Kraftwerk More Influential Than the Beatles

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by jamo spingal, Jun 16, 2017.

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  1. Standoffish

    Standoffish Smarter than a turkey

    Location:
    North Carolina
    C'mon, folks, this thread is just silly...everyone knows Foghat is the most influential band ever.
     
  2. marmalade166

    marmalade166 Sous les pavés, la plage!

    Location:
    Aberdeen, Scotland
    So much ignorance being proudly displayed in this thread :wave:

    A thought occurs, Holger Czukay has talked about how The Beatles were an influence on Can, I wonder if they were also an influence on early Kraftwerk? Although from my memory of the Organisation album maybe they had heard Carnival Of Light... :shh:

    Either way, I'm only a fan of the first two Kraftwerk albums, the ones where Klaus Dinger (later of Neu) was a member
     
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  3. Echo

    Echo Forum Resident

    Well, I hope you've heard the name of David Bowie at least for once? That guy played allready in 1977 a song (to find at his album 'Heroes') about one of the members of Kraftwerk. Name of the song: 'V2 Schneider'.
    Indeed, about Florian Schneider.

    As far I know Bowie didn't play a song about one of the Beatles., but he played some songs with one of them (Lennon). Bowie tried to collaborate with Kraftwerk, but they declined the invitation.

    Funny is one of the lyrics of Kraftwerk ('Trans Europe Express') about a meeting with Iggy Pop and David Bowie.
     
  4. Jim B.

    Jim B. Senior Member

    Location:
    UK
    Certainly if you listed the top ten most influential artists of all time then without any doubt Kraftwerk would be there, and anyone who says different doesn't have a clue what they are talking about.

    Drilling down further though and it gets quite difficult and subjective but I certainly think you could make a valid argument for Kraftwerk.
     
  5. DRM

    DRM Forum Resident

    But what about Deep Purple?
     
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  6. jamo spingal

    jamo spingal Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Europe
    And of course, Chuck Berry was a direct influence on that. Here's where it gets interesting. If you've ever seen the BBC documentary on 'Krautrock' you'll see that unlike postwar US or UK most German kids only had a diet of schlock German pop. Of bigger influence to Kraftwerk were composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen who were pushing the boundaries of classical music using basic electronic means.
    Kraftwerk played NYC in 1974 for the first time and were shocked and amazed to find their audience was nearly 100% black. More amazing when the press in the UK at the time were berating their artificial, soul-less, non emotional music.
     
  7. wolfram

    wolfram Slave to the rhythm

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Well, Kraftwerk formed in 1969 and Moroder was already making music by that time. But when "I Feel Love'' came out (a milestone and big shift in Electronic Music imo), Kraftwerk had already released "Autobahn", "Radio-Aktivität" and "Trans Europa Express" (and a few earlier albums which are rather considered Krautrock). So it's difficult to say. Moroder sure was a big influencwe as well, but Kraftwerk might have "come first" in doing what later became called EDM.

    Kraftwerk already had the typical pulsating synth sound appear on their 1975 album "Radio-Aktivität", two years before "I Feel Love''. Of course they were never aiming at dance clubs in the way Moroder was.



    Antenna

    By march 1977 (still before "I Feel Love'', they had moved on to this: Trans Europa Express (which was later on taken up by Afrika Bambaataa for "Planet Rock").

    But either way, Moroder certainly has to be mentioned when it comes to Electronic Music key influences.
     
  8. Colin Allstations

    Colin Allstations Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    The Beatles were essentially a complete waste of everyone's time.
     
  9. pdenny

    pdenny 22-Year SHTV Participation Trophy Recipient

    Location:
    Hawthorne CA
    This once again proves my theory: Germans love David Hasselhoff.
     
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  10. wolfram

    wolfram Slave to the rhythm

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    :rolleyes:
     
  11. SirNoseDVoid

    SirNoseDVoid Forum Resident

    This thread is expert level trolling.. you know this won't go over too well on the Hoffman forums. I kind of agree with the premise though, especially from an European perspective..
    Kraftwerk were musical pioneers.
     
  12. drasil

    drasil Former Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    well...if by 'expert level,' you mean 'kind of amateurish, makes Peter Pyle look like genius.'

    but--of course the beatles' influence is waning as rock music becomes less popular, of course various electronic pioneers are now occupying that slot instead, and of course most SHTV members have no idea about any of this.
     
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  13. Billy Infinity

    Billy Infinity Beloved aunt

    Location:
    US
    @wolfram, I think @pdenny is referencing a bit by Norm MacDonald from the US TV show Saturday Night Live.
     
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  14. wolfram

    wolfram Slave to the rhythm

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Well, we don't get SNL here, so maybe this one went over my head.
     
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  15. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Bowie maybe.
    Kraftwerk?
    No!!!
     
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  16. Deek57

    Deek57 Forum Resident

    I'm near the end of a (dying) 3D fad, reviews of the Kraftwerk 3D visuals whetted my appetite, then I remembered how cold and clinical Kraftwerk sound to my ears, how when a mate who always jumped on the latest musical trad/trend bought "Trans Europe Express" when it came out and played it to death, it was his place, so his choice of music, I heard TEE so often I got to hate it. That reminds me the same mate also loved Tangerine Dream another act of the cold and clinical variety at least they had a bit of guitar in their otherwise electronic racket. I find electronica has no soul, no feel, definitely no hair standing up on the back of the neck moments. So I can't agree with the OP that KW have more influence than The Beatles, not in my world anyway.
     
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  17. Willowman

    Willowman Senior Member

    Location:
    London, UK
    Eh?
     
  18. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    Autobahn was Rock Island Line for the '70s.
    We know that. We are tracing the Skiffle - Beatles - Kraftwerk - excellent Euro dance pop influence line. We love excellence in music, especially music that endless repeats in beats / phrases using electronics. It is is the pinnacle of pop. And, it is so intriguing. It is eminently interesting and captures one's attention with powerful attractiveness. One wants to sit and pay attention, endlessly in attractive looping and round listening. It's perfection rendered in modern pop/mind roundness. Perfect for digital.
     
  19. Willowman

    Willowman Senior Member

    Location:
    London, UK
    I know you're being sarcastic, but this is actually true: the greatest music of the past 30 years is, in the opinion of me and many of my peers, sequencer- and loop-based electronic music.
     
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  20. SirNoseDVoid

    SirNoseDVoid Forum Resident

    You mean like 'Hey Jude'? Same three repetitive chords and chanting for five minutes straight...
     
  21. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Ah! Giorgio Moroder.
     
  22. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    I would agree with 'most influential', but if you actually find "equencer- and loop-based electronic music" the greatest music of the past 30 years, I have to say that, IMO, media has smashed down and unnaturally altered -- indeed programmed -- people's ability to use what, in past ages, was natural perception and, in a sense, reprogrammed it to open channel corporate crafted sounds.

    It's all right. It's not your fault.
     
  23. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    Hey Jude is my favourite super over long repeating tune. Well, one of my super long favourites, anyway.
     
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  24. Vinyl Socks

    Vinyl Socks The Buzz Driver

    Location:
    DuBois, PA
    Which gave them their top-selling single of the decade, if I'm not mistaken :whistle:

    As an added bit of trivia, "Hey Jude" can inspire crowds of people to sing along in nearly every country on Earth.
    And I also love singles like "We Are The Robots".
     
  25. Willowman

    Willowman Senior Member

    Location:
    London, UK
    No need for the patronising tone.

    I listen to everything. Usually with an open mind.

    The electronic music I'm referring to is a long way from the media or corporate instigators.

    Underground Resistance, Basic Channel, Aphex Twin, Autechre, Phuture, Ricardo Villalobos, Shackleton, Digital Mystikz, Moodymann, Carl Craig, Pepe Bradock, Actress, and on and on and on.

    These people are outsiders, expressing themselves through the tools they have available - synths, drum machines, laptops.
     
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