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Kraftwerk has at one point or another not had each of its core members. The only original member now is Hütter, but he left the band briefly in the early 70s (when they were still doing psychedelic rock) so nobody has been in the band continuously. And even though they typically have 4 members, a total of 21 musicians has rotated through the group.
Idk if that quite counts, but it's close at least.
They did sing "wir sind die Roboter", and robots are replaceable, so I guess it's an appropriate band history. But, the output has still declined...
While Hütter was absent (to study architecture), Kraftwerk's lineup was basically Neu with Florian Schneider. There are a couple bootleg recordings of this lineup: ‘Ruck Zuck’ and ‘K4’, offering some Kraftwerk tunes being played by Neu.
Upon his return, Hütter promptly kicked out Rother and Dinger, and they formed Neu proper.
TBF, though, Kraftwerk is pretty much Ralf und Florian (hue hue) — starting way back with their proto-krautrock band Organisation.
I’d say Kraftwerk was Ralf und Florian initially, but I’d suggest Karl became an essential member from The Man Machine onwards.
Ralf and Florian weren’t ones to give any credit unless credit is due, and Karl’s name is all over many of their best songs and composed many of their most famous melodies.
I find Kraftwerk post-Karl way too sterile and Karl post-Kraftwerk too unrefined. I think Ralf and Karl really complemented each other in terms of composition and production.
That makes sense, I suppose the bootleg song Heavy Metal Kids was also from that proto-Neu period? Because as great as it is it's such a different aesthetic...
Btw what are your thoughts on early Kraftwerk/Organisation in general? Do you enjoy those albums? I found them wildly varying in quality, ranging from incredible to unlistenable...
Yeah, ‘Heavy Metal Kids’ was on ‘K4’, which is a recording from a Radio Bremen concert (with pretty good quality). The track names there are unofficial, afaik. Some of them could be variations on properly released tracks or those recorded on other bootlegs.
Frankly I myself amn't a fan of some early Hütter-led experiments, like the incredibly drawn out ‘Ruck Zuck’, which sounds interesting a couple times and is kinda meh after that. This particular track was reinterpreted by the different lineups, and Organisation's version is groovy, while Neu-Schneider's one is more hypnotic and at the same time raw in comparison.
It's very obvious that Kraftwerk were still looking for their proper sound back then. I'm due for a relisten of the first albums, but also am in no hurry to do that, as I never could find anything quite catching the ear. At the same time, completely dismissing them like Kraftwerk did is imo unwarranted, it's a document of the era. Also Dinger was bringing some energy to the music that they couldn't properly realize until Hütter was gone.