Peer Comment Entry - Frank Walton

Electronic Music and EDM

Frank,

I was interested in your take on how Kraftwerk has helped you as an artist. I, like you, am trying to find the positive aspects of a style of music and mode of creativity that is far beyond how we likely view the creative musical process. I have a hard time being so kind. It is entirely understandable how Kraftwerk decided upon its course as an alternative to the sounds of The Beach Boys, The Beatles, and Motown. Germany was also redefining itself as a nation, and Kraftwerk was successful at being an integral part of that process by linking individual isolationism with a national identity separate from the permanent mark of Adolf Hitler and fascism. Musical historians have been kind to the electronic age of music. Why it is easy to deservedly praise the pioneers of blues, rock and roll and the roots of Appalachian folk music descended from the immigration of Potato Famine Irish and African slaves. I have a harder time seeing similar comparisons to the authoritarian dressed Kraftwerk and their structured electronic beat as not being reminiscent of that darker time in German history. I was actually a student at The University of Paris in 1977 while a junior in college, learning about European history and politics according to the French. Believe me when I tell you the French initiated everything in history! I travelled in France and Germany and played bluegrass music throughout both countries. It was a very popular genre of music, for Europeans were infatuated with the music of the southern states of America. I frequented cafes, town halls and small clubs. I never heard Kraftwerk. I have no recollection of electronic music in Europe at that time. I totally missed electronic music in France and Germany, despite its enormous popularity! How could that be? Maybe I was that unaware of what was really happening then. Or maybe the critics, the “experts”, just remember it differently. I also didn’t need hashish, cocaine, LSD or ketamine to “appreciate” the electronic and trance music that has become a popular respite for disaffected western European youth trying to identify as a group, a culture, through today’s rave clubs. But then again, I wasn’t an educated critic, either!

“Things go better with Coke” - electronic, trance, psychedelia, acid house, new rave. Our society has helped model this part of our culture. The answer is, “ Guns don’t kill people, people do”. Electronic dance music doesn’t kill people either. It just needs the assistance of illicit drugs in order to heighten its effect, its message on our youth. Enough harsh criticism. I guess I need to try to read more about why I need to appreciate this music more. Maybe I’ll just try some flunitrazepam and “feel the beat”.

Rudolph Rustin

Electronic Music Innovations

Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder

1975 was my senior year in high school. I was inundated with The Eagles, The Doobie Brothers, Earth Wind and Fire, Grand Funk Railroad and Linda Ronstadt. Then along came Donna Summer. To me, she put a “face”, a visual, on electronic dance and club music. Prior to Donna Summer, electronic music was sex without an orgasm. It seemed senseless.

Donna Summer was destined to have a musical impact on the world. She had a love for music since childhood and the earliest toils of her career took her to Germany. It was there that she crossed paths with Italian producer Giorgio Moroder. Together they produced a demo of “Love to Love You Baby”. After hearing Summer’s version, he decided to release it and develop her sound. It became a hit in the United States due to its sensuality and strong dance beat. It was the beginning of a great career for Donna Summer, eventually tagging her with the label of “First Lady of Love”. The sensual nature of her simple lyrics told a story along with the driving disco beat. Her stories brought the finale, the orgasm, in your face, to electronic music. Donna Summer had a way of injecting her sensuality into a lackluster stream of electronic rhythms and tones. Her lyrics and frequent stories of “rags to riches” created a more “complete package” for the average listener. 

The 70’s and 80’s were a time of sexual revolution as well as the specter of AIDS. Because of her strict Christian upbringing, she made controversial comments regarding the lifestyle of those contracting the AIDS virus. She later recanted her statements, having experienced friends afflicted with the terrible illness. Electronic music needed strong accompaniment, a strong partner. Her stories were likeably linked to rags to riches, such as “Once Upon a Time”, a modern Cinderella story, and “Thank God It’s Friday”, a movie about an aspiring disco performer, with the hit song, “ Last Dance”. She was the recipient of numerous Grammy awards and remains the only artist to attain three consecutive platinum double albums. More recently, she performed at The Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway in 2009, honoring Barack Obama. Donna Summer represented a lasting trend in American music and even today her songs remind us how far we have come.

Rudolph Rustin

Electronic Music Entry

Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk was the innovative creation of the electronic age of music by Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider in 1970. They were considered pioneers of electronic music and they influenced many artists to follow, such as David Bowie, The Cars and Devo. They initially played extended instrumental jams of an exploratory nature, principally utilizing instruments affected by post-production electronic sound modifications and processing. The musical duo then moved on to rely more heavily upon newly developed synthesizers and drum machines. The implementation of the vocodor and the Minimoog established a signature sound for Kraftwerk in their 1974 album “Autobahn”. Seemingly overwhelmed with the popularity of the Beatles, Motown and The Beach Boys and their influence upon newly energized modern rock sounds in America and England, these German composers felt as if they could not compete musically in the same genre. Kraftwerk was part of a post-war Germany, a depressed and divided country that needed a way to re-gain acceptance in the world. Despite the horrible atrocities of Adolf Hitler and his legacy on the post-war world, Kraftwerk introduced “Autobahn” as an avenue of regaining that credibility and acceptance. It focused on road travel and one of the world’s engineering feats ascribed by Germany, the autobahn. It looked at traveling at high rates of speed, taking in the surrounding landscape exemplifying the simultaneous thrill and monotony of road travel. Although popular, the album lacked commercial appeal due to the lengthy nature of the songs. Kraftwerk later developed shorter, more focused electronic pieces in their albums “Radio-Activity” (1976), “Trans Europe Express” (1977), and “The Man Machine” (1978). They also began to introduce more song-based material and vocals, thus gaining more popular entry into the music world of disco and the dance club scene.  Their music had a progressive message of a new Germany, a new Europe, with innovation other than rock and roll. They had a significant impact on other artists as well, such as David Bowie, Brian Eno and Ziggy Pop. One of the most famous influences was upon Giorgio Moroder, an Italian producer who helped create the sensuous worldwide disco electronic hit, “I Feel Love”, featuring the American singer Donna Summer.

Kraftwerk had a number of qualities and influences that distinguished them as innovators in development of music of the electronic era. Kraftwerk was a major influence on post-war urban Europe, trying to rebuild its war torn infrastructure, focusing on traveling by car in “Autobahn”’ and by train in “Trans Europe Express juxtaposed with the urban isolation of then Berlin, Eastern Europe and the individual isolation of those inhabitants of the then decimated areas in which they lived. Their songs also injected a rhythmic structure to music through the electronic manipulation of sounds, which at times could be extremely unstructured. Their simple vocal messages, most obvious in “ bahn, bahn, bahn of the autobahn” is homage to one of their American influences, The Beach Boys. And their use of the song, “Fun, Fun, Fun”. Kraftwerk was truly an innovator, having created a new sound, message and a new image for the musical world. They had successfully emerged from one of the darkest holes in the history of the world.

As a listener, I was entirely ignorant of the impact of the dawn of the electronic age of music in the 1970’s. I was a teenager of the 70’s and my entire musical focus was on southern rock, blues and bluegrass music. I held no interest in the dance club scene. Discotheques and the use of synthesizers out of rock were not of interest to me. I was a fan of Yes, Pink Floyd and The Who, who all employed electronica in their music and I ingested all this as part of my early listening experience. I was naïve to the early development of synthesizers and electronic sound generators. I could have cared less, for I had The Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker, The Stones, The Who, Molly Hatchett, The Seldom Scene and The Country Gentlemen. My musical palate was already filled.

Interestingly, I spent 1977-1978 in Paris, France, while in school as a college junior, learning about the art and politics of Europe from the perspective of the French. I travelled in France and Germany and played bluegrass music in a variety of venues. I never experienced any of the sounds of Kraftwerk. Again, I was not imbedded in the club scene. My interest was in the café and jazz experiences. I can say bluegrass music was very popular. Europeans were very captivated with the authentic sounds represented by the southeastern United States. As an artist of 2012, I have fortunately now come to realize some of the positive influence of Kraftwerk on the progress of modern electronic music. They were the original innovators of improvisation of electronic sound and structure, often just as juxtaposed. In order to shape our development as artists and producers, we now have the benefit of learning from history and musical pioneers such as Kraftwerk.

Rudolph Rustin