Florian Schneider, Founding Member Of Kraftwerk Dies Aged 73

[dgl]

In some sad non-covid related news founding member of one of the most important bands in history has died after a short battle with cancer.
As part of Kraftwerk he managed to change the music landscape inspiring many artists from pop to rap/RnB. Autobahn exposed so many more people to electronic music and made electronic music acceptable allowing for the new wave revolution and bands such as OMD, Depeche Mode, The Human League Etc. cite them as one of the bands that inspired them to create music.
Thoughts go to his family and friends.

Kraftwerk founder Florian Schneider dies at 73

The German quartet set the template for electronic music and influenced scores of other artists.

www.bbc.co.uk

Florian Schneider, co-founder of highly influential electronic pop group Kraftwerk, has died at the age of 73.

The German quartet set the template for synthesiser music in the 1970s and 80s with songs like Autobahn and The Model.

They achieved both musical innovation and commercial success, and inspired scores of artists across genres ranging from techno to hip-hop.

Midge Ure described Schneider as "way ahead of his time", while singer Edwyn Collins summed it up with: "He's God".

• How Kraftwerk influenced five decades of music

Schneider formed the group with Ralf Hütter in 1970, and remained a member until his departure in 2008.

A statement said he "passed away from a short cancer disease just a few days after his 73rd birthday".

 

[D365]

RIP. Sad I never got to see him live. Him and Kraftwerk very rightfully deserving of the "electronic Beatles" moniker.

 

[317 forever]

I liked Autobahn and Pocket Calculator but was not keen on The Model.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Great band. RIP

 

[Jamesrob637]

I liked Autobahn and Pocket Calculator but was not keen on The Model.

There used to be a (speeded-up) video of a London to Brighton cab ride to the soundtrack of "The Model" on YouTube but I've not seen it for years!

 

[dgl]

The history of "The Model" as a single release and subsequent UK number one is quite interesting.
Originally it was just an album track, being featured on the man-machine album, this was until the release of "Computer Love" as a single from the preceding"Computerworld" album. They needed a b side (might have been UK only) and "The Model" was choose, I expect for ease as it meant they didn't have to write any new music.
When EMI then released the "Computer Love" single in the UK they found out that radio stations and the like were actually playing the B-Side "The Model" instead, and as such re-released the single as a double a-side with "The Model" now being on side one (iirc) and the rest is history.

another thing is that if you look on YouTube there are some excellent bootleg recordings of some of the Computer world tour dates, the tour has a sort of punky vibe to it similar to OMD's architecture and morality tour video, though not as intense.

 

[Ashley Hill]

There were 3 Kraftwerk albums before Autobahn that the band seem reluctant to acknowledge. They were quite "avant-garde in many ways but important none the less. Florian together with Ralf Hutter were previously members of a band called Organisation who released an album called Tone Float,again quite "avant-garde". Prior to this Florian appeared briefly in the duo PISSOFF with future Kraftwerk member Erberhart Kraneman.
Florian will be missed by his fans many of whom probably hoped that he would perform with again Kraftwerk if only for a few sporadic appearances.

 

[nlogax]

another thing is that if you look on YouTube there are some excellent bootleg recordings of some of the Computer world tour dates, the tour has a sort of punky vibe to it similar to OMD's architecture and morality tour video, though not as intense.

Wish I'd been old enough to appreciate Kraftwerk in the 80s when Computer World , but I got into OMD at the end of that decade (still am - Architecture & Morality is still their best album) and by working backwards through their peers and influences Kraftwerk eventually came into view. Bitterly regret not being able to get tickets for their 'The Mix' gig at Brixton Academy in '91, I think that could have been an amazing experience for teenage me.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Some (including me) thought The Mix was an awful and unnecessary album. Radioactivity etc did not need a dance beat and they never really got passed that album,they still play these Mix versions "live" today. Even the Tour de France album sounded dated when released. I personally think their golden era ended in 1986 after Electric Cafe. Technology was catching up with them and becoming more affordable,anybody could sound like Kraftwerk! Having said all this The Mix did introduce the band to a younger audience.

 

[dgl]

Half the problem with Kraftwerk was that in order to be at the forefront of technology they brought a Synclavier, one of the most expensive and complex synthesizers/samplers ever made (mad the fairlight look cheap!). Naturally it took ages to learn how to use it and stunted their oupit somewhat, combine that with the complete re doing of Electric Café/Technopop to make it sound more modern didn't help matters.

They went from leaders to being at most in line with what others were doing. Just listen to Jean Michel Jarre's Zoolook album (and what can be heard of Music For Supermarkets, noting that he used samplers before Kraftwerk, both analogue and digital)and the Art Of Noise stuff, whilst some of the robot voice stuff was new a lot of what they did on the Technopop album had been done before.

Fun fact, due to the delays in releasing Music Non Stop the software used to create the 3D models for its video was out of date by the time of release and had to be pulled out of the archives!

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Nice to see a few fellow synth pop geeks on here!

Although I appreciate Kraftwerk's pioneering electronic music that was years ahead of its time, I always thought that many of their songs kind of went on a bit; had they crystallised their essence down to 3 minute pop songs instead of releasing albums consisting of 6 seven minute tracks they would have had far more commercial success. Call it heresy if you like but I actually prefer the techno-dance versions of The Mix and was lucky enough to see them on their 1991 at Sheffield City Hall.

Like many, I agree that by this time the rest of the world had caught up with them and Kraftwerk's rare releases and concerts post-1991 didn't bring anything new. All the same, they'll be remembered as, arguably, the most influential band of all time, more so than The Beatles who, at the end of the day, were just another guitar band!

 

[nlogax]

Nice to see a few fellow synth pop geeks on here!

Fab isn't it?

Call it heresy if you like but I actually prefer the techno-dance versions of The Mix and was lucky enough to see them on their 1991 at Sheffield City Hall.

While The Mix was great, Karl Bartos was really the Kraftwerk member who took their legacy and turned it into something forward-looking with his Elektric Music project. It properly welded later-style Kraftwerk with 1990s sounds and beats. It could be argued this is where Kraftwerk finally caught up with themselves.

Around then Bartos also collaborated with Bernard Sumner of New Order and with Andy McCluskey of OMD. After about twenty years synthpop pretty much ate itself but the results were amazing

 

[Ashley Hill]

It's unlikely to ever happen but I wish they would play some of their earlier material live,even if it meant doing a Mix treatment to it. Ruckzuck,Tanzmusic and KlingKlang should be introduced to a new generation!

 

[Ashley Hill]

Here's Florian in 2015 with a composition about plastic pollution.