, not to a confirmed performance by this particular model.
808 State — State To State 2: ‘Long Orange’ credits ↗ Denon CRB-90 Rhythm Box collector archive ↗
Recording and working accounts
Explore 3 source accounts
- 808 State — “Long Orange” (State To State 2)
808 State’s published Long Orange credits list a Denon rhythm box alongside a Roland 909, Akai sampler and synthesizers. The track was recorded and mixed at PWL, Manchester, in April 1997.
- Graham Massey / 808 State — “Long Orange”
- DKDENT — Teenage Love EP — reported collection context
Sources
The visual archive
Further visual evidence.
Sources for images shown earlier (2)
Additional visual sources (1)
Original publications and related image sources.
- DDN Japan — Columbia Rhythm Box CRB-90 advert reproduction ↗
DDN Japan post dated 2010-05-21 · Archive source · Article opening image; alt text reads Columbia Rhythm Box CRB-90