Did Kraftwerk really visit New Order's studio in the 80s?

Sorry, bit stuck in limbo between things to get done on a dull Sunday afternoon and a bit of time to kill.

I remember reading a few times over the years this tale about Kraftwerk visiting New Order in their studio sometime in the 80s after hearing and being impressed with Blue Monday.They were, as the tale goes, gobsmacked and impressed by Blue Monday and were very curious to see the studio New Order created it in.As the story goes they were shocked at the ramshackle little studio that New Order had (presumably Cheatham Hill at that time?) and couldn't believe a sonic and forward looking track like Blue Monday had been made there.

Well, correct me if i'm wrong, but Blue Monday was recorded at Brittania Row, correct? So if Kraftwerk visited New Order's "studio" , well Brit Row wasn't theirs.Though Kraftwerk may have been more impressed by Brittania Row than Cheatham Hill.

I have doubts about Kraftwerk visiting New Order at all.They may well have been impressed by Blue Monday and had respect for New Order but somehow i don't believe they would visit the band and their studio.

I reckon it's yet another tall tale invented by a certain Mr Hook.

I've heard Hooky tell this story a few times, most recently in at least one of his Hooky/Jack chats.

Without going through each chat, it might be difficult to see whether he was referring to Cheetham Hill or Britannia Row. However, I've always assumed he was referring to Britannia Row (maybe I've heard him say this or, maybe, he just said 'studio' and I've made the assumption).

I think this is very likely to be apocryphal.

To be fair to Hooky, though. He may just be recounting a story that he had heard himself. Given Kraftwerk's very mysterious nature, I can't imagine they would've recounted this story themselves to Hook, or to journalists.

The only way I could think that this story is true is if Karl Bartos had told it Bernard (given that the two of them are friends) and he had mentioned it to Hooky.

I wonder how advanced a studio BR was at the time, and how this compared to Kling Klang.

I can't image they would have visited NO in the studio. Kraftwerk didn't have an album to tour in '82-'83, so they wouldn't have been in England. Before Blue Monday NO only had Movement and a couple of singles, none of which garnered them much notice. Even though NO were fans, they don't strike me as the type who'd want to meet their heroes, and Rob Gretton would have nixed it anyway.

And remember, Kraftwerk is a band who turned down Bowie and Michael Jackson. But I could be wrong. Maybe a chance meeting while on tour or on holiday.

My understanding is Kraftwerk was so impressed with Blue Monday that they booked time in Britannia Row, and were horrified with the state of the studio, finding it unusable for the way they preferred to work.

Just found this, which contains some further details re Michael Johnson:

http://www.electricityclub.co.uk/electri\_city\_conference-in-dusseldorf/

"But despite KRAFTWERK being the pioneers of electronic music, Ralf and Florian had been so impressed by ‘Blue Monday’, they arranged to meet its engineer Michael Johnson at Britannia Row Studios where it was recorded. “They wanted to book into the studio we used…” remembered Hooky, “and they wanted to use our engineer, because they wanted their next record to sound like ‘Blue Monday’, which is most ironic because we spent years trying to sound like them!”

KRAFTWERK had a look round Britannia Row but unimpressed with the old fashioned, faded grandeur of the studio, they cancelled the session. “I took that as quite a compliment” quipped the Salford Bass Viking playfully".

But again, this has come from Hooky, so is from the same source. It'd be nice to have any of the other three confirm this.

Thanks for replies.

Yes that stuff about Kraftwerk booking Britannia Row but upon seeing it decided it wasn't for them is plausible.