Kraftwerk Documentary (BBC4)

[Benicio Del Toffo]

Seriously? No mention of this yet?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...ftwerk-pop-art


Obviously, can't do justice to them in an hour, but I really enjoyed it. Maybe slightly tempered by Paul Morley being so desperately arch, as per.

I've always been of the mind that Kraftwerk were one of very, very few artists that the current music scene couldn't possibly have arrived at this point without. I accept that Chaos Theory (or 'Back To The Future') would suggest that even if you took Tiny Tim or The Rubettes out of the timeline, you'd irrevocably alter music history but, for me, there's no way we could be where we are now without Kraftwerk.

Also fun to hear from Kevorkian about their impact on disco as I've just been reading that very thing in Vince Aletti's 'The Disco Files' - always good to join the dots.

[The Divine One]

Didn't see the whole programme, but during the clips of Can and Kraftwerk jamming on TV with hippies going crazy, WHY do they need to get some muppet to start talking over it? Why not have a programme and just SHOW the damn thing?

[amidar]

Not seen it yet but dl'd it yesterday for a rainy day. They always wheel out Paul Morley for these things.

[Expiry2011]

Watched it last night
Some really great bits - Derrick May was a highlight for me
But Paul Morley is getting out of control - The Beatles had no influence, Kraftwerk predicted the future, no one worries that Picasso is dead so it doesn't matter that there is only one original member of the group, Kraftwerk are art so they are appropriate for art galleries etc etc etc
I know he's always delighted in saying daft things in a serious voice but really......

[medlar]

Watched it last night
Some really great bits - Derrick May was a highlight for me
But Paul Morley is getting out of control - The Beatles had no influence, Kraftwerk predicted the future, no one worries that Picasso is dead so it doesn't matter that there is only one original member of the group, Kraftwerk are art so they are appropriate for art galleries etc etc etc
I know he's always delighted in saying daft things in a serious voice but really......

Agreed, Morley was tiresome to say the least. I can't stand those types who present a show in a "keeper of the gate" style, as they try and assume some holier than thou approach to the subject.
The programme was saved by the footage, which was fantastic.

[nboldock]

I watched a programme about Mozart about a week ago that was on some channel or other - BBC4 I think - and believe it not Paul Morley was even on THAT. He really was. On a fucking Mozart doc.

[Striker]

Didn't see the whole programme, but during the clips of Can and Kraftwerk jamming on TV with hippies going crazy, WHY do they need to get some muppet to start talking over it? Why not have a programme and just SHOW the damn thing?

Just watched it, Coldplay eh..

Always nice to hear from May though, those hippie jams from Soest are on youtube in their entirety though.

[giantchicken]

I like Kraftwerk and own a good number of their records but their elevation to god status in recent years I find a little over the top - this doc didn't help with it's endless platitudes and trendy brown-nosing...yes they were an 'influence' in some ways, but certainly not as literally as the doc made out - they are less 'the godfathers of modern dance music' than Giorgio Moroder was and the truth is that probably as many of their current admirers discovered them via 'Planet Rock' as than through their own output - and as for the assertion that 'Autobahn' was a dancefloor hit in the USA...well..

Did enjoy the old footage although I have to say that watching Kraftwerk 'live' appeals to me as much as watching paint dry - 'four old blokes opening their laptops' indeed - I always liked to think that the original idea behind Kraftwerk was to take the piss somewhat - still, we all have to make a living...

I think you're all being a bit hard on Paul Morley too - of course he talks bollocks from time to time and he's certainly a bit dull in this documentary, but at least he's been a provocateur who has got involved with the music and contributed to the debate down the years - and why shouldn't he have a view on Mozart? Why shouldn't any of us? The best thing about people like Morley, Malcolm McLaren and Tony Wilson and their ilk has been that they always took the view that high art is as much the property of the masses as of anyone else....

[ladyboygrimsby]

The problem wasn't Morley, it was the fact they only got about four talking heads in so they made him do all the work. Having done these things myself, you may often waffle on for as long as 90 minutes for which they might choose the 5 minutes where you're not talking bollocks. In his case, he's on screen for about 15 minutes, which is far too long.

He did come out with a great line, though: the one about Bowie being the Google search of the 1970s.

[babycart]

they are less 'the godfathers of modern dance music' than Giorgio Moroder was and the truth is that probably as many of their current admirers discovered them via 'Planet Rock' as than through their own output .

I dunno. Autobahn was huge US hit and the Model was a UK Number one, both before Planet Rock happened. Funk and disco was already stripping down to more minimal synth sounds and Kraftwerk would have been a prime reference.

Morley´s never been scared to be called pretentious, which is why I like him.

[Big Youth]

Morley stickes his boot in to The Beatles by namechecking Elton John as a prime example of The Beatles legacy. He would however have gained kudos by noting the influence Kraftwerk had on Howard Jones and Stock, Aitken and Waterman.

I agree with Ladyboy that the main issue though was the lack of talking heads. Morley's just filling in the gaps till the next snorefest Joy Division/Factory Records documentary comes around.

[MPFlapp]

I actually like Morley’s input. I kind of like his input in to things, sometimes contrary just for being contrary, but as long as you take his commentary with a pinch of salt like a match of the day round table analysis it’s fine…

I’d agree that Derrick May was good – fair play on highlighting how much crap techno music there is… and the point about TV and twitter… I guess the reason he doesn’t make music anything relates to comment about the legacy of what you leave behind. No point is spoiling an unsullied run 12” singles…

The shortage of commentators was a bit of an issue… then again with too many you end of with this…

Wonder if Kraftwerk had a degree of editorial control on this one... was it not made for German TV..?

[babycart]

I bet you no one mentioned Kraftwerk's seminal influence on fancy dress costumes
Red shirt, black tie, brylcreem -Alles in ordnung. .

[Filthy Rich]

"I like Kraftwerk and own a good number of their records but their elevation to god status in recent years I find a little over the top - this doc didn't help with it's endless platitudes and trendy brown-nosing...yes they were an 'influence' in some ways, but certainly not as literally as the doc made out - they are less 'the godfathers of modern dance music' than Giorgio Moroder was and the truth is that probably as many of their current admirers discovered them via 'Planet Rock' as than through their own output - and as for the assertion that 'Autobahn' was a dancefloor hit in the USA...well.."

I don't agree with that at all. Whenever you see interviews with any of the Detroit techno guys they mention Kraftwerk and they were obviously important in NY electro/hip-hop. To my mind, most of the dance-music that spread across the world in the nineties and onwards grew out of hip-hop or house and techno and both scenes have always mentioned Kraftwerk as an influence. It's not a new thing, they've always done that. I'm suspicious of people re-writing history but I don't see that happening here, not at all.

[SirSlim]

I dunno. Autobahn was huge US hit

That may be so - but I still can't see it being played in US discos at the time it first came out