KRAFTWERK

hutter/bartos/schult are added to the writing credits

Chemical wrote: I expect those millionaires in Coldplay are paying Kraftwerk a few quid for it. Are they listing them as co-writers on that song (Talk) or is the note on the sleeve legally all they need to do? I kno that Mr Paltrow and at least one other member are huge Kraftwerk fans (check some of their t-shirts recently, Radio-Activity apparent). It's weird because Coldplay are nothing like Kraftwerk musically.

I remember being in a music store just after X & Y was released - to the usual brown-nosing "most fantabulous record ever made" bollocks that accompanies any album by any band the NME thinks are worthy of their - and our - attention - and it was like being struck by a thunderbolt as Ralf's brilliantly crafted Computer Love melody come out of the speakers...played on a guitar along with an identikit Coldplay-by-numbers beat. I think I just shook my head sadly, thinking "Oh there goes another great riff. Another generation who'll think Coldplay wrote the tune..."

I know Mr Paltrow and his anonymous mates were having real bother writing and recording the album but did they really need to resort to ripping off a classic song to get some badly needed inspiration? Unlike Kraftwerk themselves, the delay on the album actually affected the company's share price apparently so maybe time was tight and inspiration spent...

Bambaataa was sued when Robie ripped off the melody to Trans-Europe Express for Planet Rock and rightly so. It would seem Ralf & Florian are a bit more easy-going these days!

I wonder how Paltrow would feel if someone pinched one of his bits for a song...

Item on MTV News last night saying that Coldplay having acheived critical acclaim and commercial success for their first three albums dont feel under pressure anymore and may surprise their fans with an 'electronic' fourth album....! Well there you go..

Interesting story I remember reading from the late 80's I think, no idea if it's true, but it's what I read....Kraftwerk had been hearing NO's stuff, and wanted to come over to see them in England. When they did, and got talking about samples, sounds, etc, Kraftwerk said they particularly liked a certain drum sample, and asked NO where it was from. NO told them that they'd actually sampled it from a Kraftwerk record it the first place!

We also shouldn't forget that the entire sequence line of Your Silent Face is pretty much lifted from Europe Endless, from KW's Trans-Europe Express.

Maybe Barney's current themes involving travelling stem from KW too (Autobahn, TEE, Tour De France, etc)

The introduction of 1963 (the entire section up until the vocals start) sounds VERY much like The Telephone Call, which, co-incidentally, was released the year before.

I'm not saying NO are ripping off KW, far from it, but it's often clear to see where NO have been influenced by KW's style and sound. Then again, NO have done so much stuff where there is no influence whatsoever, especially their guitar-based tracks. Have KW ever sounded like Sunrise?

In agreement with you Chris, Coldplay bore the shit out of me too! I just cannot understand their attraction.

Ah, Kraftwerk...BEAUTIFUL music: innovation, catchy tunes, quality albums, great shows, what more do you want...?

And Coldplay are unoriginal rip-off artists, who can go fuck their metaphorical mums.

Chemical wrote: Bambaataa was sued when Robie ripped off the melody to Trans-Europe Express for Planet Rock and rightly so. It would seem Ralf & Florian are a bit more easy-going these days!

Erm, one of the remixes of "Don't Stop...Planet Rock" (from 1992) by Karl Bartos:

Planet Rock (Classic Mix) (9:16) Remix - Elektric Music

More info here

Chris owen wrote: Interesting story I remember reading from the late 80's I think, no idea if it's true, but it's what I read....Kraftwerk had been hearing NO's stuff, and wanted to come over to see them in England. When they did, and got talking about samples, sounds, etc, Kraftwerk said they particularly liked a certain drum sample, and asked NO where it was from. NO told them that they'd actually sampled it from a Kraftwerk record it the first place!

We also shouldn't forget that the entire sequence line of Your Silent Face is pretty much lifted from Europe Endless, from KW's Trans-Europe Express.

Maybe Barney's current themes involving travelling stem from KW too (Autobahn, TEE, Tour De France, etc)

The introduction of 1963 (the entire section up until the vocals start) sounds VERY much like The Telephone Call, which, co-incidentally, was released the year before.

I'm not saying NO are ripping off KW, far from it, but it's often clear to see where NO have been influenced by KW's style and sound. Then again, NO have done so much stuff where there is no influence whatsoever, especially their guitar-based tracks. Have KW ever sounded like Sunrise?

A likely source for the drum intro for "1963" is "It" from Prince's Sign 'o' the Times album. The two intros sound exactly the same .

Fogface wrote:

Chemical wrote: Ralf is mad into cycling and sometimes cycled up to a hundred kilometres a day. He had a serious accident whilst cycling but made a full recovery.

I read from somewhere that Hütter went into a coma after that accident and when he woke up his first words were: "Where is my bicycle?"

I don't think they've ever used certain substances to the same extent as NO but Ralf and Florian are apparently both big-time coffee addicts too.

The quote Fogface refers to above is from a biography called Man, Machine And Music by Pascal Bussy that came out in 1993. I was lucky enough to score myself a copy of this at the same time I picked up Touching From A Distance while in the UK in 1995. Dunno if it's been reprinted/updated since; the ISBN on my copy is; 0 946719 098.

Chemical wrote: Interesting.

It could be that they underestimated just how much Bartos put into Kraftwerk. He co-wrote several tracks on Raise The Pressure remember and not just the drums either, I take it.

How do I know this stuff? Many years of hearing and reading about them I suppose! Been into them since about 78...which is a long time!

I read an Electronic interview done about the time that Raise The Pressure came out where Johnny Marr mentioned Karl walking into the studio, taking off his coat, throwing it over the computer and saying "let's jam"; there was also a brief mention of him being a good guitarist and for those fortunate enough to have a copy(or had a copy made)of the Prozac doco featuring Barney, you can actually spot Karl doing some keyboard stuff in the recordings done for RTP.

Great story!

I remember seeing that Prozac documentary. I wish I still had that somewhere. It must have been weird for them meeting Kraftwerk's members the first time. Andy McCluskey said that being asked to jam with Kraftwerk once was "like being asked by God to come into heaven".

Apparently around the time they were writing and recording Computer World, they didn't have a computer! They were writing about something they had hardly any experience of and so must have been writing whilst they imagined what impact computers would have on their music. They said that the album was about the effect that computerisation was having on the world at the time and would in the future, hence the "Time, travel, communication, entertainment" speech on the title track.

Another thing: it was thought at the time that Radio-Activity was a hymn of praise for the nuclear industry but that occurances like Three Mile Island etc changed their views on it and so it's been "Stop radioactivity!" since The Mix in 91.

Chemical wrote:

Bambaataa was sued when Robie ripped off the melody to Trans-Europe Express for Planet Rock and rightly so. It would seem Ralf & Florian are a bit more easy-going these days!

I think that law-suit might have had something to do with the fact that Mr. Bambaataa and that nice Mr. Baker "neglected" to ask for Kraftwerk's permission...

Actually, Karl said "right, we won't be needing this"

Barcaboy99 wrote: NO interviews generally consist of the following subject matter:

Ian Curtis' death, Hacienda, Blue Monday, Questions on their longevity, Drugs, World in Motion/John Barnes/Keith Allen (on a 4-yearly cycle), Kraftwerk.

So... do we need more interviews?

To an extent which progressed over time.

You can hardly call Warsaw and Gutz Kraftwerk inspired.

Thi is an example of musical experience, they keep the same style of music during theerteen years,without pantomime on the backsatge,it's just A MODEL,but there is a question in my spirit,it's this one,if a leader killed him self because he don't like a song "TEA FOR TWO"what can happen to the rest of the group?

Virtual One definately has a distinctive posting style.I'll give him that

virtual one wrote: Thi is an example of musical experience, they keep the same style of music during theerteen years,without pantomime on the backsatge,it's just A MODEL,but there is a question in my spirit,it's this one,if a leader killed him self because he don't like a song "TEA FOR TWO"what can happen to the rest of the group?

I was listening to the Steve Morris and Gillian show on revolution on sunday ( a great station by the way, hooky has done a few shows and the lunchtime clint boon show is a must!) They played lots of Kraftwerk and other Krautrock so its a fair guess to say its had a big influence on them.