Biography Band formation
Kraftwerk was formed in 1970 by Florian Schneider (flutes, synthesisers, electro-violin) and Ralf Hütter (electronic organ, synthesisers). The two had met as students at the Düsseldorf Conservatory in the late 1960s, participating in the German experimental music scene of the time, which the British music press dubbed "Krautrock".[6]
The duo had originally performed together in a quintet known as Organisation. This ensemble released one album, titled Tone Float (issued on RCA Records in the UK) but the group split shortly thereafter.
In 2010, a recording from 1969 has been uncovered for an art movie by Katharina Sieverding called Life-Death[7]. The recording is an atmospheric piece in a drone style unlike any other recording by Kraftwerk or Organisation. It is also interesting to note that even though this recording was produced in the Organisation period, the band is cited as Kraftwerk. This recording is believed to have never been released officially as a stand alone soundtrack although at least 1000 'study edition' DVDs have been produced [8].
Early Kraftwerk line-ups from 1970–1974 fluctuated, as Hütter and Schneider worked with around a half-dozen other musicians over the course of recording three albums and sporadic live appearances; most notably guitarist Michael Rother and drummer Klaus Dinger, who left to form Neu!.[6]
The input, expertise, and influence of producer and engineer Konrad "Conny" Plank was highly significant in the early years of Kraftwerk and Plank also worked with many of the other leading German electronic acts of the period, including members of Can, Neu!, Cluster and Harmonia. As a result of his work with Kraftwerk, Plank's studio near Cologne became one of the most sought-after studios in the late 1970s. Plank co-produced the first four Kraftwerk albums.[6]
1974–1975
The release of Autobahn in 1974 saw the band moving away from the sound of its earlier albums. The members had invested in newer technology such as the Minimoog, helping give the group a newer, disciplined sound. Autobahn would also be the last album that Conny Plank would engineer. After the commercial success of Autobahn, the band members invested money into updating their studio. This meant they no longer had to rely on outside producers. At this time the painter and graphic artist Emil Schult became a regular collaborator with the band, working alongside the band. Schult designed artwork in addition to later co-writing lyrics and accompanying the group on tour.[6]
What is now regarded as the classic line-up of Kraftwerk was formed in 1975 for the Autobahn tour. During this time, the band was presented as a quartet, with Hütter and Schneider joined by Wolfgang Flür and Karl Bartos, hired as electronic percussionists.[6] This quartet would be the band's public persona for its renowned output of the latter 1970s and early 1980s. Flür had already joined the band in 1973, in preparation for a television appearance to promote Kraftwerk's third album.[9]
After the 1975 Autobahn tour, Kraftwerk began work on a follow up album, Radio-Activity (German title: Radio-Aktivität). After further investment in new equipment, the Kling Klang Studio became a fully working recording studio. It was decided that the new album would have a central theme. This theme came from the band members' shared interest in radio communication, which had become enhanced on their last tour of the United States. While Emil Schult began working on artwork and lyrics for the new album, the band began to work on the music. Radio-Activity didn't live up to its predecessor and was less successful in the UK and American markets, but it did open up the European market for the band, gaining them a gold disc in France. Kraftwerk produced some promotional videos and performed several European live dates to promote the album. With the release of Autobahn and Radio-Activity, Kraftwerk had left behind its avant-garde experimentations and had moved forward toward electronic pop tunes.[6]
1976–1982
In 1976 Kraftwerk began recording Trans-Europe Express (German: Trans-Europa Express) at Kling Klang Studio.[6] Hütter and Schneider had commissioned Bonn-based "Synthesizerstudio Bonn, Matten & Wiechers" to design and build the Synthanorma Sequenzer with Intervallomat, a 4x8 / 2x16 / 1x32 step-sequencer system with features which were not available from commercial products. The music sequencer controlled the band’s electronic sources creating the albums rhythmic sound. Trans-Europe Express was mixed at the Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles and found the location to have a stimulating atmosphere. It was around this time that Hütter and Schneider met David Bowie at Kling Klang Studio. A collaboration was mentioned in an interview with Hütter, but never materialised. Kraftwerk had previously been offered a support slot on Bowie's Station to Station tour, but they turned it down.The release of Trans-Europe Express was marked with an extravagant train journey used as a press conference by EMI France. The album was released in 1977.[6]
In May 1978 Kraftwerk released The Man-Machine (German: Die Mensch Maschine). The album was recorded at Kling Klang. During the recording of the album the band would sit behind the mixing console and let the sequencers and studio equipment play melodies. Florian Schneider would then stand up and move toward a sequencer and launch another musical sequence. This was Kraftwerk's style of "jamming". This process would be repeated until the tracks were built up into songs. Due to the complexity of the recording the album was mixed at Studio Rudas in Düsseldorf. Two mixing engineers from L.A., Joschko Rudas and Leanard Jackson, were employed to mix the album. The cover to the new album was produced in black, white and red, the artwork was inspired by Russian artist El Lissitzky. The image of the band on the front cover was photographed by Gunther Frohling. This showed the band dressed in red shirts and black ties. Following the release of The Man-Machine Kraftwerk would not release an album for another three years.[6]
In May 1981 Kraftwerk released the album Computer World (German: Computer Welt) on EMI records.[6] The album was recorded at Kling Klang Studio between 1978 and 1981.[6] A lot of this time was spent modifying the Kling Klang Studio so the band could take it on tour with them.[6] Some of the electronic vocals on Computer World were created using a Texas Instruments Language Translator[10] "Computer Love" was released as a single from the album backed with the earlier Kraftwerk track "The Model"[6] Radio DJs were more interested in the B-side so the single was repackaged by EMI and re-released with "The Model" as the a-side. The single reached the number one position in the UK making "The Model" Kraftwerk's most successful record in the UK.[6]1983–1989
In 1983, the EMI label released the Kraftwerk single "Tour de France". The original 12” release was delayed by the record company until it had further news of a new album.[6] In the end, EMI released the 12” with no news of a new album. It was at this time that the band members took up cycling. Ralf Hütter had been looking for a new form of exercise. "Tour de France" included sounds that followed this theme including bicycle chains, gear mechanisms and the breathing of the cyclist. At the time of the single's release Ralf Hütter tried to persuade the rest of the band that they should record a whole album based around cycling. The other members of the band were not convinced, and the theme was left to the single alone.[6] The most familiar version of the song was recorded using French vocals. These vocals were recorded on the Kling Klang Studio stairs to create the right atmosphere.
During the recording of "Tour de France" Ralf Hütter was involved in a serious cycling accident.[6] He suffered serious head injuries and was left in a coma for a few days. "Tour de France" was featured in the 1984 film Breakin' showing the influence that Kraftwerk had on black American dance music. Following his recovery Hütter threw himself back into his obsession with cycling.[6]
During 1983 Wolfgang Flür was beginning to spend less time in the studio. Since the band began using sequencers his role as a drummer was becoming less frequent.[9] He preferred to spend his time travelling with his girlfriend. Flür was also experiencing artistic difficulties with the band. After his final work on the 1986 album Electric Café he hardly returned to the Kling Klang Studio.[9]
1990–1999
During the early nineties Kraftwerk's line up changed several times. In 1990 Fritz Hilpert replaced Wolfgang Flür on electronic percussion and sound effects,[11] and in early 1991 Fernando Abrantes replaced Karl Bartos on electronic percussion and sound effects. Later in 1991 Abrantes was again replaced by a more permanent member, Henning Schmitz.[11] In 1990, after years of withdrawal from live performance, Kraftwerk began to tour Europe again regularly, including a famous appearance at the 1997 dance festival Tribal Gathering held in England.[12] During the 1998 tour Kraftwerk appeared in the United States and Japan.[13]
In July 1999 the single "Tour de France" was reissued in Europe by EMI after it had been out of print for several years.[14] It was released for the first time on CD in addition to a repressing of the 12-inch vinyl single. Both versions feature slightly altered artwork that removed the faces of Flür and Bartos from the four man cycling paceline depicted on the original cover.[14]
The single "Expo 2000" was released in December 1999.[15] The track was remixed and re-released as "Expo Remix" in November 2000.[16]
In 1999 ex-member Flür published his autobiography in Germany, Ich war ein Roboter.[17] Later English-language editions of the book were titled Kraftwerk: I Was a Robot.[18]
2000–present
In August 2003 the band released Tour de France Soundtracks, its first album of new material since 1986's Electric Café.[19] Even before the releasing the album, in 2002, the band started the extensive Minimum-Maximum tour.
In 2004, a promotional box set entitled 12345678 (subtitled The Catalogue) was issued, with plans for a proper commercial release to follow. The box featured remastered editions of the group's core eight studio albums, from Autobahn to Tour de France Soundtracks. For reasons unknown, the item's proper release was put on hold indefinitely.[20]
In June 2005 the band's first-ever official live album, Minimum-Maximum, which was compiled from the shows during the band's tour of spring 2004, received extremely positive reviews.[21] The album contained reworked tracks from existing studio albums. This included a track titled Planet Of Visions that was a reworking of "Expo 2000".[22] The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album.[23] Ralf Hütter regretted the fact that they couldn't include some recordings from their concert in Santiago de Chile, because he said that Chileans "were the only audience in the world who clap in time, in perfect synchronisation".[24]
In December 2005, the Minimum-Maximum two-DVD set was released to accompany the album, featuring live footage of the band performing the Minimum-Maximum tracks in various venues all over the world.[25]
April 2008 saw the band back on tour in the United States leading up to its previously announced show at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.[26]
Kraftwerk won a lawsuit in Germany's high court on November 20, 2008 determining whether artists should have the right to sample other bands' music without infringing on copyright. Kraftwerk sued rap producer Moses Pelham for sampling two seconds of their 1977 song "Metal On Metal" in the track "Nur Mir" by Sabrina Setlur.[27][28]
On November 22, 2008 Kraftwerk was scheduled to headline the Global Gathering Festival in Melbourne Australia but had to cancel at the last minute due to a heart problem of Fritz Hilpert.[29]
In March 2009, after one of Kraftwerk's shows with Radiohead in Santiago de Chile, Ralf Hütter announced that Kraftwerk expected to release a new album at the end of the year.[30] Later on, he confirmed that information to some newspapers in Austria and Romania.[31] In an interview with The Guardian newspaper from the UK, Hütter cleared the confusion to some extent by stating he expects "definitive versions of the eight albums" (Autobahn onwards) to be released in September 2009 and for new material to be on its way "soon".[32]
Kraftwerk was one of the headliners of Bestival on the Isle of Wight, UK on September 11–13, 2009.
Kraftwerk finally released the remastered albums in October of 2009.[33] Due to licensing issues, three of these albums--Computer World, Electric Cafe (now re-christened with its original working title of Techno Pop)[34] and The Mix--are available only as part of the boxed set in the U.S.
The Techno Pop album contains a slightly revised track listing from its predecessor Electric Cafe: the song "The Telephone Call" now appears in its much shorter single mix, and that single's b-side remix, "House Phone," has been added as a proper album track.
The Catalogue box set was released on November 16, 2009. [35][36][37]. It is a 12" LP-sized box set containing all eight remastered CDs in cardboard slipcases, as well as LP-sized booklets of photographs and artwork for each individual album.
Although not officially confirmed, Kraftwerk have suggested that a second boxed set of their first three experimental albums--Kraftwerk, Kraftwerk 2 and Ralf and Florian--could be on its way, possibly seeing commercial release after their next studio album:
| “ | We've just never really taken a look at those albums. They've always been available, but as really bad bootlegs. Now we have more artwork. Emil has researched extra contemporary drawings, graphics, and photographs to go with each album, collections of paintings that we worked with, and drawings that Florian and I did. We took a lot of Polaroids in those days. | ” |
| —Ralf Hütter, 2006 [38] Now this is some of their songs (you can download it if you like it) : We Are The Robots And this is their performing live : | ||
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