My introduction to Kraftwerk came in 1984 via a cassette with "Computer World" recorded on one side and "The Man Machine" on the other. I think the tape originally belonged to my younger brother, but through a quirk of fate it was I who came to listen to it on my Ferguson personal cassette player.
There was something about the music on that TDK D-C60 that enchanted me and I found myself listening to it repeatedly. Whilst I had taken an interest in pop music a few years earlier, the music on this tape was different to what I heard on Top of the Pops. This music was special.
The person who copied the tape for my brother obviously didn't have access to the original sleeves so he had guessed at the song titles based on the lyrics he heard. Until I purchased a CD of "The Man Machine" in the late eighties, I thought "Space Lab" was called "Spaceman" and "The Robots" was titled "We are the Robots". Today my vinyl collection extends to three English language versions: an original UK pressing, the 2009 remaster and the "3-D" box set version, along with the German red vinyl from 2020.
The classic filtered bassline and rasping vocoder of "The Robots" is a shining example of an electronic track that is both original and catchy. This track was far removed from the abstract, improvised nonsense that passed for electronic music in the past; this was pop with a robotic heart. This was the birth of techno-pop. The year was 1978.
Whilst Kraftwerk had seemingly perfected this new genre, the British public didn't really seem to accept it until "The Model" hit number one in the singles charts in 1981. Whilst "The Model" undoubtedly has a wide appeal, "Neon Lights" is probably the best track on the album for me. Having said that, my star ratings in my digital player indicate I like all of these songs equally.
The German language version has some vocal differences (especially on "The Model") and the vocoder on "Die Mensch-Maschine" sounds positively out of tune to me. Some people seem to prefer the 2009 remaster but I always go back to the original. The "3-D" version features sympathetic mixes but the version of "Neon Lights" is disappointingly short. Still, when the source material is this good, it's not really possible to mess things up too badly. 5/5
