Episode: 195 Kraftwerk 45678

VHF-195 (Kraftwerk 45678) is a two hour voyage of frequencies and modulations generated by the ground breaking German electronic band Kraftwerk. 

Very High Frequencies samples and holds songs from the band’s fourth album up to their eighth. 

After three free form experimental albums that didn’t get much traction, in 1974’s Kraftwerk released Autobahn. Drum machines and synthesizer were nothing like the rock bands of the era. Far from Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath and against all odds the album became an international hit, despite its 20 plus minute length. Its unique keyboard and percussion mix fit in with the more radical head music of the era. Back in the mid Seventies Pink Floyd and Supertramp fans, with their expensive and massively huge stereo systems, pulled out their vinyl or cassette Kraftwerk albums whenever a party was ready to catapult to the future. The LSD was optional.

Album five, Radio-Activity melded yellow cake nightmares to vocoder glitch in a schizophrenic diatribe about radio stars and doppelgänger radioactivity. Especially intense on the German vocoder speaking release. Pure genius but far too frightening for the average Joe Sixpack that was blasting safe top ten radio fair like  the Eagles or Styx in 1975. 

Uber fans Iggy & Ziggy got on the Kraftwerk crazy train on shout out Trans Europe Express in ‘77. Once the ultra cool crowd gave the German group the double thumbs up it seemed everyone with a pocket calculator was ready to get on board. The band released English, German and even French versions of their music which helped the radio programmers spread the sound waves across the world. 

Robots completely took over the band on 1978’s The Man-Machine. The image and sound were now reduced to binary analog manipulations that merged science and technology into a cyborg hybrid that made for robot dance freakouts at late night clubs across Europe. Being a wired up half machine was actually kind of fun!

The band went in sleep mode until 1981’s Computer World. To say the album was unique and full of iconic radio hits would be an understatement. The modern world we know today was being recognized and predicted on this legendary piece of music. 

We also will be hearing a set of live tracks by Kraftwerk released in 2017. The songs are all originally from albums 4 through eight. For that reason this episode is called VHF-195 Kraftwerk 45678).

- Not Dead Yet Mike