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It would not do to end this topic with out discussing something about the German electronic group Kraftwerk. Formed in Dusseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hutter and Florien Schneider, they are considered as pioneers in electronic music in Europe. They started out on the Krautrock scene in the early 1970’s and then moved on to full electronic composition. Some albums like Autobahn and Trans-Europe Express are what they self-described as Robot Pop. They were known for using the Mini-Moog and the Korg Arp Odyssey and the EMS Synthi AKS synthesizer amongst others. In 1974 they formed a quartet and toured the US, Canada and the UK to promote the Autobahn album. In 1982 they released the single Tour De France, which is one of their most well-known tracks, appearing on the 1980’s film Breakdance the Movie. The track was released on seven and twelve-inch vinyl. “Hütter and Schneider met while studying classical musicat Düsseldorf Conservatory in the late 1960s, and their early work with a five-piece band called the Organisation showed the influence of the German keyboard band Tangerine Dream. Adopting the name Kraftwerk (“power plant”), Hütter, Schneider, and a series of collaborators forged an austere sound and image as part of a small but highly influential cult of German bands who experimented with electronic instruments long before it was fashionable. The movement, dubbed “Krautrock” by British journalists, also included innovative bands such as Can, Faust, and Neu!, but Kraftwerk became the best known. The foundation for Kraftwerk’s music was the sounds of everyday life, a concept first fully realized on the 22-minute title track of the Autobahn album (1974). Repetitious, monotonous, lulling, and entrancing, “Autobahn” became an unlikely hit in Europe and the United States (where it was played on commercial radio stations in severely edited form). Subsequent albums explored such subjects as radios and trains with a combination of childlike wonder and cold objectivity. The band revolutionized ideas about how a “rock” tour should look and sound by appearing in the United States in the guise of identical mannequins who performed their music exclusively on keyboards. The title of their album The Man-Machine (1978) epitomized the concept. Although the band recorded rarely in the 1980s and ’90s and virtually stopped touring, its music was a huge influence on New York hip-hop, particularly Afrika Bambaataa’s hit “Planet Rock”; Detroit techno dance music; Neil Young’s album Trans (1983); the collaborations between David Bowie and Brian Eno; and the synth-pop of Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, and countless others.”[1]

Kraftwerk, 1976. Photo by Ueli Frey

Gary Numan born Gary Anthony James Webb, is an English singer, musician and producer, he is known for his electronic stylings, voice and strange robotic look. He rose to fame in the late 1970’s-80’s. He is a pioneer in electronic music known for his hooks and use of effects. He started out in the group Tubeway Army. In 1979 he had a hit with the single Cars and the album The Pleasure Principle, released under Numan’s stage name. The album peaked at No 1 in the UK and sparked a tour and music video, which is deemed to have help start the music video craze of the 80’s with the likes of the fledgling MTV channel. This propelled Numan into the spotlight and help define the new wave Synth Pop scene of the 1980’s. Numan is diagnosed Asperger’s syndrome which he states in interviews helps him in his creativity.

“The most popular of all the Gary Numan albums is undeniably 1979's The Pleasure Principle. The reasons are simple -- there is not a single weak moment on the disc, it contains his sole U.S. (number one worldwide) hit, "Cars," and new drummer Cedric Sharpley adds a whole new dimension with his powerful percussion work. The Pleasure Principle is also one of the first Gary Numan albums to feature true ensemble playing, especially heard within the airtight, killer groove of "Metal" (one of Numan's all-time best tracks). Starting things off with the atmospheric instrumental "Airlane," the quality of the songs gets stronger and stronger as the album progresses -- "Films," "M.E.," "Observer," "Conversation," the aforementioned "Cars," and the U.K. Top Ten hit "Complex" all show Numan in top form. If you had to own just one Gary Numan album, The Pleasure Principle would be it. “[2]

Gary Numan, circa 1979-80’s

As mentioned earlier the Synclavier is a MIDI capable sampling keyboard from the 1980’s. This instrument was used extensively on the Frank Zappa album Jazz from Hell. This was Zappa’s final studio album release. Zappa composed a track G-Spot Tornado (which caused some controversy,) that he felt could not be performed by his regular guitar-based band, so he composed the entire track on the Synclavier. He released a number of other composed pieces designed to be played by the Synclavier.  “After two decades of depending on the skills, virtuosity, and temperament of other musicians, Zappa all but abandoned the human element in favour of the flexibility of what he could produce with his Synclavier Digital Music System. The selections on "Jazz from Hell" were composed, created, and executed by Zappa with help from his concurrent computer assistant Bob Rice and recording engineer Bob Stone. Far from being simply a synthesizer, the Synclavier combined the ability to sample and manipulate sounds before assigning them to the various notes on a piano-type midi keyboard. At the time of its release, many enthusiasts considered it a slick, emotionless effort. In retrospect, their conclusions seem to have been a gut reaction to the methodology, rather than the music itself.[3]

Frank Zappa’s Jazz From Hell Album Cover

William Orbit is an electronic musician and producer. He formed the electronic synth Group Torch Song with Laurie Mayer and Grant Gilbert in 1980. Orbit went solo and in 1987 produced the album Strange Cargo, which prompted four other releases with the same title and subtitles.  Orbit is famous for reworking the classic Barber piece Adagio for Strings which has been remixed on numerous dance music albums. He worked with his then girlfriend and vocalist Beth Orton. Orbit composed and performed and produced the music for the entirety of Madonna’s album Music along with other producers.

“Recorded between 1984 and 1987, Orbit’s first Strange Cargo release is a dynamic album of quirky mood music, with the producer exploiting the full range of his synthesizer presets and evoking a quintessentially '80s style of Fourth World digitalia. Though they're all well produced, most of these tracks are suited more for use as musical beds on the Discovery Channel, and "Via Caliente" and "Riding to Rio" may be too bright and happy for fans of his later work. Still, "Silent Signals," "The Secret Garden," and "Scorpions" are contemplative ambience in league with early Tangerine Dream.” [4]

William Orbit, circa 1980’s

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark or OMD are a synth pop band from the Wirral, Merseyside and formed in 1978 with members Andy McClusky, Paul Humphries, Martin Cooper and Stuart Kershaw. They were heavily influenced by the group Kraftwerk. The band gained notoriety in Europe and the US with their 1981 album Architecture and Morality. The band made use of the new digital samplers as well as incorporating vocals, bass, drums and various other instruments into the group. Although with a new line up the group are still performing and touring today. “Synth-pop stalwarts, OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) return with a new release, impressively thirteenth at that. The Punishment of Luxury showcases their influences, whilst combining their nostalgic lyrics with an underscore of Kraftwerk. This follow up to the critically acclaimed English Electric, which was released four years ago, The Punishment Of Luxury is a compilation of stylised synth-pop fused with romanticised, nostalgic lyrics of decades past. Written, recorded, produced and mixed by OMD, which consists these days of Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Martin Cooper and Stuart Kershaw, this album is a confident one but certainly lacks melody. Taking its name from an 1891 painting by the Italian Giovani Segantini and including everything from the blatantly Kraftwerkian Isotype and Robot Man to the blue-eyed soul ballads of One More Time and The View From Here as well as more traditional OMD songs like Kiss Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Bang” [5]

OMD, circa 1980, Photo by Eric Watson.

Richard David James known as Aphex Twin is a 1990’s electronic music producer composing ambient and techno styles, known as Intelligent Dance Music. As a child he taught himself to program music tones with a Sinclair ZX Spectrum home computer. Something the computer was not designed to do. He co-founded the independent label Rephlex Records in 1991. His album Selected Ambient Works 85-92 gained quick notoriery. He released the album Drukus as Aphex Twin in 2001. He has gone under various aliases over the years. 

Aphex Twin, photo by Mick Hutson/Redferns

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