As first mentioned in this ancient post from 2008, I first latched onto the music of Kraftwerk around 1981, after first hearing The Man-Machine and Computer World via the record collection of an older, intimidatingly punky, teenaged daughter of a friend of my mom’s. Seamlessly meshing the crisp precision of chilly, cutting-edge electronics with warm, instantly memorable melodies, Kraftwerk’s music was truly unlike anything I’d ever heard. Paired with their carefully cultivated image of sharp, Teutonic uniformity, they seemed to be this entirely unique entity.
I’d later learn that they didn’t arrive as a fully-formed squad of nattily-dressed robots, but had evolved into this vision from their roots as forward-thinking, experimental Krautrock band. This all said, a friend of mine unearthed this very early track of theirs from 1971, when they were still a foursome of hirsute dudes, and it sounds like full-tilt Black Sabbath. Paired with some frankly disquieting stock footage of children dressed as apes getting into grisly bike accidents, it’s bound to leave you scarred.
ADDENDUM: Turns out that genuinely weird footage is from a 1963 bicycle safety film called, ...er.... "One Got Fat." Read all about that here.
Enjoy… “Heavy Metal Kids.”
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