[i]BERLIN - Florian Schneider, a co-founder of Kraftwerk, the German band that built the foundation for electro-pop and scored a chart-topping global hit with “Autobahn” in 1974, has left the group, its label said Tuesday.
News of the departure was first reported on the website Kraftwerk in November but gained prominence when the Kraftwerk Official Fan website posted a short statement on Monday.
“Florian Schneider leaves Kraftwerk after a 40 years (sic) partnership with Ralf Huetter,” the statement said, adding that the partnership between the pair generated “incredible music and huge advances in music technology.”
In an email to The Associated Press, EMI Germany confirmed the move but did not elaborate.
Despite Schneider’s exit, Kraftwerk is planning a 10-stop tour this year, with appearances in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Germany in March and April.
Schneider co-founded the band with Ralf Huetter in 1970 after the two met while studying in Duesseldorf a couple years earlier.
Since then, Kraftwerk has released 12 albums, including “Autobahn,” “Radio-Activity” and “The Man Machine.” [/i]
I knew something was going on! I saw Kraftwerk last September and Schneider (for me the ubiquitous face of Kraftwerk, if there ever could be one) was absent, to my dislike as he has a funny head. They had some young buck replace him and as far as I could detect a number of little mishaps throughout the gig were the fault of this whippersnapper.
A pity I suppose, I’d rather have the band fold (like what should have happened to a certain band about 5 years ago) as Schneider was there from the start, but hey, the Germans are a funny bunch. (No offence to any Germans here, some of your women are very sexy and I love Berlin.)
as much as that sucks, i can’t say i’m surprised. it’s not like they have been making new tracks or anything, and yeah, when i saw them last year, there was only 1 original member in the line up. if you go to see them (i would see them again, no doubt) the music that they “play” won’t be affected by florian’s absence.
still, it sucks to see a bnd you like fall apart. let’s hope they don’t start releasing albums of kraft-slayer upon us.