Kraftwerk is to techno what Muddy Waters is to the Rolling Stones — the authentic origin

Writer Kodwo Eshun’s formulation captures Kraftwerk’s foundational role in techno. Juan Atkins acknowledged early enthusiasm for Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder; Derrick May described European synthesizer music as ‘just classy and clean, and to us it was beautiful, like outer space’ that ‘ignited our imagination’ against Detroit’s bleakness. May considered his music a direct continuation of the European synthesizer tradition. Kevin Saunderson was more attracted to the idea of self-sufficiency: ‘I was more infatuated with the idea that I can do this all myself.’ Yellow Magic Orchestra’s ‘Technopolis’ (1979) is cited as a further contribution, foreshadowing concepts Atkins and Davis explored with Cybotron.

Examples

Atkins carried a tape of ‘nothing but Kraftwerk, Telex, Devo, Giorgio Moroder and Gary Numan’ in his car around 1980. May’s description of European electronic music as ‘outer space’ beauty against Detroit’s physical ugliness explains the transplant of that aesthetic into a Black American urban context.

Assessment

Explain what specific qualities the Detroit producers admired in Kraftwerk, and how those qualities translated into the Detroit sound. Why is the ‘elevator’ metaphor (George Clinton + Kraftwerk) a compact description of Detroit techno?