With the passing of Florian Schneider from Kraftwerk and with plenty of time on my hands currently I thought I would share my appreciation of Kraftwerk and the influence they have had on me and probably many others. This blog is by no means definitive and only as accurate as my own experience allows but I hope it serves as a "toast" or "nod of the hat" to what I believe was one of the most influential groups of the 20th Century.
First Impressions
I first heard Kraftwerk in 1975 as an 8 year old browsing through mum and dad's record collection which wasn't extensive and mainly comprised of Irish folk or some classical music. I think a few Jim Reeves records were in there. However, in amongst this was this blue cover of "Autobahn" which was still in it's shrinkwrapped cover. The end of the record was opened so you could take the inner sleeve out but it clearly hadn't ever been played more than once. Knowing my parents the way they are with music they probably put it on and thought 'what is this' and promptly put it back in it's cover and left it. I played it of course and it really didn't make much sense apart from how 'empty' it was and I'm sure my 8 year old brain probably didn't process this anymore than the 'bleeps' and 'clicks' of a kids game. Apparently though my mum reminded me recently that I spent three days driving them mad with saying "Auto Auto Auto Bahn" afterwards. It passed and countless years of Piano grades beckoned so the blue cover was simply put away.
An Awakening
Pop music was certainly creeping into my life by the end of the 70s and I had really loved the flamboyancy of Bowie (especially after seeing 'that' performance on TOTP where my dad acclaimed "he should be shot") and the rich lush harmonic sound of ABBA which I was playing more than the Grade 7 pieces by now. It was 1981 and Top Of The Pops was 'my' domain. Nobody else watched it in the house, dad occasionally dropped in and commented on the 'Legs and Co' song but Ultravox, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Duran Duran, Soft Cell and Depeche Mode were really 'cool' and certainly appealed to my now hormonally imbalanced self. A particular thought was that Phillip Oakey had the coolest 'haircut' and I tried to copy him unsuccessfully as my parents simply said "grow up". Luckily at 53 I'm still managing to achieve this one part of my teenage self which is still there as my hair now covers my left eye. Anyway common to all of these bands was that they cited 'Kraftwerk' as their singular greatest influence and reeled off the list of tracks. I had bought the single 'The Model' which started life as a b-side to "Computer Love" and was playing both songs on repeat. I remembered the blue cover of 'Autobahn' that was now gathering dust but still in immaculate condition as it hadn't been played since my clumsy effort a few years earlier. On this listening I got it! Simply this was the future which is ironic as it had come out nearly a decade before. That was my 'eureka' moment and my 'I have got to have some of this'. Sadly Grade 8 and O levels beckoned.
"Synth Head Hall"
I was very lucky when I came into all of this as my first synth was a Roland JX - 3P in 1983 (still a great synth). I played this in an Irish country band 'Connemara' and tried to convince the lads that big synth sounds and celtic music would be amazing. It was met with 'you can't do an old time waltz to a machine' so I guess Clannad were destined to play Wembley whilst I was playing the Irish club in Leagrave, Luton. Shortly afterwards I added a Casio CZ5000 and a Yamaha RX21. Why was I lucky? All of these electronic machines could talk to each other via MIDI which came out in 1983. Simply put MIDI allowed you to link up all electronic instruments digitally via an interface which meant they all stayed in time (sometimes too accurately) and pitch with each other. I could layer a piano sound with some strings and run a short sequence of notes in time with the drum machine. All at the touch of one or two notes. When synthesisers first arrived there was a minor scare to the Musicians Union that they would put orchestra's out of work but that was just another 'moan' that disappeared along with playing long sets. At first it wasn't very stable and an acute memory 'recall' of my own was programming a drum beat to 'Vienna' which skipped and half way through went into ' Never Can Say Goodbye'. Why is this important? Well when listening to Kraftwerk I split them into two sections, Kraftwerk only released two albums after 1983, 'Electric Cafe' and 'Tour De France'. The richness in these albums is clearly the advancement of technology of being able to get the 'machines' to work by themselves via our now reliable MIDI. Anything prior to that was completely played and constructed organically. The four members of the band were playing a traditional 'rock and roll' framework of Bass, Drums, Guitar and Keyboards only everything was electronic. These 'analogue' instruments were themselves temperamental and when left on for a long time would overheat and the oscillators generating the sound would in turn go out of tune. To get the precision and accuracy must have taken a great amount of energy both creatively and laboriously playing repeated patterns. The other thing to bear in mind is I came in to this where 'polyphony' or the ability to play chords was commonplace. At the start of Kraftwerk career the synthesisers were 'monophonic' in that it played a single note. To create a 'chord' you would have to record a second and third note separately.
A Musical Conundrum
The music of Kraftwerk really shouldn't have worked. Most 'pop' songs fall into a formula of AB writing in that section A or verse is followed by a section B a chorus. A series of repeats etc depending on the sophistication of the song but essentially it's 2 or 3 parts. By the mid 80s Kraftwerk were certainly writing in that framework and 'The Model' highlights the exact 'pop formulae' of the time. However go back to the early 70s and it was more akin to a classical piece with 'movements', 'first themes' etc. It's been well documented that the band quote 'In its early incarnation, pursued an avant-garde, experimental rock style inspired by the compositions of Karlheinz Stockhausen'. The form is more in keeping with the progressive rock of the time. For me personally it's a rich tonal palette of rhythm and melody entertwining and developing in an almost natural fashion. It has no rules to apply, a simple idea of "Pocket Calculator" takes a four bar 'loop' and simply adds some spoken lyrics and "calculator sounds" on top. It's a relentless mechanical fixed groove with drop ins and drop outs and stays on the one chord! Perfect ambience
Listening To Kraftwerk
So if you are new to Kraftwerk where do you start? I don't suggest the beginning. Although 'Autobahn' is regarded as the first proper release there are also 3 previous albums. In chronological order 'Kraftwerk 1 & 2' and 'Ralf And Dorian'. They are very early recordings and on 'acoustic' instruments. Purely for completists as it is a mile away from the true "electro" line up beginnings of Autobahn. If you are interested in these recordings they are becoming available on vinyl this year as part of the Record Store Day 2020 releases. Personally I would start with 'Man Machine' as it's a combination of the pop sensibility that was to come and a reflection of their own experimental past. In a time where 'playlists' now dominate the way we listen to music, you could compile a list of favourites however each album is designed to be listened to as an experience, so pick and album, pour yourself a nice large scotch sit back and let an hour of your life be looked after by Ralf, Florian, Fritz and Wolfgang.
Dancing To Kraftwerk
I was never a really big 'clubber' but between 1985 and 1989 when I wasn't gigging "Sweetings" nightclub in Bedford was the place 'to hang'. So armed with either a "Bezique and Lemonade" or a "Diamond White" (even by my standards this stuff was proper lethal!) we would go out on a Friday and a Monday (Cheap student night) night. The 12" single was at it's height. These were long extended, rhythm and bass enhanced versions of records firmly directed at the "four on the floor" form of club music. I still remember the DJ playlist that would hit at 11.30pm on a Friday night as we refilled our drinks:
Relax (Frankie Goes To Hollywood)
Love Song -Extended (Simple Minds) - Definitely a 'homage' to Kraftwerk
Love Song 12"Girls On Film - The Night Version (Duran Duran)
Blue Monday (New Order)
I Feel Love - Glorious 15 minute Version (Donna Summer)
Pure ear candy, all extended, bass enhanced and percussive beyond belief and perfect to just 'lose yourself' in. It was probably enhanced by a number of other things which I couldn't possibly mention. Have to say what was the Bezique all about as it was a truly awful drink!
My Personal 10 ten Kraftwerk Tracks
This was so difficult to actually decide but this is my own top ten:-
1. Tour De France
2. Pocket Calculator
3. The Model
4. Computer Love
5. Metropolis
6. Radioactivity
7. The Robots
8. Trans Europe Express
9. Autobahn
10. Ohm sweet ohm
"A Design For Life"
Kraftwerk never saw themselves as a band. They saw themselves as a futuristic concept where machines would take over the roles of humans. Everything about the band was meticulously planned. The striking minimalist artwork which really did influence all the design work of the '80s' generation. Take a look at the work of Mark Farrow
Link To Mark Farrow Design and particularly his work with New Order and The Pet Shop Boys. The live presentation of the "showroom dummies" playing the instruments in perfect symmetry and the groundbreaking videos which got more sophisticated as their career progressed. Every part of the process ensured that when Kraftwerk 'spoke' it was as a brand. No one voice just a collective.
What Happened To Kraftwerk?
Kraftwerk's classic line of Ralf Hutter, Florian Schneider, Karl Bartos, and Wolfgang Flur were together from 1974 - 1989. Wolfgang left in 1989 and replaced by Fritz Hilbert and Karl soon followed behind. replaced by an ever changing member. There are a number of reasons why it's cited that two of the band's members left more or less the same time including the incredibly slow pace of production in a time when albums were been generated annually. My own opinion is that Kraftwerk were a band and as a band member myself you become family with all of the inherent issues families have. The 'evergreen' period of creative output and energy will always eventually either falter or change direction, it's quite natural. Also, imagine being together for over 15 years in that kind of intensity. Interestingly after those members left Kraftwerk never released another album so maybe they were the 'catalyst' to finish things. Florian himself left the band in 2009 and a number of reasons were given including not wanting to tour anymore but think about in reality Florian and Ralf had been together for around 40 years, maybe he just retired! It was work
Another thing to bear in mind is that in the 70s Kraftwerk predicted and designed music 'to be played by machines' and nowadays I can record a full demo on my laptop. The mid 80s saw a new revolution of 'sampling'. A ground-breaking method of 'capturing' any live sound and being able to manipulate it. The need to create sound from waveforms wasn't needed anymore as you could simply 'sample' it and manipulate it. Kraftwerk were now seen as 'old hat', 'analogue' so maybe the desire to create 'new' material had just expired.
In Conclusion
I have to personally thank Midge Ure, Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Jim Kerr, Martyn Ware, Phil Oakey, Holly Johnson, Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw and many others for opening the door to Kraftwerk. I've been lucky enough to meet most of my 'heroes' personally and professionally and it is an honour to spend time with them. Invariably we will talk about influences and they always refer to Kraftwerk as one of their foundation stones. The word translated simply means 'Power Station',
It's left me with a thirst for electronica and the beautiful instruments that produce it. My own keyboard museum now totals 18 and I do promise to sell some of them one day but the new Roland Jupiter X is totally fabulous and a combination of the old synths and the moogs that our "Godfathers Of Electronica" were playing but made much more simple for use by yours truly!
Further Information
