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Cultural References

This section lists Kraftwerk references that do not belong in the other sections of my web site. At the bottom are links to other site of interest to Kraftwerk fans.

Other-Media References

These are instances in which Kraftwerk was mentioned in a book, magazine, movie, television show, etc.

In episode 3F19 of The Simpsons, which first aired in North America on April 28 1996, a German character was impatient to wrap up the story because he wanted to get back to Stuttgart in time to see Kraftwerk perform. In his car he was playing some music that sounded like Kraftwerk but was actually "Caterpillar" by DJ Keoki.
The episode capsule is at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, but it doesn't say much about Kraftwerk.
Pascal Bussy wrote a book about Kraftwerk entitled "Man, Machine and Music". Apparently it's not very accurate. I haven't yet located a copy.
There are two more books about Kraftwerk. One is by Wolfgang Flur, a former member of the group. It is titled " I Was a Robot". The other is titled "From Dusseldorf to the Future (With Love)" by Tim Barr. Note that there are two editions of the Flur book, and they are slightly different; the second includes a section about how members of Kraftwerk apparently tried to suppress the first edition. Thanks to Joshua Kassel for filling in the details about these books.
Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" once made the top 40 in the United States.
The original version of the PC game "Electro Body" by the Polish game group X-Land, and the later English re-release "Electro Man" under the Epic Megagames banner, used one of the KW Speak & Spell samples as a teleport sound effect.
Kraftwerk are mentioned briefly in the 2000 movie High Fidelity, when two characters are discussing the possible musical influences of a band of local skateboard punks. An anonymous reader writes that just before that scene, the Man Machine 12" LP can be seen on one of the shelves in the record store. The Kraftwerk mention is also in the book of the same title by Nick Hornby.
Luca Dassi contributes this about the movie The Big Lebowsky: There's a sequence when Julianne Moore shows an LP cover which is titled "Autobahn - Nagelbett" with three guys in red shirts with black ties on the cover and says: "It's some kind of technopop and they released it in the mid-70s." The three men are the bad guys in this very funny story, some criminal nihilists with terrible German accents. The three nihilists are played by Peter Stormare, Torsten Voges and Flea (of the Red Hot Chili Peppers). BTW "Autobahn" is the name of the band while I think "Nagelbett" is German for "Bed of nails". See also http://us.imdb.com/Trivia?0118715.
On April 27 2001, Dave Rout, Andreas Gregor, Michael Idzerda and Fred Exelby formed a one-time-only Kraftwerk tribute band called Die Roboter. Along with DJs Chris Twomey and Grew Clow, they put on a Kraftwerk tribute evening at the Rancho Relaxo club in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Links: The Die Roboter home page (warning: Flash only), and a saved copy of the Eye Magazine article about the show.
On the DVD of the movie Gladiator, there is an interview with Hans Zimmer in which he wears a Robots T-shirt. This tip comes from r.poolton on the Kraftwerk mailing list.
Ganz allein informs us that an excerpt from Home Computer was played during the first act of the revival of the play "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe", starring Lily Tomlin at the Booth Theatre on Broadway.
Kraftwerk is occasionally used as background music for radio promotions. CJSW in Calgary is one such. Ilych reports that a Chicago station used the phone noises from The Telephone Call in an ad for a call-in request show, and that another station used the intro from It's More Fun to Compute as background for their DJ on one show.
On episode two of season two of the British sitcom Father Ted, there was a talent contest in which priests impersonated musicians. Four priests were seen standing behind keyboards impersonating Kraftwerk. Thanks to Ian Harper and Mark J. Stagg for this amusing tidbit.
Der Automat writes that in 2001, Korean video artist Nam June Paik exhibited at the Gugenheim museum. In a piece entitled "A Garden of Televisions", some footage from the Music Non Stop video was visible.
The opening theme of the Travolta action flick Swordfish is a Paul Oakenfold remix of Afrika Bambaataa's Planet Rock, which sampled heavily from Trans Europe Express. So in effect the theme used Kraftwerk sounds thrice removed.
Florian Schneider of Kraftwerk made a cameo in a German TV movie called Klassentreffen. This movie was aired on February 20, 2001 on Germany's SAT 1. Thanks to Harald Westphal for the report.
The movie soundtrack for Breakin' includes Tour de France. Thanks to Joshua Kassel for the tip.
Josh also says there is a commercially available video of the "Stop Sellafield" protest concert, which includes a performance by Kraftwerk.
The often vulgar Spanish band Mojinos Escozios mentioned Kraftwerk as make-out music in their song Soy Una Maquina De Hase El Amo. Thanks to Der Automat for the mention.
Tony Smith writes that a Computer World poster was sometimes visible on the DJ room door on the TV series WKRP In Cincinnati.
Shaun Vaughan writes that the DJ Tiga mix album American Gigolo contains a track titled DJ Naughty - Boing Bum Tschag, which can be taken as a Kraftwerk reference.
Another book about Kraftwerk has recently appeared, this time by Albert Koch.
Sydney-based group Gerlin released a single called "Children of the Telepathic Experience" in 1998, which included a track titled Craft Werked. It is not known if this is a Kraftwerk reference. (Reported by Der Automat)
Another possible naming reference is a track called Homewerk to appear on the November 2003 Planet Mu compilation "Children of Mu". (Reported by Der Automat again)
Christophe Socquet reposts that in the movie "Curse of the Pink Panther" (the French version, at least), the sounds made by the Harley 2600 computer are the same Speak & Spell samples used in the introduction of Home Computer.
The Vienna Symphony Orchestra reportedly was planning to play a Kraftwerk piece during the opening ceremonies of the Wiener Festwochen 2003 on May 9, 2003. No word on whether or not it actually happened. (Reported by Klaus Zaepke)
The October 2003 issue of Record Collector magazine has a large article on Kraftwerk.
MuzikJunky reports that one of the songs in the Hindi-language science fiction film "Koi... Mil Gaya" uses a melody that is a slight variation on Trans-Europe Express.
The tenth anniversary issue of MOJO magazine has a feature called "Hello, Goodbye" that talks about ex-members of famous bands. Karl Bartos is mentioned in his connection with Kraftwerk. (Thanks, Gina)
People often comment that the closing theme of the movie "Blade Runner" sounds very much like Metropolis. I think it's just a coincidental similarity, which is why I haven't listed it as a cover or sample.
Frank X. Cordero reports that the first four measures of The Robots were used as a telephone sound effect in the 2005/01/15 episode of Saturday Night Live.
The book The Artwerk of Kraftwerk looks at the inspirations for Kraftwerk album cover designs.
Ivo Peeters reports that the July 2005 edition of the Dutch magazine Oor has a 10-page special about Kraftwerk and the bands they have influenced.
Tristan Kackl reports that Pocket Calculator has often been used as background music when DJs read mail on Chicago 1300 AM (Radio Disney). He also says that Ruckzuck was used as the theme song for a PBS TV show called Newton's Apple.
Der Automat reports that the TV program Making The Movie, in the episode about the movie The Island, used Tour de France 2003 as background music.
Ehdee reports: "In the video for 'The New Pollution' by Beck you see Beck and his band dressed in many styles such as '80's glam-metallers and.... You guessed it Kraftwerk. In a brief shot you see them looking quite Man Machine-esque and robotically turning to face the camera."
The London edition of Time Out magazine (week of 2005/10/14) claims that Nelson Mandela likes to listen to Kraftwerk for inspiration.
Lech reports that Zadie Smith's novel "On Beauty" mentiones Krafterk briefly.
Fantomasz reports that Kraftwerk music is to be used in the soundtrack of the Russian movie Glubina (Depth).
MuzikJunky reports that Trans-Europe Express was used to communicate with aliens in the Bollywood film Koi... Mil Gaya.
There is a disco in Madrid called Autobahn. Der Automat reports the address is Leganitos 25.
Joan Chia played The Model on the National Carillion of Canberra. There is a video available here. Thanks to Twingo for pointing this out.
John Shilcock points out the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Look at the cover.
MzDe reports that Minimum Maximum was nominated for a Grammy award in the Electronic/Dance Album category in 2005.
One of the main characters in the anime series Nerima Daikon Brothers regularly wears a red shirt with black pants, jacket and tie. This is probably just a stylistic choice and not a reference though; his brother wears the same outfit with a blue shirt.
In the ending credits of episode 25 of the anime series Pani Poni Dash, fan-submitted artwork is shown while the credits run. One image is a replica of the Man-Machine album cover with the band members replaced by one of the anime characters.
The soundtrack of the Joy Division movie Control includes Autobahn.
This weird Russian ice cream ad uses Pocket Calculator as its music. (Warning: very obnoxious website laden with slow-loading ads.)
There is a bizarre video of a cover/parody called Ve Are The Chickens here.

Stated Influences

These are instances where other artists have explicitly stated that they were influenced by Kraftwerk, or have mentioned Kraftwerk in some other kind of statement. Most of these are from album liner notes.

ARTIST: Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force
ALBUM: Don't Stop... Planet Rock 2000
DATE: 1982
Kraftwerk is mentioned in the Special Thanks section of the CD booklet.

ARTIST: Devo
According to Rob Holman, this group was originally started as a sort of Kraftwerk spoof. Apparently the cover of their album Freedon of Choice is a reference to the cover of The Man Machine.

ARTIST: Duran Duran
There was a rumor that Duran Duran was intended to be something between Chic and Kraftwerk. Luca Dassi sent me this quote from an interview with Nick Rhodes, who said it should have been more between Chic and the Sex Pistols: "What we did was take that ethic together with the electronic music of Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder, and all that disco stuff as well, and mixed it in with glamrock."

ARTIST: John Foxx (soloist, founder of Ultravox)
Luca Dassi tells me that John Fox has mentioned Kraftwerk as an influence several times, including at least twice in the liner notes of his compilation Assembly.

ARTIST: Gary Kemp (of Spandau Ballet)
Gary named The Model as one of his three all-time favorite songs when he appeared on M-80 radio on June 22, 2001.
THANKS TO: Der Automat.

ARTIST: Kent
The Swedish band Kent have at some point said that they were influenced by Kraftwerk, and have made a song titled Musik Non Stop.
THANKS TO: Alex.

ARTIST: Komeda
ALBUM: The Genius of Komeda
The back cover of this album is a sort of tribute to the front cover of Computer World.
THANKS TO: Todd.

ARTIST: The Network
Apparently this band has claimed a Kraftwerk influence.
THANKS TO: Ted Janik.

ARTIST: William Orbit
The announcement for his new album Hello Waveforms at the Sanctuary Records website mentioned Kraftwerk as an influence on Orbit.

ARTIST: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
ALBUM: Organisation
According to Rob Holman, this album was named after the original band name of Kraftwerk.

ARTIST: The Peatbog Faeries
ALBUM: Croftwork
Not a confirmed tribute or influence, but this seemed the best place to list it. There is a title track and another called Trans Island Express.
THANKS TO: Ian Tyson.

ARTIST: Trans-X
It is rumored that member Pascal Languirand once said in an interview that the name Trans-X was inspired by Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express.

ARTIST: Westbam
ALBUM: We'll Never Stop Living This Way
DATE: 1999
The liner notes of this album say that Kraftwerk are the only white rhythm group to influence black music.

ALBUM: Artificial Intelligence (v/a compilation)
DATE: 1993
NOTE: There is nothing on this album that sounds much like Kraftwerk, but in the liner notes, UP! (Richie Hawtin) and Dr. Alex Paterson include Kraftwerk in their lists of influences. UP!, Musicology, The Dice Man and Dr. Alex Paterson all list a Kraftwerk track in their personal "top five electronic tracks" lists.

Online Kraftwerk Resources

Here are links to other Kraftwerk-related web sites. Please note I haven't yet visited them all myself and don't have time to police them, so I don't guarantee that they work or are useful.

There are two official Kraftwerk web pages. One is www.kraftwerk.com and the other is www.kraftwerk.de. Unfortunately neither site is terribly informative. The latter one is Shockwave-heavy, but does have some interesting interactive gimmicks.
The Kraftwerk FAQ. This functions as a FAQ for the Kraftwerk Mailing List, and is recommended reading for new list members.
The Kraftwerk Mailing list Archives. Good for looking up info from old threads on the list.
Kraftwerk Central has plenty of goodies.
The Resonance Underground Musik Lab has (or had) a number of Kraftwerk MIDI files.
Laurent Reymond Home page has some photos from Tribal Gathering.
Jens Heidling's Site.
KW: The Early Years.
Mats's Kraftwerk Page.
BARTZ / FLOS - an article and a few small photos.
Julian Seifert's scans of Emil Schult's Musicomix art.
Another KW fan page.
Rob Holman's kraftwerk fan page.
Mike Pitt's Tour de Kraft fan page, including downloadable Kraftwerk videos.
John Shilcock's extensive fan page.
Bernd Nuernberger has a fairly extensive collection of Kraftwerk links.
KlingKlang.
dj.compute - kraftwerk
KRAFTPUNKT Tinu's Kraftwerk page
A comic interpretation of Das Modell.
DJ Food's web-only release Raiding the 20th Century includes a sample from an unidentified cover of Trans-Europe Express and also mentions Kraftwerk in passing in one of the verbal segments towards the end.
Here's another sample list like mine.
Twingo has a general Kraftwerk resource site, including article scans.
At the 2006 Olympics in Turin, The Robots was played following the last race of the womens' speed skating event.
AJ claims that Depeche Mode played assorted Kraftwerk material, including Neon Lights during their warmup while on their Songs of Faith and Devotion tour in England.
Rob writes, "The 'Sprockets' skits on Saturday Night Live in the mid to late 80s used a reworked/remixed Electric Cafe as the theme music and the character 'Dieter' was an obvious devotee to the group."
There is a Flash game about identifying Kraftwerk-related album covers here.
The 1975 martial arts movie "Master of the Flying Guillotine" uses several Kraftwerk tracks in its soundtrack.
Alex Paterson of The Orb relates in an interview that he has had two members of Kraftwerk visit his apartment.
Jan R. writes that early Kraftwerk music was used in the radio play "Ein Geschaeft mit Traeumen", produced in 1975 by Deutschlandfunk. It used parts of Vom Himmel Hoch and Megaherz in two dream sequences.
The UK television program "Come Dine with Me" once used a bit of Tour de France to introduce a cyclist guest.
The Chemical Brothers once titled a track If You Kling to Me I'll Klong To You. It's debatable whether this is a reference to Kling Klang.
MuzikJunky reports that The Bollywood films "Koi... Mil Gaya" and "Krrish" use Trans-Europe Express without credit.
Mark Harris writes that a remix of Trans-Europs Express was used as nightclub background music in one episode of "Trailer Park Boys".
Cindy Lauper stated in an interview that she once worked with a member of Kraftwerk, but didn't say whom.
"Matt" reports that the South African newspaper Mail and Guardian used Autobahn as music for their TV advertisements in 2007.
Aero Dynamik appears on the soundtrack of the video game Wipeout Pulse.