Tag: Kraftwerk (Page 1 of 13)

RE-RECORD, NOT FADE AWAY: 25 REMAKES & REMODELS

14 May 2025 /

Set to the music of Buddy Holly, “Re-Record, Not Fade Away” was the iconic strapline voiced by veteran British actor Deryck Guyler as a jolly skeleton to advertise Scotch video cassettes in 1987. The premise was that these tapes were of such resilient high quality that they could be used for a lifetime and even outlive the purchaser.

But “Re-Record, Not Fade Away” could also be seen as a reference to the longevity of music through cover versions of classic songs. So what about when an artist effectively covers their own song by re-recording it?

Artists and producers are forever tinkering with their work. Sometimes it is to improve on a track or create a new vision. But also, it can be done simply to own a new copyright where the original is now in the hands of a less than co-operative custodian; the most recent high profile case of this has been Taylor Swift who has been re-recording all of her previous albums with each labelled as “Taylor’s Version”.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK presents its own list of 25 remakes and remodels from over the years. Most are more familiar than the originals and have been widely accepted as the superior versions while others continue to divide fans.

Presented in yearly and then alphabetical order with a restriction of one track per artist moniker, this listing does not include remixes, live recordings or radio sessions. Meanwhile originals refer to the first released versions so demos do not count!

ULTRAVOX! Hiroshima Mon Amour (1977)

ULTRAVOX! first released ‘Hiroshima Mon Amour’ as a fierce and frenetic art rock piece for the B-side of ‘ROckwrok’, but it was slowed right down for the ‘Ha! Ha! Ha!’ album version. Moving into the moody ambience of CLUSTER with a modified Roland TR77 rhythm machine and Elka Rhapsody string machine chillingly taking centre stage, the colder aesthetics were counterpointed by guest saxophonist CC from GLORIA MUNDI.

Available on the ULTRAVOX! album ‘Ha! Ha! Ha!’ via Island Records

https://www.ultravox.org.uk/

JOHN FOXX No-One Driving (1980)

After leaving ULTRAVOX, the full length solo debut ‘Metamatic’ from John Foxx featured a highlight in ‘No-One Driving’. Despite the album also including a song called ‘Blurred Girl’, the single re-recording had much sharper focus and slightly altered lyrics, reaching No32 in the UK charts. Released along with three new tracks ‘Glimmer’, ‘This City’ and ‘Mr No’, ‘No-One Driving’ remains one of the best double single packages ever.

Available on the JOHN FOXX album ’20th Century: The Noise’ via Metamatic Records

http://www.metamatic.com/

THE HUMAN LEAGUE Being Boiled (1980)

The original Fast Product single version of ‘Being Boiled’ from 1978 was recorded in mono and had its own charm. But THE HUMAN LEAGUE took the opportunity to update their calling card with producer John Leckie for the ‘Travelogue’ album to more fully realise its funky FUNKADELIC inspired overtones. Using a varispeeded synth brass section named THE BOYS OF BUDDHA, the end result was more dynamic and livelier.

Available on THE HUMAN LEAGUE album ‘Travelogue’ via Virgin Records

http://www.thehumanleague.co.uk/

JOY DIVISION She’s Lost Control (1980)

With the 1979 ‘Unknown Pleasures’ version channelling THE STOOGES, the idea behind JOY DIVISION re-recording ‘She’s Lost Control’ was to make a really loud and dynamic 12 inch disco single. The result was a big cacophony of electronic and acoustic drums as well as an aerosol! Meanwhile, synths which had not been present before were now very much heard in the second half while Ian Curtis’ vocal delivery was even more foreboding.

Available on JOY DIVISION album ‘Substance’ via Rhino Records

https://www.joydivisionofficial.com/

OMD Messages (1980)

On the debut self-titled OMD album, ‘Messages’ was a song that actually featured guitar with potential as a single. Utilising a pulsing repeat function on a Korg Micro-Preset shaped by hand twisting the octave knob, it was decided to re-record ‘Messages’ for its singular release. Produced by Mike Howlett, the new version included the addition of separately recorded drums for a cleaner snap to produce a breakthrough UK chart hit.

Available on the OMD album ‘Souvenir’ via Virgin Records

http://www.omd.uk.com/

DEPECHE MODE Photographic (1981)

The much darker and aggressive first version of ‘Photographic’ for the ‘Some Bizzare Album’ was driven by Mute supremo Daniel Miller’s klanky Korg 55 Rhythm box. Featuring much more sophisticated sequencing and programmed percussion palettes, an understated approach was taken on the re-recorded ‘Speak & Spell’ version with snares sounds only making their presence felt a third of the way through.

Available on the DEPECHE MODE album ‘Speak & Spell’ via Universal Music

http://www.depechemode.com

SOFT CELL Frustration (1981)

Compared with the original ‘Mutant Moments’ version of ‘Frustration’ which was akin to the unsettling demeanour of THROBBING GRISTLE, the ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ take was like a completely different song. The lyrics were mostly written by Dave Ball about his own father while Marc Almond let his theatrical energetics go wild as sparkling Synclavier, a Roland Synthe-Bass and sleazy sax battled for audio supremacy.

Available on the SOFT CELL album ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ via Sony Music

https://www.softcell.co.uk/

B-MOVIE Nowhere Girl (1982)

Originally recorded for a 1980 EP on Dead Good Records, ‘Nowhere Girl’ was undoubtedly the most immediate pop tune in the B-MOVIE portfolio. The quartet were under pressure to have a hit with Phonogram label mates SOFT CELL having scored a No1. Produced by Steve Brown, the new recording had tinkling ivories like ULTRAVOX in full flight alongside pulsing bass and harp-like synths. Alas, ‘Nowhere Girl’ stalled at No67!

Available on the B-MOVIE album ‘Hidden Treasures’ via Wanderlust

https://www.b-movie.org/

DAF Kebabträume (1982)

Originally recorded for a 1980 single on Mute Records in a band format featuring guitar and hand-played synths, ‘Kebabträume’ was subsequently reworked by DAF with sequencers under the production supervision of the legendary Conny Plank. Transforming into something much heavier, the memorable if controversial line “Deutschland, Deutschland, alles ist vorbei!” had more bite on this superior version.

Available on the DAF album ‘Für Immer’ via Grönland Records

https://www.groenland.com/en/artist/deutsch-amerikanische-freundschaft/

DURAN DURAN My Own Way (1982)

Seeing out 1981 after the success of their self-titled debut album with the release of ‘My Own Way’, the single was characterised by its fast tempo and a disco string section. However, DURAN DURAN would express dissatisfaction at the recording. So for their second album ‘Rio’, the song was re-recorded in a slightly slower electro-funk style with a harder rhythmic edge while Simon Le Bon ad-libbed about “7UP between Sixth and Broadway”

Available on the DURAN DURAN album ‘Rio’ via EMI Music

https://duranduran.com/

DEAD OR ALIVE The Stranger (1983)

Written when Wayne Hussey, later of THE SISTERS OF MERCY and THE MISSION, was in DEAD OR ALIVE, ‘The Stranger’ first surfaced as a single on Black Eyes Records. The tighter re-recording appeared as a B-side of the ‘What I Want’ single, dialling down the more gothic and acoustic elements while making the electronics and drum machine much more prominent. Despite this, it was a million miles from the HI-NRG sound that Pete Burns would find fame and fortune with.

Available on DEAD OR ALIVE album ‘Sophisticated Boom Boom’ via Cherry Pop

https://www.discogs.com/artist/46720-Dead-Or-Alive

HEAVEN 17 Let’s All Make A Bomb (1983)

HEAVEN 17 were misinterpreted by Thatcher’s yuppies who thought ‘Let’s All Make A Bomb’ was about making a financial killing, when it actually referred to a different type of killing altogether. The original ‘Penthouse & Pavement’ version was all analogue electronics including its rhythm track. For the B-side of ‘Come Live With Me’, this New Version was more digital with metallic samples for a type of industrial funk.

Available on the HEAVEN 17 album ‘Endless’ via Virgin Records

https://www.heaven17.com/

TEARS FOR FEARS Pale Shelter (1983)

The original 1982 single version of ‘Pale Shelter’ was produced by Mike Howlett and began with an unsettling, reverse spoken vocal from Roland Orzabal. It failed to chart but with TEARS FOR FEARS flush from the success of ‘Mad World’ and ‘Change’, the parent debut album ‘The Hurting’ featured a re-recording produced by Ross Cullum and Chris Hughes with a much looser feel. Re-released as a single, it gave the duo their third UK Top5 hit.

Available on the TEARS FOR FEARS album ‘Rule The World: The Greatest Hits’ via Mercury Records

http://tearsforfears.com/

THE THE Uncertain Smile (1983)

When ‘Uncertain Smile’ was released as a Mike Thorne produced single in 1982, it featured a wonderfully rigid TR808 pattern, synths and a variety of woodwinds including flute and sax. Come the ‘Soul Mining’ album produced by Paul Hardiman, the song was a newly recorded with live drums and an extended boogie-woogie piano section from Jools Holland at the end. Some love it, some don’t but THE THE main man Matt Johnson is in the former camp.

Available on the THE THE album ’Soul Mining’ via Epic Records

https://www.thethe.com/

BLANCMANGE The Day Before You Came (1984)

Benny Andersson said that ABBA’s ‘The Day Before You Came’ was “a really good song, but not a good recording” and by coincidence, the first attempt by BLANCMANGE produced by John Luongo for the ‘Mange Tout’ album was underwhelming. But this was put right for single release in a rhythmically tighter re-recording helmed by Peter Collins which also made more of Neil Arthur’s melodramatics and Northern English quirkiness.

Available on the BLANCMANGE album ‘Everything Is Connected’ via London Records

http://www.blancmange.co.uk/

DAVID SYLVIAN Forbidden Colours (1984)

‘Forbidden Colours’ was the David Sylvian vocalled version of theme to the film ‘Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence’ which was composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto who also starred in it alongside David Bowie. But Sylvian wanted to do his own “not so grand” version for his debut album ‘Brilliant Trees’. Featuring Sakamoto on piano with Sylvian on synths and Steve Jansen on live drums , it was eventually dropped for ‘The Ink In The Well’ but ended up as the B-side to ‘Red Guitar’.

Available on the DAVID SYLVIAN album ‘A Victim Of Stars 1982 – 2012’ via Virgin Records

http://www.davidsylvian.com/

A-HA Take On Me (1985)

Tony Mansfield of NEW MUSIK did the original production on ‘Take On Me’ in 1984. However, A-HA were unhappy with the Fairlight-assisted results so it was remixed by their manager John Radcliff. The single failed to chart but with Warner music sensing a potential hit, a re-recording was commissioned with Alan Tarney as producer and showing off Morten Harket’s blistering vocal range. The single flopped again but on the third attempt, became the international hit they desired.

Available on the A-HA album ‘Hunting High & Low’ via Warner Music

https://a-ha.com/

PET SHOP BOYS West End Girls (1985)

The original version of ‘West End Girls’ had been produced by New Yorker Bobby Orlando and released by Epic Records in 1984 , but while it has been a cult favourite, it was not a mainstream chart success. After signing to EMI, it was re-recorded with a lush cinematic aesthetic produced by Stephen Hague. It was stylistically at odds with pop duos like WHAM! but gave PET SHOP BOYS the first of their 4 UK No1s.

Available on the PET SHOP BOYS album ‘Smash’ via EMI Music

https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/

HOWARD JONES No-One Is To Blame (1986)

A plaintive song about the wandering eye, ‘No-One Is To Blame’ was one of the best Howard Jones ballads. A highlight in its first guise from his second album ‘Dream Into Action’, with Trans-Atlantic hit potential and Phil Collins riding high in that market, a re-recording was made with the GENESIS drummer producing alongside Hugh Padgham. Mission accomplished, the single became Jones’ biggest US hit.

Available on the HOWARD JONES album ‘Celebrate It Together’ via Cherry Red Records

http://www.howardjones.com/

NEW ORDER Temptation (1987)

The original ‘Temptation’ was the first Top30 UK single for a rejuvenated NEW ORDER. For their ‘Substance’ compilation , the track was re-recorded in line with how the band were playing it live, with ARPs and Simmons drums now replaced by Yamahas and harder digital snare while the vocal was perhaps more restrained. Thanks to the huge success of ‘Substance’, this is probably now the best known version of ‘Temptation’.

Available on the NEW ORDER album ‘Substance’ via Warner Music

https://www.neworder.com/

KRAFTWERK Radioactivity (1991)

The original stark 1975 recording had ambigious references to radio activity but accepting the criticism they were getting from environmentalists, KRAFTWERK gave a pointed anti-nuclear message on this powerful 1991 re-recording. The most significant makeover was its additional unsettling machine chant of “TSCHERNOBYL – HARRISBURGH – SELLAFIELD – HIROSHIMA” highlighting recent atomic catastrophes.

Available on the KRAFTWERK album ‘The Mix’ via EMI Music

https://kraftwerk.com/

GARY NUMAN Metal (1998)

Despite not being a single, ‘Metal’ is a bonafide Gary Numan classic from 1979’s ‘The Pleasure Principle’. But in his stock on the rise again after several lean years and signing to Eagle Records, he revisited it to include as a bonus track for the single release of ‘Dominion Day’ from the ‘Exile’ album. A much more brooding grandiose reinterpretation, things were taken a step further by NINE INCH NAILS cover on ‘Things Falling Apart’ in 2000.

Available on the GARY NUMAN album ‘New Dreams For Old 84 – 98’ via Universal Music

https://garynuman.com/

LUSTANS LAKEJER Begärets Dunkla Mål (2007)

LUSTANS LAKEJER were seen as Sweden’s answer to DURAN DURAN; ‘Begärets Dunkla Mål’ was originally a moody unga moderna disco song which opened their self-titled 1981 debut album. The song was given a full Düsseldorf electronic makeover for their greatest hits collection 26 years later. Produced by Peder Livijn of SYSTEM, with a bounce reminiscent of KRAFTWERK’s ‘Das Model’, it became the catchy synthpop tune it had the potential to be.

Available on the LUSTANS LAKEJER album ‘Samlade Synder 1981 – 2007’ via Universal Music

https://www.facebook.com/LustansLakejer/

RHEINGOLD Computer Beat (2010)

The very KRAFTWERK influenced lead single from the third RHEINGOLD album ‘Distanz’, neither ‘Computer Beat’ or its parent long player have been reissued by CBS in the digital age. Re-recorded for a self-released ‘Best Of’ along with their German hits ‘Fluss’, ‘3Klangsdimensionen’ and ‘FanFanFanatisch’, unlike the majority of the tracks in this list, the aim was to make the rework sound as much like the original as possible.

Available on the RHEINGOLD album ‘Best Of’ via 3Klang Records

https://www.discogs.com/artist/81398-Rheingold

MOTO BOY Blue Motorbike (2018)

Originally recorded as a guitar-driven indie pop tune in 2008, ‘Blue Motorbike’ was the best known tune by Swedish singer-songwriter Oskar Humlebo under his MOTO BOY alias. 10 years later and reflecting his now-more laid back cinematic aesthetic, he revisited it as a pretty synthpop ballad for the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of the Swedish thriller ‘Videoman’ which also featured notable synthwave exponents such as Robert Parker and WAVESHAPER.

Available on the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack album ‘Videoman’ (V/A) via Lakeshore Records

https://www.instagram.com/motoboymusic/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
14th May 2025

THE ELECTRONIC LEGACY OF 1978

3 August 2024 /

At the start of 1978, disco and AOR was still ruling the airwaves.

ABBA had released ‘The Movie’ which reinforced their success of previous years while the UK charts became dominated by songs from the film ‘Grease’ which helped facilitate a rock ‘n’ roll flavoured revival led by bands like SHOWADDYWADDY, DARTS and RACEY!

Punk had peaked with THE SEX PISTOLS’ Johnny Rotten rhetorical statement “Ever Get the Feeling You’ve Been Cheated?”. However, punk’s ethos was mutating into a form of power pop under the guise of new wave with BLONDIE, BUZZCOCKS and THE BOOMTOWN RATS. One epic opus that captured the public imagination was ‘Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the World’; featuring synthesizer work from Ken Freeman, it complimented the album’s orchestrated rock with an alien science fiction edge.

Although first released in Autumn 1977, ‘Supernature’ by Cerrone belatedly became a Summer 1978 Top10 hit in the UK singles charts, indicating that after ‘I Feel Love’, ‘Oxygène’, ‘Magic Fly’, ‘Sound & Vision’ and ‘Trans-Europe Express’, electronic pop music had potential longevity and was not a novelty.

A new DIY art pop form was emerging as the independently produced singles ‘Warm Leatherette’ by THE NORMAL and ‘Being Boiled’ by THE HUMAN LEAGUE were released to an unsuspecting public but despite not troubling the mainstream due to their limited audience reach, they were to have a wider impact.

Meanwhile, as punk band TUBEWAY ARMY were preparing to record their debut long player, their leader Gary Numan tried a Minimoog that had been left behind from a previous studio session. It was to be an epiphanal moment as he decided that electronics would become a future part of his sound.

According to a recent Ace Records podcast hosted by Pete Paphides, his guest Bob Stanley said that Minimoog belonged to reggae legend Dennis Bovell who was working on a song he had just written called ‘Silly Games’. When it stalled a No2 sung by Janet Kay, in a bizarre coincidence, the single that was to stop it from getting to No1 in Summer 1979 was recorded in the same Gooseberry Studios in London’s Chinatown… it was ‘Are Friends Electric?’!!!

Here are 20 albums which ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK sees as contributing to the electronic legacy of 1978. They are listed in alphabetical order with a restriction of one album per artist moniker…

ASHRA Blackouts

Featuring “Sequencer, Keyboards and a lot of guitar” with the recommendation that “this record should be heard comfortably”, ‘Blackouts’ was Manuel Göttsching’s second album as ASHRA and while it did not quite have the total cosmic magic of its predecessor ‘New Age Of Earth’, it was a satisfying record. ‘Midnight On Mars’ set the scene while there was another wonderful 20 minute end piece in ‘Lotus Part I-IV’.

‘Blackouts’ is still available via Virgin Records

https://manuelgoettsching.com/

AUTOMAT Automat

AUTOMAT were Romano Musmarra and Claudio Gizzi who released just one album. Stating “in the beginning there was the machine – the survival and the organization of the planet depended upon the machine – the future and the past depended upon the machine – …the past? But who wanted the machine?”, the key track was the eponymous three part electronic prog disco opus that would have made Giorgio Moroder proud. Meanwhile ‘Droid’ showed the Italian duo were also fans of Vangelis.

‘Automat’ was originally released by EMI Italiana, currently unavailable

https://www.discogs.com/artist/29817-Automat

BRIAN BENNETT Voyage (A Journey Into Discoid Funk)

The drummer for THE SHADOWS since 1961, Brian Bennett worked on theme music on the side and became inspired by the emergence of electronic disco from the likes of Giorgio Moroder and Marc Cerrone. Described as “A Journey Into Discoid Funk”, ‘Voyage’ was a cosmic affair with jazz and funk influences. Highlights included ‘Pendulum Force’, ‘Ocean Glide’ and ‘Chain Reaction’ while one track ‘Solstice’ was later sampled by rappers Kanye West and Nas.

‘Voyage (A Journey Into Discoid Funk)’ is still available via Cherry Red Records

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/brian-bennett-voyage-2cd-expanded-edition

DROIDS Star Peace

Inspired by ‘Star Wars’, French space disco combo DROIDS were best known for their underground hit ‘(Do You Have) The Force’ in 1977. Included on it, their only album ‘Star Peace’ came the following year with material written and played by Yves Hayat using Moogs, ARPs and Oberheims. It was an enjoyable electronic romp with groovy tracks like ‘Be Happy’ and ‘Shanti Dance’ to take on fellow countrymen SPACE.

‘Star Peace’ is still available via Barclay

https://www.discogs.com/artist/93198-Droids

LA DÜSSELDORF Viva

Fronted by Klaus Dinger from NEU! while also featuring his brother Thomas on percussion and Hans Lampe on drums, the second long player LA DÜSSELDORF ‘Viva’ was self-produced and their most successful album. There was the magnificent 20 minute madness of ‘Cha Cha 2000’, but the album also yielded the beautifully epic ‘Rheinita’, a glorious instrumental that became the blueprint for OMD’s ‘Architecture & Morality’ album.

‘Viva’ is still available via WEA Records

https://dingerland.de/

ENO MOEBIUS ROEDELIUS After The Heat

Following aborted sessions with cult German band HARMONIA featuring Michael Rother of NEU! alongside Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius of CLUSTER, Brian Eno continued collaborations with the latter pair. With a wonderful 1977 ambient collection ‘Cluster & Eno’ to their name, their second album ‘After The Heat’ added Eno’s contemplative voice to the experimentation, the best track of which was the gentle sequencer led beauty of ‘The Belldog’.

‘After The Heat’ is still available via Bureau B


‎
https://www.roedelius.com/album/after-heat

EDGAR FROESE Ages

This double album was released at the start of 1978 before TANGERINE DREAM took their vocal prog rock misstep with ‘Cyclone’. ‘Era Of The Slaves’ was a particular delight in the Berlin School vein with Edgar Froese channelling his creative energies wonderfully following the departure of Peter Baumann. Overall, ‘Ages’ was lively, as exemplified by ‘Nights of Automatic Women’ while ‘Children’s Deeper Study’ displayed a brighter tone.

‘Ages’ is still available via Virgin Records

https://www.edgarfroese.com/

JEAN-MICHEL JARRE Equinoxe

The follow-up to the massively successful ‘Oxygène’, ‘Équinoxe’ was conceived as representing a day in a person’s life. As well expanded multitrack recording, ‘Équinoxe’ benefitted from the use of the customised Matrisequencer 250 designed by sound engineer Michel Geiss. The album’s eight parts were rich in melody, rhythm and in places neo-gothic grandeur. It confirmed Jean-Michel Jarre was not to be just a one-hit wonder.

‘Equinoxe’ is still available via Sony Music

http://jeanmicheljarre.com/

KRAFTWERK The Man Machine

By 1978, the classic KRAFTWERK line-up of Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Wolfgang Flür and Karl Bartos were at the height of their powers with ‘Trans Europe Express’ becoming an unexpected favourite on the New York dancefloors. ‘The Man Machine’ contained the belated hit single ‘The Model’ while there was also the Giorgio Moroder-inspired ‘Spacelab’ and ‘Metropolis’. With ‘The Robots’, the Das Quartett reinforced they were Musikarbeiter.

‘The Man Machine’ is still available via EMI Music

http://www.kraftwerk.com/

LEDA Welcome To Joyland

Having left TANGERINE DREAM and inspired by the success of ‘I Feel Love’, Peter Baumann produced Italian artist Leda on her album ‘Welcome To Joyland’. Applying his sequenced knowhow into a more song based format, highlights included the title song and the Giorgio Moroder aping ‘Future’. Something of a curio in his portfolio, it became a pointer to the pop based direction he launched in 1981 with ‘Repeat Repeat’.

‘Welcome To Joyland’ is still available via Private Records

https://www.voices-in-the-net.de/welcome_to_joyland.htm

GIORGIO MORODER Midnight Express

‘Midnight Express’ was a graphic prison drama directed by Alan Parker who wanted electronic accompaniment in the style of ‘I Feel Love’ for a key scene in the film. Enter Giorgio Moroder who, assisted by Harold Faltermeyer, did just that with the mighty ‘Chase’. Meanwhile, the moody main theme and with its exotic overtones all but invented synthwave. Moroder would win his first Oscar for “Best Original Score”.

‘Midnight Express’ is still available via Casablanca Records / Universal Records

http://www.moroder.net/

RICHARD PINHAS Chronolyse

Richard Pinhas was a member of French rock band HELDON who became fascinated by the possibilities of experimental electronics. Inspired by sci-fi writers Michel Jeury and Frank Herbert, the ‘Chronolyse’ title suite was split into seven waves of cerebral minimalism reminiscent of Terry Riley and Philip Glass. But there was a volte face in ‘Paul Atreïdes’, a noisy half hour jam with his HELDON band mates that took up an entire side.

‘Chronolyse’ is still available via Bureau B

https://www.richard-pinhas.com/chronolyse/

RIECHMANN Wunderbar

The only album by the tragic figure of Wolfgang Riechmann, ‘Wunderbar’ was an elegant and ultimately fragile collection with a fine balance of electronic technology and real instrumentation where none of the elements were overdone. The resonant melancholy of its content became even more poignant once it is learnt that he was murdered in Düsseldorf just weeks before its release by Sky Records in August 1978.

‘Wunderbar’ is still available via Bureau B

https://riechmann.bandcamp.com/album/wunderbar

MICHAEL ROTHER Sterntaler

After the success of ‘Flammenden Herzen’ set Michael Rother off on the path to becoming Germany’s answer to Mike Oldfield, his second solo album ‘Sterntaler’ saw a greater use of synths for melody lines as on the uplifting title track. ‘Orchestrion’ was more of a layered guitar symphony but the moody textures of ‘Sonnenrad’ would later become the inspiration for ULTRAVOX’s ‘Dancing With Tears In My Eyes’.

‘Sterntaler’ is still available via Grönland Records

http://www.michaelrother.de/en/

CONRAD SCHNITZLER Con

Conrad Schnitzler had been a member of TANGERINE DREAM and KLUSTER before going solo. ‘Con’ was produced by Peter Baumann. While much of the album was unsettling soundscapes like ‘Electric Garden’ and ‘Black Nail’, ‘Ballet Statique’ was his most accessible piece and up there with the best of minimally structured German electronic music. Meanwhile ‘Zug’ did as the title suggested with its locomotive rhythm collage.

‘Con’ is still available via Bureau B

https://www.fancymoon.com/con_s/

KLAUS SCHULZE X

After his 1977 masterpiece ‘Mirage’, Klaus Schulze was by now well into what many consider his imperial phase and planting the seed for New Age in the process. For the ambitious double opus ‘X’, drums by Harald Grosskopf and strings were incorporated into “Six Musical Biographies” in honour of figures such as philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, King Ludwig II of Bavaria, composer Friedemann Bach and ‘Dune’ author Frank Herbert.

‘X’ is still available via SPV

https://klaus-schulze.com/

SPACE Just Blue

Having had a worldwide hit with ‘Magic Fly’, ‘Just Blue’ was the third album by France’s SPACE and the last featuring original writer Ecama, the pseudonym of Didier Marouani. With proggier inflections and more vocal phrasing, this album did not hit the highs of ‘Magic Fly’ but this was still a good record. The title song had catchy synth hooks while ‘Final Signal’ brought in fretless bass and ‘Secret Dreams’ got all new age.

‘Just Blue’ is still available via Nang

https://www.facebook.com/Didier.Marouani.et.spAce/

TOMITA The Bermuda Triangle

Best known for 1974’s pioneering ‘Snowflakes Are Dancing’ which reinterpreted Debussy, Isao Tomita was applying his Moog modular craft to Prokofiev and Sibelius for an ambitious concept album subtitled “A Musical Fantasy of Science Fiction”, there was even an adaptation of ‘Close Encounters Of The Third Kind’. As befitting a record about ‘The Bermuda Triangle’, it was dark and experimental in places with a fabulous palette of sound design.

‘The Bermuda Triangle’ is still available via Revive Music

https://www.isaotomita.info/

ULTRAVOX Systems Of Romance

Working with the legendary Conny Plank for their third album ‘Systems Of Romance’, ULTRAVOX became more texturally powerful thanks to the ARP Odyssey of Billy Currie, Chris Cross’ EMS Synthi AKS and new guitarist Robin Simon. Despite leader John Foxx leaving to go solo, ‘Slow Motion’, ‘Quiet Man’, ‘Dislocation’ and ‘Just For A Moment’ were a harbinger of things that were to come with a certain Gary Numan taking notes.

‘Systems Of Romance’ is still available on ‘The Island Years’ via Caroline Records

https://www.ultravox.org.uk/

YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA Yellow Magic Orchestra

YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA was intended as one-off project for producer Haruomi Hosono with Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto; all three already had solo careers. Their self-titled debut was noted for its use of the then-new Roland MC8 Micro-Composer progammed by Hideki Matsutake. The trio became standard bearers for Japanese technopop with the hit single ‘Firecracker’, also known as ‘Computer Game’.

‘Yellow Magic Orchestra’ is still available via Sony Music

http://www.ymo.org/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
3rd August 2024

25 FAVOURITE MUSIC BOOKS

17 June 2023 /

Factory Records impresario and Granada TV presenter Tony Wilson once said: “When forced to pick between truth and legend, print the legend.”

Books about the trials and tribulations of the music industry come in all shapes, sizes and angles. The approach can be tricky… should they be personal accounts, encyclopaedic histories, stories based on real life but with some spin, or just snapshots of an era?

In recent years, autobiographies and memoirs have become very popular as money for old rope in the absence of physical music sales. These can range from being informative and hilarious to extremely bitter, with others coming over very dull in an attempt not to upset anybody. Meanwhile others feature so many falsehoods that they may as well be placed in the ‘Fiction’ section.

One less appealing format that has been gaining increasing prevalence is the fan memory compendium; this could be seen as a lazy and cheaper way of producing a publication as followers compete to be seen as the biggest fan. Meanwhile others, notably members of lower league bands, try to make out they were massive fans in the first place with recollections that are actually veiled attempts to promote their own music.

When writing a music book, it helps to actually read and research a few beforehand. In addition, when deciding whether a point is worthy of inclusion, the viewpoint of the reader must always be taken into consideration as they hypothetically ponder “so what?”. 

The 21st Century ubiquity of social media has proved that not everyone can string a coherent sentence together.  But where that may seem a barrier, a ghost writer can be the subject’s best friend and a number of the books listed here have taken that route.

Not a best of list, here are 25 music books that have become the personal favourites of ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK listed in yearly and then alphabetical order by title.

DEPECHE MODE: BLACK CELEBRATION Steve Malins (1999)

Steve Malins’ biography features interviews with Alan Wilder, Daniel Miller and Flood. Offering assessment on the unusual band dynamic, one story that highlights things were going south is the debauched cricket match between DEPECHE MODE and OMD during the 1988 US tour. The continually underappreciated Wilder declares how he proudly bowled out Andy McCluskey whom he intensely disliked. Meanwhile Dave Gahan hovered up a line of coke before going into bat and was inevitably out for a golden duck!

‘Black Celebration’ was originally published by Andre Deutsch Ltd with 2001, 2005 + 2013 updated editions

https://www.depechemode.com/

TAINTED LIFE Marc Almond (1999)

This is a frank but humorous autobiography by the SOFT CELL frontman about living life with art school aspirations but suddenly thrust into becoming a pop star and having false tabloid stories written about him in a homophobic world. Attempting to rebuild a career having signed to Warners in 1991, in a reality check, he is told by MD Rob Dickens that the world does not need another Marc Almond album and suggests recording a Trevor Horn produced cover of Jacques Brel’s ‘Jacky’ as made famous by Scott Walker…

‘Tainted Life’ was originally published by Pan Books

http://www.marcalmond.co.uk/

I WAS A ROBOT Wolfgang Flür (2000)

‘I Was A Robot’ was the controversial autobiographical exposé of the KRAFTWERK machine combined with Wolfgang Flür’s partying exploits. However, as his account of OMD coming backstage to meet the band after the Liverpool Empire gig in 1975 has since proved to be false while his musical contribution to KRAFTWERK recordings has been shown to have been minimal, although entertaining, parts of this book should be taken with a pinch of salt.

‘I Was A Robot’ was originally published by Omnibus Press with 2003 + 2017 revised editions

https://www.facebook.com/WolfgangFlur1

THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF CLASSIC 80s POP Jonathan Blythe (2002)

Written in the irreverent vein of classic Neil Tennant-era Smash Hits, the best quote in this amusing book is about DURAN DURAN: “You will have surely have wondered why the girl you fancied seemed far more interested in a slightly porky bloke with bleached-blond hair and a foppish name. The compilation ‘Decade’ contains the 80s hits, but if you want a more comprehensive overview, go for the other one ‘Greatest’. You can usually find them both in the ‘CDs for £5.99’ section, to be honest”

‘The Encyclopaedia Of Classic 80s Pop’ was originally published by Allison & Busby

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1172733.The_Encyclopaedia_Of_Classic_80s_Pop

24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE Tony Wilson (2002)

Given the Factory Records catalogue number FAC 424 and subtitled “What The Sleeve Notes Never Tell You”, this account of the Manchester independent label is centred around Wilson’s noted ego where the narrative reads as enjoyable spin rather than factual stories about the label, its bands and The Haçienda. His alleged legendary quote that ”The musicians own everything. The company owns nothing. All our bands have the freedom to f**k off” was to prove to be his downfall…

’24 Hour Party People’ was originally published by Macmillan

https://factoryrecords.org/

NEW ROMANTICS: THE LOOK Dave Rimmer (2003)

Smash Hits writer and author of ‘Like Punk Never Happened…’ Dave Rimmer takes a look at the flamboyant New Romantics via The Blitz Club playlists and profiles of SPANDAU BALLET, VISAGE, DURAN DURAN, SOFT CELL, DEPECHE MODE, KRAFTWERK and DAF. The Myth of Berlin and Futurism are also discussed and there are plenty of glossy photos that encapsulate its spirit.

‘The Look’ was originally published by Omnibus Press

https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Writer/dave-rimmer/

IF I WAS Midge Ure (2004)

With dry humour, this is a sincere and honest account by Midge Ure of his career which included being a teen pop idol with SLIK who had their own Look-In magazine comic strip. As well as accounts of his success with ULTRAVOX and VISAGE and as a solo artist, there is also his darker descent into alcoholism in the wake of low sales. Our hero is candid about the occasionally tense dynamics with his colleagues, while an insight into VISAGE’s original contract with Polydor makes very interesting reading.

‘If I Was’ was originally published by Virgin Books with 2011 revised edition

http://www.midgeure.co.uk/

PET SHOP BOYS, CATALOGUE Philip Hoare & Chris Heath (2006)

This is a superbly presented visual retrospective of PET SHOP BOYS up to ‘Battleship Potemkin’ featuring artwork, video stills, stage sets and other artefacts accompanied by insightful commentary. There is also a chronology included as well as an interview with Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe who again steals the show with the quip “We still are grumpy, actually”!

‘Catalogue’ was originally published by Thames and Hudson Ltd

https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/

BRIAN ENO: ON SOME FARAWAY BEACH David Sheppard (2008)

Credited with taking David Bowie into “a whole new school of pretension” with The Berlin Trilogy, this authorised biography on Brian Eno traces his career beginning as a self-confessed non-musician with ROXY MUSIC twisting knobs on a VCS3 to producing U2. In between, he makes synthesizers go bong, popularises ambient music, develops Oblique Strategies with artist Peter Schmidt and gets his head around programming the Yamaha DX7. But the biggest revelation in the book? “Eno was shagging more women than Ferry”!

‘On Some Faraway Beach’ was originally published by Orion

http://www.enoweb.co.uk/

SPARKS: No1 SONG IN HEAVEN Dave Thompson (2009)

An enjoyable unauthorised biography of SPARKS, Ron and Russell Mael’s endearingly witty contributions to this book come from the author’s interviews with the brothers conducted between 1985-2009. There are also press cuttings, an expansive discography and a collector’s guide alongside quotes from former backing band members. But while the stories of the various albums are detailed, those wanting gossip on personal lives will be disappointed.

‘No1 Song In Heaven’ was originally published by Cherry Red Books

http://allsparks.com/

GARY NUMAN: BACK STAGE Stephen Roper (2012)

‘A Book Of Reflections’, long time Numanoid Stephen Roper gives a comprehensive account of the imperial years of Gary Numan from 1979 to 1981 via a series of interviews and memories from band members Chris Payne, RRussell Bell and the late Cedric Sharpley as well as the man himself. OMD’s Andy McCluskey, SIMPLE MINDS’ Jim Kerr and Nash The Slash give the viewpoint of the support acts while there are also additional observations from John Foxx, Richard Jobson and Jerry Casale.

‘Back Stage’ was originally published independently with revised 2017 eBook edition available from https://back-stage.dpdcart.com/cart/view#/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-rRuX6k___Y4ZkTHwQg–Q

IN THE PLEASURE GROOVE: LOVE, DEATH & DURAN DURAN John Taylor (2012)

This autobiography traces the story of how a nervous bespectacled Brummie lad called Nigel became an international sex symbol as John Taylor, bassist of DURAN DURAN; “Now, I had only to wink in a girl’s direction in a hotel lobby, backstage or at a record company party, and have company until the morning” he recalls. As outrageous and debauched as some of these anecdotes of sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll are, it would have been very difficult for anyone thrust into this position aged 21 to have acted any differently.

‘In The Pleasure Groove’ was originally published by Sphere

http://www.duranduran.com/

MAD WORLD Lori Majeski & Jonathan Bernstein (2014)

‘Mad World’ delves into the spirit, the politics and the heartache behind some of the greatest songs in popular culture with an American MTV viewpoint courtesy of enthusiastic Duranie Lori Majewski, balanced by the critique of Glaswegian Jonathan Bernstein. The contrasting dynamic ensures a celebration of the era while simultaneously pulling no punches with Bernstein lobbing hand grenades in the direction of KAJAGOOGOO and THOMPSON TWINS!

‘Mad World’ was originally published by Abrams Image

https://www.facebook.com/madworldthebook

JAPAN: A FOREIGN PLACE Anthony Reynolds (2015)

With the co-operation of Richard Barbieri, Steve Jansen and Rob Dean, this book is the first of its kind about the influential enigma that was JAPAN. With detailed accounts by band members and controversial manager Simon Napier-Bell among others, notably absent is David Sylvian who appears via archive interviews while the late Mick Karn is quoted from his own autobiography ‘Japan & Self Existence’.

‘A Foreign Place’ was originally published by Burning Shed

http://nightporter.co.uk/

ELECTRI_CITY: THE DÜSSELDORF SCHOOL OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC Rudi Esch (2016)

First published in German in 2015, this history gives a fascinating insider’s account of The Düsseldorf School and its cultural significance via interview quotes. Contributors on the home side include Wolfgang Flür, Robert Görl, Gabi Delgado, Hans Lampe, Ralf Dörper and Susanne Freytag, while the Brits they influenced feature Andy McCluskey, Martyn Ware, Dave Ball and Daniel Miller among their number. As Robert Görl says: “Wir wollten lieber mit Maschinen arbeiten… We always preferred working with machines”.

‘Electri_City’ was originally published by Omnibus Press

https://www.facebook.com/Electri.city.Esch

LET’S MAKE LOTS OF MONEY Tom Watkins with Matthew Lindsay (2016)

Subtitled “Secrets of a Rich, Fat, Gay, Lucky Bastard”, this is the autobiography of the late Tom Watkins, the Svengali who managed PET SHOP BOYS, BROS and EAST 17. “A big man with a loud voice” said Neil Tennant, but he had a bolshy ability to extract favourable deals including a rumoured 20% commission on gross income while always asking “What would Edna in Huddersfield think?”. Later becoming disillusioned with the pop industry, he describes ‘The X Factor’ as being like “a Nuremberg Rally on pink drugs”

‘Let’s Make Lots Of Money’ was originally published by Virgin Books

https://www.electricityclub.co.uk/tom-watkins-lets-make-lots-of-money/

SUBSTANCE: INSIDE NEW ORDER Peter Hook (2016)

An informative in-depth look inside NEW ORDER, this huge memoir running to over 750 pages by Peter Hook was informative but not unsurprisingly tinged with bitterness and anger. But if you want to know where the band played on 9 April 1985, it’s here! There are track-by-track rundowns of each NEW ORDER album (apart from ’Republic’) and if you’ve always wanted to find out which sequencer was used on ‘True Faith’ or what Hooky’s Top16 bass cab messages are, then look no further!

‘Substance’ was originally published by Simon & Schuster

https://www.facebook.com/peterhookandthelight/

RECORD PLAY PAUSE + FAST FORWARD: Stephen Morris (2019 + 2020)

Effectively a lengthy book divided into two parts, Volume I of Stephen Morris’ memoir demonstrated his abilities as an engaging storyteller blessed with an entertaining dry wit, able to convey his growing up in an amusing and relatable manner. In the NEW ORDER dominated Volume II, readers cannot help but laugh out loud when our hero discovers that the 10 mile shooting range of his newly acquired ex-British Army Abbot FV433 self-propelled gun will make Bernard Sumner’s house in Alderley Edge an easy target!

‘Record Play Pause Rewind’ + ‘Fast Forward’ were originally published by Constable

https://twitter.com/stephenpdmorris

ELECTRONIC BOY: MY LIFE IN & OUT OF SOFT CELL Dave Ball (2020)

The quiet half of SOFT CELL, Dave Ball attended the same Blackpool school as Chris Lowe from PET SHOP BOYS but they never met. There was obviously something in the sea and the accounts of the Northern Soul scene point towards how that influence, along with the affordability of synthesizers, was to seed a long and successful music career which later included THE GRID. The Electronic Boy is honest about his various demons, but there is also humour and an equipment list appendix plus plenty of technical talk.

‘Electronic Boy’ was originally published by Omnibus Press

https://www.facebook.com/daveballofficial

ADVENTURES IN MODERN RECORDING Trevor Horn (2022)

Chaptered around 23 significant pieces of music in the life of Trevor Horn, the producer provides an insight into the making of his greatest moments. Music industry politics are discussed, notably with his ZTT signings FRANKIE GOES HOLLYWOOD, PROPAGANDA and THE ART OF NOISE. Among the revelations are getting bassist Mark Lickley fired from ABC but in all, this is a fun read with lots of name dropping… so imagine sitting in a van with Grace Jones and Jackie Chan that has no seat belts!

‘Adventures In Modern Recording’ was originally published by Nine Eight

https://www.facebook.com/trevorhornofficial

ELECTRONICALLY YOURS Vol1 Martyn Ware (2022)

An autobiography that covers up to the end of 1992, a quarter of the book is brilliantly devoted to a track-by-track analysis of every released recording that Martyn Ware was involved in by THE HUMAN LEAGUE, HEAVEN 17 and BEF. Politics looms within ‘Electronically Yours Vol1’ but without this socially conscientious drive , there would be no ‘Penthouse & Pavement’ or ‘The Luxury Gap’. With the recent passing of Tina Turner, Ware’s accounts of working with her now have added poignancy.

‘Electronically Yours Vol1’ was originally published by Constable

https://martynwareofficial.co.uk/

LISTENING TO THE MUSIC THE MACHINES MAKE Richard Evans (2022)

Focussing on “inventing electronic pop”, ‘Listening To The Music The Machines Make’ tells the story of the Synth Britannia generation by referencing archive material rather than via new interviews with the protagonists of the period. The end result is a more accurate picture of how synthesized forms were derided by a hostile music press back in the day, contrasting the rose tinted view projected by some cultural observers and fans today. But over 40 years on, this music has won the fight with many of the acts still performing today.

‘Listening To The Music The Machines Make’ was originally published by Omnibus Press

https://inventingelectronicpop.com/

THE SOUND OF THE MACHINE: MY LIFE IN KRAFTWERK & BEYOND Karl Bartos (2022)

A detailed autobiography of Karl Bartos about his time in KRAFTWERK and more, his optimistic disposition is a key aspect of this story. But although rising to the ranks of co-writer for ‘The Man Machine’ album, some members were more equal than others as Ralf Hütter bagged himself 50% of the publishing for the lyrics of ‘Spacelab’ and ‘Metropolis’ despite those tracks containing one word, thus reducing Bartos’ musical share! Bitterness is largely absent from this book, but it is no “sex, synths und schlagzeug” romp either.

‘The Sound Of The Machine’ was originally published by Omnibus Press

http://www.karlbartos.com/

THEMES FOR GREAT CITIES: A NEW HISTORY OF SIMPLE MINDS Graeme Thompson (2022)

Featuring new interviews with original members Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill, Mick MacNeil and Derek Forbes, this biography focuses on the SIMPLE MINDS era of 1979-1985 when they were at their imperial and imaginative best. So where did it all go wrong? The book reveals what ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has thought since buying the album in 1984 and that Jim Kerr himself now confirms… the second half of ‘Sparkle In The Rain’ is not particularly good! So who agrees? “LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS!”

‘Themes For Great Cities’ was originally published by Constable

https://www.simpleminds.com/

CONFORM TO DEFORM: THE WEIRD & WONDERFUL WORLD OF SOME BIZZARE Wesley Doyle (2023)

The story of Some Bizzare was always going to be a grand undertaking but Wesley Doyle managed to assemble Marc Almond, Dave Ball, Matt Johnson, Daniel Miller, Steve Hovington, Neil Arthur, JG Thirlwell, Stephen Mallinder, Anni Hogan, Stevo Pearce and his long suffering personal assistant Jane Rolink to document the rise and fall of the label that got into bed with the majors. Opting for a chronological quotes narrative, the book captures the personality of the characters involved and the tensions between them.

‘Conform To Deform’ was originally published by Jawbone Press

https://twitter.com/WesleyDoyleUK

Text by Chi Ming Lai
13th June 2023

25 SONGS NOT SUNG BY THE LEAD VOCALIST

31 December 2022 /

Photo by Catrine Christensen

Wikipedia says “The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard”.

It also adds “The lead vocalist may also be called the main vocalist or lead singer. Especially in rock music, the lead singer or solo singer is often the front man or front woman”. A BBC Radio 4 parody series ‘Radio Active’ first made the joke in 1981 that “Ringo Starr isn’t the best drummer in THE BEATLES” and in a similar way, it could be said that Bernard Sumner is not the best singer in NEW ORDER.

However, the lead vocalist is considered the figurehead and often the character of a band so regardless of what is said publicly about democracy, a hierarchy inevitably ensues.

But what happens when another member of the band takes their turn at the front? In most cases, it is just a one-off although sometimes it becomes recurring feature over successive albums. These tracks can meet with varying degrees of success, but there have even been occasions where the second vocalist eventually becomes lead singer! However, there have been strange situations where a less vocally competent instrumentalist is unhappy about the attention that a singer is getting and insists on switching roles, thus ensuring that the band does not play to any of its strengths!

So taking things back to front and with a limit of one track per act, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK presents a list of 25 songs not sung by the lead vocalist in chronological, then alpnabetical order…

ULTRAVOX Mr X (1980)

Having been an idea that dated back to the John Foxx-era of ULTRAVOX just before his departure, the KRAFTWERK influenced robotic spy story of ‘Mr X’ was voiced by Warren Cann while Midge Ure was settling in as the band’s new lead vocalist. The track had begun as ‘Touch & Go’ and been premiered live. In a gentlemen’s agreement, keyboardist Billy Currie gave his melody of ‘He’s A Liquid’ in return for Foxx’s melody to ‘Touch & Go’, hence the structural similarity to ‘Mr X’.

Available on the album ‘Vienna’ via Chrysalis Records

http://www.ultravox.org.uk/

DEPECHE MODE Any Second Now (1981)

Although now known as a songwriter, Martin Gore had contributed an instrumental ‘Big Muff’ and one song with lyrics ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!’ on DEPECHE MODE’s debut album. Written by Vince Clarke like most of ‘Speak & Spell’, ‘Any Second Now’ was a beautiful minimalist set piece that stood out amongst the dance friendly synthpop tunes and suited an understated tone of expression. And so began a tradition of Gore taking on DM’s ballads instead of front man Dave Gahan.

Available on the album ‘Speak & Spell’ via Sony Music

https://www.depechemode.com/

DRAMATIS Turn (1981)

DRAMATIS were the former Gary Numan live band and while they were musically virtuoso, the band’s Achilles’ heel was vocals. RRussell Bell and Denis Haines were the quartet’s main singers and Numan himself guested on their biggest hit ‘Love Needs No Disguise’. The classically trained multi-instrumentalist Chris Payne found himself a reluctant vocalist on a song he had written called ‘Turn’; “I have never felt comfortable about my own voice” he clarified.

Available on the album ‘For Future Reference’ via Cherry Red Records

https://www.discogs.com/artist/45761-Dramatis

NEW ORDER Doubts Even Here (1981)

After the end of JOY DIVISION, Peter Hook, Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris reconvened as NEW ORDER while recruiting Gillian Gilbert on keyboards and guitar. Synths and drum machines were taking greater prominence but not entirely. While Sumner did the majority of the vocals on their debut album ‘Movement’, it was Hooky’s fraught delivery on ‘Doubts Even Here’ and words from The Bible spoken by Gilbert that provided the album’s most glorious moment.

Available on the album ‘Movement’ via Rhino

http://www.neworder.com/

KISSING THE PINK Watching Their Eyes (1982)

Best known for the profound anti-war statement ‘The Last Film’ which entered the Top20 in 1983, KISSING THE PINK had Nick Whitecross as their lead singer. Produced by Colin Thurston, the baroque opera tinged ‘Watching Their Eyes’ saw saxophonist Josephine Wells provide a haunting impassioned vocal. Wells went on to play live with TEARS FOR FEARS but sadly, she was to later battle her own traumas as a survivor of the Marchioness boat disaster in 1989.

Available on the album ‘Naked’ via Cherry Red Records

https://www.facebook.com/kissingthepink/

CHINA CRISIS Wishful Thinking (1983)

After his OMD success, Mike Howlett produced the most synth based CHINA CRISIS long player. Utilising Emulator strings and a pizzicato sample derived from plucking an acoustic guitar string close to the bridge, ‘Wishful Thinking’ was written and sung by guitarist Eddie Lundon. A sweetly textured, melodic pop single that deserved its hit status, lead singer Gary Daly responded with ‘Never Too Late’ but that song was shelved to B-side status for sounding too similar.

Available on the album ‘Working With Fire & Steel – Possible Pop Songs Volume 2’ via Caroline Records

https://www.facebook.com/chinacrisisofficial/

TEARS FOR FEARS The Hurting (1983)

While Roland Orzabal is more or less seen as TEARS FOR FEARS lead singer now, that is not how it was perceived at the start even though he sang their debut single ‘Suffer The Children’. Following three Top10 hit singles prior to the release of their debut album ‘The Hurting’, Curt Smith was considered the face and the voice of the band. Orzabal was main songwriter and sang lead on the title track with a more angst-ridden take than was heard on the Smith-fronted singles.

Available on the album ‘The Hurting’ via Mercury Records

https://tearsforfears.com/

YAZOO Happy People (1983)

Of Vince Clarke’s most polarising song since ‘What’s Your Name?’ for DEPECHE MODE, Alison Moyet said “That could have been the beginning of the end for us… in fact, no it wasn’t because Vince had already decided to leave. ‘Happy People’, I just tried singing it a couple of ways and I just hit him with ‘I can’t do this, you want it sung, you sing it yourself mate!’… so he sang it himself, fair play to him”. The song was an ironic send-up of middle aged political activists.

Available on the album ‘Three Pieces’ via Mute Records

https://yazooinfo.com/

BERLIN Rumor Of Love (1984)

Multi-instrumentalist John Crawford had proved himself a capable if almost anonymous singer when duetting with BERLIN front woman Terri Nunn on their 1982 breakthrough track ‘Sex (I’m A…)’. But for the B-side of the 1984 Giorgio Moroder produced single ‘No More Words’, Crawford did a lead vocal turn on the Mike Howlett-helmed ‘Rumor Of Love’ which echoed Scott Walker and ended up as a bonus track on the original edition of the ‘Love Life’ album

Available on the album ‘Love Life’ via Rubellan Records

https://www.berlinmusic.net/

OMD Never Turn Away (1984)

While Andy McCluskey was the lead singer of OMD, Paul Humphreys would see his less frequent vocalled tracks released as singles with ‘Souvenir’, ‘Secret’ and ‘Forever Live & Die’ becoming international hits. While their fifth ‘Junk Culture’ saw forays into brass sections, calypso and reggae, ‘Never Turn Away’ was a more traditional OMD ballad with Autumnal atmospheres but while it was a fine album track, it made little impression as a single release.

Available on the album ‘Junk Culture’ via Virgin Records

https://www.omd.uk.com/

PROPAGANDA Dream Within A Dream (1985)

While Susanne Freytag was the original PROPAGANDA vocalist with her stark narrative style, she soon stepped back in favour of her friend and TOPOLINOS bandmate Claudia Brücken. While Freytag’s Germanic prose remained vital on songs such as ‘Doctor Mabuse’ and ‘P-Machinery’, her vocal style suited the lead role on ‘Dream With A Dream’, a 9 minute epic which put a mighty soundtrack to accompany an Edgar Allan Poe poem which was first published in 1849.

Available on the album ‘A Secret Wish’ via ZTT Records

https://www.xpropaganda.co.uk/

KRAFTWERK The Telephone Call (1986)

On the disappointing ‘Techno Pop’ née ‘Electric Café’ album, Karl Bartos gave an assured performance in his only lead vocal for KRAFTWERK on ‘The Telephone Call’. While the assertive automated phone messages were a sharpened metaphor for female empowerment, band politics were at play when Ralf Hütter refused to let Bartos lip-synch his part on the monochromatic video although Wolfgang Flür got to mime a single phrase while cast in shadow.

Available on the album ‘Techno Pop’ via EMI Music

https://kraftwerk.com/

PET SHOP BOYS Paninaro (1986)

“Passion and love and sex and money – Violence, religion, injustice and death” went the opening phrases of Chris Lowe’s debut lead vocal for PET SHOP BOYS. Dryly spoken rather than sung, the track was a celebration of an Italian fashion cult. The middle eight featuring an ‘Entertainment Tonight’ interview saw Lowe deadpan: “I don’t like Country & Western. I don’t like rock music. I don’t like Rockabilly. I don’t like much, really, do I? But what I do like, I love passionately!”

Available on the album ‘Alternative’ via EMI Music

https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/

NITZER EBB Let Beauty Loose (1987)

With Douglas J McCarthy fronting NITZER EBB, the singing abilities of instrumentalist Bon Harris only came to the fore with his ‘Songs From the Lemon Tree’ lockdown live streams of solo covers often tinged with falsetto. But on the ‘That Total Age’ album, he had shouted his way through ‘Let Beauty Loose’, a typical slice of frantically paced EBM. Acting as a supersub in late 2021, Harris stood in for a hospitalised McCarthy at two NITZER EBB shows in Palm Beach and Toronto.

Available on the album ‘That Total Age’ via Mute Records

http://www.nitzer-ebb.com/

BOOK OF LOVE With A Little Love (1988)

Originally from Philadelphia, BOOK OF LOVE were started by school friends Susan Ottaviano and Ted Ottaviano who were not actually related. Jade Lee and Lauren Roselli Johnson joined later on and the quartet were invited to support DEPECHE MODE on two US tours while their single ‘I Touch Roses’ was reissued in a Daniel Miller remix. Although Susan Ottaviano was lead vocalist, Ted Ottaviano impressed on ‘With A Little Love’ which was co-produced by Flood.

Available on the album ’Lullaby’ via Noble Rot

https://www.bookoflovemusic.com/

CAMOUFLAGE Sooner Than We Think (1989)

German trio CAMOUFLAGE named themselves after a YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA track. While Marcus Meyn was lead singer and the voice of hits like ‘The Great Commandment’, on their second album ‘Methods Of Silence’, both instrumentalists Heiko Maile and Oliver Kreyssig did a vocal turn, with the latter’s ‘Sooner Than We Think’ considered worthy enough to include on their first two Best Of compilations ‘We Stroke The Flames’ and ‘Rewind – The Best Of 95-87’.

Available on the album ‘Methods Of Silence’ via Universal Music

https://www.camouflage-music.com/en/News

KON KAN Move To Move (1989)

Despite Kevin Wynne being the voice on KON KAN’s sample heavy NEW ORDER inspired international hit ‘I Beg Your Pardon’, he was a hired hand as the mastermind behind the project was Canadian producer Barry Harris. The surprise success led to an album for which Wynne did most of the vocals for. However, Harris took the lead on the album’s title track. For the next two KON KAN albums ‘Syntonic’ and ‘Vida!’, Wynne was not recalled.

Available on the album ‘Move To Move’ via Atlantic Records

https://www.facebook.com/konkanofficial

THE HUMAN LEAGUE One Man In My Heart (1995)

Phil Oakey has often cited Susanne Sulley as the best singer in THE HUMAN LEAGUE. While she famously did a verse on the UK and US No1 ‘Don’t You Want Me?’ as well as various solo phrases on ‘(Keep Feeling) Fascination’ and ‘Heart Like A Wheel’, she didn’t get a lead vocal turn until ‘One Man In My Heart’. The format of the song fitted right in with the rise of female fronted trios like DUBSTAR, SAINT ETIENNE and PEACH.

Available on the album ‘Octopus’ via EastWest

https://thehumanleague.co.uk/

DURAN DURAN Medazzaland (1997)

After their panned 1995 covers album ‘Thank You’, DURAN DURAN were in a state of turmoil; Simon Le Bon was experiencing writer’s block while John Taylor was suffering from depression. This state of affairs led to Nick Rhodes working more closely with guitarist Warren Cuccurullo and the keyboardist taking a spoken word lead on the title track of the ‘Medazzaland’ album. Taylor left halfway through recording while the end product was only released in the US.

Available on the album ‘Medazzaland’ via Tape Modern

https://duranduran.com

LADYTRON True Mathematics (2002)

With a template similar to PROPAGANDA, LADYTRON had a singing vocalist in Helen Marnie while Mira Aroyo provided stark spoken prose in her native Bulgarian. Although the latter had been an enticing subplot to ‘Discotraxx’ on the debut album ‘604’, Aroyo took the deadpan lead on the fierce ‘True Mathematics’ which opened their next album ‘Light & Magic’. Owing a debt to THE NORMAL’s ‘Warm Leatherette’, it premiered a much harder LADYTRON sound.

Available on the album ‘Light & Magic’ via Nettwerk

https://www.ladytron.com/

KID MOXIE Medium Pleasure – Marsheaux remix (2009)

KID MOXIE began as a duo comprising of Elena Charbila and Erica Zabowski, recording an EP ‘Human Stereo’ and album ‘Selector’. Although Charbila took the majority of the lead vocals in her airy continental style, Zabowski adopted more of a snarl on ‘Medium Pleasure’ with a lyric attacking cultural mediocrity. By the time ‘Selector’ was released, the pair had already parted.

Available on the album ‘Selector’ via Undo Records

https://www.facebook.com/kidmoxie

DE/VISION Kamikaze (2012)

Forming in 1988, German duo DE/VISION have been a mainstay in Europe for enthusiasts of darker electronic climes. Comprising of Steffen Keth on vocals and Thomas Adam on synths, their vast majority of their songs have been sung in English. For their 2012 album ‘Rockets & Swords’, there was a surprise in the penultimate song ‘Kamikaze’ which was not only voiced by Adam but also in Deutsch.

Available on the album ‘Rockets & Swords’ via Popgefahr Records

http://www.devision-music.de

TWINS NATALIA I Avoid Strangers (2014)

TWINS NATALIA comprised of Marc Schaffer, Steve Lippert, synth wizard Dave Hewson and singers Sharon Abbott and Julie Ruler, with the latter three from cult combo POEME ELECTRONIQUE. With classic Weimar Cabaret melodies and vibrant Kling Klang interplay, they conjured memories of holiday romances. But the uptempo ‘I Avoid Strangers’ featured Hewson on vocals, possessing a paranoia that suited the song perfectly.

Available on the album ‘The Destiny Room’ via Anna Logue Records

https://www.facebook.com/twinsnatalia

CHVRCHES High Enough To Carry You Over (2015)

The two Martin Doherty vocalled tracks on ‘The Bones Of What You Believe’ polarised opinion and his voice made an appearance again on the synth driven funk of ‘High Enough To Carry You Over’ for CHVRCHES second album ‘Every Open Eye’. While nowhere near as accomplished as main vocalist Lauren Mayberry, by taking on a more Americanised drawl in the vein of MISTER MISTER, this was a big improvement on the stoner vibe of his previous two singing attempts.

Available on the album ‘Every Open Eye’ via Virgin Records

http://chvrch.es/

APOPTYGMA BERZERK Nearest (2019)

The project of Norwegian Stephan Groth, APOPTYGMA BERZERK went Deutsch on the ‘Nein Danke!’ EP while displaying a prominent “NEWWAVESYNTHPOP” legend on its artwork. ‘Nearest’ saw Stephan’s live bandmate and brother Jonas step into the limelight on a chilled electronic ballad ‘Nearest’ that possessed the same ethereal qualities as the best known APOP track ‘Kathy’s Song’. Jonas Groth has since stepped up to  front his own synthpop duo PISTON DAMP.

Available on the EP ‘Nein Danke!’ via Pitch Black Drive

http://www.theapboffice.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
31st December 2022

KARL BARTOS The Sound Of The Machine

31 July 2022 /

Originally published in 2017, ‘Der Klang Der Maschine’ was the detailed autobiography of electronic pioneer Karl Bartos. 

Best known for his role in the classic line-up of KRAFTWERK with Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider and Wolfgang Flür, ‘The Sound Of The Machine’ is the English translation written in collaboration with Katy Derbyshire. It includes extra material not included in the German edition, adding up to a hefty total of 634 pages.

Born in 1952, Bartos was a happy child and his optimistic disposition is a key aspect of this book. While the bitterness that was apparent in Peter Hook’s NEW ORDER book ‘Substance’ is largely absent, ‘The Sound Of The Machine’ is also not the laugh aloud read that Stephen Morris’ two memoirs or the “sex und synths und schlagzeug” romp of Wolfgang Flür’s ‘I Was A Robot’ were.

What ‘The Sound Of The Machine’ has is informative breakdowns of how iconic pieces of music were constructed, commentary on the frenetic pace of technological development and confessionals on band dynamics. It also documents a very human group of men enjoying football, champagne, dancing, cycling and even taking time out to see THE EAGLES. The book is weighty and contains discussions about music theory, philosophy and German history, so those who just want the gossip may find some sections heavy reading.

Despite having co-written many of their best known works such as ‘The Model’, ‘The Robots’, ‘Neon Lights’, ‘Spacelab’, Computer Love’, ‘Pocket Calculator’, ‘Computer World’, ‘Tour De France’ and ‘Numbers’, the KRAFTWERK brand has become so strong that Bartos’ significant role remains widely under appreciated, apart from within the electronic music cognoscenti.

Recruited in 1974 to augment the live shows following the international success of ‘Autobahn’, Bartos was studying to be a symphony orchestra percussionist at the time and had to occasionally commute across the Atlantic to complete his exams while on tour in the US. But Bartos began his youth as a fan of British beat music, particularly THE BEATLES who were introduced to him via the album ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ by his future brother-in-law Peter Hornshaw, then a Lance-Corporal serving with the British Army based in Düsseldorf.

The experience inspired him to take up the drums. Despite securing a telecoms engineering apprenticeship, he saw his future in music. Luckily, his firm wanted to assemble a band of apprentices who could play cover versions at corporate events; Bartos signed up and he was even released from workshop duties to rehearse.

A now-iconic appearance on ‘Tomorrow’s World’ in 1975 showcased the future of music when KRAFTWERK demonstrated their customised instrumentation while dressed smartly in suits and adorning short hair. Performing ‘Autobahn’, Bartos and Flür punctuated the pioneering technologically enhanced sound with a distinct uncluttered percussive snap on their electronic drum pads.

Embracing science and rail transport, KRAFTWERK made major artistic leaps with the ‘Radio-Activity’ and ‘Trans-Europe Express’ albums. By 1978, Bartos had risen to the ranks of co-writer having pointed out to Hütter that his electronic vibraphone solo on ‘The Hall Of Mirrors’ from ‘Trans-Europe Express’ amounted to a more significant contribution than that of a hired hand. So from ‘The Man-Machine’ onwards, his input would involve all parts of the musical content including drums, bass, sequencer, chords, melody, voice and lyrics.

But KRAFTWERK’s Generalleutnant was already displaying his control freak tendencies that would eventually drive all three members of the classic line-up out; Hütter bagged 50% of the publishing for the lyrics of ‘Spacelab’ and ‘Metropolis’ despite the tracks only containing one word, thus reducing Bartos’ musical share. Meanwhile on a German TV appearance performance of ‘The Robots’, Hütter insisted on co-miming the lead vocal despite the fact that it had been provided solely by Schneider via his vocoder on the record.

1981’s ‘Computer World’ saw a new piece of equipment enter Kling Klang in the shape of the Triggersumme. Built by the makers of the Synthanorma sequencer that had been crucial to the sound of ‘Europe Endless’ and ‘The Robots’, the Triggersumme was effectively a drum machine with five rows of 16 switches controlling electronically generated beats that could be manipulated by hand while running in a precise loop.

It was with the Triggersumme that Bartos came up with the iconic rhythmic mantra of ‘Numbers’. Perhaps unexpectedly, it had been inspired by the four bar drum intro of ‘Do You Wanna Dance?’ by Cliff Richard but as it was a subconscious interpretation rather than a copy, something much funkier prevailed! However, on reflection, Bartos concludes in his book that “the advent of sampling has made us largely forget exactly this kind of process”.

‘Computer World’ was KRAFTWERK’s masterpiece that predicted the future; it was a conceptual work that looked at police surveillance, portable office technology, online dating and home entertainment. Meanwhile, as the UK was catching up with RFWK, ‘The Model’ from ‘The Man-Machine’ belatedly became a UK No1 in 1982. Later, Bartos’ own contributions were interpolated by Afrika Baambaata with Arthur Baker for ‘Planet Rock’ and more recently, COLDPLAY for ‘Talk’.

Despite the machinery, KRAFTWERK demonstrated ‘It’s More Fun To Compute’; on ‘Pocket Calculator’; Hütter, Schneider and Bartos had jammed together respectfully on hand-held devices such as the Mattel Bee Gees Rhythm Machine, Texas Instruments calculator and a Stylophone to create a lively polyphony. But this approach with a distinct sense of humanity and looking into each other’s eyes became sidetracked as KRAFTWERK purchased an Emulator and Yamaha DX7 for their next album ‘Techno Pop’.

With KRAFTWERK about to capitalise on the recognition they had been accorded by the success of synthpop throughout the world, Hütter had a near fatal cycling accident. The single ‘Tour De France’ has already been issued but the release of ‘Technopop’ was postponed and the tracks were slowly reworked using state-of-the-art digital and sampling technology before being released as the disappointing ‘Electric Café’ album in 1986.

In a sign of his own future, Bartos took the lead vocal on ‘The Telephone Call’ but Hütter refused to let him lip-sync on the video, although ironically, it was Flür who got to mime a single phrase while cast in shadow. It was to be the last time that the classic KRAFTWERK line-up were seen publicly together.

KRAFTWERK had clearly lost their way and Flür was the first to leave in 1987. Bartos soldiered on and worked with Hütter, Schneider and new recruit Fritz Hilbert on a remix album entitled ‘The Mix’. But as Bartos highlights, Schneider was now specialising in speech synthesis rather than music. Meanwhile Hütter seemed more focussed on cycling but had purchased a rather expensive Synclavier. It led to getting sidetracked by technical rather than musical possibilities to keep up with the production standards of others; “The dancefloor led the way” Bartos lamented, “We became music designers manufacturing consumer music oriented only towards ‘winning’ against other contestants”.

Frustrated by the drought of new material following ‘Electric Café’, Bartos played his last concert with the band in 1990 and handed back his keys to Kling Klang not long after. But despite having already put several years into the project, his name was missing in the credits… the finished produkt itself sounded dated by the time it hit the stores in 1991 and lacked the magic that had made KRAFTWERK great. The prolonged digitisation for Bartos meant “The songs lost their aura, their poetry, they lost precisely what can’t be captured in words…”

Wasting no time, Bartos formed ELEKTRIC MUSIC with Lothar Manteuffel from RHEINGOLD and released the album ‘Esperanto’ in 1993 which was enthusiastically welcomed by fans desperate for the void in new KRAFTWERK material to be filled. After so many years in Kling Klang, he also needed to find out what “Karl Bartos actually sounds like”. However, he was not quite yet ready to take on a front man role as Manteuffel took the lead vocals on the singles ‘Crosstalk’, ‘TV’ and ‘Lifestyle’.

Freed from the shackles of Kling Klang where Hütter had imposed a ban on work outside of KRAFTWERK, Bartos was open to collaboration and the first was with longtime KRAFTWERK fan Andy McCluskey from OMD who sang on the brilliant ‘Kissing The Machine’. Quite possibly the best song that both parties were involved at the time of its release, ‘Kissing The Machine’ was so good that it merited an updated version reconfigured by Paul Humphreys, included 20 years later on the OMD album ‘English Electric’.

With the anti-synth backlash that came with Grunge and Britpop, the guitar dominated environment of the era led to rather strange happenings with Bartos and McCluskey. In McCluskey’s case, it was forming ATOMIC KITTEN with Bartos suggesting that a girl group would be the ideal vehicle for the OMD front man’s future songs! The thought of Kerry Katona being part of Kling Klang’s lineage is quite amusing in hindsight!

Meanwhile at the instigation of Mark Reeder, Bartos went to Manchester to work with Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr on ELECTRONIC’s ‘Raise The Pressure’ album. Eventually released in 1995, it was reported at the time that Bartos had become disillusioned with music technology; the more guitar based collaborations ‘Forbidden City’ and ‘For You’ were among the results. While ‘If You’ve Got Love’ and ‘How Long’ from the album were the more typical of the KRAFTWERK influenced tracks that fans were expecting and the B-side ‘Imitation Of Life’ later morphed into the 2013 solo track ‘Musica Ex Machina’, Bartos effectively returned to Germany with a Rickenbacker strapped to his back!

The resultant 1998 album was ‘Electric Music’, a first solo record of sorts which Bartos himself described as “guitar pop out of the computer”. Although a song originally written for KRAFTWERK entitled ‘The Young Urban Professional’ was the first single, the album was not particularly well received by fans! As Bartos himself confesses, “I was evidently too unknown as a person for anyone to take an interest in the depths of my sound biography. My guitar experiment was doomed to fail. Mea Culpa”.

Following a request for a re-recording of ‘Tour De France’ in 1998, Bartos made tentative steps to revisit the electronic past he was known for.  Dipping his toe in with the single ’15 Minutes Of Fame’ in 2000, he made a triumphant comeback with his first proper solo album ‘Communication’ issued in 2003. The opening track ‘The Camera’ was a successful updating the of ‘The Robots’ for the new Millennium while ‘Life’ lamented about his time with KRAFTWERK in a NEW ORDER styled guitar number reimagined with electronics and ‘I’m The Message’ presented Bartos “In Bild und Ton”…

But just as ‘Communication’ hit the shelves, an elephant entered the room in the shape of his former band; with Hütter and Schneider finally delivering neu Kling Klang Produkt in the shape of ‘Tour De France Soundtracks’, fans and press predictably focused their attention on KRAFTWERK.

This was a shame as ‘Communication’ was a far more vibrant and melodic work than KRAFTWERK’s offering which for an album about cycling was strangely pedestrian. Bartos’ own solo live show mixed new material with updated versions of his classic KRAFTWERK co-writes in a striking but intimate audio / visual extravaganza. Sadly though, average ticket sales for the UK tour were disappointing and the European tour was cancelled.

Bartos became a visiting Professor at the Berlin University of the Arts having founded its Master of Arts course in ‘Sound Studies – Acoustic Communication’ while digitising his musical archive of rhythmical and melodic sketches made since he was in KRAFTWERK. Within a 21st Century setting, twelve developed and recontextualised tracks became his second solo album ‘Off The Record’ in 2013.

Just as the ‘Off The Record’ tour was about to begin in Cologne on 26th January 2014, that red and black elephant re-entered the room. KRAFTWERK were to be presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award on the same night at The Grammys in Los Angeles. As German TV descended on the Live Music Hall to speak to Bartos prior to the show, all they wanted to know about was his period in Kling Klang. Bartos’ own reflections on never escaping KRAFTWERK’s shadow came in an ‘Off The Record’ song entitled ‘Without A Trace Of Emotion’. Poignantly in a vocodered voice, his robot Herr Karl wryly declares: “Every single day I am here to let you know, Whatever happens to you – I won’t let go, I won’t let go…”

In 2013, Herr Bartos said to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK: “Sometimes we all love nostalgia because it’s safe. One interesting point; the process of listening to music incorporates what we have learned before, all our lives, what we know. If you listen to a track in a club, or at home, or a concert, it doesn’t matter where, always what our brain does is we remember what we have learned about music, then we have this very second, this very moment, and our expectations about how the music will evolve in the future. Listening to music incorporates all three times.”

Karl Bartos has generally been seen as a beacon of hope for KRAFTWERK enthusiasts, what with ‘Der Katalog 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8’ 3D shows and the like offering no new material.

What fascinated him about the possibilities of electronic music was the creation of a closed system, to be able to disregard tradition, to offer different forms of expression on the basis of unique characteristics, to be able to compose and record while alone and to bring all manners of culture into pop.

With words of wisdom towards the end of his autobiography, Bartos surmises: “A society’s history is absolutely necessary for its orientation. After all, we can only tell who we are if we know where we come from. And that’s why the past should always be present at least in our minds”.

Dress code: red shirt, black tie, you’re history…

‘The Sound Of The Machine’ is published by Ominbus Press

http://www.karlbartos.com/

https://www.facebook.com/OriginalBartos

https://open.spotify.com/artist/5tJ5CFnO4JQmLXaarEyHKt

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Markus Wustmann
31st July 2022

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