The Stylophone

In 1981, Kraftwerk used the Stylophone to perform the track "Pocket Calculator". The Stylophone is a simple, battery operated instrument - you play it by touching it's metal keyboard with a stylus, thereby closing a circuit and generating sound. The device, marketed as a 'pocket electronic organ', was created already in 1967 by Dübrec, a british company. Dübrec closed down in the early eighties. By then, around 3 million Stylophones had been sold, mostly through toy stores.

The inventor of the Stylophone was Brian Jarvis, and his colleagues in Dübreq were Burt Coleman (managing director), and Ted Coleman (brother to Burt; artwork and finances). Dübreq got it's name from their original line of business, to dub and record movie sound tracks. I assume the umlauts and the "q" were added to create a certain "continental Europe" mystique.



The company employed australian musician/artist/comedian/childrens entertainer Rolf Harris (go here to see his Stylophone orchestra) to promote the invention. This rather funny quote from the now defunct "Stylophone Collectors Website" serves well the purpose of explaining his impact:

It almost seemed too good that such a person was around at the time the Stylophone was conceived, just imagine how it would have faired if Dübreq asked the Manic Street Preachers to promote the Stylophone, or maybe Nirvana, or even The Spice Girls. No one today has the sort of universal appeal that could sell millions of Stylophones to the kids of the world.

Since october 2007, the Stylophone is once again manufactured and available for purchase. The current product is a slightly updated version of the original, basic model. In addition to the On/Off, Vibrato and Pitch controls, the new version features three different sounds (instead of one), a volume control, and an mp3 input, that allows you the pleasure of playing along with your favorite songs.

I actually bought one last week for about £15, and it is quite enjoyable. Here it is! Look at it shine there, above my brothers rather murky carpeting.



While on the subject, you need to take a look at this video recording of Kraftwerk playing "Pocket Calculator" live in 1981. Check out the Stylophone action! Karl Bartos, the second person from the left, is handling it like there's no tomorrow. Also, don't miss Florian Schneider's vowel face action towards the end.


Related: Kraftwerks future live setup.

Fat Bankroll-boken

Sorry, this one has to be in Swedish only. But scroll down for some text in english and an exclusive mp3 mix.



Kollegorna på det gamla nätfanzinet Fat Bankroll, www.fatbankroll.nu, har till slut lyckats avsluta evighetsprojektet att samla ihop de bästa artiklarna i bokform. Det blev en 452 sidor tjock bok, "Fat Bankroll - Arkiv 2000-2005", som nu säljs via Vulkan.se. Läs mer och beställ här.

Den tjocka, fina, vita boken innehåller bland annat ett handritat flödesschema över Kraftwerks medlemmar genom åren, en intervju med den japanske Kraftwerk-covermakaren Houten 3, samt relaterade konsertrecensioner från Paris 2002 och Stockholm 2004. Dessutom intervjuer! Grill-recept! Richie Blackmore i Japan! Beastie Boys! Satanist-techno! Ståålfågel! MF Doom! En punk-karta! Atom Heart! Dr Pepper! Lego! Norbergfestival-yra! Fennesz! Soundclash-spelet! Träd, gräs och stenar! Nittiotals-wrestling! Danska snacks! Andreas Tilliander! Tiki-kultur!

Det är naturligtvis precis hur bra och precis hur mycket som helst. Köp!

--

And as a bonus, here's a mix ("Gubbsynt - återkomsten") that was done exclusively for Fat Bankroll back in 2004 - a feeble attempt to find some way to use all the techno versions and remixes that suddenly were released by all of the electronic has-beens.



Tracklist:

1. The Human League - Overkill Disaster Crash (V.1)
2. Laibach - Tanz Mit Laibach (Johannes Heil "Crucified" Remix)
3. Nitzer Ebb - Let Your Body Learn (Terence Fixmer Remix)
4. Throbbing Gristle - United (Two Lone Swordsmen remix - Vocal Version)
5. DAF - Der Sheriff
6. Kraftwerk - Aéro Dynamik (Alex Gopher/Etienne De Crecy Dynamik Mix)
7. Nitzer Ebb - Control I'm Here (The Hacker Remix)
8. Suicide - Death Machine
9. Suicide - Dachau, Disney, Disco

Die Hitlers

This is a picture of the band Die Hitlers (The Hitlers). It was taken in Düsseldorf, at the Ratinger Hof, in 1980. It appears that the members of Die Hitlers were Markus Oehlen (drums?, also from Deutschland Terzett, Flying Klassenfeind, Mittagspause), Thomas Schwebel (guitar? also in S.Y.P.H, Fehlfarben and Mittagspause), Franz Bielmeier (guitar?, Mittagspause), Peter Hein (Fehlfarben), Jürgen Engler (Male, Die Krupps) and Xao Seffcheque.

But that is about everything I have managed to figure out so far. Good name, though. And I like the Beagle Boy look.

On my wishlist: Guter Abzug

Released in 1982 by the No Time gallery, the Guter Abzug box documents the underground scene around the turn of the decade (70->80, that is). It's a good looking, yellow box containing one large poster, two postcards, one flexidisc recorded by Xao Seffcheque and Die Krupps front man Jürgen Engler, and, most interesting, 102 photographs, capturing the Ratinger Hof scene of the time; the people, the mood, and the artists.

These are just a few pictures from the box, that I have borrowed from Punk Sei Dank, here. Click for larger versions.

Xao Seffcheque:



Der Plan + Moritz Rrr, Robert Görl, Pyrolator, Boyd Rice:



Pyrolator:



Sprung aus den wolken:



DAF:



Holger Hiller:



Liaisons Dangereuses:



Die Krupps:

Business, Numbers, Money, People, and Elin Lanto

While most of this crap song is stolen from Madonna (the song, the video), there's at least one rather obvious Kraftwerk idea incorporated - a few of the Speak & Spell spoken words are exactly the same.

Elin Lanto - "Speak 'N Spell":



Kraftwerk - "Computer World":

Club Lido, Venice, October 1978

Take a look at this! This is Kraftwerk the way I always wanted them - not a single unnecessary body movement, playback all the way, and with the robots on first row.



If you read Wolfgang Flür´s "I Am a Robot", you might have noticed this Italian TV performance being mentioned as something a bit out of the ordinary, as it was broadcasted live over parts of eastern Europe. And that Julio Inglesias was upset because someone had accidentally given his dressing room to Kraftwerk.

The songs that Kraftwerk stopped

We have written abour Audio Objekt's swedish Kraftwerk covers before. See here, here, here, here and here (ok, no, only thrice). But now, maybe, the story is over. This email popped in just a few minutes ago:

Swedish synth duo Audio Objekt’s cover of Kraftwerk’s ”Computer World” has been
stopped by Kraftwerk’s publishing representative in Germany.

The Publisher, Sony ATV, gives no specific reason why they force Audio Objekt to
withdraw the CD single immidiately and for all future. Sony had studied Audio Objekt’s Swedish translation before announcing their decision.

Not only is the CD single stopped from all distribution, also the digital distributor had
to stop all sales of Audio Objekt. All audio files on www.audioobjekt.com, on Audio Objekt’s myspace, on Audio Objekt’s youtube-site, the facebook account, has ben taken out as the song is now forbidden. The CD single also included the song ”Modellen”, a Swedish translation of ”Das Model”.

Audio Objekt is very sad about Sony ATV’s decision, but they have removed all sound files as requested.

Over the last couple of weeks we have been asked if there is any way to get the songs in spite of the decision from Sony. The answer is that while Audio Objekt cannot provide them anylonger, anyone with moderate skills on using the internet’s search engines would probably easily trace Audio Objekt’s music.

Finally Audio Objekt wishes to point out the fact that these songs was made with the deepest respect for Kraftwerk’s music and it was made by two of Kraftwerks most dedicated fans.

Objektivität Schallplatten, Lund-Stockholm, Sweden.

WEBSITE: http://www.audioobjekt.com/