1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:05,800 This programme contains some strong language. Germany, 1945. Year zero. 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:08,520 Everything from cities to culture lies in ruins. 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:12,560 It was time to rebuild. 4 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:18,960 This is the story of a generation of musicians 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:20,960 born into post-war rubble 6 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,640 who would forge a new musical identity for Germany. 7 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:31,800 Between 1968 and 1977, 8 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:35,720 bands like Neu!, Can, Faust and Kraftwerk 9 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,840 would look beyond western rock and roll to create some of the most original 10 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:42,800 and uncompromising music ever heard. 11 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,440 They shared one common goal - 12 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,520 a forward-looking desire to transcend Germany's past. 13 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:56,200 But that didn't stop the music press in war-obsessed Britain 14 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:58,280 from labelling them Krautrock. 15 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:03,640 Meine Damen und Herren, ladies and gentlemen, 16 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:07,360 willkommen to the sound of Krautrock. 17 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:14,400 This programme contains some strong language. 18 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:22,560 In the last '60s, this was what German pop music looked like. 19 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:26,560 # Dondelo 20 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,320 # Wir sind verliebt, wir sind froh, sag mir, 21 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:34,280 # was kann denn schoener sein, Dondelo 22 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,080 # Wir tauschen nichts dafur ein... # 23 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:41,600 It was known as Schlager. 24 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:44,240 Inoffensive, lightweight pop. 25 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:47,960 A world away from what was happening on the streets of West Germany. 26 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,000 SONG: "All Along The Watchtower" 27 00:01:57,880 --> 00:01:59,360 1968. 28 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:02,640 The year of a global youthful revolution. 29 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:04,680 And West Berlin was no exception. 30 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:09,720 # There must be some kind of way outta here 31 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:13,800 # Said the joker to the thief... # 32 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,200 Like their brothers in the US and the UK, 33 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:19,160 these kids were sick of "The Man", 34 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,880 but in Germany, the establishment had more to answer for. 35 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:27,480 # Businessmen, they drink my wine... # 36 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:30,360 Following the German surrender in 1945, 37 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:34,040 the country had been divvied up by the victors. 38 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:38,120 In West Germany, the programme of foreign aid 39 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:40,680 had kickstarted the Wirtschaftswunder, 40 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:43,400 an economic miracle that saw the country prosper 41 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:45,280 in the '50s and '60s. 42 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,600 But the people running this shiny new Germany 43 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:55,800 were the very same people who had been in power during the war. 44 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,000 Nowhere was this more so than in Bavaria, 45 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,360 the Alpine heart of southern Germany, 46 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:11,480 an area with strong historical ties to National Socialism. 47 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:20,960 Hitler had chosen to start his revolution in Munich 48 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:23,160 and when not waging Blitzkrieg, 49 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:27,840 the Fuhrer could be found relaxing high up in the Bavarian mountains. 50 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:31,320 For Amon Duul, 51 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:35,240 a group of commune-dwelling musicians from Munich, 52 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:38,800 the past seemed all too present in 1968. 53 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:44,880 After the war, you couldn't just, erm... 54 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:48,040 erase all people or get rid of all people, 55 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:50,440 especially judges, teaches, 56 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:53,880 if they were Nazis, they had to take them, 57 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:57,440 because you can't just kick 'em out and have no teachers at all. 58 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:01,200 It was all still there, 59 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:03,560 but it wasn't as loud any more. 60 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:07,120 Nobody dared to say Hitler or something like that. 61 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:09,040 The word "Jew" was... 62 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:11,440 it wasn't there in German language. 63 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:15,720 Our parents didn't really talk about Hitler, you see, 64 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:19,080 and about the Jews and what this was all about. 65 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:21,240 They were just in true silence. 66 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:23,720 Nobody would really talk about it. 67 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:25,800 If I asked my father, 68 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:28,400 he would never say, "I was a Nazi." 69 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:33,120 If you go to Dachau, which is 30km away from here, 70 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:34,640 talk to the people there. 71 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:36,840 "We didn't know anything about it." 72 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:45,840 In those days, there were bloody Nazis around, all over the place. 73 00:04:45,840 --> 00:04:47,360 There was rebellion against them. 74 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:51,800 We had these big revolutionary things in the '60s. 75 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:54,680 All Munich was on the street fighting against police, 76 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,320 against politics, against all of that. 77 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:07,920 We didn't have guns or the tools to chase them away, 78 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:09,720 but we could make music 79 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:13,400 and we could draw audience, we could draw people 80 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:15,880 with the same understanding, the same desires. 81 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:25,280 Amon Duul would seek to make acid-drenched apocolyptic music 82 00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:28,920 that soundtracked their vision of a brave new world. 83 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:40,800 Of course we didn't want to make English music or American music, 84 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,120 and we didn't want to make German Schlager music 85 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:45,440 so we had to come up with something new. 86 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:50,360 The only thing we could hold on is classical music or the folk. 87 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:54,040 Everything else was from... 88 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:57,360 England or America. 89 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,000 We wanted to be international. 90 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,840 We tried very hard not to be Anglophonic 91 00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:05,200 and not to be German. 92 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,680 So, space is one solution. 93 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:14,480 THEY VOCALISE TO ACCOMPANYING MUSIC 94 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:25,320 When you hear Phallus Dei 95 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:28,240 I wasn't really singing, I was into... 96 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:30,800 a voice-like an instrument, you see. 97 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:32,440 Or doing crazy stuff. 98 00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:38,360 Some people get very angry about it. 99 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:44,200 Like my dad did too. He said, "Well, it's not music!" 100 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:46,240 THEY HUM AND WAIL 101 00:06:55,160 --> 00:07:00,200 Amon Duul's commune was the locum of radical left-wing politics and music in Munich. 102 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:03,160 Among those who followed Amon Duul were the founders 103 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:05,720 of the Baader-Meinhof gang, 104 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:08,840 Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin 105 00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:10,600 and Ulrike Meinhof. 106 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:15,360 They thought Amon Duul weren't going far enough. 107 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:24,640 One day, Andreas and Ulrike started... 108 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:28,400 they're not really listening to us and they're not doing the right thing. 109 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:31,080 We actually have to make something drastic, 110 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:33,600 like...burn something down 111 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:35,160 or blast something. 112 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:41,320 They burnt down this warehouse 113 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:43,480 and got busted of course 114 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:45,080 and went to jail. 115 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:48,080 When they got out of jail and they were released, 116 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:51,040 they thought, "Let's go to our mates, Amon Duul." 117 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:54,200 Once out of prison, Baader and Meinhof 118 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:55,960 would orchestrate a killing spree 119 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:59,360 that made them Germany's most wanted terrorists. 120 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,840 We were on tour and came back home to Herrsching... 121 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:08,240 I went into my room. 122 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:11,520 And there was Ensslin and Baader. 123 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:16,280 And upstairs was Meinhof in Chris's room. 124 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:20,120 And I said, "What the fuck are you doing here? 125 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:23,000 "You go out immediately. Immediately." 126 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:30,120 It was heavy. I didn't like it at all. 127 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:34,600 It wasn't just the worlds of radical politics and music 128 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:36,920 that collided in the late '60s. 129 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:41,840 One of the cameramen capturing this experimental Amon Duul 130 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:44,880 performance was a certain Wim Wenders. 131 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:48,360 Wenders was part of radical generation of directors 132 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:50,920 reinventing German cinema. 133 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:55,520 The most political of these directors 134 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:57,320 was Rainer Werner Fassbinder 135 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,920 seen here making a cameo in Die Niklashauser Fahrt, 136 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:03,720 a film that also featured Amon Duul. 137 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:09,720 But the most famous young director to emerge was from Munich. 138 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:16,240 Werner Herzog would make films exploring the extremes 139 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:18,760 of the human condition. 140 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:22,560 The soundtracks to his films were written by Popol Vuh, 141 00:09:22,560 --> 00:09:25,320 a Munich-based band with close ties to Amon Duul. 142 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:31,280 They were led by the late talismanic Florian Fricke. 143 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:42,920 Let me see. Was heisst denn Menschenswuerde? 144 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:45,320 Das ist es. Dignity! 145 00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:51,840 In those days, he also had the first work 146 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:54,640 for Aguirre with Klaus Kinski and Werner Herzog. 147 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,200 The reason why they could get together so good, 148 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:04,040 Werner and Florian, 149 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:05,760 they had been friends. 150 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:09,960 They know each other from the schooldays and, you know. 151 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:19,800 Aguirre, Zorn Gottes, 152 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:22,400 I give you the fact why it sounds so tremendous. 153 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:27,080 And...the choral... that sounds like the voices. 154 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:31,640 There is a machine that came from Vienna 155 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:34,080 that was just by accident, they found it. 156 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:35,520 It was really helpful. 157 00:10:49,680 --> 00:10:52,080 It has nothing to do with metronome. 158 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:55,280 It has nothing to do with playing on the click. 159 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:59,480 We just... Our heart, our emotion was the timing, you know. 160 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:00,880 Beautiful. 161 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:09,640 Of course, the real German music, it was the electronic music. 162 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:18,240 At a time when most of the West was rocking out to guitar gods, 163 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:21,520 something very different was brewing in Germany. 164 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:24,240 Electronic music was virgin. 165 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:29,160 Neither tainted by the past nor an Anglo-American import. 166 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:32,160 In 1968, it was being nurtured in Berlin, 167 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:34,520 a city like no other. 168 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:39,280 First of all, you have to remember 169 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:42,040 that Berlin was kind of an isolated place. 170 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:47,600 So, you couldn't compare Berlin to any other city in the world. 171 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:49,600 There was a huge wall around it. 172 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:59,680 In the old days of West Berlin, this was the end of the world. 173 00:11:59,680 --> 00:12:03,400 On the other side was Siberia. Or at least East Germany. 174 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:10,280 What looks now like a very quiet and peaceful place 175 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:12,000 was the border. 176 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:16,920 And...was closely guarded. 177 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:25,720 In case you wonder on which side of the old border you are, 178 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:29,720 these hostel ships are named Eastern Comfort 179 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:32,240 and Western Comfort. 180 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:39,160 It was a community which had to control more or less 181 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:41,080 themself. 182 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,800 So, culture and underground whatever you want to call it 183 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:48,400 was kind of a very, very specific melting pot. 184 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:53,000 That was the signature of the city at the end of the '60s. 185 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:58,960 The key underground venue in Berlin was the Zodiak Free Arts Lab 186 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:00,160 founded in 1967. 187 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:02,560 It was a magnet for musicians 188 00:13:02,560 --> 00:13:05,360 who wanted to experiment. 189 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:11,280 Ah, haven't been here in a long time. 190 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:14,360 This is what's left. 191 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:16,160 A normal cafe. 192 00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:20,560 This was quite different 40 years ago. 193 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:31,720 In the evenings, they opened the door. 194 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:34,480 And we rehearsed on certain way 195 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:36,080 but it was also a concept, 196 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:37,800 because the audience was there. 197 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:40,320 This was kind of a... 198 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:44,720 kind of a centre...of all music, the Zodiak Club. 199 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:50,040 The owner, they said more or less that... 200 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:53,600 "Do what you like here, you can leave even your instruments. 201 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:57,520 "We lock the door in the night." We were playing there every day. 202 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:09,640 The idea came from a John Cage concert 203 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:12,320 given in an arts school in Berlin 204 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:15,640 where he was running about 35 tape recorders 205 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:18,480 and different sounds and music all over the place. 206 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:24,200 We thought what a nice idea to have in Berlin 207 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:28,000 a place where you can see that day by day, 24 hours. 208 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:33,280 It was like the ICA. 209 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:40,040 New York, it was The Factory. The same kind of spirit. 210 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:42,480 SOUNDTRACK DROWNS SPEECH 211 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:47,920 The Zodiak was co-founded by experimental artist Hans-Joachim Roedelius. 212 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:50,120 Older than most Krautrockers, 213 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:54,080 Roedelius's vision drew from his war experience. 214 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:01,920 I think all my art is based on living 215 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:03,680 not on doing art. 216 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:08,360 On experiencing life in many, many different aspects. 217 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:12,520 The young part of the Hitler Youth, 218 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:14,240 it was called "Pimpfe". 219 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:17,440 And what did you do in that...? 220 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:18,680 We had to do this... 221 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:21,360 and all these shit. 222 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,440 And to try to make us 223 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:28,440 discipline of following Adolf. 224 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:33,680 I had to wear this Panzerfaust. 225 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:39,160 But I didn't shoot it, they just did try that to make us soldiers. 226 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,120 But fortunately the war ended in the right time. 227 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:47,280 Roedelius formed Cluster. 228 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:50,640 They pioneered ambient electronica. 229 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:56,160 We bought simple tone generators. 230 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:00,080 And keyboard. 231 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,920 And I had a...cello as well. 232 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:07,560 Just to fiddle around with the sound. 233 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:09,640 I was not able to play the cello at all. 234 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,520 Of course, Joachim is more or less... 235 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:21,080 the guy who makes little melodies. 236 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:27,000 And I'm the guy who makes more the rhythm and sound things. 237 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:42,080 A good example for music made by non-musicians. 238 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:46,240 They had a vision of... 239 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:49,240 creating some sort of 240 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:51,000 sonic utopia, 241 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:55,080 a different world with different sounds. 242 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:00,280 This is sort of a promise 243 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:03,400 that there is a way out of the surroundings, society. 244 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:19,200 The...majority of Germans, 245 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:22,440 they listened to classic of course 246 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:24,360 and Schlager. 247 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:32,280 # Dieses Maedchen aus unserer Strasse hab' ich noch immer lieb 248 00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:38,240 # Und es gibt dann ein Grund dafuer... # 249 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:40,480 Der Schlager is stupid texts, 250 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:43,360 stupid melody and everybody loves it. 251 00:17:44,360 --> 00:17:46,600 In way, American hits 252 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:48,960 are also Schlager. 253 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:51,040 Elvis Presley, 254 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:53,760 he was a Schlager singer really. 255 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:58,400 On the surface, Schlager isn't political at all. 256 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:01,400 But that's what make it political. 257 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:04,520 # Dieses Maedchen aus unserer Strasse... # 258 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:06,760 During the war, 259 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:10,720 the propaganda ministerium, Joseph Goebbels, 260 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:14,440 who was a very modern fascist, 261 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:16,680 he invested lots of money 262 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:20,960 into creating a music industry to his lies. 263 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:25,400 # Sie schaut mich immer wieder an... # 264 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:28,960 The amount of Schlager broadcast in the radio programme 265 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:30,880 increased dramatically. 266 00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:35,200 Danke schoen. Das war... 267 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,080 There were not too many ways for a German... 268 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:41,560 ..let's say, rock musician, 269 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:44,560 you know, to perform music, 270 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:45,720 to develop music, 271 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:51,280 even to think about the theoretical development of music, 272 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:54,040 because there was no heritage. 273 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,280 And the Germans...were in a... 274 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:07,000 ..in a very bad situation. 275 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:08,960 You couldn't forget that. 276 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:12,760 I mean, they were so stupid and guilty for it... 277 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:16,760 ..to start two wars. 278 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:19,160 And losing them. 279 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:26,480 As horrific as it was, 280 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:32,080 it had one, forgive me to say that, one positive point. 281 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:35,160 There was nothing else to lose. 282 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:37,040 They lost everything. 283 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:44,040 And so, when we thought about 284 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:46,400 doing music in a different form, 285 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:49,560 there was only the free form, the abstract form. 286 00:19:54,360 --> 00:19:57,120 Tangerine Dream's electronic symphonies 287 00:19:57,120 --> 00:20:01,160 conjured up a different world far removed from Germany's past. 288 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:04,280 They, and other Zodiak acts, like Klaus Schulze, 289 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:08,320 were among the first to utilise the newly-invented synthesizer. 290 00:20:11,360 --> 00:20:13,400 ELECTRONIC MUSIC WARBLES 291 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:28,680 When I started to do my electronic music, 292 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:32,960 the first question was, "What is a synthesizer?" 293 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,600 You can imagine today, nobody would even care, 294 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:37,520 they'd just see hundreds of them. 295 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:39,280 But at this time, "What is a synthesizer?" 296 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:41,200 Then you try to explain it, you know. 297 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:49,440 It was so brand new. 298 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:53,040 Then we thought, "That's great, let's try something with it." 299 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:57,520 That was at the point that we actually... 300 00:20:58,680 --> 00:20:59,720 ..like kids. 301 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:02,880 We were turning knobs without knowing what comes out, 302 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:05,200 but at least it sounds great. 303 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:07,720 WARBLING AND BEEPING 304 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:16,240 And as far as they are all connected to each other, 305 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:19,600 every knob you move, something is happening, you know. 306 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:25,120 So... But don't ask me, I hear this noise more than 30 years. 307 00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:28,240 I could never create tomorrow exactly the same sound. 308 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:34,960 Munich and Berlin weren't the only centres of experimentation. 309 00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:38,640 The real heart of the European electronic tradition 310 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:40,400 was to be found in Cologne, 311 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:45,560 where leading avant-garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen was based. 312 00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:50,360 Cologne was at the beginning of the '60s 313 00:21:50,360 --> 00:21:54,680 the centre of modern music worldwide, you can say. 314 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:57,480 And Stockhausen was one of the composers 315 00:21:57,480 --> 00:21:58,880 who was here. 316 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:03,840 And he gave some lectures, and I said to him, 317 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:08,120 "Mr Stockhausen, I can't do anything. 318 00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:09,800 "All examinations, I've failed." 319 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:14,480 And he said, "What do you want to become?" 320 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:16,320 I said, "Composer of course." 321 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:18,840 And then he looked at me... 322 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:23,280 "Your story sounds good, I take you." 323 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:30,600 I heard from an undertaker 324 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:34,800 that in the basement, he was doing a side business 325 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:39,200 with the thrown out studio equipment from the radio station. 326 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:43,360 And so I entered his shop. 327 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:46,320 The coffins were there. 328 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,920 "Come with me to my catacombs," he said. 329 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:53,520 And I found... 330 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:57,880 ..generators Stockhausen had used for the first time. 331 00:22:57,880 --> 00:22:59,720 And these failed us. 332 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:04,320 I remember them so well how he was working with it. 333 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:10,400 Stockhausen had married a rich woman. 334 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,800 And I thought, "I do exactly the same." 335 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:16,320 And was succeeding, actually. 336 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:18,400 I was going to Switzerland 337 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:20,720 to become teacher. 338 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:22,960 Whatever it was, it does not matter. 339 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:25,720 And suddenly, I was, erm... 340 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:27,200 I was engaged, 341 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:32,600 but instead of taking too much care for the rich girls, 342 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:37,800 there was a guitar player, he wanted to have some lessons from me. 343 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:40,720 I could see how talented he was. 344 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:45,760 So, he finished his school and we together founded Can. 345 00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:55,960 As I said, better a small bird in the hand 346 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:58,080 than a pigeon on the roof. 347 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:06,200 Five brilliant individuals, Can combined 348 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:09,920 the influences of the European avant-garde, jazz and minimalism. 349 00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:20,200 Can was founded in '68. 350 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:23,400 That was the year of the kind of 351 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:25,520 student revolutions in Germany. 352 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:31,440 A mental revolution happened at that time. 353 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:34,080 The war was definitely finished 354 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:37,040 and the old way of thinkings had to be... 355 00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:38,680 destroyed. 356 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:44,960 We did not try to play rock and roll. 357 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:51,760 Because we knew it is not the thing we are born with. 358 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:54,160 We have to find our own way. 359 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:58,120 Key to Can's driving sound 360 00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:00,520 was the drumming of Jaki Liebezeit 361 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:02,880 who had been Germany's top jazz drummer 362 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:04,640 until he had an epiphany. 363 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:11,520 A guy came to me and said, "You must play monotonous." 364 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:16,920 He said it with a voice and with an expression 365 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:19,760 so I was quite impressed. 366 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:23,920 I don't know if he was a kind of freak. 367 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:30,880 Maybe he had taken LSD trip or something. He was completely... strange. 368 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:35,200 I started thinking about it... 369 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:40,400 to play monotonous - what did he mean, monotonous? 370 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:45,720 So I started to repeat things. 371 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:56,040 We played live in Munich - 372 00:25:56,040 --> 00:26:00,080 we had a concert there, which was a sold-out concert. 373 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:05,840 And I was sitting, in the afternoon, with Jaki Liebezeit, with the drummer in a cafe. 374 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:13,800 And suddenly I saw someone coming up the street, in the middle of the street, 375 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:20,760 and they were praying to God and getting down to the street and behaving very strange. 376 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:25,840 And I said to Jaki, "Jaki, we have our new singer." 377 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:29,880 Damo Suzuki. 378 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:34,520 I'm the nomad. 379 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:37,920 Nomad in the 21st century. 380 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:39,560 Traveller... 381 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:42,600 Hippy, but not really hippy. 382 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:45,400 Metaphysical transporter. 383 00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:49,000 Human being. 384 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:55,840 I went to Damo and said, "What are you doing tonight?" 385 00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:58,520 He said, "Oh, nothing, I don't have anything to do." 386 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:02,960 "Do you want to become singer in a concert? It's sold out." 387 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:07,040 "Yes, and when do we make a rehearsal?" 388 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:12,000 "No rehearsal. No, you go on stage and then you sing. Don't worry." 389 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:18,600 Damo was first like a Samurai, but a very peaceful one. 390 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:26,280 When, suddenly, out of nothing, he broke out in an eruption like a volcano... 391 00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:27,320 # Hey you... # 392 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:30,520 'And the people got so aggressive.' 393 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:36,480 # You're losing, you're losing, you're losing, you're losing your vitamin C... # 394 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:42,920 'I would say about 30 people were left, and one of them was David Niven.' 395 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:43,960 # You're losing... # 396 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:50,880 And they asked him, "Mr Niven, what do you think about this music?" 397 00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:54,680 and he said, "It was great, but I didn't know it was music." 398 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:08,840 Actually, I don't have so much memories because at the time I was quite stoned. 399 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:11,080 And...that's it. 400 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:22,200 30km north of Cologne, on the Autobahn, lies Dusseldorf - 401 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,440 the Liverpool to Cologne's Manchester 402 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:31,760 Dusseldorf would give the world Germany's greatest act. 403 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,200 But, in 1970, you might not have recognised them. 404 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:51,080 This is Kraftwerk's first televised performance. 405 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:53,760 It features Florian Schneider and Ralf Hutter - 406 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:55,800 two classical music students 407 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:58,320 who formed the creative nucleus of the band. 408 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:10,360 Kraftwerk, then, were a Krautrock band, who also experimented with electronics, 409 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:14,720 and shared the same vision of German music as their peers. 410 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:18,360 HE SPEAKS GERMAN: 411 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:41,480 Ralph and Florian would employ what they would later call "Musikarbeiter" - music workers. 412 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:51,560 At that time, I was 20 and I was working in a psychiatrist hospital. 413 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:56,280 And there was another guy working the same job, 414 00:29:56,280 --> 00:30:01,280 and he was invited to join a band called Kraftwerk in the studio. 415 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:05,080 He asked me, "Would you like to join me?" 416 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:11,440 I didn't know the band, and I didn't have anything better going on, so I said, "OK, I join you." 417 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:19,760 When I jammed with Ralf Hutter it was so apparent that we both had the same idea for melody and harmony, 418 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:23,640 which was definitely not American, not blues. 419 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:28,160 It was a European music. 420 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:34,200 There's a German expression called "Stunde null" - hour zero. 421 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:40,960 And that was more or less my situation, so I was really fortunate to meet those guys at that time. 422 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:46,280 Rother, and Kraftwerk drummer Klaus Dinger, 423 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:53,040 would leave Ralf and Florian to form their own project in 1971, called Neu! 424 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:58,480 The basic idea of this fast-forward movement 425 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:02,680 was already with us when we performed as Kraftwerk, 426 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:10,080 but when Klaus and I started recording the first Neu! album, we just had this basic vision. 427 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:14,600 I always lived near water. 428 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:18,480 I lived near water in Hamburg, where I was born. 429 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:22,400 In Munich, right next to the river - Isar. 430 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:24,960 In Wilmslow, on the Bollin. 431 00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:26,000 HE LAUGHS 432 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:27,520 River Bollin. 433 00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:32,520 And in Pakistan, at the seaside, and Dusseldorf at the Rhine. 434 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:36,960 And I feel very comfortable in water and with water and... 435 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:44,880 It has... It has some... Some... An effect I can't really explain. 436 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:04,120 It's like time, something to do with time, the passage of time. 437 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,160 And, in a way, it's also a picture like music - 438 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:11,240 moving along... 439 00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:17,000 Like the music, it's... There are some parallels. 440 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:22,960 Boy, to put Neu! into words... 441 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:27,280 The drummer was playing in a... 442 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:33,880 ..a way that, when you listen to it... 443 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:37,520 allowed your thoughts to flow. 444 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:42,560 Allowed emotions to...come from within, 445 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:46,960 and occupy the active parts of your mind, I thought. 446 00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:51,680 It allowed beauty to get there... 447 00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:59,560 The guy has somehow found a way to free himself from the tyranny of stupid... 448 00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:04,240 blues, rock...of all conventions that I'd ever heard. 449 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:06,960 Some sort of a... 450 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:11,920 ..pastoral psychedelicism. 451 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:22,000 I mean, at that time it was still a period of leaving the German history behind. 452 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:25,240 That was also part of the story, the... 453 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:32,960 the conservative remains of post-war Germany, Nazi times, was still to be found everywhere. 454 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:41,040 I admired Willy Brandt, for instance. 455 00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:45,280 That was a figure I really looked up to. 456 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:51,640 Neu! once played for Willy Brandt. He was for reconciliation of Germany with the eastern countries. 457 00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:58,320 Kneeling down in Warsaw, asking for forgiveness in the name of Germany. 458 00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:02,080 That was something that really appealed to my thinking. 459 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:10,800 Despite combining a spirit of sonic adventure with a desire to transcend Germany's past, 460 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:15,800 none of these bands could catch a cold in their homeland in the early '70s. 461 00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:22,760 Germans, who liked progressive rock, simply bought records by British and American bands. 462 00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:33,400 Since the mid-'60s, German record companies had been searching for their own Beatles... 463 00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:34,640 without success. 464 00:34:36,240 --> 00:34:41,800 But, in 1969, Uwe Nettelbeck - a sort of teutonic tony Wilson - 465 00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:46,120 was tasked, by Polydor, to find the Electronic Beatles. 466 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:47,600 This is what he came up with. 467 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:48,640 SQUEAK 468 00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:49,680 CRASH 469 00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:51,680 SQUEAK 470 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:54,440 CRASH 471 00:34:54,440 --> 00:35:00,160 Faust formed in 1971. They came from Wumme, near Hamburg. 472 00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:04,000 CRASH 473 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:09,640 Yes, Uwe was interested in revolutionary ideas, 474 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:13,080 and he took this opportunity and... 475 00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:15,120 sold us, maybe, as the new Beatles. 476 00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:16,360 But that's where it ends. 477 00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:24,080 He was well aware, and everybody except Polydor was well aware that we were doing experimental stuff. 478 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:31,000 And they gave us a studio, which was great, with a day-and-night sound engineer at our disposition 479 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:33,280 which was great, we were very privileged. 480 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:42,440 Because of the social situation in the '60s, '70s, 481 00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:47,440 there was lots of revolutionary thoughts in the air, on all levels 482 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:53,200 so I guess artists usually are just a mirror of what's happening. 483 00:35:53,200 --> 00:36:00,480 And rock'n'roll was not enough to reflect all the facets of what was happening. 484 00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:14,520 We are very influenced by whatever is around us. 485 00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:20,240 So anything that sounds good, looks good to us, we would use it. 486 00:36:20,240 --> 00:36:25,040 And so it's left to chance. 487 00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:34,040 Cement mixer - I like it, so I will play it and I will try to go a bit deeper into that. 488 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:38,200 You know, living is art, art is living, life is art. 489 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:41,440 HE SINGS INTO THE MIXER 490 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:51,720 In the village, funny enough, after they had known us, 491 00:36:51,720 --> 00:36:54,520 they realised we were quite OK. 492 00:36:54,520 --> 00:37:00,400 We had visit from the local... What you call it? 493 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:03,200 Somebody who is simple in the mind? The village idiot. 494 00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:09,840 When we would play our music, it would soothe his mind. 495 00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:33,160 While Faust's unusual sounds weren't quite what German Polydor had in mind... 496 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:39,440 ..they and the other German bands were coming to the attention of foreign ears. 497 00:37:41,240 --> 00:37:46,200 # Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Hitler 498 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:49,000 # If you think we're on the run... # 499 00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:53,320 Britain in the '70s was still obsessed by the war. 500 00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:59,720 We won, they were still the enemy, and German jokes were part of our everyday culture. 501 00:37:59,720 --> 00:38:02,800 And the British music press were not immune. 502 00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:08,600 They grouped all the experimental German groups going under the label, "Krautrock." 503 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:13,960 It was good to be called Krautrock. We even made a song like this. 504 00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:20,400 I remember that, from my father, 505 00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:26,720 that the Krauts are coming. That was the word they said, cos of Sauerkraut. 506 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:29,440 # Deutschland, Deutschland uber... # 507 00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:32,440 LAUGHTER 508 00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:36,000 Krautrock, actually... I don't like it so much 509 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:39,040 because it's a kind of insult. 510 00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:41,800 Here, watch. Who's this, then? 511 00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:45,640 HE IMITATES HITLER 512 00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:47,800 I'll do the funny walk! 513 00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:52,480 But, really, it makes me laugh because I don't feel like making Krautrock 514 00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:56,280 but, of course, it could also say it's a terrible name. 515 00:38:56,280 --> 00:39:00,680 It's like if the French would say "Boschrock," something like that. 516 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:04,760 Damn it! I'm trying to cheer her up, you stupid Kraut! 517 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:09,120 And, furthermore, there was no real Krautrock scene. 518 00:39:09,120 --> 00:39:13,440 The bands came from all over Germany, and were not even aware of each other. 519 00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:16,920 Perhaps the only personal link between them was Conny Plank, 520 00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:23,480 a visionary producer who worked with Cluster, Can, Kraftwerk and Neu! 521 00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:28,640 It wasn't ALL bad, though. The interest in Britain translated into foreign record sales. 522 00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:33,480 The early-to-mid '70s was the height of prog rock in the UK, 523 00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:36,080 and the Krautrock bands fit in nicely. 524 00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:41,120 The UK's number one prog label, Virgin, signed nearly all the Krautrockers. 525 00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:44,680 And, in one case, bit off more than they could chew. 526 00:39:45,720 --> 00:39:51,600 Richard Branson was...gambling. 527 00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:57,480 So he gambled, he say, "Let's go to Germany, I gamble on those." 528 00:39:57,480 --> 00:40:03,640 It didn't work with Faust, because we still had the same attitude - 529 00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:05,280 no compromise. 530 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:08,800 And then he lost interest in us. 531 00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:13,680 Or I think we made trouble, but I can't remember. We smoked too much. 532 00:40:35,240 --> 00:40:37,280 HE SPEAKS GERMAN: 533 00:40:39,240 --> 00:40:41,280 Yes. Yes. 534 00:40:42,040 --> 00:40:43,600 THEY LAUGH Ja. 535 00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:44,640 Yes. 536 00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:46,280 What was the problem? The food. 537 00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:48,320 HE SPEAKS GERMAN: 538 00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:09,400 Other Virgin bands were more successful. 539 00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:14,600 Tangerine Dream became hugely popular in the UK in 1974, 540 00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:18,680 after they were invited to play at Reims Cathedral in France. 541 00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:24,560 The beginning of a concert, 6,000 people were in this cathedral, 542 00:41:24,560 --> 00:41:30,160 where just 2,000 had a chance, even to stand - 543 00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:34,560 not to sit, to stand. You can imagine how the church looked 544 00:41:34,560 --> 00:41:36,480 when all the crowd went out. 545 00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:40,640 So, that was a...such as disaster 546 00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:46,120 and then, I got a letter from the Vatican, 547 00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:52,280 saying, because of this, we are not allowed to play in a Catholic church again. 548 00:41:53,280 --> 00:42:01,200 Then, about three weeks later, I got a letter from the Dean of the Liverpool Cathedral in England. 549 00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:08,280 He heard about it and said, "OK. If they don't allow you to play in any of their cathedrals, 550 00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:12,400 "we invite you to all of our cathedrals, worldwide." So... 551 00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:19,000 The country was great. You know, we... 552 00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:22,480 We stood in our hotel in Coventry. 553 00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:25,800 I went out in the morning of the concert. 554 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:32,200 At the lobby, there was a news stand and I saw a picture of myself. 555 00:42:32,200 --> 00:42:34,840 So I read the line. 556 00:42:34,840 --> 00:42:41,880 "40 Years back, they came to bomb the place, today they come on synthesisers." 557 00:42:49,320 --> 00:42:51,120 Eins, zwei, drei, vier... 558 00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:53,880 SYNTHESISER PLAYS 559 00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:06,400 But the band who would truly break through were Kraftwerk. 560 00:43:09,640 --> 00:43:13,760 By 1974, Ralf and Florian had gone totally electronic, 561 00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:19,880 ditching the guitar and drums and hiring other Musikarbeiter, to work in their famous Kling Klang Studio. 562 00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:27,920 This is famous Mintropstrasse here, where we are right now. 563 00:43:27,920 --> 00:43:31,000 At the moment, this is not so interesting for normal people, 564 00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:36,960 but for electronic music people, they know what Mintropstrasse is because the Kling Klang Studio was there. 565 00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:52,760 You can't see much here. 566 00:43:54,680 --> 00:43:59,080 It's just some steps. That was the way up to that door. 567 00:43:59,080 --> 00:44:03,760 And then to the left was the main entrance to the Kling Klang Studio 568 00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:06,360 which is only these two windows. 569 00:44:21,920 --> 00:44:24,560 HE SPEAKS GERMAN: 570 00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:37,080 Germany developed more and more after the war. 571 00:44:37,080 --> 00:44:40,080 Everything had to be rebuilt, neu Autobahn. 572 00:44:40,080 --> 00:44:42,960 As they build more Autobahns and more Autobahns, 573 00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:48,120 and we could drive longer Autobahns and longer and faster and faster. 574 00:44:48,120 --> 00:44:52,840 And the engines became stronger and the cars more and more beautiful. 575 00:44:56,200 --> 00:45:02,440 Young men, which we were, could afford to buy such cars 576 00:45:02,440 --> 00:45:07,200 and we took a car and went, just for fun, on the Autobahn. 577 00:45:07,200 --> 00:45:10,920 120, 140, 150, that was fun. 578 00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:18,120 We opened the window and we heard, "pft, pft, pft, nyaaaaaoooow-ow-ow!" 579 00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:20,680 Or we had the wind, "pf-pf-pf." 580 00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:24,280 And we made all of these things...music. 581 00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:31,760 In combining a progressive technological vision of Germany, 582 00:45:31,760 --> 00:45:37,640 with electronic music, humour and romanticism, Kraftwerk had transcended Krautrock. 583 00:45:37,640 --> 00:45:41,000 They didn't even look like scruffy Krautrockers anymore. 584 00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:46,840 Ralph and Florian came from very elegant and rich houses. 585 00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:50,040 They could afford to have handmade shoes. 586 00:45:50,040 --> 00:45:57,320 And Ralph and Florian rubbed their noses on the windows of shoe shops 587 00:45:57,320 --> 00:46:01,160 where they made, for 1,000 Deutsche Marks, handmade shoes. 588 00:46:03,240 --> 00:46:07,400 We wanted to be so different from England, from America, 589 00:46:07,400 --> 00:46:13,160 this was why we had our hair short, we wore elegant suits, 590 00:46:13,160 --> 00:46:16,200 which were made for us, you know. 591 00:46:25,720 --> 00:46:28,240 The big one for me was Radio-Activity. 592 00:46:29,720 --> 00:46:34,200 I would go to sleep at night listening to a Geiger counter. 593 00:46:34,200 --> 00:46:35,240 All it is, is... 594 00:46:35,240 --> 00:46:38,520 HE MAKES AN IRREGULAR PULSING NOISE 595 00:46:40,520 --> 00:46:46,680 ..as they manipulate the wand closer and father from a piece of radioactive material. 596 00:46:47,680 --> 00:46:51,600 # Radio-activity 597 00:46:54,880 --> 00:46:59,360 # Is in the air for you and me... # 598 00:46:59,360 --> 00:47:06,040 I went shopping once for asparagus with Florian Schneider. 599 00:47:06,040 --> 00:47:09,720 I met the two of them and he suggested... 600 00:47:09,720 --> 00:47:13,520 IN DEEP GERMAN VOICE: "Well, if you like, it is the asparagus season, 601 00:47:13,520 --> 00:47:18,440 "I am going to the market to select some asparagus. 602 00:47:18,440 --> 00:47:21,280 "Would you like to come along?" I said, "Yes, I would." 603 00:47:21,280 --> 00:47:25,640 And we had a very nice time doing that! 604 00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:30,400 # Tune into the melody... # 605 00:47:30,400 --> 00:47:32,440 TRANSLATION: 606 00:47:57,560 --> 00:47:59,920 TRANSLATION: 607 00:48:10,080 --> 00:48:14,360 I never felt like a Mensch Maschine, you know, I was not a music worker 608 00:48:14,360 --> 00:48:18,080 as Ralph always liked and used to explain. 609 00:48:18,080 --> 00:48:21,440 I always corrected him afterwards. 610 00:48:21,440 --> 00:48:26,400 "I'm not, Ralph! I don't feel..." "Don't tell that anymore!", you know. 611 00:48:26,400 --> 00:48:28,200 "I'm not a music worker." 612 00:48:29,680 --> 00:48:34,280 # Radio-activity... # 613 00:48:34,280 --> 00:48:36,720 It was always fun, until the end, you know. 614 00:48:37,720 --> 00:48:40,080 But the end is always not so fun. 615 00:48:41,240 --> 00:48:44,560 Cos it's the end, you know? It stops. 616 00:48:51,240 --> 00:48:54,440 Kraftwerk's complete artistic vision transformed them 617 00:48:54,440 --> 00:48:56,560 into the one truly global German band. 618 00:49:01,400 --> 00:49:04,520 The same could not be said of their electronic peers 619 00:49:04,520 --> 00:49:08,800 such as the equally pioneering Cluster who by the early '70s 620 00:49:08,800 --> 00:49:13,520 decided it was time to leave Berlin and get back to the country. 621 00:49:15,800 --> 00:49:22,120 Roedelius and Moebius took up residence in a 16th-century hamlet in Forst in Lower Saxony 622 00:49:22,120 --> 00:49:26,600 where they were joined by Neu! guitarist Michael Rother 623 00:49:26,600 --> 00:49:27,840 to form Harmonia. 624 00:49:47,000 --> 00:49:51,960 The first Harmonia album was recorded right here. 625 00:49:52,960 --> 00:49:56,840 You see the room on that... 626 00:49:56,840 --> 00:50:02,200 On that photo, hanging on the wall, it's the inside of the first Harmonia album. 627 00:50:02,200 --> 00:50:04,200 And you see that oven? 628 00:50:04,200 --> 00:50:09,520 That was the only way we could heat the studio in winter. 629 00:50:09,520 --> 00:50:12,240 HE LAUGHS 630 00:50:12,240 --> 00:50:14,760 You can imagine the cold fingers and cold feet! 631 00:50:16,960 --> 00:50:19,000 It's so special to have this view. 632 00:50:20,960 --> 00:50:24,960 You look for miles and you don't see any human structure. 633 00:50:27,000 --> 00:50:31,760 In 1974, Harmonia's ambient electronica came to the attention 634 00:50:31,760 --> 00:50:35,520 of a British rock star in search of a new direction. 635 00:50:35,520 --> 00:50:41,360 I first liked Roxy Music without knowing Brian, 636 00:50:41,360 --> 00:50:44,080 and I thought to myself, 637 00:50:44,080 --> 00:50:48,400 "What a stupid, extravagant guy that must be." 638 00:50:48,400 --> 00:50:51,000 Just from the picture. 639 00:50:55,160 --> 00:50:59,520 He came to a concert of Harmonia in Hamburg in '74, 640 00:50:59,520 --> 00:51:01,040 he was very nice, 641 00:51:01,040 --> 00:51:05,640 and we said to him, "Come to our place and let's do some real music." 642 00:51:05,640 --> 00:51:11,320 Another two years passed before he rang and said, "Can I come and see you?" 643 00:51:11,320 --> 00:51:13,120 And that's what he did. 644 00:51:17,960 --> 00:51:21,400 Brian came to our house to learn from us 645 00:51:21,400 --> 00:51:27,640 and we didn't go to him to learn from him, 646 00:51:27,640 --> 00:51:31,320 he didn't know what to do, really, I think in this moment. 647 00:51:31,320 --> 00:51:33,960 He was at a dead end of a street. 648 00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:38,840 There was not the idea to record an album. 649 00:51:38,840 --> 00:51:45,600 We just exchanged ideas, took walks and played ping-pong, 650 00:51:45,600 --> 00:51:50,440 and stuff like that. It was a very pleasant stay. 651 00:51:50,440 --> 00:51:56,800 And at the end we had I think three tapes full of music which Brian took with him and - 652 00:51:56,800 --> 00:52:00,720 he brought those blank tapes with him, we were poor, 653 00:52:00,720 --> 00:52:02,800 and we didn't have blank tapes... 654 00:52:04,920 --> 00:52:08,080 It did really change a lot in our life. 655 00:52:08,080 --> 00:52:14,600 But he said to me once in the studio, "Don't worry, Moeby, you will be rich as well one day." 656 00:52:15,600 --> 00:52:17,280 But he still is not right! 657 00:52:19,680 --> 00:52:24,960 He left Forst and the idea was to continue working together 658 00:52:24,960 --> 00:52:31,040 but that didn't happen. He left to record - I think it was - Low with David Bowie... 659 00:52:33,440 --> 00:52:38,520 In 1976, David Bowie started a new career in a new town. 660 00:52:43,840 --> 00:52:47,480 Bowie was famous for being in the right place at the right time, 661 00:52:47,480 --> 00:52:50,880 and in '76 he knew Berlin was the place to be. 662 00:52:53,360 --> 00:52:57,120 Accompanied by Brian Eno, Bowie would record his albums Low and Heroes 663 00:52:57,120 --> 00:53:00,680 in Berlin's magnificent Hansa Studio. 664 00:53:14,200 --> 00:53:21,240 My memories are that this room has a nice acoustic, maybe you can listen to it. 665 00:53:24,880 --> 00:53:28,080 You can hear this little echo behind my claps. 666 00:53:29,360 --> 00:53:35,600 And I think that was what David Bowie liked very much with this big hall by the wall. 667 00:53:42,720 --> 00:53:48,320 The studio's control room, now a bar, looked out upon a watchtower on the Berlin Wall. 668 00:54:00,040 --> 00:54:03,400 I am quite sure they knew what was going on here. 669 00:54:03,400 --> 00:54:11,320 When we sat in front of this console with a few lamps on top, 670 00:54:11,320 --> 00:54:18,080 I just directed one of the lamplights to the policeman, and David and Tony 671 00:54:18,080 --> 00:54:22,440 just jumped down under the console and said, "Don't do that!" 672 00:54:24,200 --> 00:54:30,080 And I said, "It's funny, it's a joke. They would never hurt us anyway." 673 00:54:31,480 --> 00:54:36,120 Bowie would assimilate some of the Krautrock vibe on both albums. 674 00:54:36,120 --> 00:54:40,640 Side two of Low would showcase Eno's Cluster influences. 675 00:54:40,640 --> 00:54:45,000 And Bowie originally intended to record Heroes with Krautrock musicians. 676 00:54:45,000 --> 00:54:46,040 # I... 677 00:54:48,160 --> 00:54:49,800 # I wish I could swim 678 00:54:52,920 --> 00:54:54,840 # Like the dolphins 679 00:54:56,520 --> 00:54:58,520 # Like dolphins can swim... # 680 00:54:58,520 --> 00:55:04,280 David Bowie called me in '77 and that would have been interesting to record 681 00:55:04,280 --> 00:55:09,360 with Brian Eno and David Bowie in Berlin but something went wrong. 682 00:55:10,360 --> 00:55:11,640 # We can beat them 683 00:55:13,560 --> 00:55:15,760 # For ever and ever... # 684 00:55:17,400 --> 00:55:24,080 He said that those two tracks of Neu! '75 were his favourite tracks - 685 00:55:24,080 --> 00:55:26,360 Hero and After Eight. 686 00:55:26,360 --> 00:55:33,040 It's anybody's guess where the name for that album came from. 687 00:55:35,760 --> 00:55:39,480 Released in '77, Heroes was a big hit for David Bowie. 688 00:55:40,480 --> 00:55:43,320 But the real heroes were the Krautrockers. 689 00:55:44,720 --> 00:55:46,000 # Ich... 690 00:55:47,760 --> 00:55:50,280 # Ich bin dann Konig 691 00:55:53,360 --> 00:55:55,120 # Und du... 692 00:55:56,240 --> 00:55:58,280 # Du Konigen 693 00:56:01,520 --> 00:56:03,080 # Obwohl sie 694 00:56:04,920 --> 00:56:06,960 # Unschlagbar scheinen 695 00:56:09,360 --> 00:56:11,240 # Werden wir Helden 696 00:56:13,440 --> 00:56:15,400 # Fur einen Tag. # 697 00:56:15,400 --> 00:56:17,880 The funny thing is... 698 00:56:18,880 --> 00:56:22,600 they're doing something they call Krautrock again. 699 00:56:26,720 --> 00:56:30,000 So I have to decide, shall I go there? 700 00:56:30,000 --> 00:56:37,120 What I fear is that it's only related to the word Krautrock 701 00:56:37,120 --> 00:56:41,400 and not to the music, and even if it's related to the music, 702 00:56:41,400 --> 00:56:47,760 it misses the more important part, being Krautrock as part of a social movement. 703 00:56:47,760 --> 00:56:52,240 And you can play the records again, but this won't come back. 704 00:57:04,920 --> 00:57:08,840 Krautrock may be over but theirs is not an unhappy ending. 705 00:57:11,400 --> 00:57:16,200 Today these artists remain as gloriously uncompromising as they ever were. 706 00:57:18,680 --> 00:57:21,120 Unlike many of their Anglo-American peers, 707 00:57:21,120 --> 00:57:25,120 they have refused to be drawn into becoming establishment figures. 708 00:57:30,760 --> 00:57:32,880 There are no Knights of the Realm here, 709 00:57:32,880 --> 00:57:36,080 just happy experimental musicians. 710 00:58:15,400 --> 00:58:17,400 Subtitled by Red Bee Media 711 00:58:17,400 --> 00:58:20,760 Email Subtitling@bbc.co.uk