Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
The Robots (1978)
I've always been a big fan of guitar music, but that doesn't mean I shun electronic sounds. I won't claim to be super well-versed in it, but I definitely have my favorites. There's no denying the massive influence of Kraftwerk.
Formed in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1970 by Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider, the group was lumped into the Krautrock movement at first. Their sound on the band's first two instrumental albums was experimental art rock made with traditional instruments like guitar, bass, drums, organ and flute, albeit the sound was manipulated in post-production. Kraftwerk's third album in 1973 featured the use of synthesizers and drum machines, as well as vocoder, which would define their sound going forward.
Kraftwerk broke through internationally with the 1974 album Autobahn, when a 3-minute single edit of the 22-minute title track became an unlikely hit. A Chicago station started playing it and it caught on nationwide, pushing the album all the way to #5 on the Billboard album chart.
Two more albums helped cement Kraftwerk's standing as a premier electronic act, but it was 1978's The Man-Machine that set the standard for electronic music going forward and influenced countless new wave and synth-pop artists. It only got to #130 on the Billboard 200 chart, but its lasting impact is legendary. The band takes a satirical look at man's relationship with machines and the German obsession with manufacturing, while introducing more danceable sounds.
Most notable from the album is "The Robots," which looks at robots and their role as workers for humans. It starts with lines in Russian that translate to "I am your servant/I am your worker," with the main verses sung through a vocoder.
"We're charging our battery/And now we're full of energy/We are the robots/We are the robots/We are the robots/We are the robots."
Other couplets include "We are programmed just to do/Anything you want us to" and "We're functioning automatic/And we are dancing mechanic."
The song has become synonymous with the band, and in concert the band has had legless robot torsos suspended in the air as the song is performed. The band members are revealed to have transformed into robots.
"The Robots" hit #39 on the U.S. Dance Club Songs Chart and #20 on the U.K. Singles chart. A re-recorded version was released in 1991 on the band's 10th album The Mix. The group has only released one more album since then, but it has continued to tour.
Kraftwerk's influence has been felt on a variety of genres, including synth pop, hip hop, post punk, dance, techno and club music. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.
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