100 Greatest Songs of the 70’s #9 Kraftwerk – Autobahn

Released: 1975

Was it any suprise that the seeds of ultra-modernism came from Europe? A region which had undergone a physical rebirth in architecture and infrastructure, Ralf Hütter had been at pains to reiterate that his home city of Düsseldorf was closer to Paris and the Low Countries than Berlin, leaving him and Florian Schneider exposed to many cosmopolitan influences before, during and after sharing a college course at the city’s conservatory in the late 60’s.

Kraftwerk (in English Power station) began life as a collective in which Schneider was the only constant. But with the duo and guitarist Klaus Röder working at go-to Krautrock producer Conny Plank’s studio in Cologne as well as their Kling Klang facility, their fourth album Autobahn would decisively reject the ideas of virtuosity and improvisation, heading instead for the machine melodies they would ultimately transform into pop.

At twenty two minutes long the album’s gargantuan title track ironically seemed like a victim of that syndrome, but it’s basic samples and Schneider’s child-like vocal gave it an instant platform for familiarity. If it’s success in Britain was unlikely, thanks in no small part to an obscure Chicago radio station named Triad the much edited single version then introduced this alien new sound to an American audience who were yet to witness Star Wars. Children of a place which had become the future, Kraftwerk would one day turn them all into robots who danced.