This section covers influences -
- Things that influenced Kraftwerk
- Music that Kraftwerk have had an influence upon
Be aware of these influences, everything up to the present day - then try the quiz!
Kraftwerk drew on the influence of experimental electronic forces such as composer Karlheinz Stockhausen and Tangerine Dream to create minimalist music on synthesizers,drum machines and tape recorders.
They were also influenced by their contemporaries such as the band Can. The Beach Boys were an influence, believe it or not - if you listen to the track 'Autobahn', the 'Fun Fun Fun on the Autobahn' section is HEAVILY influenced by The Beach Boys. Hutter also admired their experimentation, particularly on their 'Pet Sounds' album.
They were also influenced by 30's culture and Art Deco imagery. Ralf Hütter: "The culture of Central Europe was cut off in the thirties, and many of the intellectuals went to the USA or France, or they were eliminated. We are picking it up again where it left off, continuing this culture of the thirties, and we are doing this spiritually".
Emil Schult, the man behind the image
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It was at this time that Florian meet Emil Schult, an electric-violinist, who became a close friend of the group, encouraging them to adopt the imagery and identity that they so far lacked. Emil was born in Düsseldorf, but had spent some time at school in the States. After returning to Germany he became an art student at the Düsseldorf Academy. His masters degree covered many aspects of the visual media including painting, photography and film, but also brought him into contact with some of the more revolutionary political student movements of the time, including Daniel Cohn-Bendit known as Rote Dany (Red Danny). Bendit had been a spokesman for the student riots in Paris "May Revolution" in 1968. In the beginning Schult's involvement was just a musical one, becoming a regular visitor to their studio, contributing to various jam sessions by playing guitar, flute and his home made electronic violin that had so intrigued Florian.
In the 80's Kraftwerk strongly influenced a generation of English new-wave groups like the Human League, Tubeway Army ( Gary Numan ), Depeche Mode and OMD, while David Bowie claimed to be have long been an admirer - this can be heard on his album 'Low' - Bowie asked to work with Kraftwerk, but typically, they refused the offer. Michael Jackson is a huge fan, evident on his album 'Bad'. He asked Kraftwerk to produce his sister, Janet's album, 'Control', but they refused.
The group are cited as a major influence on a host of electro artists from Afrika Bambaataa to the respected producer Arthur Baker. Bambaataa and Baker's pioneering 1982 'Planet Rock' single was built around samples of both 'Trans-Europe Express' and 'Numbers' (from 1981's Computer World ).
This led to the development of hip-hop, House music, and Techno.
In the 90's, their influence can be heard in the charts, for example in Madonna's track 'Music', and 'Zombie Nation' by KernKraft (does the name remind you of anything?)
