Canned Krupa

During the war, Bandleader Marshall De Camp got sick & tired of losing drummers in his eight-piece band, Aces of Rhythm. So he hooked his drums to a quarter-horsepower electric motor. A rotating wheel swatted the cymbals; a clutch and gear shift changed the tempo from foxtrot to waltz. The boys in the band unanimously agreed that the mechanical Krupa "sounded like hell." But most of the dancers in the small Minnesota and South Dakota towns were willing to settle for a steady beat. Its strongest champion is the proprietor of the Lyon County (Minn.) dance pavilion, where the band plays Friday nights. Said he last week: "The electric drum doesn't drink or smoke, doesn't try to date my waitresses, and doesn't come in late on the job."

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