Woebot
Well-known member
Came across the "Ruckzack" Bootleg of Kraftwerks.
Turns out it's essentially a Neu! record.
Here's Julian Cope on it:
"Neu! was born in a royal shitstorm, live on German TV, on a bizarre night in August 1971. And in true keeping with their convoluted history soon to come, that incredible performance on Beatclub, including the delicate and chillingly beautiful snatches of their forthcoming classics "Im Gluck" and "Weissensee", was not even played under the nbanner of Neu!, but of Kraftwerk. That truly incredible Klang they called "Truckstop Gondolero" was played by a Neu! phoenix rising out of a Kraftwerk funeral pyre."
He goes on:
"Temporarily reduced to a duo, Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider asked Michael Rother (pronounced 'rota') to play guitar and Klaus Dinger to drum for them. Rother and Dinger were good friends and extremeley confident musicians, and they very quickly carved a path out within Kraftwerk tat was at once Impressionist and Meditational at the smae moment, expressionist and Ur-punk the next - taking the sound in a direction that neither Ralf or Florian had intended. But their live TV appearance was already booked, and a frantic Ralf Hutter freaked out and left the group. "Kraftwerk without Ralf" played Beatclub amidst huge orange German traffic cones, though it would be more correct to call the group "Neu! with Florian".
Except Florian is almost completely drowned out. This is a great great bootleg. "Truckstop Gondelero" is fabulous, but the 22 minute-long version of "Ruckzack" Rother with those crisp violently harsh licks and Dinger in fine fettle is astonishing. Even if the truly appalling quality of the recording slightly marrs the memento.
