KRAFTWERK ORIGINAL POSTER 1981 JAPAN RARE PSYCHEDELIC POCKET CALCULATOR DENTAKU

$

2,900

THIS IS A VERY RARE POSTER THAT BELONGED AND WAS DESIGNED BY KRAFTWERK MEMBER EMIL SCHULT 

IT FOR JAPANESE VERSION OF POCKET CALCULATOR OTHERWISE KNOWN AS DENTAKU. フライヤーデザイン
I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS VERSION AND IT IS MOST LIKELY UNIQUE. 
DESIGNED BY EMIL SCHULT. c1981 AND HAS EMIL SCHULT'S STAMP ON BACK OF POSTER IN ONE CORNER. 
POSTER HAS WEAR AND I HAVE SHOWN A PIC OF A FOLD IN UPPER RIGHT. 
POSTER MEASURES OVERALL APPROXIMATELY 25 X 35 1/2 INCHES AND WAS USED BY KRAFTWERK.

In 1972 Emil Schult started artistic collaboration with Kraftwerk founders Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. As artist friends they created the "musicomix" poster for the album Ralf and Florian and further artwork for Autobahn, Radioactivity, and additional graphics. During the next years of their cooperation they also wrote lyrics and sound poetry for Autobahn, Radioactivity, The Model, Pocket Calculator, Computer World et al.

































Artist Emil Schult is a painter, poet, and musician best known for his work with electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk. While studying with Dieter Rot, Joseph Beuys and Gerhard Richter at Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, he was invited to contribute to the band’s visual and musical ideas. This collaboration with founders Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider led to Schult’s creating lyrics as well as graphic designs for their album covers and creating images of the musical instruments and electronic sounds that were being crafted by the group for performances and recordings.
Schult's designs include the covers of the albums Ralf & Florian, Autobahn, Radioactivity, Trans Europe Express, and Computer World. He also provided projections of his artwork that are still used in Kraftwerk concerts today.
In 2012, Schult was invited to be an artist in residence at the Institute for Electronic Arts at Alfred (N.Y.) University. Since then, he has been a frequent visitor and lecturer at Alfred while creating new work at the Institute. 
This exhibition explores the depth of Schult’s career in visual and sonic art. It includes hand cut prints of early computer chips; Reverse Glass Portraits of electronic music luminaries Robert Moog, John Cage, Clara Rockmore, Oskar Sala, and others; a sound installation based on Charles Burchfield's work and the concept of synesthesia; and ceramic sound sculptures created in Germany. In the fall of 2014 Schult worked with students at the institute for Electronic Arts to create The Sounds of Charles Burchfield, an examination of the  role of synesthesia in the painter's work. Schult instructed participants to analyze the structural and rhythmic elements of the images and re-create them with his "reverse glass painting" technique. Audio files were then created with Photosounder software to allow viewers to literally "hear" the paintings. The end results will be part of the exhibition in the Budin Gallery.
I began my studies at the art academy in the late sixties under Diter Rot, Joseph Beuys and Gerhard Richter, who had all been extremely influential in terms of my artistic development. That’s also when I first met Ralf and Florian and became involved with Kraftwerk. In general, the art world in Düsseldorf was a pretty competitive atmosphere and it wasn’t always so easy to find people you could work and get along with, especially in terms of feeling comfortable enough to show your art.
At the time, both Ralf and Florian were already innovative and advanced, musically speaking, and I had long been fascinated by electronic music. They were gracious enough to allow me to come by and, well, take part. My input with the band was always part of a larger artistic dialogue, which included visual ideas that were developed together. It wasn’t just give and take; it was also about developing things conceptually in parallel processes. A good example of that is the “music comics” developed for the album Ralf and Florian, where, if you know the group, you can really see what a mix of ideas and input it is, visually speaking. Interestingly, the same was also true for developing some of the musical instruments and electronic sounds. Whenever Kraftwerk wanted to redesign an acoustic instrument to make it electronic or somehow create an electronic simulation, then a visualization, a sketch or a notation was part of the process.
Electronic music makes use of a sound spectrum that’s larger than acoustic music. It’s enabled humanity to expand mental processes and to imagine the future, which is why I think there’s always been such a strong connection between electronic music and science fiction. For example, at the World’s Fair in New York in 1964, I saw a pavilion called Futurama that featured visions of the future—cities in the ocean or in the sky, advanced forms of transportation—and these were accompanied by electronic sounds from some of the earlier synthesizers and electronic instruments put together by Raymond Scott. This is the tradition in which my contribution to Kraftwerk can be seen. I think there are two main metalanguages in this universe: music and image.
When I create an image and put it into the world, then people understand it non-discursively. You know, people tend to say an image is worth a thousand words, but music is even further along in that sense: when I play a series of notes in a certain order, then people immediately relate to it in some way—they have immediate associations. That’s why progression in music and art is strongly connected to human progress.
You can make destructive music, but you can also make music that pushes things forward. Electronic music is the music for modern times, the music that allows us to meet the standards of today’s technology. The Internet and other forms of digital communication demand a metalanguage sophisticated enough to process and interpret it. Progress in art, music and society are also necessary to balance the madness of excess and greed, which leads to landmines, radioactivity and destruction of living cosmic tissue. You can see the balance and progress in children—especially in their acceptance of electronic beats. They are far less biased than older people, far better able to perceive things intuitively and far more likely to see art and music as a reminder of paradise.
For the shows at the MoMA, and specifically the 3-D visuals, I participated by figuring out ways to provide the images with a new dimensionality—especially those for “Autobahn”, “Kometenmelodie”, “Airwaves”, and “Trans-Europe Express”. These we discussed quite a bit and, with the programming skills of Falk Grieffenhagen, turned into material for film projections. I’ve been taking part in Kraftwerk concerts for over forty years, and what was presented at the MoMA was the absolute pinnacle of what I’ve had seen and heard. The sound, the visuals, the amount of people at the shows . . . it wasn’t a normal “concert” experience. In that sense, it wasn’t really a “concert” experience at all.










Emil Schult (born 10 October 1946) is a German painter, poet and audio-visual artist.

Contents1 Biography2 List of works2.1 Books (selection)2.2 Singles2.3 Vocals2.4 Instruments & Performance2.5 Writing & Arrangement2.6 Production2.7 Technical2.8 Visual2.9 Acting, Literary & Spoken3 References4 External linksBiographyAfter studying Sinology in Münster, Schult joined the Academy of Art in Düsseldorf in 1969 to study Fine Arts in the printmaking class of Dieter Roth and later in the painting classes of Joseph Beuys and Gerhard Richter. In 1973 he finished his studies with the title of ‘Meisterschüler’ of Gerhard Richter. Both Joseph Beuys and Dieter Roth as well as Roth's partner Dorothy Iannone remained important for Schult's artistic development. In 1969, Schult lived in Reykjavik at Roth's studio-home.
Schult has developed a vast body of work beginning with prints, drawings and artist's books that encompass philosophical writings, poems, comics, collages and drawings. Early on he included film in his repertoire as well as painting – later on he only worked with reverse glass painting.
From 1970 to 1974 Schult collaborated with the Free International University, founded by Joseph Beuys. From 1973 to 1975 he also worked as an art teacher at a grammar school in Düsseldorf, then as a lecturer at the former college of education in Münster. Schult published books on art didactics.
In 1972 Emil Schult started artistic collaboration with Kraftwerk founders Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. As artist friends they created the "musicomix" poster for the album Ralf and Florian and further artwork for Autobahn, Radioactivity, and additional graphics. During the next years of their cooperation they also wrote lyrics and sound poetry for Autobahn, Radioactivity, The Model, Pocket Calculator, Computer World et al.
In 1979, he deepened his studies of Computer Music at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Stanford University, CA, USA. Since the mid 1980s, Schult has also worked with video and computer animated images.
In the late 1980s he moved to the Bahamas, where he developed his distinctive style of reverse glass painting, which has informed his future work. This ancient Chinese technique opened to Schult a contemporary view on painting, as today the world is mostly perceived through glass – the window glass, the glass of the tablet, TV etc.
Since the early 1990s, he has lived in Düsseldorf again where he was commissioned to create a crypt for the Robert-Schumann Music Academy. The crypt is a complex artistic room meant to create the opportunity for meditation for the students. After submitting 50 photos of the crypt to Karlheinz Stockhausen, he composed a piece called ’50 Klangbilder’ for it. It was published in form of a DVD in the publication „Symbolik einer Krypta” (Droste Verlag, 2012).
In Schult's artistic work topics such as the evolution of the electronic chip play a central role as well as a series of homages to the pioneers of electronic developments. His focus lies on the visionary potential of art and his recent paintings reflect on the connection between humans, the electronic microcosmos and the vastness of space.
Emil Schult has recently held solo exhibitions at Osthaus Museum Hagen, DE, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY, USA,[1] Rauschenberg Gallery at Florida South Western State College, Fort Myers, FL, USA, Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum, Paderborn, DE,[2] Institute for Electronic Arts at Alfred University, NY, USA, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA.
He served as a guest professor at the Institute for Electronic Arts, Alfred University NY, USA.
His recent participations in group exhibitions include Deichtorhallen Hamburg, DE,[3] Haus der Kulturen der Welt Berlin, DE,[4] Galerie Buchholz New York, USA,[5] AC Gallery Beijing, CHN,[6] Zhang Zhou International Contemporary Art Exhibition, CHN, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, DE,[7] Raketenstation Hombroich, Neuss, DE,[8] Tampa Museum of Art, FL, USA, Julia Stoschek Foundation, Düsseldorf, DE, et al.
Since 2017, Schult has collaborated with Emma Nilsson as TRANSHUMAN ART CRITICS. In 2019, Lothar Manteuffel and Max Dax joined the group. TRANSHUMAN ART CRITICS view the evolution of electronic music and art from the perception of enhanced humans. The observations are presented as audio-visual pieces in which the archeological findings merge with the cognition of future.
List of worksBooks (selection)FLUXUS to FUTURE. Works 1967 – 2017, ed. Emma Nilsson, Transhuman Art Critics Publishing, Düsseldorf, DE (2017)Emil Schult, Karlheinz Stockhausen: Symbolik einer Krypta, with DVD “50 Klangbilder” by Karlheinz Stockhausen, Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf (2012)Emil Schult: Test Bilder 1999 – Test Cards 1999, Catalogue, Edition of 500 (1999)Emil Schult, Peter Rech unter Mitarbeit von Lothar Manteuffel, Katarina Jacobsen und Notburga Rech: Spiele mit Kunst - Kunst-Spiele. Bergedorfer Förderprogramme 6, Text by Heiner Müller, Verlag Sigrid Persen, Hamburg – Horneburg/Niederelbe (1981)Liederheft. Guten Morgen Schöne Blume. 10 Lieder, Published by Gute Zeiten Musikverlag, Edition of 100 (1979)Liederheft. 10 Lieder, Published by Gute Zeiten Musikverlag, Edition of 100 (1977)Emil Schult, Peter W. Rech: Konzept Didaktik, unter Mitarbeit von Lothar Manteuffel u.v.a., Verlag für Lehr & Musische Bücher Emil Schult, Düsseldorf (1976)Emil W. Schult: Gesichter – Visages – Köppe – Faces – Capites – Heilabrot, Published by Edition Hansjörg Mayer, Stuttgart, Edition of 500 (1974)Der andere Comic “Dürerchen’s Mondfahrt” von Johannes Geuer, Emil Schult, Derrek Kremer, Young Voss, Christof Kohlhöfer, H.P. Wallner, self-published (1972)A Book of Man. Connected Memories. Finally. Part 3 B Tree, Published by Fred Jahn, Munich, Edition of 500 (1970)A Book of Man. Connected Drawings, Self-published, signed and numbered, Edition of 100 (1969)A Book of Man Second Part Two, Unique manuscript, Self-published in an amended version, Edition of 200, signed and numbered (1969)Es war einmal ein Gästebuch, Published as: Das war mal ein Gästebuch, publ. Galerie Fred Jahn, Edition of 1000 (1969)Singles1997 - Elektronisches MosaicVocalsAutobahn Kraftwerk - Autobahn (Cass, Album, RE) EMI 266-240.0704 1985 Where Would I Be Without IBM Information Society - Peace And Love, Inc. Tommy Boy, Reprise Records 1992 Instruments & PerformanceKraftwerk - Computerwelt Capitol Records (2) 1981 Wally Badarou - Words Of A Mountain Island Records 1989 Writing & ArrangementAutobahn Kraftwerk - Autobahn Philips, Philips 1974 Die Stimme Der Energie (as Schult) and 6 more…Kraftwerk - Radio-Aktivität Kling Klang, HÖR ZU, EMI Electrola 1975 Radioactivity (as Schult) Kraftwerk / Nomadi - Radioactivity / Quasi Quasi (7", Promo) Capitol Records 3C 000 70069 1976 Kraftwerk - Radioaktivität Kling Klang, EMI Electrola 1975 Radioactivity (as Schult) Urszula Dudziak / Kraftwerk - Papaya / Radioactivity (7", Jukebox) Arista, Capitol Records 3C 000-70074 1976 Radio Activity (as Schult) Daniel Janin, Son Orchestre, Ses Chanteurs* - 12 Super Succès Nº 30 (LP) Les Tréteaux 6361 1976 Trans Europa Express (as Schult) and 1 more…Kraftwerk - Trans Europa Express Capitol Records, Capitol Records 1977 The Hall Of Mirrors (as Schult) Kraftwerk - Showroom Dummies Capitol Records 1977 Kraftwerk - Trans Europa Express Kling Klang, EMI Electrola 1977 Trans-Europe Express (as E. Schult) Kraftwerk / Kiki Dee - Trans-Europe Express / Loving And Free / Amoureuse (7", Jukebox) Capitol Records, The Rocket Record Company 3C 000 - 70095 1977 Radioactivity (as Schult) Various - Thomson 1 - Demonstration Thomson 1977 Das Modell (as Schult) Kraftwerk - Die Mensch·Maschine Kling Klang, Kling Klang, EMI Electrola 1978 Das Model (as Schult) Kraftwerk - Das Model Kling Klang, EMI Electrola 1978 Kraftwerk - The Robots Capitol Records 1978 Kraftwerk - Neon Lights Capitol Records, Capitol Records 1978 Trans-Europe Express (as E. Schult) Kraftwerk - Kraftwerk's Disco Best (12", Promo) Capitol Records, Capitol Records SPRO-8865, SPRO-8866 1978 The Model (as Schult) Snakefinger - Chewing Hides The Sound Ralph Records 1979 The Model (as Schult) Snakefinger - The Model Ralph Records 1980 The Model (as Schult) Snakefinger - The Man In The Dark Sedan / The Model (7", Single) Missing Link MISS 24 1980 Rendezvous (as Schult) Rheingold - Rheingold Welt-Rekord, EMI Electrola 1980 Rendezvous (as E. Schult) Rheingold - Dreiklangs-Dimensionen (7", Single) Welt-Rekord 1C 006-46 410 1980 Radioactivity (as Schult) Various - Record News Today (7", Comp, Smplr) EMI-Odeon S.A.I.C. PROM 2 1980 Kraftwerk - Taschenrechner Kling Klang, EMI Electrola 1981 Kraftwerk - Computerwelt Capitol Records (2) 1981 Rheingold - Fan Fan Fanatisch Welt-Rekord, EMI Electrola 1981 Computerwelt (as Schult) Kraftwerk - Computerwelt Kling Klang, EMI Electrola 1981 Kraftwerk - Computer Love / The Model EMI 1981 Computer Love Kraftwerk - Numbers / Computer Love Warner Bros. Records 1981 The Model (as Schult) Various - Methods Of Dance Virgin 1981 Duran Duran / Kraftwerk - New Romantic (12", Promo) EMI PRP-8179 1981 The Model (as Schult) The French (2) - The Model / Set Me On Fire (7", Single) Sanguine Records SAN 101 1981 Dentaku (as Schult) Various - '81夏 総合演奏盤 (2xLP, Comp, Promo) Toshiba Records, Toshiba Records PRT-8182, PRP-8183 1981 Fat Old Sun Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother (LP, Album, RE) Oasis Record Co., Harvest OLE-398, SMAS-382 1982 Fan Fan Fanatic (as E. Schult) Rheingold - Fan Fan Fanatic EMI 1982 Rheingold - Fan Fan Fanatic (12", MiniAlbum) Harvest DLP-15005 1982 The Model (as Schult) The Members - Uprhythm, Downbeat (LP, Album) Arista AL 6605 1982 Das Model (as Schult) and 1 more…Various - Es Geht Voran! Die Neue Deutsche Tanzmusik Sonocord, Deutscher Schallplattenclub 1982 Das Model (as Schult) and 1 more…Various - Tanz Mit Dem Herzen (LP, Comp) EMI, EMI Electrola, EMI Electrola 1 C 086-78 083, 1C 086-78 083, 1C 086 78 083 1982 Das Model (as Schult) Party Service Band - Das Tanzbein (LP, Album) Polydor 2475 755 1982 Das Model (as E. Schult) La Dolce Vita - Bitte Lächeln! (LP, Album) Rock-Trend, Rock-Trend 30 006, 30006 1982 FanFanFanatisch (as Schult) and 1 more…»real« - Neue Deutsche Welle (LP, Album) Europa 111 905.2 1982 The Model (as Schult) Various - Best Of Ralph (2xLP, Comp) Ralph Records RR8251 1982 Via Satellit (as E. Schult) Rheingold - Via Satellit (7", Single) CBS CBS A 3882 1983 The Model (as Schult) Star Inc* - Synsation Arcade 1983 Radio-Activity (as Schult) and 2 more…Between The Sheets - Late Night Radio Bootlegs 1983 Trans-Europe-Express (as Schulz) and 2 more…Various - Bunny's Party With The Radio Stars (12", Comp, Mixed) Bootlegs BTL 281154/F 1983 The Model (as Schult) Various - Dancin' The 80's (2xLP, Comp) EMI 1A 146.78241/2 1983 The Model (as Schult) Snakefinger - Against The Grain (LP, Comp) Ralph Records SN 8353 1983 Via Satellit (as Schult) Rheingold - Distanz (LP, Album) CBS, CBS CBS 25871, CBS 25 871 1984 The Model (as Schult) The Members - Going West Albion Records 1983 Planet Rock (as E. Schult) Various - Tommy Boy - Greatest Beats (2xLP, Comp) Tommy Boy ILPS 9825 1985 Planet Rock (Original Twelve-Inch Version) (as E. Schult) Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force - Planet Rock - The Album Tommy Boy 1986 The Model (as Schult) Snakefinger's Vestal Virgins - Live In Chicago Ralph Records 1986 Techno Pop (as Schult) Kraftwerk - Electric Cafe Kling Klang, EMI 1986 The Model (as Schult) Big Black - He's A Whore / The Model Touch And Go 1987 The Model (as Schult) Big Black - Songs About Fucking (LP, Album) Torso TORSO 33043 1987 Trans-Europe Express and 2 more…Kraftwerk - The Man Machine / Trans Europe Express EMI, EMI, EMI 1987 Hall Of Mirrors (as Schultz) Siouxsie & The Banshees - Through The Looking Glass Wonderland (3) 1987 The Model (as Schult) Star Inc. - Synthesizer Spectacular Star Inc. Music 1987 The Model Fact 22* - Chatterbox EP (Cass, EP) Black Music BMCS006 1987 The Model (as Schult) Snakefinger - A Collection Of Songs Written And Produced With The Residents Torso 1988 Trans Europe Express (as E. Schult) Kraftwerk / B.B. & Q. Band* - Trans Europe Express / On The Beat Unidisc 1988 Calculadora (Pocket Calculator) (as Schult) Las Vegas (3) - Las Vegas (12", Maxi, Promo) Epic EPC 461185-1 1988 The Model (as Schult) Various - Bremen Under Cover (LP, Comp, Red) Strange Ways Records WAY 6 1989 The Model (as Schult) Ed Starink - Synthesizer Greatest Volume 2 Arcade 1989 The Model (as Schult) The London Studio Orchestra* - 40 Magic Synthesizer Themes (2xCD) Laser (2) 2668342 1989 Radioactivity (as Schult) Melt (4) - Sex-O-Matic / Radioactivity Robot Düsseldorf 1989 Uranium (as Schult) and 3 more…Vangelis / Kraftwerk - Untitled (LP, Comp) DeAgostini IGDA 1113 / IGDA 1114 1989 The Model (as Schult) Ed Starink - Synthesizer Greatest Volume 2 (CD, Album) Arcade 05 4020 61 1989 Radio Activity (as Schult) Ed Starink - Synthétiseur 4 - Les Plus Grands Thèmes Arcade 1990 The Model (as Schult) Star Voyager - Synthesizer Greatest - The Future Mix Arcade 1990 The Motiv (Boy I Feel Sorry For Da Chicken Mix) (as E. Schult) and 1 more…Genaside II - The Motiv Jumpin' & Pumpin' 1990 Autobahn Huah! - Was Machen Huah! Jetzt? L'Age D'Or 1990 Das Model (as Schult) Various - Deep Heat (2xLP, Comp) Eurostar 39830011 1990 Das Modell (7 Inch Version) (as Schult) and 1 more…Dance Robots - Das Modell WEA 1990 Das Model (as Schult) Kröger* - Das Model Hansa 1990 Trans Europe Express (as E. Schult) Koto (2) - Plays Synthesizer World Hits ZYX Records 1990 Radio Activity (as Schult) Ed Starink - Synthesizer Greatest Volume 5 - The Final Episode Arcade 1990 The Model (as Schult) Unknown Artist - The Sound Of Synthesizer LaserLight Digital 1990 Trans-Europe Express (as E. Schult) Kraftwerk / Boogie Boys - Trans-Europe Express / A Fly Girl (12") Capitol Records, Capitol Gold Cuts V-15566 1990 The Model (as Schult) Various - Super Synthesizer Hits (CD, Comp) Fortune 3068 1990 The Model (as Schult) Andromeda Project - Synthesizer Sequences - 20 Great Synthesizer Themes (CD, RM) Mega Sound 94.717-2 1990 The Model (as Schult) Star Inc. - Synthesizer Spectacular Volume 3 (CD, Album) Star Inc. Music 86048 1990 Radio Activity (as Schult) Star Inc. - Music From Outer Space (4xCD, Comp) Star Inc. Music 4-5400 1990 Autobahn (as Schult) Project D - Synthesizer - The Ultimate Sound Experience (4xCD, Comp + Box) Star Direct SDCD 002 1991 Autobahn (as Schult) Various - All In A Day's Werk (12") Deutsch Englische Freundschaft EEF 91 1991 Computerliebe (as Schult) Camouflage - Handsome - The Remix (CD, Maxi) Metronome 867 553-2 1991 Autobahn (as Schult) and 5 more…Kraftwerk - The Mix EMI, EMI 1991 Trans Europa Express (as Schult) Various - Mörderische Entscheidung (Cass, Comp) Eurostar 39870014 1991 The Model (as Schult) The Galaxy Sound Orchestra - Synthesizer Hits Vol 1 (CD) Object Enterprises OP0031 1991 Das Model (as Schult) Various - Smash 9 (CD, Comp) Sonet SOPOD 1039 1991 Das Model (as Schult) Various - Smash 9 (2xLP, Comp) Sonet SOPOL 1039 1991 Fan Fan Fanatisch (as E. Schuld) Various - Herzschrittmacher - Folge II (VHS, PAL, Comp) Warner Music Vision 9031-74013-3 1991 Autobahn (Original Version (Edit)) (as Schult) -Pro+Gress* - Untitled (12") Deutsch Englische Freundschaft EEF 93 1991 The Model (as Schult) Various - New Romantic Classics Virgin, Virgin 1992 Kraftwerk - The Model - Retrospective 1975-1978 Cleopatra, CEMA Special Markets 1992 Radio Activity Starink* - Synthesizer Greatest Gold Arcade 1992 Elektric Music - Crosstalk (CD, Maxi, Ltd) SPV Records SPV 056-110363 1992 The Balanescu Quartet - Possessed Mute 1992 Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force* - Don't Stop... Planet Rock (The Remix EP - Part 1) Tommy Boy 1992 The Model (as Schult) Unknown Artist - Synthesizer Greatest Hits (2xCD) Point Productions 0302672 1992 Autobahn (as Schult) Unknown Artist - The Synthesizer Album (CD, Comp) Music Club MCCD 061 1992 The Model (as Schultz) Ed Starink - Synthesizer Greatest - The Original Tapes (CD) Indisc DICD 3770 1992 The Model (as Schult) Jill Smith - Synthesizer Collection (CD) Impuls International IMP 9272 1992 Elektric Music - Esperanto EastWest 1993 Das Modell Robert (13) - Sine Columbia 1993 Trans Europe Express (as Schult) and 2 more…Trans World - Kraftwerk Discomagic Records 1993 Kraftwerk - Academy Theatre (2xCD) Paper Corn Music PC 008/9 1993 Radio Activity (as Schult) Ed Starink - Best Of Synthétiseur (Les Plus Grands Thèmes) (2xCD, Album) Arcade 302 598 1993 Computer Love (as Schultz) Various - Tonal Evidence 6 (Cass, Comp, Promo, Smplr) Mute CP1 1993 The Model (as Schult) Big Black - Death Wish (CD, Unofficial) Big Music BIG 049 1993 Autobahn (as Schultz) Various - Update Live Volume 2 (CD, Comp) Columbia COL 473789-2 1993 Computer Love (as Schult) Slipstream (2) - Computer Love Ché Trading, Ché Trading 1994 The Model (as Schult) Various - It's Electric (Classic Hits From An Electric Era) Dino Entertainment, Dino Entertainment 1994 Hall Of Mirrors (as Schultz) Dive - Extended Play Discordia 1994 Das Model (as Schult) The Treble Spankers - Araban Vulcan (3) 1994 The Model Terrorvision - The Model (12", Promo) Total Vegas Recordings 12OBSDJ 1 1994 The Model (as Schult) Terrorvision - Oblivion Total Vegas Recordings, Total Vegas Recordings, Total Vegas Recordings 1994 Trans Europe Express (as Shult) and 2 more…Boing Boom Tschak - A Tribute To Kraftwerk (Cass) Prima Musik 0006224PMM 1994 Das Modell (as Schult) Various - Flieger - Flug 4 (CD, Comp) GiG Records, Reverso GIG 660 807, 660 807 1994 Das Model (as Schult) The Treble Spankers - Araban (CD, Album) Vulcan (3) 2094/CD 40.145-222 1994 Radio Activity (as Schult) Ed Starink - Synthesizer Greatest Gold (2xCD, Comp) Arcade 3200552 1994 The Model (as Schult) Various - Synthesizer Greatest Hits (Box + 3xCD, Comp) Disky LB 8066 1994 The Model (as Schult) Various - New Romantic - Classic Tracks (CD, Comp) Music For Pleasure, EMI CDPR 128, 7243 8 31341 2 0 1994 Alternativa - Trans Europe Express (12") Dig It International DMX 10179 1994 The Model (as Schult) Unknown Artist - Synthesizer Gold - Part Two (CD, Comp) Disky DCD 72 1994 The Model (as Schult) Green Hill - Pigs Might Fly (CD, Album) Harvest, Harvest 7243 8 29191 2 4, 8 29191 2 1994 The Model (as Schult) Various - "...Just Can't Get Enough" - Originalhits Fra 80'erne EMI-Medley 1995 Computer Love (as Schult) Slipstream (2) - Slipstream Ché Trading 1995 The Model (as Schult) Star Inc. - Best Of Synthesizer (2xCD, Comp) Arcade 9100077 1995 Autobahn (as Schult) Various - Synthesizer Hits (Cass, Comp) True Trax TRT MC 212 1995 Garden Eden - Das Modell Elixir, Elixir 1996 The Model (as Schult) Various - New Romantics · 15 · Classic · Club · Cuts EMI 1996 Aurora Borealis (Greatest Show For Free) (as E. Schult) Yamo - Time Pie EMI Electrola 1996 The Model (as Schult) Various - Entre Hoy Y Mañana DRO 1996 New System (2) - Radioactivity (12") Aux-Out Records AUX OUT 1005 1996 Generator - Das Model (CD, Single) Ultraphonic, EastWest 0630-17497-2 1996 Onkel Zbyndas Winterrock* - Nevergreeny (CD, Album) Black Point BP 0095-2 1996 Radio Activity and 1 more…Starink* - Mega Synthétiseur - Les 100 Plus Grands Thèmes (4xCD, Comp) Arcade 3006942 1996 The Ukrainians - Radioactivity (CD, Maxi) Cooking Vinyl PANT 159 1996 The Model (as Schuit) Various - Alles Prima - Und Viele Andere Hits (CD, Comp) EVA 74321 375752 1996 Cha Cha 2000 - Autobahn (10") Lissy's Records LISS 3 1996 The Model (as Schult) Tictox - Toxeuphoria (CD, Album) Swing-A-Ling Records 531 878-2 1996 Das Modell (as E. Schult) Rammstein - Das Modell Motor Music 1997 The Model (as Schult) Warm Jets - Never Never EP (CD, EP) This Way Up, Island Records WAY 5833, 854 921-2 1997 Das Model (Model In Der Luft Mix) (as Schult) Various - Bravo 20 Hits Vol. 2 (Cass, Comp) Warner Music Poland, Warner Music Poland 9548-35265-4, 548-35265-4 1997 Radioland (as Schult) Various - 100 Ans De Radio 1896-1996 (CD, Comp) RFI 96MPS02 1997 Technopop (as E. Schult) Terre Thaemlitz - Die Roboter Rubato (CD, Album) Mille Plateaux MP 034 CD 1997 Radioactivity Various - Covered (CD, Comp) Roadrunner Records, Roadrunner Records RR 8798-2, RR 8798.2 1997 Das Modell (as Schult) Various - Die Größten Hits Der 80er Und 90er Aus Österreich 7 - Best Of Flieger (CD, Comp) Reverso 74321 530572 1997 Trans Europe Express (as Schult) Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express / Numbers / Musique Non Stop / Homecomputer (Box, Comp, Promo + 4x12") Kling Klang, EMI United Kingdom KLANG BOX 101 1997 Uranium (as Shult) Various - Krafty Move (An Electronic Tribute To Kraftwerk) (2xCD, Comp) Energy Rekords ERCD 111 1997 Trouble Funk Express (Trans-Europe Express) (as E. Schult) Trouble Funk - Early Singles (CD, Comp) Infinite Zero 9 43095-2 1997 Anthony Rother - Trans Europa Express (12") Psi49net PSI49-1 1998 Chris Whitley - Dirt Floor (CD, Album) Messenger Records UTCD 004 1998 Basskraft - A Bass Tribute To Kraftwerk (CD, Album) Pandisc PD 8924-2 1998 The Model (as Schultz) Various - Κύματα Ροκ (CD, Comp) ΜΕΤΡΟ, Virgin, Mute ΜΕΤΡΟ 32 1998 The Model Spizzenergi - The Model (CDr, Promo) PolyMeDia (2) 2001 1998 Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine - Live! (CD, Album) Cooking Vinyl COOK CD 149 1998 The Model (as E. Schult) Hybrid Machine - Eloquence (CD, Album) Virtual Music VM-HM002 1998 The Model (as Schult) The Wildbunch - Don't Be Afraid Of The Robot (CD, Album) Off Woodward GD-101 1998 Autobahn (as Schult) Fink (2) - Mondscheiner L'Age D'Or 1999 The Model (as Schult) The Divine Comedy - A Secret History (...The Best Of The Divine Comedy) (2xCD, Comp, Ltd) Setanta Records SETCDL100 1999 Radioactivity (as Schult) The Divine Comedy - National Express (CD, Single, CD1) Setanta Records SETCDA069 1999 Moje Oci (as Schult) Various - Best Of Techno (CD, Comp) ARS Productions 740405-2 1999 Planet Rock - The Power From Planet X (The DJ Messias Mix) Afrika Bambaataa - Zulu Nation War Chant (CD, Album) Eurotrend CD 157.989 1999 The Model (Live In Düsseldorf '94) The Divine Comedy - Rarities (CD, Comp, Ltd) Setanta Records SETCDL100R 1999 The Model (Radio Version) (as Schult) Model FAB / Ltd. - Limited - The Model / Save The World (Action Man) (CD, Maxi, Ltd, Promo) Metropolitan IMCDS 125 1999 The Model Snakefinger - Chewing Hides The Sound / Greener Postures (CD, Album + CD, Album + Comp, Dig) Euro Ralph CD 021 1999 Music Non Stop (Cumbia) (as Schult) and 2 more…Señor Coconut Y Su Conjunto* - El Baile Alemán Emperor Norton 2000 The Model (as Schult) Various - To Cut A Long Story Short - The New Romantics (CD, Comp) Universal Music, EMI JS054UE 2000 The Model (as Schult) Various - Best Of The Eighties - 108 Original Hits (Box, Comp + 6xCD, Comp) EMI Gold, EMI Gold 7243 5 28435 2 7, 528 4352 2000 Trans Europe Express (Cumbia Instrumental) (as Schult) and 1 more…Señor Coconut Y Su Conjunto* - Trans Europe Express (12") Emperor Norton EMN 13-12 2000 Paul Oakenfold Presents Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force* - Planet Rock Remixes Tommy Boy 2001 Im Spiegelzimmer (as Schult) Ikon (4) - The Shallow Sea (CD, Single) Apollyon Apo CD 20050 2001 The Model (as Schult) Zoot Woman - Living In A Magazine Wall Of Sound 2001 Kraftwerk - Somewhere In Europe Not On Label (Kraftwerk) 2001 The Model (as Schult) Veronika Zemanova - The Model (CD, Single) Bizarre Music (2) 55 24682 2001 The Model (as Schult) Various - Completely New Romantic (CD, Comp) EMI Gold, EMI Gold 7243 5 31193 2 4, E531 1932 2001 Radio Activity (as E. Schult) Magic Finger Project - Magic Finger Project (CD, Comp) Oy EMI Finland Ab 7243 5358852 6 2001 Pocket Calculator (as Schult) Lloyd Cole - 2001 (Collected Recordings By Lloyd Cole 1996 - 2000) (4xCD, Ltd, Comp) The Establishment, XIII BIS Records est:003, 139452 2001 Tranz (as E. Schult) MAW Electronic - Tranz / Body MAW Records 2002 Das Model (as E. Schuit) Partia - Szminka I Krew Ars Mundi 2002 Trans-Europe Express David Waxman - Ultra. 80's Vs Electro 01 (2xCD, Comp, Mixed) Ultra Records UL 1136-2 2002 The Model (as Schult) Aqua Vista - Go Feral (7", MiniAlbum) Purr PURR 004 2002 The Model (as Schult) Various - Absolute Synth Classics (2xCD, Comp) Absolute (2) ACCD 3004 2002 The Model (as Schult) Various - The Original Electro Album - 21 Brilliant Synth And Electro Classics From The 1980s (CD, Comp) EMI Gold, EMI Gold 7243 5 40906 2 2, 540 9062 2002 The Hall Of Mirrors (Empire's Radio Edit) Empire State Human - Alpha & Omega (CD, Comp) Ninthwave Records, Ninthwave Records NW10019-2, NW10019-02 2002 Das Model ('00) (as Schult) The Cardigans - For What It's Worth Stockholm Records 2003 The Model Various - Eighties Number 1's (CD, Comp, Copy Prot.) EMI Gold 584 0142 2003 The Robots (as Schultz) Various - Russendisko Hits (CD, Comp) Trikont, Trikont Trikont US-0308, US-0308 2003 Radioactivity (as E. Schult) Jah On Slide And Friends* - Parole De Rude Boy Big 8 Records 2004 You Can Do It (2004) Various - Now That's What I Call Music! 59 (2xCD, Comp) EMI CD NOW 59 2004 Trans Balkan Express (as Schult) OMFO - Trans Balkan Express (CD, Album, Promo, Car) Essay Recordings AY CD 02 2004 Silence (2) - Vain, A Tribute To A Ghost (CD, Album) Chrom Records, Matrix Musik CRO 6522, CDTRIX119 2004 Radioactivity (as E. Schultz) Various - Trax Records - The Next Generation (CD, Comp, Mixed + CD, Comp) Trax Records CTX CD 5002 2004 Planet Rock Various - The History Of Hip Hop (3xCD, Album, Comp + Box, Car) Warner Strategic Marketing United Kingdom WSMCD085 2004 Das Model ('00) (as Schult) The Cardigans - Communication (7", Ltd) Sound Pollution SPS003 2004 Talk (Radio Edit) (as Schult) Coldplay - Talk Parlophone, Parlophone 2005 Talk (as Schult) Coldplay - X&Y Parlophone, Parlophone 2005 The Model (as Schult) King Automatic - Automatic Ray (CD, Album) Voodoo Rhythm VRCD25 2005 Autobahn and 3 more…New David - New David Sings Kraftwerk (6xFile, MP3, MiniAlbum, 320) Junk Music d-jnk-0514 2005 Kraftwerk - Minimum-Maximum EMI 2005 Das Gamer (as Schult) Various - Back In Time Live! (2xDVD-V, PAL + CD + Ltd) C64Audio.com C64DVD1 2005 The Model Various - Real Eighties - Hits Plus Extended Mixes (Box + 3xCD, Comp) Virgin, EMI, Universal Music VTDCD 709, 7243 8 73995 2 5 2005 Talk (Jacques Lu Cont / Thin White Duke Remix) (as Schult) Various - ThriveMix02 (2xCD, Mixed) ThriveDance 90748-2 2006 Talk Various - Now That's What I Call Music! 63 (2xCD, Album, Comp) EMI, Virgin CDNOW63 2006 Das Modell (as Schult) MakroSoft - Stereo Also Playable Mono Ministry Of Sound (Germany) 2006 Computer Love DJ Spinna - Intergalactic Soul (CD, Album) Papa Records PAPACD002 2006 Radioaktivität (as Schult) Girls Under Glass - Traumatized Van Richter 2006 Das Model Eläkeläiset - Das Humppawerk EP (CD, EP) Stupido Records, Humppa Records STUPIDO 080, Humppa 035 2006 Talk Various - The Dome Vol. 37 (2xCD, Comp) Polystar (3), EMI 060249837873 (1) 2006 The Model Various - Technoloid : Japanese 80's New Wave Sampler (CD, Comp) Tokuma Japan Communications TKCA-73035 2006 Radioactivity John Alexander Ericson - Black Clockworks (CD, Album) Kalinkaland Records KAL27 2006 Talk (as E. Schult) Various - Now Big Hits 2006 (2xCD, Comp) NOW Music (Denmark) NOW 984 414 4 2006 Trans Europe Express (as Schult) Señor Coconut And His Orchestra - Fine Songs And Rare Versions (A Selection From 6 MultiColor Recordings Releases) (CD, Comp) Multicolor Recordings MCR 150.2 2006 Various - Kraftworld - Brazilian Tribute To Kraftwerk (CD, Comp) Lua Music LUA 093 2006 Autobahn Various - Music From The Motion Picture Control Warner Music UK Ltd. 2007 Das Model (as E. Schult) Robert (13) - Haute Couture (DVD-V) DEA DA25200 2007 Das Modell Erdmöbel - No. 1 Hits Sony BMG Music Entertainment 2007 Talk (FK Dub) Various - Luftkastellet 5 Music For Dreams 2007 Computerliebe (Live 1989) Camouflage - Archive #01 (2xCD, Comp) Universal Music Group 1746183 2007 Pocket Calculator and 5 more…8-Bit Operators - 8-Bit Operators - The Music Of Kraftwerk Astralwerks, Astralwerks,ReceptorsMusic 2007 The Model Nouvelle Vague - New Wave (2xCD, Comp) District 6 DSCD002 2007 Das Modell (as E. Schult) Polkaholix - The Great Polka Swindle Westpark Music 2007 Talk (Radio Edit) (as Schult) Coldplay - Talk (7", Single) Parlophone, Parlophone 00946 346924 2 7, CDR 6679 2007 Pocket Calculator (Glomag Mega-Mix) (as Schult) 8-Bit Operators / 8-Bit (2) - Pocket Calculator (Glomag Mega-Mix) / The Robots (12") Astralwerks, Astralwerks ASW 71190, 094637119013 2007 Autobahn (as Shultz) Various - Music Is Love! (15 Tracks That Changed The World) (CD, Comp) Mojo Magazine June 2007 2007 Autobahn Man Or Astro-Man? - Time Bomb (DVD-V, Reg) Cherry Red, Cherry Red Films CRDVD149 2007 Das Modell (as Schult) Blue Babies - Aggugamidda! (CD, Album) hfb records 001 2007 Motorway (as E. Schult) Magnetic Morning - A.M. Friend Or Faux Recordings 2008 Radioactivity (as Schult) Fatboy Slim - You've Come A Long Way Baby Skint 2008 Trans Europa Express Christian Prommer's Drumlesson* - Drum Lesson Vol. 1 (CD, Album) Sonar Kollektiv SK162CD/JAZZ CLUB 2008 Don't Stop... Planet Rock (House Mix II By LFO) (as Schult) Various - Zang Tumb Tuum (The ZTT Box Set) (Box + 3xCD, Comp + DVD-V, Comp) Salvo, ZTT SALVOBX405, IQ 10 2008 Planet Rock (as Schult) Various - Recovery (10x7" + Box, Comp, Ltd) Fractured Recordings FRACT 01 2008 Dil Da Rog Muka Ja Mahi (The Cheb I Sabbah Shining Star ReMix) Various - Six Degrees Records Presents Traveler '08 (CD, Comp) Saregama CDNF 196018 2008 Das Model Death Valley Surfers - Last Dance Saloon (CD) Punkabilly Records DVS 004 2008 Over-Proof-Sound-System* - The Model (12") Not On Label BANG05 2008 The Model Various - Electro (CD, Comp) EMI Playlist, EMI Playlist 5099921280023, 2128002 2008 Planet Rock 2008 (as Schult) Various - Electroloops - A Tribute To Kraftwerk (2xCD, Comp) ZYX Music ZYX 82092-2 2008 The Model (as E. Schult) Various - The New Romantics (3xCD, Comp) EMI TV, Virgin 509999 66565 2 5, VTDCD 958 2009 The Model Hotei* - Modern Times Rock'N'Roll (CD, Album) Virgin TOCT-26920 2009 The Model (7 and 1 more…Various - 80s Niteclub (3xCD, Comp, P/Mixed + Box) Universal Music TV 5313245 2009 Computer Liebe Jan Lundgren Trio - European Standards (CD, Album) ACT (4) ACT 9482-2 2009 The Model Tangerine Dream - Under Cover - Chapter One Eastgate 2010 The Model (as E. Schult) Various - ........Anthems .........Electronic 80s 2 (3xCD, Comp) Ministry Of Sound, EMI TV MOSCD214, 5051275033724 2010 The Model (as E. Schult) Seu Jorge And Almaz (3) - Seu Jorge And Almaz Now-Again Records 2010 The Model Byaduoorgroup - Ode EP (4xFile, MP3, EP, 320) Not On Label (Byaduoorgroup Self-released) none 2010 The Model The Magnets - Gobsmacked (CD, Album) Not On Label (The Magnets Self-released) MG-7701A 2010 The Model (Album Version) (as E. Schult) and 2 more…Seu Jorge And Almaz (3) - The Model (12", EP) Now-Again Records NA 5077 2010 Radioactivity (as Schult) The Triffids - Come Ride With Me... Wide Open Road - The Deluxe Edition (10xCD, Comp + Box, Dlx, Ltd) Domino REWIGCD72X 2010 The Model (as E. Schult) Various - M80 Radio Presenta New Wave Classix (3xCD, Comp, Box) Universal Music Group M8357 2010 2010 The Model (as E. Schult) Various - Alle 40 Goed - Absolute 70's (2xCD, Comp) EMI 50999 9078162 9 2010 Radioactivity (Big Slow Bang Cover) Feat. Laurent Pernice (as Schult) Palo Alto - Time Capsule / 1990 - 2010 (CD, Comp) Infrastition FIN 054 2010 Das Modell The Tremolo Beer Gut - Under The Covers With .... The Tremolo Beer Gut (CD, Comp) Crunchy Frog FROG 086-2 2011 Talk Various - Epic Volume II - The Biggest Tracks. The Festival Anthems (3xCD, Comp) Sony Music, EMI TV, Rhino Records (2) 88697927292 2011 Autobahn (as Schult) and 2 more…The Balanescu Quartet - This Is The Balanescu Quartet (CD, Comp) Mute, Mute CDMUTEL19, 5099902693224 2011 The Model (as Schult) Fall Of Saigon - Fall Of Saigon (CD, Album) Gazul Records GA8851 2011 She's A Model Various - Death To Glitter (12xFile, MP3, Comp, 320) Vault 106 VAULT063 2011 Das Model (as Schult) Die Toten Hosen - Ballast Der Republik / Die Geister Die Wir Riefen Jochens Kleine Plattenfirma (JKP) 2012 Radioactivity (as Schult) Robert (13) - Nuit Gravement DEA 2012 The Model (Das Modell) (as Schult) Arizona Baby - The Truth, The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth (CD, Album) Subterfuge Records 21924SUB 2012 The Model (as E. Schult) The '64 Falcon - '64 Falcon Vol. 2 (CD, Album) Luxe Records LUXE 003 2012 Talk (as E. Schult) Various - Album Top 1000 Allertijden: The Long Versions (8xCD, Comp + Box) Sony Music 88697779232 2012 Hall Of Mirrors (as Schultz) Dive - Dive (Box) (8xCD + Box, Comp, Ltd, Num, RM) Out Of Line, Out Of Line, Out Of Line,Out Of Line, Out Of Line, Out Of Line,Out Of Line, Out Of Line OUT 558, OUT 559, OUT 560, OUT 561, OUT 562, OUT 563, OUT 564, OUT 565 2012 Superchrist (2) - Breaking Bones EP (CD, EP, Ltd, RE, RM) Disco Blanco Recordings DBR 026 2013 The Model Parralox - Recovery (CD, Album, Ltd) Conzoom Records CRCD PLOX 12 2013 The Model (Mix 1991) (as Schult) Fernando Abrantes - Mix 2.0 (CD, Album) Astro Records & Filmworks NF907777 2013 Autobahn (as Schult) and 6 more…Various - Tashitari Hiitari / Tribute To Kraftwerk (CD, Album, Comp) Nekon Records ntkw-01234 2013 Radioactivity (as E. Schult) Atom™ - The Eccentric Electrics Of Atom™ & Friends (CD, Comp, RM) The Omni Recording Corporation OMNI - 171 2013 Das Model Absinthropy - Previews Of Epoch.Of.Stars Split (2xFile, MP3, Smplr, 320) Not On Label none 2013 Don't Stop...Planet Rock (as Schult) Various - Now That's What I Call 80s Dance (2xCD, Comp) Sony Music, Universal Music TV CDNNNOW4 2013 Das Modell (as Schult) The Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain - Uke-Werk - Live In Germany (CD) Not On Label (UOGB Self-released) CD1002013 2013 FanFanFanatisch Various - Abby - The Compilation Part 4.2 (2xCD, Comp) UpScene 97523-2 2014 Das Model Various - Fussball Megamix 2014 (2xCD, Mixed) More Music And Media 899631-2 2014 The Model (as Schult) The Bluebeaters (2) - Hungry Heart Record Kicks 2015 Radioakktivity (Radio Mix) Various - Covered In Darkness Digital World Audio 2015 C-Lekktor - Radioakktivity Digital World Audio 2015 All I Want For Christmas Is You (So So Def Remix) (as Emil Schultz) Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You (10", EP, Ltd, Num, Pic) Columbia 88875134811 2015 The Model The Bluebeaters (2) - Everybody Knows Record Kicks 2015 Das Modell Rammstein - XXI (2xLP, Album, RE, RM + 2xLP, Album, RE, RM + 2xLP) Universal Music Group UNI-0602527-29662 2015 The Model Surgery Without Research - Birth/Lies/War/Death (CD, Album, Comp, RM) Aggrobeat ABCD021 2015 The Model 1991 [Mix 2.0 Album Version] (as Schult) Fernando Abrantes - Musique Non Stop - Version 2015 (CD, Maxi) Astro Records & Filmworks NF 917777 2015 Radioactivity Yellow Magic Orchestra - No Nukes 2012 (CD, Album) Commmons RZCM-59939 2015 Franck Vigroux | Matthew Bourne - Radioland: Radio-Activity Revisited Leaf 2016 Das Model Partia - Ostatni Koncert (10", Album, Ltd, Red) Thin Man Records TMR028LP 2016 The Model (as Schult) Fall Of Saigon - Fall Of Saigon 1981-1984 (LP, Album, Ltd, RE, RM) Replica Records (4) RPC019 2016 Autobahn Dyko - In Ordnung (CD, Single) Ordnungsamt Records ORD001 Unknown Rheingold - R. (Die Musik Zum Film "Der Fan") (CD, Album, RE, RM) EMI 7243 5 60315 2 4 Unknown The Model (as Schult) Unknown Artist - Synthesizer 2 (Famous Synthesizer Themes) (CD, Comp) Mega Sound 959122 Unknown Das Model (as Schult) Various - Deutsche Hits (Cass, Comp) Kiosk, TELDEC 4.25123 Unknown The Model (as Schult) Star Inc. - The Great Synthesizer Hits (Day & Nightdreams) (3xLP, Comp, Ltd) Laser (2) 9112/3-WZ Unknown Autobahn (as Schult) Unknown Artist - Atmospheric Synthesizer (2xCD, Comp + Box) Tring International PLC, Tring International PLC TTCD028A, TTCD028B Unknown Radio Activity (as Schult) Mario Cavallero Son Orchestre Et Ses Chanteurs* -Hit Parade Chante - Pop Hits - Vol. 27 (LP, Album) Pop Hits 30 PH 1827 Unknown The Model (as Schult) Various - Classic Cuts - The New Romantic Era (2xCD, Promo, Comp) Music Factory NROM1 Unknown Autobahn (as E.Schult) Electro Sound Band - Synthesizer (CD) Going For A Song GFS 055 Unknown Kraftwerk - Tour De France (Cass, Comp, Unofficial) Basston 342 Unknown Das Modell (as Schult) Kraftwerk - Die Mensch-Maschine (LP, Album, RE, Unofficial, Red) EMI Electrola (2), Kling Klang (2) 1C 058-32 843 Unknown The Model (as Schultz) Unknown Artist - Synthesiser Greats (2xCD, Comp) The Music Rack MRDCD004 Unknown The Model (as Schult) Various - Pop Of The Tops (CD, Comp, Mixed) Guttenberg Recordings 4743173011263 Unknown The Model (as Schult) Unknown Artist - Atmospheric Synthesizer Spectacular - Vol. 4 (CD, Comp) A Tring Product VAR058 Unknown ProductionKraftwerk - Radioactivity (7") Capitol Records, Capitol Records 3C 006-82119, 3C 006 82119 1976 TechnicalKraftwerk - Ralf & Florian Philips 1973 VisualKraftwerk - Ralf & Florian Philips 1973 Kraftwerk - Autobahn (7", Single) Vertigo 6003 438 1974 Kraftwerk - Autobahn Philips, Philips 1974 Kraftwerk - Radio-Aktivität Kling Klang, HÖR ZU, EMI Electrola 1975 Kraftwerk - Trans Europa Express Capitol Records, Capitol Records 1977 Blue In Heaven - Explicit Material Island Records 1986 Kraftwerk - Electric Cafe Kling Klang, EMI 1986 Elektric Music - Crosstalk (CD, Maxi, Ltd) SPV Records SPV 056-110363 1992 Elektric Music - Esperanto EastWest 1993 Elektric Music - TV SPV Records 1993 Nalin & Kane - Talkin' About Urban Tracks 1997 Inga Rumpf - 1966-1996 The Best Of All My Years So Far... (2xCD, Comp) Repertoire Records IMS 7037-WR 1997 Kraftwerk - Computerwelt Capitol Records (2) 1981 Roland Sebastian Faber* - Hommage An Die Jugend Europas (12") Aube AUBE002 2007 Roland Sebastian Faber* - Gropiusstadt EP (12", EP) Aube aube009 2010 Roland Sebastian Faber* - Gegen Den Strom EP Aube 2011 Acting, Literary & SpokenFanFanFanatisch (as E. Schult) Welle: Erdball - Ich Rette Dich! (CD, EP) Synthetic Symphony SPV 268312 CD-EP 2014

Kraftwerk's radical and prophetic approach to purely electronic pop music has been referenced by an extraordinary number of artists from the mid-'70s onward. The Düsseldorf pioneers' self-described "robot pop" -- hypnotically minimal and obliquely rhythmic, and presented since the late '70s as the work of automatons -- has resonated in virtually every development of contemporary pop since the late 20th century, including David Bowie's Berlin trilogy, synth pop, and Neue Deutsche Welle, as well as later U.S. developments such as electro, techno, and house. Kraftwerk's enduring influence, particularly through '70s albums such as the unlikely cross-continental hit Autobahn, Trans-Europe Express, and The Man-Machine, and 1981's Computer World, cannot be overstated. Although new material has been in short supply since the group's second decade of activity, they've continued to enhance their legacy with innovative live performances and several catalog projects.Tone FloatKraftwerk emerged from the same German experimental music community of the late '60s that spawned Can and Tangerine Dream. Primary members Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter met as classical music students at the Düsseldorf Conservatory, originally teaming in the group Organisation and issuing a 1969 album, Tone Float, in the U.K. Schneider and Hütter soon disbanded Organisation, rechristening themselves Kraftwerk (German for "power station"), beginning work on their own studio (later dubbed Kling Klang), and immersing their music in the fledgling world of minimalist electronics. The group's 1970 debut, titled simply Kraftwerk, offered a hint of their unique aesthetic in its earliest form, already implementing innovations -- including Schneider's attempts at designing homemade rhythm machines -- with encouragement and assistance from producer/engineer Conny Plank.Kraftwerk 2A series of lineup shifts followed. Among the musicians who came and left were Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger, who formed Neu! in 1971. At one point, Hütter even left the band; however, by the release of 1972's Kraftwerk 2, he and Schneider were again working in tandem. Recorded without a live drummer, the album's rhythms relied solely on a drum machine, creating a distinctly robotic feel without precedent -- the concept of purely technological music was, at the time, utterly alien to most musicians, as well as listeners. A series of well-received live performances followed before Kraftwerk began work on their breakthrough third LP, 1973's Ralf & Florian. Honing their many ambitions down to a few simple yet extraordinarily innovative concepts, their music began growing more and more revelatory -- even their clean-cut, scientific image was in direct opposition to the dominant pop fashions of the time.Kraftwerk's first album to be issued in the U.S., 1974's Autobahn -- their first recording with member Wolfgang Flür, and their last with Plank -- was an international smash. An edited single version of the epic title track reached number nine in Germany and number 11 in the U.K., and became the group's lone Top 40 pop hit in the U.S., where they toured for the first time with new addition Karl Bartos. The album went Top Ten in all three territories. Performed in large part on a Moog synthesizer, Autobahn crystallized the distinctive Kraftwerk sound while making the group's first clear overtures toward conventional pop structure and melody, establishing a permanent foothold for electronic music within the mainstream.
Radio-ActivityKraftwerk resurfaced in 1975 with Radio-Activity, a concept album exploring the theme of radio communication. Indicative of the band's new global popularity, it was released in both German- and English-language editions, the latter appearing early the following year, and in France it was a chart-topping success. Train travel emerged as the subject of 1977's Trans-Europe Express, which marked an increased movement toward seeming musical mechanization. The line became even further blurred with the follow-up, 1978's aptly titled The Man-Machine, a work almost completely bereft of human touches. By this time, the members of Kraftwerk even publicly portrayed themselves as automatons, an image solidified by "The Robots," a number 25 single in the group's home country.Electric CafeHaving released their most influential albums, the group disappeared from view, the first of many extended absences to follow. They did not return to action prior to 1981's Computer World, a meditation on the new global dominance of technology -- a social climate their earlier music had forecast. After achieving their second Top Ten placement on Germany's album chart and topping the U.K. singles chart with "Computer Love," they took an extended break from releasing albums. However, their earlier works informed 1982 electro classics such as Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" and Planet Patrol's "Play at Your Own Risk," and in 1983, they issued a single, the joyous competitive cycling homage "Tour de France," a number four U.S. club hit (number 22 pop in the U.K.) heard in the film Breakin'. Kraftwerk ended a five-year wait between albums in 1986 with Electric Cafe, by which point pop music was dominated by synthesizers and drum machines. Another five years passed before the next full-length, The Mix, a set of remixed and rearranged material that placed Kraftwerk -- essentially Schneider and Hütter now -- closer to the Detroit techno and Chicago house producers they inspired. Just before the end of the '90s, Kraftwerk released their first original material in well over a decade, the "Expo 2000" single.Tour de France SoundtracksThe group celebrated the 2003 centennial anniversary of Tour de France with a new version of their 1983 single, and followed it with a full album, Tour de France Soundtracks. Minimum-Maximum, a live recording, arrived in 2005. Schneider departed in 2008, leaving Hütter as the lone founding member, flanked by longtime associates Fritz Hilpert and Henning Schmitz (and eventually live video technicians Stefan Pfaffe and Falk Grieffenhagen). From the late 2000s through the 2010s, Hütter tended to Kraftwerk's recorded legacy and continued to tour. An extensive box set, The Catalogue, pulled together their eight core albums with remastered sound in 2009. Three years later, Kraftwerk performed their studio works from Autobahn to Tour de France at New York's Museum of Modern Art, and soon did the same in Düsseldorf and at the Tate Modern in London. The group's steady touring culminated in the live release 3-D The Catalogue, capturing performances from 2012 through 2016. On May 6, 2020, representatives of Kraftwerk confirmed that Schneider had died from cancer.
The obverse: In a 1975 review in Creem magazine, Lester Bangs describes an apocryphal encounter between Krautrock progenitors Kraftwerk, and bearded, Southern, boogie-rock golems Black Oak Arkansas. Essentially, Bangs’ mission is to lay into the effeminate, electronically advanced Kraftwerk as being icy, humorless, and soulless. It’s a surprising tack, coming from rock lit’s most deliberate contrarian. I mean, the guy would champion the most extreme garbage imaginable — “Hideous Blare” — just to crank up the stakes in the debate about what constituted art, rock, and genuine, rump-shaking beauty. Yet Kraftwerk were more than even he could handle.
The reverse: There is a laughably revisionist 90s television series, “Time/Life Presents the History of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” It’s available on DVD, and it’s laughable because it defines the 1970s with the music of David Bowie, The Stooges, Funkadelic, and Kraftwerk. I mean, that’s all well and good, and we all own those records now, three decades later, but come on. No one in the 70s was listening to The Stooges. In fact, all of those bands, Bowie included, were so far off the mainstream map that they were considered novelty acts. In fact, there were probably about three white people who actually owned Funkadelic records in the 1970s, and two of them were John Sinclair and his girlfriend. Please. Everyone was listening to Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles, not Maggot Brain. Give me a flipping break.
Anyway. In this TV show, they go to Grandmaster Flash, who describes his epiphany at hearing Kraftwerk for the first time. Recounting it, he reels: “Who are these funky, funky white boys?!” Basically, he and the show then make the case that Kraftwerk single-handedly laid the foundation for techno and hip-hop.
So which one is it? Were Kraftwerk rigid, technocratic automatons, subject to blame for every ill foisted upon us by Midi technology and drum machines in the last twenty to thirty years? I mean, these are gay dudes who dressed up in Roaring Twenties-era, Valentino garb and makeup, lipstick included, and self-identified as robots. Well, don’t judge too quickly — you can have my Roland TR-808 when you pry it and my bedazzled Crunk cup from my cold, dead, ATL-livin’ hands. The truth is that it’s all one coin: Kraftwerk are funky, funky, computer nerds who really did invent techno and were an indirect yet massive contributing component in the birth of hip-hop, and they’re not humorless at all. They’re just German.
Add one more item: The original line-up included not only Florian Schneider (flutes, synthesizers, electric violin) and Ralf Hütter (electronic organ, synthesizers), but Michael Rother (guitars, synthesizers) and Klaus Dinger (drums, synthesizers), who split before the first LP to found Neu!, which to an alt-rock geek is the equivalent of Jimi Hendrix and Keith Moon being in the first version of the Rolling Stones. And behind the mixing desk you’ve got Konrad “Conny” Plank, who was the Phil Spector of Krautrock. Pow!
Schneider and Hütter were from Dusseldorf, and met at conservatory. Afterwards, they quickly wedged into the underground music scene, which went prominently aboveground when the UK music press latched on and dubbed it all Krautrock. It was an unruly aggregate of bands, but the common factor was a driving, metronomic beat, a rolling, repetitive minimalism, and — especially in Ralf and Florian’s case — the use of newfangled synthesizers. In the geologic epoch in which Crosby, Stills, and Nash stomped around the FM tar pit, this was clever, engaging, mammalian stuff.
It’s safe to say that Ralf and Florian are a couple of freaks. Stories of their secrecy and paranoia are the stuff of legend, from the earliest days, to recent encounters with the likes of Johnny Marr of The Smiths and Chris Whatshisname of Coldplay. (“How do I know you’re gay? You listen to Coldplay.”) Their Dusseldorf studio, Kling Klang, is shrouded in Langley levels of mystery and intrigue. It’s worth mentioning because of this mindnumbingly grotesque fact: Ralf and Florian have completely disavowed all three of their earliest, rock-based records. And all three of them are landmark, rock ‘n’ roll classics — classics you’ll have to root for like a pig rooting for truffles, but classics nevertheless.
The debut, simply titled Kraftwerk 1 (1971 Philips) is a hard-driving joy — even the flute parts rock. It maps the band’s agenda of looping, reverberating minimalism, with electronics wherever possible, but it doesn’t shy away from standard instrumentation when necessary, including fuzzed-out electric guitar. Kraftwerk 2 (1972 Philips) is a very similar affair, rising in a series of gradual, layered crescendos. As with the contemporaneous LPs by Neu!, there is liberal twisting of the varispeed knob.
The third record is billed as Ralf and Florian (1973 Philips); it meanders a bit, but is generally excellent. Better yet is Kraftwerk 4 (2007 bootleg), a recently released live concert from 1970 that predates Kraftwerk 1 and is the only available recording of the band with Rother and Dinger. It’s anomalous and highly recommended — think the motorik of Neu! with a dollop of Black Sabbath. Seriously. It’s great stuff.
It’s almost impossible to even explain the context into which Autobahn (1974 Philips) dropped. Electronic music was still in its infancy, enough so that it was considered a gimmick. The top-selling acts of 1974 were Bob Denver, Elton John, and (ugh) Wings. We can take it for granted in 2008 that a pop band can be influenced by Karlheinz Stockhausen. Not so in 1974. In the era of bell-bottoms and back-to-the-country Jesus Freaking, Autobahn was as alien as a ride in a flying saucer. It’s a vivid, disorienting masterpiece.
Autobahn is an abrupt departure for Kraftwerk as well. It’s their first all-electronic outing, and the first of several concept albums, as it simulates a long-form drive on Germany’s infamous highways, replete right down to the swoosh of passing vehicles and the honking of horns. It’s a sharply focused effort — dense, layered, lustrous, and gorgeous. Autobahn was a hit throughout Europe, and even got some FM play in America, albeit in a truncated version. Superficial novelty may have played a role in the original interest, but a quarter century later, Autobahn remains a classic of both Krautrock and electronica.
Radio-Activity (1975 Capitol) offers various takes on transmissions and radio communication as its conceptual conceit, with shorter, song-based tracks; with the addition of Wolfgang Flür and Karl Bartos, the band had a line-up that would last for nearly a decade. Pushing a Weimar vibe, Kraftwerk cut their hair and adopted an arch, silent-film-era look for the elegant, glossy Trans-Europe Express (1977 Capitol). By this point, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Gary Numan, and Joy Division/New Order were all furiously taking notes. The Man Machine (1978 Capitol) even scored a Top-40 hit on the US disco charts with “The Robots.” This time it was George Clinton and Grandmaster Flash taking notes.
If Autobahn is Kraftwerk’s Exile on Main Street, Computer World (1982 Capitol) is its Goat’s Head Soup. It’s got a couple of great songs, but you can hear that the band is slipping, and inadvertently entering the territory of self-parody. The track “Pocket Calculator” is completely awesome, a Speak ‘n’ Spell booty call, totally engaging. But elsewhere, they seem to have lost some of the organic underpinnings that made Autobahn so thrilling. You can tell they’re paying too much attention to the technology.
Kraftwerk may have some records after Computer World, but they’re not worth discussing. Go out and find the early stuff, plus the LPs by Neu! as well as the two or three releases by Harmonia, which is Rother’s Krautrock “supergroup” with the dudes from Cluster and sometimes Brian Eno. They’ll get you by for years.
The first three Kraftwerk LPs are straight-up rock ‘n’ roll classics, and sound fresh and invigorated well into the 21st century. Autobahn is a pan-genre masterpiece of 20th century art. The next couple of records totally bop and roll, and Computer World is, at least, an awful lot of fun. Come on, Lester. Pry yourself away from that rehearsal with Tupac and shake your ass to a song called “Pocket Calculator.” Improbability is a blast.


The Emergence of Kraftwerk & KrautrockDuring the 1960’s and 1970’s, popular music as a whole experienced an explosion of growth anddiversification. With the developments of the progressive rock and industrial scenes in the UK,the jazz fusion scene in the US, and the krautrock/“Berlin School” scenes in Germany, musicwas undergoing a complete cosmopolitan renaissance heavily rooted in sonic experimentationand pushing musical boundaries in a way that had never been witnessed before. “Krautrock” wasthe colloquial term used to describe the experimental rock that developed in West Germany inthe late 1960s that combined elements of psychedelic rock, electronic music, and a broad rangeof avant-garde influences. The German krautrock scene specifically brought forth countlessinnovations. These included the use of early synthesizers; experimental tape-editing techniquessuch as cutting, splicing, or altering the magnetic tape itself; as well as the forward-thinking useof electronic gear-like drum machines, electronic drum kits, and vocoders (a synthesizer for thehuman voice). The krautrock scene largely emerged within Germany’s youth groups that wereactively rebelling against their country’s legacy in World War II two decades earlier and wereactively seeking to reform their cultural identity, which included through the formation of newmusical acts. One of the most influential bands in this cultural movement was Kraftwerk, whoformed in 1970 in Düsseldorf. Both Kraftwerk and Can (another influential Krautrock band)provided a sense of postwar cultural identity for Germanic peoples that embraced technologicalinnovations while emphasizing the relationship between man and machine (Adelt). Whereas Canwas still rooted heavily in traditional rock instrumentation, Kraftwerk became an all-electronicmusical group over time that emphasized their Germanic heritage, making them all the morenovel and distinctively a product of Germanic identity. Some scholars have even gone as far asto say that Krafterwerk’s popular song ‘Autobahn’ is a quintessential song that reflects asummative depiction of Germany’s newfound 1970s cultural identity communicated throughspatialities, temporalities, and subjectivities (Schiller).Among the many different krautrock bands, Kraftwerk proved to be the most influentialboth musically and technologically. Musically, Kraftwerk’s most distinctive quality is likelytheir utilization of propulsive, repetitive rhythms. From their very beginning, Kraftwerk refusedto let technological limitations hinder their creative vision. They often created or commissionedtheir own custom-built electronic instruments with their most famous example being theelectronic drum pads first used on their 1974 album Autobahn. Additionally, their famous “KlingKlang” private studio more so resembled a sound laboratory where experimentation occurredthan any sort of recording studio, and the studio was often treated as a musical instrument itself3(Sch tte). Kraftwerk’s lyrics were an area of influential and cultural impact too, as their contentoften celebrated the monotony of post–war Europe along with the technology that was used indaily life, all with a certain glimmer of hope for the future. Through harnessing their bold,technology–focused vision, they continually pushed towards new, uncharted sonic territories andquestioned the roles people and technology took in relation to music composition. This articleoutlines Kraftwerk’s musical development and influence through five areas: 1) the conditions fortheir formation and their influence on German cultural identity following WWII, 2) their musicalinfluences, 3) their unique financial situation that enabled their musical creation and innovation,4) their musical and technological evolution, and 5) their influence and legacy seen throughcurrent musical acts.The Germanic Cultural Landscape and Struggles of IdentityIt has often been argued that Kraftwerk can only be fully understood by taking into account thespecific social, economic and political context of late 1960s and early 1970s Germany (Cohen).During this time, Germanic youths were pushing against two facets in order to find their own,new identity: 1) The influence of other western cultures on Germanic identity, and 2) theauthoritarian association from previous decades. The youth wanted to find a unique Germanicidentity that was not borrowed from other Western cultures and they wanted to distancethemselves from the authoritarian associations from the previous World War. During the decadesfollowing World War II, West Germany received extensive international aid resulting inthousands of US and British troops stationed in the region. This unique overlap motioned in aflood of Anglo-American culture into West Germany. Before citizens realized it, West Germanradio was dominated by rock ‘n’ roll and kids began to pick up English but with Americanaccents (Cope). This pervasion of American and British culture, however, left a vacuum of anytangible German culture for German people to latch on to. As Kraftwerk's Ralf Hütter puts it:There was really no German culture after the war. Everyone was rebuilding theirhomes and getting their little Volkswagens. In the clubs when we first startedplaying, you never heard a German record, you switched on the radio and all youheard was Anglo-American music, you went to the cinema and all the films wereItalian and French. That's okay but we needed our own cultural identity (Barr 13).The other major source of cultural dissonance stemmed from Germany’s role in WWII. This wasa timeframe when people in Germany were struggling to find meaning and understandingcausing widespread protests in Berlin pushing towards a freer democracy. The desperation forGerman cultural prosperity was further echoed through disgruntled students fed up with theinaction of their government, leading to the 1968 German student movement. In the eyes of mostGerman students, the government had not done nearly enough to move on and distancethemselves from its Nazi past with their then chancellor, Kurt Georg Kiesinger, having actuallybeen a member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party during Hitler’s reign. This ledto violent conflicts between students and police culminating in a battle on February 28th, 1968between 3,000 demonstrators and 1,000 police officers leaving hundreds injured. It was a time ofconflict that was perceived as a struggle against authoritarian powers to progress democracy(Della Porta). In addition to this, there was a desire for a new Germanic identity that wasn’tadapted from the past or borrowed from the numerous other cultures that had increasingprominence within the country. In the aftermath of WWII, Germany was left with a dividednation of low–spirited citizens, desperate to latch onto new ideas as a means to leave behind their 4sordid past.The production of art, as well as most other social institutions, was tainted by the ThirdReich that dictated over Germany from 1933-1945. This resulted in a desire by Germanicmusicians to distance themselves from conventional notions of harmonic structure and melodybecause those were constructs largely associated with the cultural policies of the Nazi regime(Pattie). As a result, Germanic musicians moved towards avant garde approaches in musicalproduction, both in terms of songwriting and instrumentation. Their desire to progress onwardfrom Germany’s past towards a new future coupled with their dissatisfaction withAmerican/British rock tropes became the perfect catalyst for the creation of krautrock as a new,experimental music style unlike anything ever seen or heard before. In the case of Kraftwerk,this simultaneous push against the past as well as forging forward towards a new cultural identityresulted in their unique art style characterized by primarily instrumental music using electronicsand extensive song lengths that were free–form in composition. Their music frequently usedrepetition in place of traditional tonality and scales, often oscillating between simple harmoniesand radical divergences especially on their earliest albums.The subject matter of Kraftwerk’s lyrics and aesthetic focused around technology andindustry, which can be attributed to the broader social and political climate in West Germany atthe time. Having relatable lyrics can serve as a way to help individuals cope and connect(Messick and Aranda; Messick, Aranda, and Chris), so the focus on these monotonous aspects oflife offered a connecting point for the struggles that were being experienced. The disillusion withGermany’s past caused a cultural ‘flatness’ in affect and art that also extended to a criticaldisassociation with politics (Cohen). This cultural state of automaton-like behavior and precedenttranslated well into the context of music for a new generation of German youth. This is notablyexhibited in Kraftwerk’s pervasive use of the vocoder throughout most of their career, whichmimicked the sound of a robot talking, appearing as early as their 1973 album Ralf and Florian.In fact, Kraftwerk likened themselves to robots and also remained stoic and seeminglyunenthusiastic when they would play their music live, going as far as to replace themselves withrobots for parts of performances. Kraftwerk were embraced by Germanic youth that werestruggling with feelings of dissatisfaction and monotony, and Kraftwerk channeled those feelingsinto a new art form to which they could relate. Kraftwerk’s music might appear a culturalnovelty in modern times, but within the context of post-war Germany, they played a fundamentalrole in providing Germanic youth with a new cultural product that was uniquely German, but thatwas also not tainted by or in any way associated with the depravities of the past.Musical LineageDespite popular thinking, krautrock was not necessarily a concrete genre of music but rather amovement composed of like–minded musicians possessing a great insistence on creatingsomething completely new (Brown). This subtle distinction implies that the music itself covers avast spectrum of different sounds and defies any meaningful categorization. However, evenkrautrock bands possess a handful of common characteristics including “a reliance on electronicsounds and new musical technology (e.g. synthesizers), extended improvisation, often involvingnon-Western modalities, emphasis on texture and timbre (sound as such) over composition andconnection to the European avant-garde tradition” (Brown 340).Specifically, krautrock’s link to the avant-garde is undoubtedly attributed largely to thework of experimental composer Karlheinz Stockhausen (Brocker 99). Born in 1928, Stockhausenwas a composer famous for pioneering the concept of “musical space.” His compositions wouldoften require sound to be amplified from various positions to create the illusion of music 5occupying a literal three dimensional space. He was also one of the earliest true innovators ofelectronic music with his compositions Studie I and Studie II being especially important for itsdevelopment during the 1950s and 60s. As a leading avant garde figure, there is no singleindividual more influential on krautrock’s development than Stockhausen. As a Cologneresident, he lived in the heart of Germany’s then developing krautrock scene—not far fromKraftwerk’s private Kling Klang studio in Düsseldorf. Of all the aspiring krautrock musicianstrying to find that “new” sound, Kraftwerk founding members Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneidergleaned the most influence from Stockhausen, as they considered themselves “the secondgeneration of electronic explorers, after Stockhausen” (Grönholm 379). With Kraftwerk, theywere able to take what was at first, a niche, avant garde movement, and transform it into a wide–appealing, international phenomenon. Stockhausen himself even commented on Kraftwerk,saying that “music now cannot only be sung or played on traditional instruments, but it is alsopossible to produce one’s own sounds for a new piece. And you know how certain sounds areformed. That opens up a completely new horizon for the whole of Western music” (Sch tte 89-90).The Cost of InnovationPart of understanding the way in which Kraftwerk were able to continually innovate musictechnology is understanding the background of founding members Ralf Hütter and FlourianSchneider. According to former Kraftwerk musician Eberhard Kraneman, both Hütter andSchneider grew up in incredibly wealthy households with millionaire parents (Esch). Theavailability of lucrative financial resources was a key component in their capacity to innovate, asit was precisely this wealthy background that allowed them to afford all of the various gadgetsand instruments used in their experimentation and musical production. Their wealthy backgroundis also what most likely funded their own private Kling Klang studio too.The idea that these average West German students could afford not only the plethora ofinstruments used, but their own entire recording studio in the heart of Düsseldorf, is nothingshort of extraordinary unless one considers the sheer wealth that Hütter and Schneider arosefrom. For instance, if the price of the Minimoog Model D (a synthesizer purchased by the bandduring the early 1970’s) was adjusted for inflation, it would cost more than $60,000 today.Additionally, the EMS Synthi A—another staple synthesizer used by Kraftwerk—originally soldfor $25,000. The inaccessibility of these instruments cannot be overstated due to the uniquefinancial capabilities that Kraftwerk had at their disposal. It is through this perfect culmination ofcreative drive and the ability to finance it that Kraftwerk were able to innovate and createsomething new well beyond the works of their peers.Technological and Musical EvolutionVery little of the band’s rehearsal time involved the members “playing” their instruments butrather listening to the instruments play themselves. They would repeat pre–programmedsequences and loops for hours in an attempt to blur the lines between man and machine, and asimilar technique was used during album recording. Inspired by their fellow mates in Germanexperimental rock band Can, Hütter and Schneider recognized the importance of total artisticfreedom in musical creation. As Maxime Schmitt, a frequent Kraftwerk collaborator, described:Often, they would all sit behind the console, letting the machines run bythemselves for one or two hours, the sequencers, everything. From time to timeFlorian would stand up and go to another machine and start or launch another 6sequence. It was almost closer to a traditional jam session than to studio work.The following day they would listen back to the tape (Bussy 100).While there is no doubt that Kraftwerk’s unorthodox recording style hugely influencedmodern electronic music production, an additional aspect for which they are most frequentlypraised are the various pieces of technology that they utilized during their recording sessions,which were frequently shrouded in mystery and intrigue as Kraftwerk were very secretive abouttheir creative process. From their self-titled debut Kraftwerk (1970), Kraftwerk were alreadyincorporating self–made oscillators into their music, most prominently heard on the closingtrack, “Vom Himmel Hoch” (Brocker 101). Oscillators are devices that form consistent,oscillating electric signals, usually in the form of a sine or square wave. They form the basis ofperhaps all modern sound synthesis techniques. Kraftwerk 2 (1971) saw the band’s first usage ofdrum machines purely as a necessity—a necessity that would later become one of the band’smajor trademarks—considering they could not find a permanent drummer during this time(Brocker). This album also featured the band experimenting with different recording speeds ofmultiple tape recorders to produce highly synthetic, alien sounds (most notably heard on the firsttrack, “Kling Klang”).Kraftwerk’s third album, Ralf and Florian (1973), marked a transition point for the bandfrom the early, avant-garde sound of Kraftwerk 1 and Kraftwerk 2 to the more characteristic, popinfluenced sound that Kraftwerk further developed on their succeeding albums. Most importantlythough, it introduced two monumental developments into Kraftwerk’s sound: the usage of analogsynthesizers—specifically the Minimoog Model D and the EMS Synthi A—as well as thevocoder on the song “Ananas Symphonie”. Additionally, the song “Kristallo” could be seen as aprecursor to techno music through its use of a drum machine coupled with a sixteenth–note basspattern provided by the synthesizer. These technological acquisitions marked a turning point inKraftwerk’s career as according to Carsten Brocker, “they [now] had the opportunity to createmusic based entirely on electronically generated and modulated signals” (Brocker 103).During the same time of Ralf und Florian’s release (October 1973), Kraftwerk alsounveiled a crudely built, electronic drum–kit during a live TV performance on a television showcalled Aspekte (Sch tte). It was composed of twelve round metal plates within a silver–foilcasing with what appeared to be sewing needles serving as the actual “drumsticks” to play thecontraption. The kit was designed by new Kraftwerk member Wolfgang Flür; he had just joinedthe band following the release of Ralf und Florian. Fl r’s new drum–kit would later become aKraftwerk trademark through its usage on the six succeeding albums.By fully embracing their newfound reliance on electronic gear as well as new memberWolfgang Flür, Kraftwerk completed their transition from obscure krautrock to full–onelectronic pop music with their 1974 landmark release, Autobahn. This was the first Kraftwerkalbum to extensively use lyrics up to this point despite only being on the title track, as previousworks had primarily been instrumental (Littlejohn). Interestingly enough, Hütter has regarded theintroduction of lyrics as merely an expansion of their pre–existing sound spectrum by using theirvoices as any other instrument (Brocker). The title track also features an extensive amount ofaudio–phasing and panning tricks (simulating the doppler effect heard from cars driving by on ahighway), recorded tape sounds such as a car starting up as well as radio noise, and further use ofthe vocoder, which continued where they left off on “Ananas Symphonie” from Ralf undFlorian. This culminated in a strange global occurrence in 1975: although Anglo-Americanmusic usually dominated music charts across many areas of the world, Kraftwerk’s song 7“Autobahn”, a song about Germany’s extensive motorway system, charted in multiple countries,including the United States, Canada, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, andGermany. Even though the track was almost twenty-three minutes in length on the album, thecut-down, radio-friendly version of song that was distributed globally was just over threeminutes long.Briefly before Kraftwerk’s US tour to support Autobahn’s release, the band decided toadd another member to the band, deciding on classically–trained percussionist Karl Bartos to actas an additional electronic drummer, which officially made Kraftwerk a four member band(Sch tte). This new lineup—consisting of Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Wolfgang Flür, andKarl Bartos—became the band’s definitive lineup until 1987 and is also recognized as the mosticonic lineup of Kraftwerk. Following the positive reception of many aspects of Autobahn,changes were made towards commercialization for future releases. These changes included songshaving more orthodox structures (often verse-chorus), lyrics were incorporated more heavily,and songs were of shorter, more digestible and radio-friendly length, distancing themselves fromearlier works like the nearly eighteen-minute opus, “Kling Klang”, off of the Kraftwerk 2 album.After a very successful US tour, Kraftwerk released their fifth album Radio–Activity(1975) after retreating to their Kling-Klang studio. According to Hütter, it was a pure electronicconcept album dedicated “to the age of radio and radiation at the same time” that showcased theband confronting language through clever word puns and phonetic experiments (Sch tte). Forexample, the song “Radio Stars” implies it is about pop musicians when it is actually aboutquasars and pulsars. Additionally, it features the heaviest vocoder use compared to their previousalbums along with three additional gear acquisitions: a Votrax speech synthesizer, an ARPOdyssey synthesizer, and an Orchestron keyboard. The Votrax speech synthesizer—oftendubbed by H tter as a ‘singing typewriter’—can be heard most prominently in the song‘Uranium.’ The Orchestron keyboard allowed the band to achieve polyphonic textures on asingular instrument, something they had not been able to achieve before its acquisition. Duringthe Radio–Activity tour, the band also experimented with light–beam projections to trigger drumpatterns with a device they called the “cage” (Brocker 107). However, they soon scrapped it afterit malfunctioned on stage and never used it again. It was not the case that all of Kraftwerk’smusical exploits were as successful as others, as Radio-Activity saw fewer albums sales thanAutobahn in England and the United States, although it did find them some new fans in Franceand other areas of continental Europe (Griinholm). The band tried new commercial approacheson this album, such as incorporating lyrics in both English and German within individual tracksto increase broader appeal in the global market, but this approach was not well received and waslargely abandoned on subsequent releases, with the band vouching to instead record both Englishand German versions of songs in the future (Littlejohn).Trans–Europe Express (1977) saw the band acquiring another important piece of gear fortheir arsenal: the Synthanorma Sequenzer, designed by Matten & Wiechers. A sequencer is apiece of equipment that is designed to trigger musical events at a fixed rate. This instrumentallowed the band to automate much more of their playing than ever before and even featuredexclusive features for the band not available to the general public at the time. It was alsoresponsible for the more minimalist and hypnotic sound of Trans–Europe Express as every songwas written specifically within the limitations of the Synthanorma Sequenzer. This sequencer isalso featured on The Man–Machine (1978) along with another device designed by Matten &Wiechers—a metal console with 6 different rows of switches used to control percussion soundsduring live performances. The Man–Machine also marked the first time the band used a 8Polymoog synthesizer, which is a device somewhat akin to an electric organ. Following thealbum’s release, it proved to be widely influential on the then–developing synthpop scene andthe album is now regarded by many as one of the greatest electronic records of all time.Arguably the last truly innovative Kraftwerk album before the band’s experiments withdigital technology was Computer World (1981), which showcased the band integrating theirrecording studio into live performances after redesigning it to be transported as modules thatcould be assembled onstage. This was a natural progressive step in addressing the needs of howtechnologically demanding Kraftwerk’s music had become. Due to the increased complexity insound, the exact instrumentation of this album is largely unknown (Brocker). However,according to Brocker, the band in fact used several non–musical appliances during recordingsessions including “a Casio pocket calculator, a D breq Stylophone, a Bee Gees RhythmMachine toy keyboard by Mattel, and voice–producing appliances from Texas Instruments”(Brocker 111), This complimented Computer World’s themes which dealt highly with mankind’sincreasing reliance on technology.Following Computer World’s success, Kraftwerk only released two further albums—Electric Café (1986) and Tour de France Soundtracks (2003)—which aren’t as innovative as theband’s prior releases. Electric Café was criticized because the band applied a more commercialapproach to songwriting, which caused the music to be perceived by consumers as more sterile,less engaging, and devoid of over-arching album themes that were present on and played a rolein the cohesiveness of previous works, especially in the case of Electric Café (Littlejohn). Part ofthe reason for these criticisms was that Electric Café (and the Tour de France Soundtracksalbum too) was composed using predominantly digital technology, unlike their past releaseswhich utilized analog gear. Furthermore, the band took an extensive hiatus in the years beforeElectric Café was released, which caused the band to lose momentum and caused musicconsumers to lose enthusiasm. Additionally, Electric Café would be the first Kraftwerk album tonot feature prominent member Wolfgang Fl r since 1972’s Kraftwerk 2. There was anotherextended hiatus prior to the release of Tour de France Soundtracks, which was released as a wayof celebrating the 100 anniversary of the Tour de France bicycle races. Kraftwerk, and inparticular, Ralf Hütter, were avid cyclists. Tour de France Soundtracks departed from thepractice of releasing albums in both English and German, and instead released one version of thealbum that incorporated lyrics in English, German, and French. On the world tour that followed,the band performed songs from four laptops using sampling, sequencing, and synthesizersoftware, which was a noted departure from previous live shows that featured more musicalequipment and analog instrumentation. Tour de France Soundtracks was the highest chartingalbum of the band’s career and was a critical success due largely to the hype surrounding thereturn of a long dormant band that was regarded as trailblazing and classic at the time.The LegacyDespite inconsistency in the reception of their later output, Kraftwerk left a permanent mark onthe music industry and played a pivotal role in the development of a uniquely German culturalidentity. By pioneering electronic pop at a conceptual level, Kraftwerk achieved a level of fameand influence comparable only to that of The Beatles (Sch tte, 2020). As noted by Cohen, manyof the world’s top music critics list at least one of Kraftwerk’s albums among their favorite andmost influential albums of all time. They single–handedly innovated technology’s role in musiccomposition through blurring the lines between man vs. machine through the synthesis of bothand the creation of new musical hardware. Because of the futuristic, technological vision of two 9young German students—Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider—and their desire to createsomething whole–heartedly new, the state of music technology rapidly advanced whichinfluenced countless other musicians on an international level, including many artists withinDetroit techno, electro-pop, rap, and hip-hop (Seago, Vincent). One of the easiest influentialtrajectories to draw is from Kraftwerk’s use of the vocoder to today’s widespread use of autotunetechnology (Shahan). Virtually all music that utilizes electronic instruments has something toowe to Kraftwerk’s legacy with everything from techno to modern trap music applying it.Additionally, they helped lay the framework for electronic pop music with artists like DepecheMode, Soft Cell, and The Human League later expanded upon it with the development of theBritish synthpop scene. Kraftwerk were even influential for genres like hip–hop as DJ producerAfrika Bambaataa and his group Soulsonic Force released a single called ‘Planet Rock’ whichsampled the Kraftwerk songs ‘Numbers’ and ‘Trans–Europe Express’ to create a fusion ofelectro and funk in 1988. This song single–handedly started the genre later to be known as“electro–funk” and helped further plant the seeds for hip–hop’s later success in the 1990’s(Toltz). Despite the more obvious aforementioned influences, their influence extended into othermusical genres beyond those that clearly utilized elements of Kraftwerk’s music. Artists thathave specifically listed Kraftwerk as an influence include David Bowie, Depeche Mode, DuranDuran, Iggy Pop, Jay-Z, Moby, and Joy Division (Cohen). Another way of seeing the expansiverange of influence that Kraftwerk had is to look at the many covers of their songs that existacross many dissimilar genres, with artists as disparate as the comedian Rick Moranis, Irish rockband U2, British rock band Coldplay, the Faux Latino band Señor Coconut, the Italo disco groupKoto, the Japanese noise-rock band Melt-Banana, similarly influential Germanic metal bandRammstein, and the Dutch death metal band Gorefest all having offered their own interpretationsof some of Kraftwerk’s most seminal works.Kraftwerk is a band that has received ongoing academic attention, and rightfully so, asthey’ve played a pivotal role in influencing popular and indie music; they were innovators intheir use and creation of novel technologies; and they helped Germanic youth form a sense ofpostwar identity that was uniquely Germanic but that marked a clear departure from the ways ofGermany’s more shrouded past.