Kraftwerk - More influential than the Beatles?

[studio150]

Paul Morley thinks so.

And I did chuckle at his "who did The Beatles influence? Elton John, ELO, George Michael....that sounds more like a shuddering halt than influence" line.

He could have easily mentioned, Oasis, the Byrds, Tom Petty and many others, and there is also the issue that the Beatles were the pathfinders that opened music for many others. Without the Beatles would there have been a Kraftwerk

 

[vegster]

No, you are having a laugh. Compare the lyrics for Eleanor Rigby with Autobahn and think again.

 

[studio150]

The Beatles were imitating American acts, Kraftwerk were doing something new.

Which American acts were producing music similar to Sgt Peppers before its release, and I assume that Tangerine Dream and Can were no influence on Kraftwerk at all.

 

[Franks Wild Years]

Its a bit like asking 'Whats better, a sheep or a camper van'.

 

[shaun_rc]

It's ridiculous to have a competition about two important bands. I would agree there was way too much Paul Morley in that documentary.

Kept referring to The Beatles, in a way that seemed to suggest he was more interested in slagging them off than actually contributing to a Kraftwerk documentary.

My heart always sinks when he appears on anything.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

See a kid in Crawley acting gangsta, blame Kraftwerk.

Possibly. But what about James Brown? Funk, Soul, Hip Hop, Dance, R & B, Rave...and much, much more...he was a massive influence. Even Punk.

Influences go way back. Who knows what came from where, why and when? And how?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Without the Beatles would there have been a Kraftwerk

The minimalism and improvisation of early Krautrock, the scene from which Kraftwerk emerged, largely eschewed the more traditional arrangements employed by bands like The Beatles IMHO. I'm therefore not convinced a line can be drawn directly from The Beatles to Kraftwerk.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Its a bit like asking 'Whats better, a sheep or a camper van'.

A camper van

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

It's ridiculous to have a competition about two important bands.

.

Fair comment. In my defence I though it might make a change from the usual racism and politics threads

 

[Franks Wild Years]

A camper van

Well.. yes.. ok.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Well.. yes.. ok.

 

[Questions]

Its a bit like asking 'Whats better, a sheep or a camper van'.

A sheep in my opinion unless the camper van was the one from Scooby Do.................I liked that one.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

No, you are having a laugh. Compare the lyrics for Eleanor Rigby with Autobahn and think again.

Lyrics to Autobahn
Wir fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n auf der Autobahn

Vor uns liegt ein weites Tal
Die Sonne scheint mit Glitzerstrahl

Die Fahrbahn ist ein graues Band
Weisse Streifen, gruener Rand

Jetzt schalten wir ja das Radio an
Aus dem Lautsprecher klingt es dann:
Wir fah'rn auf der Autobahn...


[English translation:]

We are driving on the Autobahn

In front of us is a wide valley
The sun is shining with glittering rays

The driving strip is a grey track
White stripes, green edge

We are switching the radio on
From the speaker it sounds:

We are driving on the Autobahn

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Morley peaked at the NME 30 years ago, pity he has to spout rubbish as the only way to draw attention to himself

 

[beorhthelm]

i think the influence on hip hop is somewhat over played. the pioneers of hip hop sampled, they sampled far and wide and one hit was using the Kraftwerk samples. but it didnt really reflect the essence of the source music, at least, not in the way electro or techno does. hip hop didnt continue off in a similar vein, the sample was a moment for that track. or put another way, if kraftwerk didnt exist, im sure hip hop still would. i've always had a hard time with kraftwerk, because while i love all the many styles and genres they have directly influenced (house, techno, D&B, etc), i really dont like their music much. its so mechanical, it feels unnatural in a way most music doesnt. i have trouble reconciling this conflict.

 

[vegster]

Lyrics to Autobahn
Wir fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n auf der Autobahn

Vor uns liegt ein weites Tal
Die Sonne scheint mit Glitzerstrahl

Die Fahrbahn ist ein graues Band
Weisse Streifen, gruener Rand

Jetzt schalten wir ja das Radio an
Aus dem Lautsprecher klingt es dann:
Wir fah'rn auf der Autobahn...


[English translation:]

We are driving on the Autobahn

In front of us is a wide valley
The sun is shining with glittering rays

The driving strip is a grey track
White stripes, green edge

We are switching the radio on
From the speaker it sounds:

We are driving on the Autobahn

The defence, rests.

 

[fire&skill]

Right. Based on this thread I went on iPlayer and watched and I agree, they were more influential than The Beatles. However, (and I'm clearly going to underline my lack of 'cool' here) a whole hour went by and they didn't play or refer to 'The Model'? Even if it was to say how commercial it was and how much they hated it. Oh - and Paul Morley is like a bloke in a pub talking crap. Fair play to him for making a career out of it.

 

[OzMike]

Utter twaddle.

 

[pastafarian]

The Beatles influenced bands to become more marketing and sales savvy.

Kraftwerk influenced bands to throw everything they had ever been taught out the window and plug in some electronic stuff


Kraftwek 1 Other Stuff 0

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

The Beatles never pioneered genres of music, they did influence many artists though. Some of their 60's counterparts did however influence whole genres.