Kraftwerk

 Hailing from Dusseldorf, Germany, Kraftwerk ignored the poppy Beach Boys trend so popular at the time, and instead set their sights on creating an innovative new electronic genre. Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider met as two students at the Robert Schumann Academy in Dusseldorf, both interested in the art and experimental scene.¹ Their band began relatively small, but over the years accumulated many other musicians that would be replaced quite frequently. In the end, the most memorable line-up would include Ralf Hutter, Karl Bartos, Wolfgang Flur, and Florian Schneider.

Their first albums were mostly experimental, and lacked the solidarity that they would go on to develop. They would begin by free-styling on traditional instruments like bass, drums, guitars and violins. Then these recordings would be distorted and manipulated with the help of electronic means. Their release would be purely instrumental. In 1973, the band released Ralf and Florian. This album would play a big role in their future, as it began focusing more on the drum machines, synths and vocoders that the group would become known for.

1974-1984 brought about some of their most appreciated and esteemed work yet. They met graphic artist, Emil Schult, around the time of their release Autobahn. He created much of the bands image and artwork. They also developed a relationship with the record label Phonogram in the US. With their support financially, they were able to tour internationally across Canada, the US, and the UK. Upon ending this tour, Kraftwerk invested in new equipment and really brought their studio, Kling Klang, up to date. This makeover would play a large part in their new album, Radio-Activity. Radio-Activity showed that the band was developing a more electro-pop style, and used a central theme focusing on the bands love of radio communication.

Three more albums were released in the space of four years. Trans-Europe Express was the first in 1977 and marked the first meeting between the group and David Bowie, although nothing would come of this. The Man-Machine was released in May, 1978, and although it was recorded in their own Kling Klang studio, would have to be sent to Dusseldorf to be mixed due to its intricacy. After that came Computer World in 1981, an album that would be taken on tour and also happened to contain their smash hit in the UK, “The Model”.²

My favourite work from them was in the album Techno Pop, released in 1982. Hutter used the theme of bicycles in the song “Tour de France”, and although he couldn’t persuade the band to use the theme throughout the album, this song was done very creatively with real bike sounds. I think it is this sort of ingenuity that earns them the title of one of the biggest influences on electronic music. Besides the fact that technologically, they created numerous devices like electronic drums kits and vocoders that would influence future designs; they also enlightened artists and musicians all over the world, such as Franz Ferdinand, Depeche Mode, David Bowie, and even Jay-Z. As a listener, their hooks and melodies are extremely likable, and you can’t help but appreciate each theme found on every album they have released.  As an audio professional, you wish you could thank them for setting the standard so high when it comes to innovative and technological progress in electronic music.