Also in the mid-late 80's, there were various attempts to make midi-devices that would speed up or slow down a sequencer to conform to the drummer instead of the drummer conforming to the sequencer. In Modern Drummer there were ads for a product called the "Rushin Dragin" that claimed it would sense what the drummer was playing and adjust a sequencers tempo.
Although by all accounts, the product failed miserably, as did other attempts to make similar devices.
But the point being, at the time in the mid 80's, the thought or desire to have a click speed up/slow down and chase the drummer was still with-in the idea of normal. Where as today, it would not be.