Kraftwerk More Influential Than the Beatles

I love Kraftwerk and The Beatles, but I'm not going to waste my time trying to educate members of the Steve Hoffman Music Forums on (a) who Kraftwerk are and (b) how/why they've been influential over the last 40+ years.

 

Here's the thing. I like guitar, bass and drums a lot more than I like synths, vocoders, drum machines on a laptop. I like rock music. Call me a dinosaur, but there it is. The Beatles have influenced far more music to which I actually listen and enjoy than Kraftwerk ever could.

 

I'm not someone who argues that the Beatles are definitely the most influential artist, but there's a clear reason that they're at least one of the most influential artists: they were and remain incredibly popular. Of course, popularity with musicians is the more important factor, but popularity with musicians is almost never diametrically opposed to general popularity. And popularity and influence are proportionate.

Likewise, with EDM, Madonna and Michael Jackson, say, are going to be more influential than Kraftwerk. They were, and remain, far more popular.

 

One might argue that the greatest influence Kraftwerk has had is on ambient music and movie soundtrack music.

 

It was a little levity. I'm a boomer. Lighten up.

 

Agree with the article and the suggestion.

 

Sorry! Some folks here make statements like that and they're 100% serious.

 

There, I fixed your post.

 

There's an app you may also not be aware of. It's called "YouTube."

 

Why should I care if these musicians have no taste or knowledge of musical history?

 

I don't have a reference handy, but there are tons of EDM, hip-hop etc that give props to Kraftwerk. Look at their collective bow down to Daft Punk, also.

 

Nah. I was just poking a little fun at the Beatles cult here on these pages. Of course the Beatles were hugely influential.
Personally, I'm not an avid Beatles fan, but they certainly had their moments. It's all good.

 

Considering a recent thread of yours, asking for some Kraftwerk tips (and purchasing directly most of their work ), you're one of the few people at SHTV being able to dig Kraftwerk, coming from classical rock.

My compliments, but why are so many others here always staying in their only and lonely comfort zone? Pity. Kraftwerk and so many other (more) electronic bands are a wealth to explore. Kraftwerk's music is dating from 40 years ago (!), so even the classicists have to like them now

 

Influence IS transitive.
Someone starts the flow. Others carry it on. Repeat.

But without the original source, there wouldn't be no flow at all.

Comfort zone is comfy.

 

Hey, I resemble that remark!

 

That is vague rhetoric directed at a generalized mass.

 

Here, I made you an influence word cloud:

Kraftwerk
Radiohead
The Beatles

 

It's true. I hope to be an influencer here.

 

I was glad to get my comment in before the thread gets taken down.

 

Interesting similarity between the two quartets; using new (studio-)techniques to find their own voice. I think The Beatles succeeded in (mostly) staying mainstream despite their experiments (Tomorrow Never Knows, Revolution #9). Kraftwerk were (i.m.o.) the ''musicians musicians"; in terms of influence on musical genres it goes a very long way!
"More influential", though? Looking at the broader spectrum of the impact of an album like Sgt. Pepper's: no.

 

I'm sure there are some, but are you really reading tens and tens of interviews with EDM and hip-hop artists who are saying that Kraftwerk was an influence? (Are you really reading tens of interviews with hip-hop and EDM artists period?)

Some of the EDM and hip-hop artists I've worked with didn't seem concerned with much prior to the early 90s. The world began with Public Enemy and Wu Tang Clan for some of them. I wouldn't say they're representative of most folks working in those genres--primarily because I don't know, as I've not worked with a ton of EDM and hip-hop artists, but as with VU and indie artists, I think some people like to exaggerate just how many musicians are heavily into them. And it seems to be that often the story there is people who want an alternate Beatles so to speak, because Beatles fans/fandom can be so annoying.

 

Everybody knows Beyoncé is, was, and ever shall be.

 

If you feel that it's transitive, then you'd have to say that the most influential musical artists were the earliest, and that influence diminishes as we move on from them, with the most recent artists being the least influential.

 

I actually did spend about 3 months going deep into Kraftwerk recently. So yes, I looked deep and hard and came away incredibly impressed and appreciative for their vision, contribution, creativity, and influence. Someday when there is a decent doc on them, artists in the categories you mention will climb over each other to give a testimonial.

I'm not going to offer an opinion on exaggeration.

Anyway, one (still) smells like new car smell, the other like grandma's mothballs.

 

Can is more influential than Kraftwerk.

Stick that in your Autobahn and smoke it!