Kraftwerk’s early music were experimental rock tunes without
the “pop” bits that we associate them with of their later albums. It wasn’t
until 1974 that they made a hit. With “Autobahn,” Kraftwerk made an electronic
album about a single thing, driving. This would be the image and music of the
band that would define them in the world of electronic music. When they began
to tour, they decided to have short haircuts and suits to mimic the way
American bands were looking while they were on tour. In the title track,
“Autobahn,” Kraftwerk tried to mimic The Beach Boys. This can be seen in the
lyrics “fahr’n fahr’n fahr’n, auf der autobahn.” Where “fahr’n” sounds like
“fun,” which, of course, mimics the song “Fun Fun Fun,” by The Beach Boys. This
song also did something not normal for the time frame. It’s in German. Let me
explain this. Kraftwerk were a German band, and songs of that time were
normally not sung in German because songs in German were usually about
political statements and the motherland. So usually songs that were created by
German bands were usually in English for this purpose. After “Autobahn” came
“Radio Activity,” which also had a theme. “Radio Activity” was all about
Nuclear energy and of course, the Radio. In this context, it took a hint of
England during WWII, with people hovering around their radios waiting for
Churchill to make his speeches. Then came “Trans-Europe Express,” this is where
Kraftwerk did something not seen before on their records. This specific record
was all about what they knew and did well, no experimentation, just plain good
electronic music. A lot of their records beforehand had some songs that were
sort of experiments that they decided to put on the records.
Kraftwerk is inspirational. They kind of screw around in the
early years, then when they release “Autobahn,” they blow up into a thing. With
focus on a specific subject, they become better. This shows me that when you
get set on an idea, pursue it, no matter how silly it seems during production,
because it just might cause you to make a hit.
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