German innovators and pioneers of electronic music Kraftwerk now have their own station on Exclusive Radio.
Formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider they are widely considered to be innovators and pioneers of the genre and were among the first successful acts to popularize the genre.
The group began as part of West Germany’s experimental krautrock scene in the early 1970s before fully embracing electronic instrumentation, including synthesizers, drum machines and vocoders. Wolfgang Flür joined in 1974 and Karl Bartos in 1975, expanding the band to a quartet.
On commercially successful albums such as Autobahn (1974), Trans-Europe Express (1977), The Man-Machine (1978), and Computer World (1981), Kraftwerk developed a self-described “robot pop” style that combined electronic music with pop melodies, sparse arrangements, and repetitive rhythms, while adopting a stylized image including matching suits.
Following the release of Electric Café (1986), Flür left the group in 1987, followed by Bartos in 1990. Founding member Schneider left in 2008.
The band’s work has influenced a diverse range of artists and many genres of modern music, including synth-pop, hip hop, post-punk, techno, house music, ambient, and club music. In 2014, the Recording Academy honoured Kraftwerk with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. They later won the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album with their live album 3-D The Catalogue (2017) at the 2018 ceremony.
In 2021 Kraftwerk was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the early influence category and, as of 2022, they continue to tour.
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