Kraftwerk: Man, Machine and Music (Paperback)

~ Pascal Bussy (Author) "WRITING A BOOK ABOUT KRAFTWERK WAS OBVIOUSLY GOING TO BE AN uphill task..." (more)
Key Phrases: pascal bussy, showroom dummies, electronic pop, New York, Karl Bartos, Maxime Schmitt (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A German band invented the sound of humans and machines making love. Formed by Ralf H?tter and Florian Schneider in 1970, D?sseldorf's Kraftwerk ("power plant") pioneered electronic dance music before Madonna got her first training bra and trusted technology (i.e., the drum machine) before the personal computer. These studies are the first in America to document Kraftwerk's impact. Barr, music commentator for The Face and Dazed & Confused, argues that the German foursome (Wolfgang Fl?r joined in 1973, Karl Bartos in 1975) was the first band since the Beatles to revolutionize popular culture with what started as a backbeat. To prove this, the book opens with Kraftwerk's rapturous comeback at Tribal Gathering '97Aan all-night electro-hop in the English countryside. The same summer, bands influenced by Kraftwerk finally gained popular acceptance and achieved buzz bin status on MTV. After careful consideration of the band's avant-garde mentors, Barr makes another convincing case: in 1977, David Bowie's Low and Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange set the stage for Kraftwerk's first masterstroke, Trans-Europe Express. Barr must love to dance, because his narrative rises and falls like the best dance singles. Bussy, founder of an avant-garde record label, covers the same milestones with a more cerebral style and with one great advantage: H?tter, Schneider, Fl?r, and BartosAnotorious for their silenceAgranted Bussy interviews. The result: more specific explanations of artistic philosophies, recording processes, and the creative differences that caused Fl?r and Bartos to quit in the mid-1980s. Both titles are essential for popular music collections.AHeather McCormack, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Without them there would be no hip hop, no house, no ambient music, no electro and even no Michael Jackson with whom they flatly refused to collaborate would have sounded different. Bussy engagingly explains why they're one of the few groups who's actually changed how music sounds. Q

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: SAF Publishing Ltd; Rev Upd edition (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0946719705
• ISBN-13: 978-0946719709
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #448,249 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Seclusion is not so secluded, anymore, September 4, 2004

By	P. Bjel (Richmond Hill, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kraftwerk: Man, Machine and Music (Paperback)

Kraftwerk may be one of the few popular bands in the world who have retained a mysterious aura around them. Although it is becoming evident now, thanks partly to Pascal Bussy's work under review here, that this image was engineered by them as a kind of Kraftwerk ethos and band creed, it is also one of their hallmarks-that they did not sell out to the media and popularity contests, retaining their uniqueness while still influencing hordes of bands since the mid-1970s, when they first sprang into prominence in Germany and beyond. The founding members of the band, Messrs Ralf Huetter and Florian Schneider, rarely give interviews to this day, are very isolated and private individuals; in recent years, Kraftwerk as a band has churned out close to nothing in terms of releases, leaving widening gaps between their releases. Before their amazing 1974 LP and single "Autobahn," they played a unique brand of "krautrock" music that they have since disowned-their three LPs from this period are still not officially available on CD, and they don't play songs from this era in their concerts.

In August 2003, this status-quo changed momentarily, when Kraftwerk released an all-new LP entitled Tour de France Soundtracks, though anyone remotely familiar with their releases would have found that this LP basically echoed what they had released back in 1983 as a single, of the same title and cover artwork! Indeed, the song "Tour de France," tucked into the back of the LP, was a re-recording and remixing of the same "Tour de France" song released in 1983. They toured; one begs to ask the question of whether or not there will be more from Kraftwerk after this or not; their last LP before this came out in 1991, with no light shed on what went on for twelve long years.

Bussy's biography of the band was first published in 1993; it was subsequently revised in 2001, and another 2004 edition is in the offing. It is a revealing and fascinating portrait of what Bussy terms "one of the most fascinatingly beguiling and influential music groups of all time" (p. 12). It traces the origins of Kraftwerk, not only with its founding members, but also in the musical scene of Germany in the late 1960s and early `70s; hence, it is also an interesting piece of cultural history. The history of Kraftwerk itself is also traced, mostly in the context of their LP releases (of which there are eleven, not including singles). Bussy has succeeded in essentially restoring (or disclosing, depending on your viewpoint) the humanity behind the "Man Machines" or "Robots" from Düsseldorf.

His biography, understandably, remains limited by Kraftwerk's own self-secrecy, so the reader seeking to find juicy details of their working methods in the Kling Klang studio, or what really happened to the planned 1983 Technopop LP and its relationship to the 1986 Electric Café LP, for example, will not glean much because Huetter and Schneider have not exactly been forthright about such things. Details about their personalities had to be pieced together through second-hand testimony, which is always a little shaky for accuracy. It was up to Bussy to investigate such things on his own; indeed, in the Preface to the 2001 edition, he compared his efforts to a police investigation, where one clue would somehow turn up more clues to piece the Kraftwerk enigma together. It appears that the most social and open band member was Karl Bartos, who left in 1990, give or take, frustrated by the slow pace of music-making stemming from his day job. An aside: one should check out Bartos' solo work under his band name Electric Music, and also his self-named 2003 solo release.

Bussy, despite these shortcomings, has succeeded in spotlighting Kraftwerk. His writing is also excellent, so there is no fear of reading a dry, turgid account. Like Kraftwerk's music, Bussy's biography shall definitely shine on. Every fan should take the time to read this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too Much Paranoia, January 31, 2007

By	Mr. Richard D. Coreno "Mr. C" (Berea, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

There will probably never be a definitive biography of Kraftwerk, due to the growing reluctance over the years of Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider-Esleben to say anything about the band and the placement of seemingly formidable roadblocks in front of probing journalists (and former band members).

Pascal Bussy comes as close as any writer in this book, which was originally published in 1993 and has been updated several times. What Bussy has is a huge jigsaw puzzle of information and facts culled from many sources - including Hutter and Schneider-Esleben when they did grant interviews in the early years - and puts the story together to bring the three elements in the sub-title together.

Particularly interesting is the history of the German music scene of the 1960s and 1970s, since no band or musician is in a vacuum when it comes to the early influences that launches a professional career.

Though the 2004 world tour was an artistic success, Bussy hints at what a possible "tour" could look like in the future. It truly may be more fun to compute.

Kraftwerk: Man, Machine and Music, may leave some readers wanting more tangible information, especially about the technical/experimental work done inside Kling Klang studio to achieve the band's sound & music. But until Hutter and Schneider-Esleben say more than the repetitive blips heard on Kraftwerk's official web site, Bussy's biography will remain the best observation at a legendary and mysterious group.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Insight Into Kraftwerk !, November 26, 2006

By	Brien Comerford (Glenview, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Pascal Bussy brilliantly probes and lauds the rigid and creative worldview of Kraftwerk's brain, namely, Ralf Hutter. He is extremely aloof while also being a source of goodwill. Bussy unveils that the dynamic Ralf Hutter is an environmentalist, vegetarian and indomitable biker. This book is a great biography about a very secretive and influential band. Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream are Germany's paramount bands.Ralf Hutter and Edgar Froese are equally multitalented and magnificent.