Kraftwerk: Ich War Ein Roboter

by Wolfgang Flür

German

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Autobiography, Biography

299 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought the Spacemen 3 biography was bad but this makes it look like high literature. I dislike the ‘so bad it’s good’ cliché but this really is so awful in it’s hilarious, exhaustive badness that it does almost come out the other side. The trashiness is so extreme that at times I had to stop and question whether the whole thing is a massive pisstake, but after much contemplation I have to conclude the author really does believe what he writes.

Massively bitter at what he feels is his unfair sidelining by Kraftwerk mainmen Florian Schneider and Ralf Hutter, the story is essentially an extended character assassination of his former employers. Some of his grievances probably are genuine, but he whines on about them at such length (the book is about 3 times as long as the average pop biog for no clear reason) that you lose all sympathy for him by about Chapter 5. He’s so desperate to convince readers of what awful people Schneider and Hutter are that he picks up on flimsy details like their obsessive love of cycling (!) and dislike of touring as evidence of their pure evil. He tries to support his case by dragging in other people who have fallen out with Kraftwerk (Conny Plank’s widow, Emil Schult who tellingly later falls out with the author and refuses to be quoted in the book) and pads out the material with extended chest-puffing about his own creative genius in his post-Kratfwerk project Yamo (no, me neither) who scaled the commercial heights of releasing one album that stiffed in the late-90s and collaborated with the singer from Pizzicato 5. Of course he’s pathetic enough to blame Yamo’s failure on a high-level conspiracy at record label EMI and proceeds to quote his own lyrics at length (imagine a 12 year old writing a meaningful poem about the dangers of environmental disaster and you’ll get an idea of the flavour).

Perhaps Flur’s greatest sin though is his dreary lumpen prose – after all, scathing indictments of former colleagues and self-aggrandisement have made for some highly entertaining memoirs, but his myriad complaints are related in such unimaginative repetitive fashion that it just makes the book incredibly boring. At times I thought maybe the translator had done him some kind of disservice as particular words turn up with almost perverse frequency – for example every hotel, chair, bed, sexual conquest, car, bar, airplane and dressing room is described as ‘comfortable’ or ‘uncomfortable’! A total car crash of a book.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frequently hilarious in the way that it lingers on the things you don't necessarily want to know (like the long passage when Wolfgang has just met Ralf and Florian with a view to being in the band, and Florian drives them from the pub to the studio, and Wolfgang describes the exact route, street by street, and admires Florian's smooth and careful driving). Wolfgang will give you a longer chapter on a woman he nearly had sex with in New York than on the making of any of the Kraftwerk albums. So don't go in expecting a conventional rock biography. But there's loads of those, aren't there? Not of Kraftwerk, admittedly.

Look out for:
-a juvenile Wolfie reaching a pleasurable pinnacle at the exact moment that Roger Daltrey stutters on The Who's 'My Generation', causing a mess on the upholstery that seems to symbolize, for Wolfie, his own generation's struggle against the prim Capitalism of older Germans.
-French customs being alarmed by finding the lifelike Kraftwerk robots in coffins while inspecting the tour van.

Quoting his own lyrics and good press is a bit needy and tedious, but I couldn't help but liking Wolfgang. He is cheeky and horny and silly. It is fun to imagine how different a Ralf or Florian tell-all would read.

[Matt Love · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I started this book, I thought I had met my new best friend! What a wonderful philosophy of life, what a wise man emerged from his experiences. However, the more time I spent with him, the less I liked this gentleman. He ultimately comes across as a rather spiteful, insecure man. His stories of sexual conquest, which he insists are just documentation come across as boasting as they accumulate (sex with a minor is nothing to boast about - it was apparently the fashion of the time, but it's coming back to bite the ass of many of these rock folks in their old age. His hostility towards his father is unpleasant and unbecoming, and he promises more than he delivers when he dishes on his ex-colleagues (or is that "employers" in Kraftwerk). He passes along some hearsay about how they supposedly took their sound and concept from Conny Planck - but it doesn't account for the wonderful music, which Uwe Schmidt (Señor Coconut) compared to Schubert Lieder. I have no doubt that Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider are not nice guys. It takes a fair bit of ruthlessness to get to the top of the heap in any field. It just seems that Wolfgang Flür can't let of of any slight, however slight. I know from personal experience good doesn't come from that. He's had his own thing going for some time now - he should keep focusing on that, its a better way to go.

[Blanka_S · Rating 3 out of 5]

You cannot expect Wolfgang to be objective in his autobiography. No one can ever write the objective truth about Kraftwerk.
The first part offers an interesting insight into the daily life of the group members and some of Wolfgang's anecdotes about his own misfortunes are absolutely hilarious. It is embellished with occasional hyperboles for the sake of the story and the style.
The second part, however, is bitter and extremely hard to digest for hardcore Kraftwerk fans.
None of us will ever know whether Wolfgang's accusations and insights are true. It is his version of the story, written probably as a therapy for coping with all the lawsuits and "broken dreams", if you allow me to be a bit sentimental.
If you like Wolfgang, read it. If you like Kraftwerk, you will like the first part.

I would like to see the whole Kraftwerk story from Karl's point of view, though.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting perspective from the inside on a band that has thrown up a famously opaque facade for the last 35 years. You can't help but sense that Flur has a serious axe to grind, especially with Ralf Hutter so as entertaining as some of his recollections are, I think that factually you have to take them with a grain of salt. I'm sure it also reads a little smoother in the original German. But all the caveats aside, it still makes a fascinating read, perhaps mostly to people who are already fans of Kraftwerk used to seeing the band from the outside in.

[Jonathan Coe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written account with lots of humor. Wolfgang Flur has a certain flair that feels like a friend chatting with the reader.

[Helen Marquis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a huge Kraftwerk fan, so was fascinated by this behind-the-machines look at the robot men from former drummer Wolfgang Flur. His departure from the band came amongst much rancour towards founders Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider, which in turn ended up with them suing him when this automaton-biography was first published.
As such, Flur's account of life inside the Man Machine is somewhat biased and he is a fairly unreliable narrator. The translations leave a little to be desired as well - his account of masturbating on his parents' sofa is one of the strangest things I've read in a long while!
There is a lot of excellent contextual history contained in this book, and some fascinating insights into the world inside the sacred Kling Klang Studios, but so much of this feels like either bitter recriminations or petty arguments, that it's hard to separate the facts from the friction.
Nevertheless, this remains a must-read for anyone interested in the history of the enigmatic German electro pioneers due to its controversial place in their history.

[Anastasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a Kraftwerk fan, I was most interested in reading about their music, and the (non existent) group dynamics. While it was a great insight to hear about the build-up to when Flür was accepted into the band, and the bits about their gear, studio and musicianship, I was less impressed by stories such as when the then 33-year old Wolfgang seduces a Hungarian minor. I for one enjoyed the philosophical musings which others seem to dislike, but to be honest, after 2/3 I was ready to give up the book because of the lack of music related stories. However, if you're a Kraftwerk fan, I would still recommend this book because of the snippets of highly interesting insights into the dysfynctional quartet.

[Hasse · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good but naive telling of a man coming to terms with life and art. Nice sections about the early days of Kraftwerk but ends rather bitter despite the words the author use.

[John Lyman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely thorough history of the key years of Kraftwerk coupled with the life story of the author. It was very enjoyable and well written, albeit with quite a few minor spelling and grammatical errors. Some intensely personal sexual quirks and a fantasy part based on anesthesia and its effects were lowlights. It's sad that Kraftwerk's founders, Ralf and Florian, were so self-centered and unwilling to compensate and recognize their bandmates and others when their outstanding success would seem to dictate doing so. The end seemed to get longer with each page I turned, and it seems that the author adds additional chapters with some regularity.

I was most surprised at the very last chapter when Flür described seeing a Kraftwerk concert in 2013. I saw them in 2022 at a similar "3D"' show. In my book, www.justafan.space, I wrote a chapter about that night. My comments were surprisingly similar to those of Flür, pretty hilarious to me.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

The style of writing was very odd, kind of amateurish, and a little full of itself, but it was an interesting look at the history of kraftwerk and many interesting anecdotes about Wolfgang’s time with the band during the time that kraftwerk made pretty much all of their music.
I had no idea about the breakup and animosity and lawsuits that all went down.
It was sad, with a touch of bitterness, which is understandable because Ralf and Florian do come off as huge jerks who jealously guarded “their” band and refused to budge or bend to the point they ossified and atrophied and seemed to lose interest in making music anymore.

[Steven Pilling · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me this was a no brainer to read .

I love Kraftwerk and as information about the band is hard to find especially from the band and those close to the band it had to be read.

Its surprising the image of the band does not prepare you for the fact that the band especially at the beginning of the band are normal young men .

At times the language is clunky and sometimes the book loses its way but when it lands it is dynamite , if you like music read it if you are not a music fan it may be uninteresting .

[Ray Daley · Rating 4 out of 5]

So after reading this book, what can I tell you about Kraftwerk that I didn't know before?

Ralf & Florian are complete cunts who think the band revolves around them alone, they stole intellectual property from Wolfgang by patenting the drumpad he invented in the US under their name then Ralf made things worse by having Karl & Wolfgang's names removed from re-issues of old Kraftwerk albums (that's illegal, by the way Ralf you total wanker!).

Excellent book, jumps around the band's timeline a bit but an excellent read if you like music biogs.

[Pedro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Herr Flur's account of his time in KW was certainly insightful. It makes me less warm to the outfit's core and current members, but I appreciate the bias. Flur manages to outline the rise of KW, their tours and studio time, and later again - the acrimony. I learned a lot but at times I felt this edition was a review/critique of his own writing, which is really/usually the reader's task. However, his simple narrative style humanises his cult status. I have deferred tickets - in a small venue - to see him live and hope I can thank him for his contribution to history.

[Roberto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aa Kraftwerk fan, of course it was a no-brainer must read. I love the book because it gives an insight of the not so known but suspected coldness Ralf and Florian treated their bandmates. Even I listen to Kraftwerk albums, now this parts of their history resonates into me. Would I recommend this book? I guess it is only for music nerds or hardcore Kraftwerk fans.

[Jonas Paro · Rating 3 out of 5]

De två medlemmarna som styrde Kraftwerk med järnhand verkar inte ha varit de bästa arbetsgivarna för kreativa personer som vill ha lite konstnärlig frihet i sina liv.

Avslöjande och givande, och bitterheten kan man förstå. Lite väl många amorösa eskapader men de ger samtidigt mänskligt liv åt roboten.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting insight into the life of original member of the pioneering German electronic / synth rock band Kraftwerk. A good read for all music fans of this type of music. Translated from the German text but very readable.

[Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining book :-)

[MBL · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don’t bother reading

[Jonny Brick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bonkers, immersive, with a lot for science geeks as well as music nerds.

[K D · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn’t make it past the first twenty pages.

[Damian Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent book an interesting insight into a very private band

[Rijk]

DNF, tweede deel is niet doorheen te komen.

[Shan Perefixe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very stiff. And goes off on a tangent every few pages. Odd text. It says it was written in German. But it feels as if the ENG version was also written in GER. Or by google translate. Or a child. Or someone so enamoured with German word order that it was felt it would be better left thus.

Makes it a little uncomfortable to read at times. But yes great info on one of the most original bands of the last 60 years; if not THE MOST original. It seems he Wolfgang had many misgivings about the 2 leaders of the band and much of the narrative here will articulate around those feelings

I have not yet read the entire bio so will return if more need be added; but it is so far a clumsy but interesting read ...


As you get past ¾ of the text W has now left Kraftwerk but let us get this right 99% of people who bought this book are interested in KW that is why they bought the book; they did not buy it for Wolfgang or Yamo which i have now listened too and was exceedingly underwhelmed by .... so the interest of this reader waned enormously .... Wolfgang and Karl were always second fiddles Karl is credited with some songwriting later but not W so far as i can tell .... these great tunes were written by Ralf & Florian; that is the crux here


I do believe R&F really did not regard the other 2 as crucial they really to them were Musikarbeiter which could be replaced .... so to me there is a blatant ego issue here and misplaced pride and arrogance in the writer .... he was a bit player seems to be the truth here

Whichever way this read has damaged my relationship with the oeuvre and for that reason only i am loathe to recommend the read although it may be the best opus Wolfgang came up with anyway you decide

[John Plowright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four years after it was a track on ‘The Man-Machine’ in 1978, Krafterwk’s ‘The Model’ reached No 1 in the UK singles chart. This delay occurred because Kraftwerk were ahead of their time, and the rest of the world, in the form of groups like Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, the Human League, and Depeche Mode, trailed in their wake. Even Bowie, so often himself the musical trendsetter, acknowledged their seminal influence by labelling one of the tracks on his 1977 ‘Heroes’ album ‘V-2 Schneider’ – in tribute to Florian Schneider who, along with Ralf Hütter, co-founded Kraftwerk in 1970.

No one can deny Kraftwerk’s importance. Not only did they take electronic experimentation into the mainstream, but due in large part to Afrika Bambaata and the Soulsonic Force using the melody from ‘Trans- Europe Express’ and a beat based on ‘Numbers’ to produce ‘Planet Rock’ in 1982, they are also widely credited with being the progenitors of hip-hop.

House, techno, hip-hop, trip-hop, synthpop, trance and electroclash are all indebted to Kraftwerk, so Dr Uwe Schutte can at least plausibly claim that whilst, "The Beatles influenced Western society more than Kraftwerk … Kraftwerk … influenced the development of popular music more than the Beatles.”

Kraftwerk’s most creative and influential period dates from between 1974 and 1981 when they released the albums ‘Autobahn’ (1974), ‘Radio-Activity’ (1975), ‘Trans-Europe Express’ (1977), ‘The Man-Machine’ (1978) and ‘Computerworld’ (1981). During these years - indeed from 1973 to 1986 - the group’s percussionist (and sometime keyboard player) was Wolfgang Flür, so to have his autobiography is to have a potentially very valuable document.

In fact, the first edition of this book appeared in 2000 and would have been published even sooner had Hütter and Schneider not filed a lawsuit against Flür which was only resolved after some disputed parts of the text were amended. Nevertheless, when ‘The Observer’ listed its 10 best music memoirs in 2010, ‘I Was A Robot’ weighed in at Number 8. There have been many heavyweight contenders published since then, from the likes of Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, Ray Davies, Patti Smith, Chrissie Hynde, Carly Simon, Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello but even if Flür was edged out of the top ten, which is by no means assured, it would not be by far.

After all, his book offers an insider’s account which is honest to the point of indiscretion (anyone for threesomes?), which is drolly but possibly unintentionally humorous (“I was impressed from the start by Ralf’s cautious driving”), which sheds light on the music and is a life with plenty of interest both before and after Kraftwerk. Having said that, the fact that Kraftwerk’s image is so robotic means that there’s an especial pleasure in the revelation of their feet of clay.

For some the bad blood at the time of Flür’s departure from Kraftwerk, which clearly received a fresh transfusion as a result of subsequent litigation, may colour too much of the book, skewing the narrative and giving it a bitter tang. For others it will be precisely what gives the book zest.

In his Prologue Flür wishes his reader “much pleasure with this book” and there is certainly much pleasure to be had.

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

Several times in the book the author has the gall to tell us that he's learnt to tell his story; not on this evidence he hasn't. A decent editor would crop a hundred pages out of this with no real effort involved, and no hardship to the book. Certainly the adverts for the one-flop-album Yamu stage of his career can go, as they're painful to read (and re-read, and re-read, as he often won't shut up about it). But what I was really here for was the life story of an ex-Kraftwerk member, and his reflections on that. And I got them in spades – with the addition of a heck of a lot more sperm and sex than I thought to expect.

You don't get a straightforward diary of his time with the band – the book is more concerned with the fall-out of the albums and the touring thereof rather than their creation (The ''Radioactivity'' album is written in about three lines). And of course you get a lot about the fact the remaining two members of KW once Wolfie and Karl had left tried to suppress the book – although from my reading of this only the barest few final pages are new, and a lot managed to get in the English translation that didn't make the original, redacted German volume.

And that will remain an issue, with the book being self-referential, and discussing the problems it made just as much as those Ralf and Florian (OK, Ralf) ever caused. Yes, the book offers implied reasons why none of the pre-''Autobahn'' albums have ever been re-released (because they stiffed Conny Plank, the producer). But Wolfie is also very snide, calling the current touring set-up Kraftwerk Mark III – er, mate, they were an acoustic-rock-hippy-shit band before you, so you joined for Mark II and have in one snide numeration belittled everyone that replaced you. Nice going. And while you're at it, try and combine your comment that sex needs a long connection before it happens with the girl that almost raped you in a Hollywood hotel shower, about which you never batted an eyelid in complaint. And that comment about still having hair is pathetic.

Don't get me wrong, this is an important document, and a great telling of how he saw his time in the band, where you can see the end coming due to his being paid a flat wage and no royalties from a mile off, even if the actual conclusion relies on push-bikes a lot more than the novitiate may have expected. But it's not a well written book at all, and really does need the red pencil dragged through it at times. Also, my netgalley had upwards of dozens of typos, which is rum for a text that's mostly twenty-ish years old; not only the usual printing errors, but dislocating both OMD and Ischia into the wrong parts of their respective countries.

[Nikk · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must for any Kraftwerk and electronic music fan. Straight from the horses mouth, this is Flur’s account of his life in the notoriously secretive band of ‘engineer musicians’. Wolfgang was the younger more working class member of Kraftwerk during their imperial phase and of course it is written from his perspective and rightfully so. You won’t get anything out of Ralf Hutter and Florian has sadly now died without passing comment, but his leaving did seem acrimonious unfortunately - the rotating lineup outside of Hutter are no doubt bound by legal confidentiality contracts. Karl Bartos is open about his experience but his personality is more stayed than Flurs and it seems he is bored by talking about Kraftwerk.

What comes out the boon is Flur really was passionate and excited about being part of Kraftwerk, the music the experimentation, the tours and the experience of being in such an enigmatic group clearly filled him with joy. During the first four ground breaking releases the band were totally unique and literally did things entirely as they chose, even the record label happy to leave them alone in Kling Klang studios. Which is why his frustrations when things slowed are entirely understandable and his bitterness in how he was treated by his worker-comrades, you can see how years of producing nothing drove him bonkers!

The pace of technology seemed to slow Kraftwerk, being faced with an almost unlimited choice instead of working on creative solutions of the limits of the tech of the early years. Spending years updating kling klang studios to digital and of course the endless cycling instead of production when he was in his prime would drive anyone barmy - and we are talking years and years not months! Bartos was the first to leave tired of doing nothing and when they did it would be years on a high-hat only to be thrown out. The perfectionism that had served them so well was now becoming a distraction. Tensions frayed, Hutter had a bad cycling accident and the ‘electronic cafe’ album took nearly a decade - Hutter making some last minute changes, including taking it to New York producer François Kevorkian to mix and coming back with a name change. On release this album didn’t land as well as the others, perhaps the future catching up with Kraftwerk? But it rightly is now seen as a masterful album.

Flur has had a fascinating career post kraftwerk and continues working today, he is a fascinating funny and warm individual- his book reflects this.

[William Strasse · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first started reading this, I thought, "Oh yeah...Germans formulate sentences a little differently." My next thought was, "Maybe it will go a little quicker if I read it with a German accent." I've also been meaning to learn German for years, so I thought it might even help a little with my German pronunciation to start by prounouncing Enlgish like a German. The only problem was that it started to lapse into a "sexy" German accent. This turned out to be comically appropriate in parts...Herr Flur is a bit of a pervert. I mean this is in the best way, of course. The other funny part about it is that he mentions or reprints letters where people always mention that the book goes by almost too quickly anyway...and it does.

I've never been one of these rabid Kraftwerk fans. In fact, the first time I heard "Radioactivity" I really didn't appreciate it (over the years, it has come to be possibly my favorite of their albums.) I didn't have the experience of a lot of people where this is like the drawing back of the curtain in the Wizard Of Oz. Still, it is a very interesting and sometimes comical book. While I generally think it is bad form to write anything resembling a "tell-all" (and, lets face it, that is what this largely is), you don't really get the sense that Wolfgang necessarily bears a grudge...or any more of one than he deserves to. If even half of what he says about his former bandmates (or, to hear them tell it, employers) is true, then he has every right to bear a rather large grudge. Fortunately, he has moved on. I think the book is valuable in giving a first-hand account of how an artistic statement can turn into a cage. It is actually very depressing when you think about what the "creative" life of Ralf and Florian must amount to. Maybe they care, maybe they don't...but again, if half of what Wolfgang says is true (and he seems so interested in simply telling the story that I believe the majority of his "claims" are), then they did care very much when this book came out. Their attempts to stop the book (and even stop news organizations from talking about it) perhaps prove that best and might be the funniest part of the book.

[Rory Storm]

couldn't actually finish this, I'm sad to say. Got 2/3rds of the way through, and what had been an unintentionally hilarious tell-all sexual confessional/diatribe against former bandmates became.... embarrassing and tedious. Very hard to know where it's genuinely naive, and where he's overplaying the faux-naivety to, presumably, get you on-side, to come across like a big Labrador with fluffy ears and a slobber. He's just being friendly! and I think, perhaps, a little too friendly if you're a lady.

All the boring nerdy fanboy crap that I'd really like to know was sadly absent - Flur tries to put himself over as the techy builder of their fancy gear, but it's quickly apparently that he doesn't really know what he's talking about. Kraftwerk=one of my favourite bands - and it's better, in the end, not to know if they're wankers or not. It actually doesn't really matter, although I have to say that, of all the major bands in popular music history, they're probably the worst served in terms of supporting literature. Probably how they like it. Guess I'd prefer to think of them as icecold mid-European technocrats rather than boys who couldn't really keep it in their pants, which is how Flur would like to paint them. Shame he's so bitter, and from the sounds of things, perhaps with some justification, although it'd be pretty interesting to hear the other side of the story too....

[Vesa Puukka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kraftwerkin rumpalin Wolfgang Flürin omaelämäkerta on outo sekoitus perinteistä muusikkoelämäkertaa sekä mm. elämäkerran ensimmäisen painoksen vastaanoton kritiikkiä ja sen promootion kuvailua. Mukana on myös tekstejä, joista ei tiedä, ovatko ne fiktiota vai ei. Olisin halunnut pitää tästä enemmän mutta totuus on se, ettei herra Flürin tekemiset Kraftwerkin ulkopuolella ihan hirveästi kiinnosta, ainakaan niin yksityiskohtaisessa laajuudessa kuin tässä kirjassa on kuvattu. (En myöskään olisi halunnut lukea rumpalin seksiseikkailuista.) Bändin sisäisistä kiistoista, jotka johtivat ensin Flürin ja sittemmin myös Karl Bartosin eroon, annetaan tässä kyllä ihan kiinnostavaa tietoa, ja etenkin Ralf Hütterin toiminta näyttäytyy kieltämättä oudossa valossa.