Kraftwerk More Influential Than the Beatles

You heard it here first, folks: Kraftwerk were just precursors to Devo and 'Temporary Secretary' was superior to anything they ever did.



Ok, I'll rest my case, now. They didn't put a man on the moon either, you know...

 

This has been a very successful troll thread. Well played, OP...well played.

 

No, it's mostly a fine discussion where more conservative members or members lacking some musical knowledge can learn more about music outside their comfort zone. For me the only reason for being at a music site.

And yes, I've learned here also a lot by myself about artists I was not familiair with.

 

I've said the same thing on this forum and gotten the same response.

Clearly, the musical sounds in our contemporary world owe a lot more to Kraftwerk than to the Beatles. When was the last time you heard chiming guitars and "yeah yeah" harmonies in a film soundtrack (that wasn't a period piece)? The techno beats and minimalist melodic figures of Kraftwerk are everywhere.

 

I think that Kraftwerk deserves their place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and acknowledge their influence.

If you feel that music of the current era started in the 70's, then I could understand the thought of placing Kraftwerk above the Beatles in terms of "influence". I would, however, point out that as "modern" music is constantly evolving, it would not be unthinkable for music to change to the point that it might reflect primarily some other genre/period (50's Jazz, 60's Soul, 90's R&B?). So even if Kraftwerk is "most influential" today, that could easily change.

I have one question for Kraftwerk experts. Like (I suspect) many Americans, my enjoyment of electronic music followed a slightly different path - from Roxy Music, to Eno, Bowie, Devo, Talking Heads. What was the relationship between Kraftwerk and that line of development?

 

They run parallel to Roxy Music/Eno, early 70s Ralf Hutter even dressed like he was in Roxy Music! From 1974/75 onwards, they began to be noticed outside Germany and Bowie/Eno and Devo obviously were taking notes.

 

I'm not singling you out... many other people have posted the same thing.

I find it incredible though.

When Kraftwerk played a series of shows at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC a few years ago, there was an Internet meltdown from people around the world attempting to get tickets. I didn't hear of anybody who succeeded in getting tickets.

 

The Steve Hoffman Forum: The Beatles and their musical siblings, is all that exits...

 

I'm a Beatles fan and Temporary Secretary is a fun track but that's kooky talk. It is probably better than a few Kraftwerk songs - not all of it was Trans Europe Express

And it all came together in the 80's with the synth poppers / New Romantics who were all influenced by the above artists.

 

Given that no one has been able to categorically refute the OP's original theory, can we now assume that the conclusion is a resounding yes? That way, we can close the thread, create as many Kraftwerk related threads as Beatle threads.

Thanks.

 

For me, this is true, but Willowman is right:

 

Kraftwerk didn't put a man on the moon? Have you gone mad???


JUST SOME OF KRAFTWERK'S MANY ACHIEVEMENTS DOWN THE YEARS:



1690: Kraftwerk hand a discarded electric drumskin to John Locke, who is inspired to write about a tabula rasa and kickstart the Enlightenment. Some years later they go to Königsberg, where they audition an over-eager Immanuel Kant on harpsichord before kicking him up the backside and telling him to 'go read some books'.





1776, Kraftwerk sign the Declaration of Independence, and then perform their latest single, 'Gesunder Menschenverstand' on a primitive electric keyboard rigged up by Ben Franklin.




1843: Kraftwerk invent the fish knife, as they felt it was needed.




1928: Kraftwerk discover penicillin during a jam session in the laboratory.





195o: Kraftwerk devise the format for What's My Line?, reasoning that it would be something to watch while people were eating with their fish knives.

 

And in 1960:



Kraftwerk invent The Beatles.

 

Don't you know they skipped the moon? It was not needed because of their spacelab:



From there they even composed their song 'Kometenmelodie'

 

Be fair, you can't pin that mistake on Kraftwerk.

 

Yes, the Beatles and Kraftwerk were baby boomers along with most of their original fans. You can split hairs regarding Lennon's exact birth year, but that would be pedantic IMO.

 

The words pop and kettle come to mind.
Why is this a troll thread, just because you don't agree with it?

 

The words ma and pop kettle spring to mind.

 

Plenty of other threads if you don't wanna play..

 

Keep trying to convince yourself...

Or go to this hot thread: Kraftwerk - how live are they?

 

Nah. The Monkees.

NOT knocking Kraftwerk, but really...?


Seriously. Apples and oranges, anyway. You could make a case for Buddy Holly or Chuck Berry. or Frank Sinatra..or Miles Davis depending one the point you are trying to make.

Based on name recognition and influence, musical influence and studio innovation, worldwide and over 50 years, Beatles win, hands down.

 

I 'liked' your post just so I could 'unlike' it.

Thanks for playing.

 

"Curse those Beatles! If it weren't for them, Kraftwerk mania would be everywhere! Everybody would have their pocket calculator and walk around like identically dressed robots. And everyone would be scared that the robots were taking over the world. Darn those Beatles. What a mistake!"

 

Or where they can unload it over you calling it "a fact".

This "most" thing is a weak point an that's being discussed a lot.
Every influence has a time span. Nothing lasts forever.
To many, in and outside this thread, The Beatles' influence that span has waned mostly. While the Kraftwerk's one is still going. But we're still too close to the events to tell.
Now, if in 100 years from now, provided humanity still exists, with enough historical distance to take things more objectively, the measured span of influence of one of the two bands (measured through easy and common tool like music ans production analysis) turns out to have lasted longer, the band would be the "more" influential.
And still it wouldn't be such a topic.

They came first. Not chronologically but in the embracing of that specific electronic aesthetic that would be later embraced by those artists you mention.

I don't. It was really a matter of years passing from electronic pop to be a novelty into being a major mainstream style (at least in Europe). And the more electronic music became popular, the less Kraftwerk made frequent records. Electric Café is certainly far from being a revolution like Autobahn or TEE. It's a "well done" electronic album, among others. The entire music scene they "influenced" buried them in terms of popularity. Their retro-future aesthetic got old quick, too.
And being 40 now, since I was a kid I was pretty much alone into liking electronic music, the usual complain was "synths are cold, are no alive, etc..."
It's a cultural thing. If you choose not to see electronic music to begin with (basically, living through the entire Eighties buried in a cave), even their pioneers won't catch your attention.

They did. With dogmas. Oh, I'm sorry. With "facts".

Seriously, I think a thread discussing the nature and modality (and meaning) of "influence" wouldn't be a bad idea.

I think what he meant is that the question is holding quite an angry confrontational potential to begin with.
"Trolling" as deliberately provoke strong emotional responses with a direct attack.
It worked, but it has not degenerated as expected. Yet

 

To paraphrase Jasper Carrott, Kraftwerk aren't even the most influential band in Germany.