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Paul from Waterloo suggested this one and I was impressed by his choice!
Kraftwerk – AutobahnPredating Depeche Mode by seven years, German band Kraftwerk were already recording music with mainly synthesizers and making a go of it. While they weren’t completely electronica style music with violins, flute. guitar and piano, this music was cuttin edge for the time.
This was the song that helped the band go worldwide.
The title track of the 1974 album, ‘Autobahn’, gives the feeling of driving across Europe on the Autobahn, a fast highway with several lanes.
Vocoded vocals along with natural voices, electric piano and moog among other instruments and state-of-the-art syths create this unique (for the time) sound that opened the door for many bands that followed, creating the “New Wave” sound of the late 70s and early 80s well before anyone else.
“Autobahn”, (German for Motorway) the album cut runs over twenty minutes and takes up all of Side 1. The radio edit that became a worldwide hitand peaked at #25 on the Hot 100, was trimmed down to a mere 3:28. However, I suggest checking out the full cut as well as the whole album.
