Why Isn't Kraftwerk A Household Name?! They're the Godfathers of Electronic Music

[Savant21]

It really boggles my mind why these guys aren't a very well known band (at least as well known as say Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, The Doors, Stones, Beatles, etc. Different music obviously but you get the point). I fully acknowledge that Kraftwerk wasn't the first Electronic Music artist ever or the first artist to use synthesizers & electronics in their music (She wasn't the first, but I'd say Wendy Carlos' Switched on Bach really stands head & shoulders above any artist who's used synths & electronics before) 7 there are other great electronic artists/bands like Tangerine Dream who were their contemporaries as well (I'm a big TD fan too), however Kraftwerk essentially showed that you can make popular music using solely electronics & synths.

I mean, these guys didn't just influence electronic music, they also influenced hip hop as well with Afrika Bambatta's (spelling?) Planet Rock among others. I didn't experience the 80's but I always get the impression that most popular 80s music had extensive use of synths & electronics & you can just hear the influence Kraftwerk had on that.

These two videos I believe encapsulate Kraftwerk's influence overall on music as a whole.





I listen to Kraftwerk fairly regularly as well (I'd say Autobahn, Ralf & Florian & Trans Europe Express & Computer World are my favorites).

I know a lot of people hate electronic music & lump it all together with acts from the EDM scene & say it's not real music (They've clearly never listened to Kraftwerk, Carlos' Switched on Bach or Tangerine Dream) so I can understand the neglect electronic music gets, however a vast majority of contemporary music utilizes synths/electronics on some level (at least a lot of popular music).

I'm a big fan of electronic music in general but I just don't understand why Kraftwerk isn't a very well known band like some of those other bands mentioned above.

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

probably because most electronic bands nowadays are more influenced by plug in's quantization and autotune than any music of the past. which is unfortunate.

 

[Savant21]

probably because most electronic bands nowadays are more influenced by plug in's quantization and autotune than any music of the past. which is unfortunate.

Yeah I mean I suppose but I don't see why Kraftwerk didn't blow up in popularity in the 70's & 80's when they were at their peak. I do love a few contemporary electronic bands specifically (& DJs) such as The Chemical Bros & The Prodigy.

I just can't wrap my head around why Kraftwerk isn't as popular as say Floyd or the Doors or Stones for example when these guys put the utilization of electronics primarily in music on the map. When you think of the pioneers of electronic music, these guys should be the definition.

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

Yeah I mean I suppose but I don't see why Kraftwerk didn't blow up in popularity in the 70's & 80's when they were at their peak. I do love a few contemporary electronic bands specifically (& DJs) such as The Chemical Bros & The Prodigy.

I just can't wrap my head around why Kraftwerk isn't as popular as say Floyd or the Doors or Stones for example when these guys put the utilization of electronics primarily in music on the map. When you think of the pioneers of electronic music, these guys should be the definition.

its because their music is too white. People liked funky music back then.

 

[CO68]

Probably because they're German

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

I saw them perform once, didn't get it, 4 old guys on laptops, bit strange when rolling on pills

 

[Leonard Haid]

Very few bands from the 1970s are household names in 2017.

 

[Boomb]

I'm going to see them in February and I can't wait.

 

[Boomb]

Also this article:

http://www.laweekly.com/music/kraft...and-of-all-time-including-the-beatles-8689120

 

[Hyperglide]

I mean I don't know about that. most generations who aren't millennials know the popcorn song. And they know Kraftwerk composed it.

Honestly electronic music didn't really become popular and mainstream until Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, Crystal Method and Daft Punk blew up in the early 90s.

 

[Diet Butcher]

This is awesome

 

[Savant21]

I mean I don't know about that. most generations who aren't millennials know the popcorn song. And they know Kraftwerk composed it.

Honestly electronic music didn't really become popular and mainstream until Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, Crystal Method and Daft Punk blew up in the early 90s.

Yeah but don't you find it odd that one of the most influential artists/groups of all time isn't as popular as say Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Beatles, etc.? I live in the States & I'm positive most ppl (even non-millennials & I'm a millennial btw) on the street know who all those bands are but mention Kraftwerk & they're probably like "Who?"

I'd wager it probably has to do with the fact that outside of a few tracks here & there, most of Kraftwerk's catalog is instrumental & instrumental music just has never been very popular. But at the same token though, you got contemporary artists like Deadmau5 who's mostly instrumental so idk.

Yeah all those artists/bands are great, it just since the 80's had a ton of music that was synth-heavy, you would think Kraftwerk would've been huge during that decade but apparently not.

 

[Savant21]

Also this article:

http://www.laweekly.com/music/kraft...and-of-all-time-including-the-beatles-8689120

I agree they are more influential than the Beatles. Try mentioning that to a baby boomer or some hardcore Fab Four fan (or anyone that dislikes/indifferent to electronic music) & you'd be crucified tho. Gotta be the worst fans ever IMO.

 

[Zer]

 

[Zer]

Probably because they're German

The Nazi's were German they're still a household name bro. Maybe Nazi is catchier than Kraftwerk

 

[Rimbaud82]

Who knows...probably because they were German? I mean they are fairly well known amongst people who 'really' like music, I know some Daft Punk fans who are aware of Kraftwerks huge influence and I occasionally see things about them appear on facebook. But yeah compared to some other bands, the level of knowledge compared to influence/innovation is pretty low....my housemate listens to almost exclusively electronic stuff and he didn't know them, didn't really like autobahn when I played it either. But then he's a bit of an annoying dickhead at times (I love him really I swear hha), he has little appreciation of musical history, or the evolution of styles that led to the stuff he likes (maybe that's not necessary, but it still irks me lol, this motherfucker says he doesn't like Brian Eno either but hasn't even listened to his 70s/80s stuff). It's no just Kraftwerk though, the whole so-called 'krautrock' or kosmische musik scene was hugely influential in the history of Western music...so many great bands, Kraftwerk were perhaps the ones who went most towards electronic and feel the most important today, but the likes of Can were also amazing, as well as Faust, Neu, Cluster etc. Some like Can, are obviously massively praised amongst big music fans, but in general, not enough people are aware of it...

 

[ookii]

Most likely is that they aren't british-centric and that they rarely appear as themselves in videos. Also they peaked at the wrong decade. Most music in the late 70s and 80s were post punk, new wave and synthesizer bands

 

[CO68]

The Nazi's were German they're still a household name bro. Maybe Nazi is catchier than Kraftwerk

They also had a catchy symbol and people like symbols.

 

[CO68]

my housemate listens to almost exclusively electronic stuff and he didn't know them, didn't really like autobahn when I played it either.

I'm not the biggest fan of Autobahn, but then again I'm usually not the biggest fan of long songs. Maybe you should try something like Radioactivity. If he doesn't like that, then he's probably a dickhead.

 

[Sunken]

TOUR DE FRAAAAAAAAAAANCE