Kraftwerk's Promo Videos 1976-1999

Part 1, 1977-1978

Radio-Activity (1976)

This video shows the classic Hütter/Schneider/Bartos/Flür Kraftwerk line-up in the familiar '70s image of smart suit and tie, short hair, as documented by the shot of the band on one side of the 'Radio-Activity' inner sleeve. The image that prompted one memorable line that springs to mind, courtesy of an American journalist, to describe them as being 'so straight, they're weird'. Many Kraftwerk promo video's are hard to come by in decent quality and this one is no exception.

The complete video actually starts off with part of 'Geiger Counter'. The opening shot is of the yellow and red universal radiation symbol, followed by the word 'Kraftwerk' animated in a way that suggests rays emiting from it. A Kraftwerkers hands sheathed in silver metallic gloves bisects a beam of light in synch with the beat of 'Geiger Counter', before the start of 'Radio-Activity' itself is hearalded with a still of the band themselves - the one from the LPs inner sleeve. This is followed by a shot of a ticker tape machine printing out the dots and dashes of the morse signal, which can be heard in the music.

The main section of the video tends to dwell on a close up of Ralf Hütter's head in profile singing into an old fashioned microphone along with a Kraftwerker's fingers picking out the melody of the song on a keyboard. The band themselves are pictured too in one section, in a set where they are playing their instruments of the period. In the centre are Karl and Wolfgang, both playing electronic percussion while they are flanked on either side by Ralf and Florian, both in front of keyboards. At floor level, behind all the group members are the array of coloured strip lights that the band continue to use in their stage set even into the '90s. There are also close-ups of the electronic percussion pad units. Later, there is a section where we see a Kraftwerkers silver-gloved hands (presumably either Wolfgang or Karl) breaking a light beam once again while another hand operates an old fashioned morse key/telegraph handset too. The video closes with a shot of an old fashioned radio set, as per the LP cover.

Antenna (1976)

This video is from the same session as 'Radio-Activity'. Once again we have the band performing the song on their instruments. Karl and Wolfgang handle the electronic percussion duties, playing what has been jokingly described in the past as 'tea trays with knitting needles'. Yes, this video does give a glimpse of Kraftwerk's mode of electronic percussion from this time. The main focus rests on Ralf and Florian, both singing the words and highlighted with face-on head and shoulder shots. Intercut throughout the video are some additional images; a static photo of a large radio telescope, close-ups of an oscilloscope screen and also an animated rendition of the 'radio mast' graphic that appears on the 'Radio-Activity' albums original inner sleeve. The radio waves beam out into the ether...

Copies of this video have been on sale as part of a video compilation from a Spanish record shop, so the quality of the copies in circulation tend to be good.

It must be noted though thatmany of the early Kraftwerk videos are now rather dated by comparison with the more sophisticated techniques of modern day promo videos and both this and 'Antenna' are fairly basic promos.

Trans-Europe Express/Trans-Europa Express (1977)

A real classic, Kraftwerk dress up in chic style and lipstick and come over all '40s film noir, the video shot in black and white. Bet Ultravox (circa1981) had seen this one!

If you have seen the picture cover for the UK 12" of 'Showroom Dummies' from 1977 (Capitol 12CLX104) you will have seen stills used in the video. The four members are seen on a train, in a private compartment, enjoying the journey, sharing a joke; Wolfgang smokes, Karl reads from the 'Düsseldorfer Nachrichten' newspaper. The band are also seen in several still photos at Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof in the same clothing. The remaining portions of the video can be divided into sections of archive footage of a futuristic looking train, journeys filmed from the front of a train, showing the railtracks and specially filmed model footage.

The archive footage hails from '30s Germany, a favourite with Kraftwerk undoubtedly. This focuses primarily on a futuristic train of the period, mid-'30s, the 'Schienenzeppelin', a record breaking speed train. Look closely (also on the model footage) and you will notice that the train actually has a propeller to its rear and it was this feature in particular that caused problems for the local bird population and ultimately the train itself! Much of this archive footage continues to be used in the bands most recent live shows, though there is also footage of less futuristic, more contemporary trains and track shots of the period now added.

The other footage to be found in the original promo features a miniaturised model of the train travelling through a variety of settings; for instance when the lyrics correspond to arriving in Düsseldorf the surroundings are in a mock industrial form, like some form of refinery or suchlike(?). Earlier, the model train travels through a model reconstruction of city skyscrapers. One of these buildings looks to be the Chrysler building, from New York, which seems odd for a 'trans-europe express'; perhaps the model skyscrapers were borrowed from elsewhere instead of being specially made for this clip? Other footage of the model shows it travelling through a metal bridge and a mock forest location (rather unconvincing this one) before finally disappearing up a tube/tunnel at the end. The model of this train was actually available commercially for some years in Germany, apparently.

Finally, there is also some still images that correspond to some of the lyrics; we see an image of David Bowie and Iggy Pop, shots of landmarks in Paris and Vienna and also Kraftwerk standing outside a (presumably 'late night'!) cafe, with Ralf subsequently sipping from a cupful of coffee!

This video has been aired every once in a while, so tends to be available in better shape than some others. Has been seen on MTV (Europe) during the late night 'Chill Out Zone' and even popped up on one of VH-1's '10 Of The Best' and 'The Vinyl Years' series.

Showroom Dummies (1977)

Here we see Kraftwerk doing what they so often talk of in interviews, dancing! Hailing from 1977, the footage is a mix of Kraftwerk posing as showroom dummies and real showroom mannequins posing as... Kraftwerk! Yes, set up behind the bands instruments, these bald headed mannequins do their stuff. Kraftwerk are a little less convincing in being mannequins! And yes, they do 'break the glass' but don't 'take a walk through the city'; they do indeed 'go into a club and there we start to dance'. Not a long sequence, but, yes, Kraftwerk are in evidence shaking their thang, so to speak. The bands familiar banks of strip lights are in place once again for this sequence, as with the 'Radio-Activity' and 'Antenna' videos. Several shots of the mannequins behind the instruments have appeared on some record and tape covers, most recently the US 'The Model' compilation CD, so you'll get an idea what to expect from there. Again, quality can be dodgy as this hasn't had much outings for some time now. Don't MTV have access to this stuff at all ?!

• Introduction
• Part 1, 1976-1977: Radio-Activity, Antenna, Trans-Europe Express, Showroom Dummies
• Part 2, 1978-1984: The Robots, Neon Licht, Pocket Calculator, The Model, Tour De France
• Part 3, 1986-1999: Musique Non Stop, The Telephone Call, The Robots (1991), Radioactivity (1991), Sellafield 2, Tribal, Expo 2000, Miscellaneous