Kraftwerk More Influential Than the Beatles

Incidentally, Devo's groundbreaking album Are We Not Men? was recorded by Conny Pank in his studio, like the early Kraftwerk albums.

 

This thread is a nice platform for Kraftwerk geeks to hole up in their cubicles and bash the Beatles and their fans to their hearts' content.

For them, this platform is the greatest thing since disposable contact lenses.

 

I'm not reading 21 pages of arguments, so apologies if this has been said before, but:

It would be interesting to ask the artists themselves who was the influence. I'm sure many EDM artists' sound was influenced by Kraftwerk, but the artist himself has never heard of them. On the other hand, I'm always surprised by who says he or she was influenced by the Beatles. You don't need to sound like the Beatles to have been influenced by them. (And I have no dog in this fight; I'm devoted to both bands.)

 

Absolutely. The ridiculous OP Started all this with the claim that Kraftwerk were MORE influential than The Beatles (for certain artist yes).

Thanks for pointing that Kraftwerk were far from being the first to dabble in electronic music. However, along with Emerson, Wakeman, Rick Wright, Tangerine Dream,... (none of which I'm a fan of by the way) they played an important roll in the development of the use of electronic instruments.

 

If you were looking to get some vitriol flowing here you succeeded nicely, huh?

 

The idea that an EDM artist, let alone fan, has never heard of Kraftwerk is bewildering.

 

You may not want to hear this, but Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez are both classified EDM. As for fans, I'll poll the local middle school, but again, I doubt it.

 

You misunderstand - I'm happy to bash the mediocre motops anywhere.

But, for the most part, I just put anyone who starts new Beatles thread on ignore so I don't see it. Wouldn't want to ruin their little bubble.

 

Speaking of which, which do you think more influenced this song: Beatles or Kraftwerk?

 

I said the chorus was entirely instrumental, not the song itself. To quote yourself: "Reading difficulties?"

 

When Autobahn came out I was around 10. I won tickets off of AM radio. My dad took me. I loved it, even though it was nothing like I had ever heard..while my dad sat there the whole time like he was thinking "what the hell is this" lol

 

"It took some time for Kraftwerk to shape their new musical language. They made three albums of experimental art rock (Hütter dislikes the term krautrock) in the early 70s before the classic line up – Hütter and Schneider joined by Wolfgang Flür and Karl Bartos – embarked upon a seven-year run of albums so groundbreaking you could argue their influence surpasses even that of the Beatles: Autobahn, Radioactivity, Trans-Europe Express, The Man-Machine, Computer World. Each one was prophetic, gleamingly futuristic and – it is sometimes overlooked behind all the plaudits for invention – overflowing with melodic genius. Yet even on the forefront of such innovation, Kraftwerk were thwarted when it came to performing the kinds of live shows they desired. Early concerts relied on tapes and studio musicians – “too much compromise” – while in the 80s the band were forced to laboriously pack up their entire Kling Klang Studio in order to take the show on the road. Being a member of Kraftwerk over the past few decades seems to have at least partly involved simply waiting around for technology to catch up with their ideas."

Kraftwerk's Ralf Hütter: 'Music is about intensity … the rest is just noise'

 

This is a Beatles thread, disguised as a Isn't Kraftwerk Great? - I Can't Believe People Don't Know Them thread.

 

And here a small musical interruption to enjoy this thread even more:

Kraftwerk playing one of their songs live in front of a German tv show. Very funny to see old ladies in the audience watching the future

 

And now your dad is a regular contributor to this forum

 

Not that much.
I saw a beautiful work of art on G+ once that looked like William Blake. I told the artist and he was like: "Who??".

Thing is, the evolution of the genre was so quick that whatever was groundbreaking became standard reference or cliché in a blink of an eye.
We are talking about commercial music, after all, not academy.
EDM artists didn't go to EDM school learning the ABC of electronic music. They pick up what they are exposed to as kids and later, and that's it.
If what they pick up is stratified in common practice since decades, they have no reason to get back tracing the pioneers.


EDIT: some years ago Taylor Swift came out with an album inspired to the Eighties. I don't follow her but I was captured by the article's title for whatever reason and read it.
She motivated the choice calling the 80's the peak of creativity and freedom in (popular) music, something like thaat. That made me giggle, 'cause the girl had obviously no idea (or so it looked like) about what happened the decade before. Which given the demographic she belongs to, it's understandable.

 

Heard of not heard.

 

The Mediocre Motops could be a cool band name.

 

I've never heard Lefty Frizzell, to name but one of thousands. but I've heard of him

 

Indeed. An excellent explainer here:
German Radio and the Development of Electric Music in the 1920s and 1930s | Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

In this interview
http://newsflash.bigshotmag.com/features/26854/

" . . . [Kraftwerk] grew up listening on the one hand to late-night broadcasts of electronic music, on the other to the American Pop music imported via radio and TV - especially the Beach Boys who were a heavy influence . . . "

 

I'm sure that makes perfect sense to someone...

 

Kraftwerk: In praise of the electronic Beatles

 

The only way to know the answer to this is to ask the people in question.

 

Why Kraftwerk are still the world's most influential band