53-457: Neu! is a German krautrock band. Neu or NEU may also refer to: Neu! Neu! ( pronounced [nɔʏ] ; German for "New!"; styled in block capitals) were a West German krautrock band formed in Düsseldorf in 1971 by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother following their departure from Kraftwerk . The group's albums were produced by Conny Plank , who has been regarded as
106-579: A "dangerous and daring and do-it-yourself " aesthetic that was later adopted by punk; Smith also commented that one of Donegan's combos "attracted a wild following: men so epicly drunk they'd wet themselves and – very proto-punk, this – their duffel-coats were accessorised with alarm clocks hung round necks." His 1957 British chart-topper " Cumberland Gap " has been referred to as "the first punk No. 1"; Tom Ewing of Freaky Trigger writes: "Lurching speed-freak skiffle played on Christ knows what which sounds nothing remotely like any previous chart-topper: if punk
159-579: A Dingerian collage of dialogue and sound effects from Germany's television commercials of that year. The work that took place in these sessions would later resurface as Neu! 4 in late 1995. Dinger and Rother did not work together during the 1990s, and indeed some degree of bitterness existed between them, not least because Dinger had released a couple of old substandard Neu! recordings on the Japanese Captain Trip label without Rother's knowledge or consent. In late 1995, this label released
212-554: A box set that included all of Neu!'s recordings including material that appeared on the Neu! 4 album (now officially released as Neu! '86 ). Neu! Vinyl Box was released in May 2010 and Neu! '86 followed as a standalone release later that year. The box set included some of the 'live' recordings from 1972 on a maxi single. In 2010 Rother teamed up with Steve Shelley (of Sonic Youth ) and Aaron Mullan (of Tall Firs ) for Hallogallo 2010,
265-432: A genre that was quickly labeled Krautrock by journalists and fans." AllMusic noted their penchant for "minimalist melodies and lock-groove rhythms." The band pioneered the "motorik" beat, a minimalist 4/4 beat often used by drummers associated with krautrock. It is characterised by a kick drum -heavy, pulsating groove, that created a forward-flowing feel. It was probably first used by the group on their debut album and
318-413: A live appearance on German television programme Beat Club . Recording sessions at Conny Plank 's Windrose studio were unsuccessful (Rother later attributed the failure to "a difference of temperament"). Dinger and Rother parted company from Schneider and began Neu! with Plank. Hütter rejoined Schneider and the pair continued recording the second Kraftwerk album with Plank. The band name NEU! ("new!")
371-656: A live project to present Neu! music and some new pieces. He has since toured sporadically with the German trio Camera, performing the work of Neu!, Harmonia and his own solo music, occasionally with Dieter Möbius of Cluster. Since 2014 he has toured with Hans Lampe and former Camera guitarist Franz Bargmann. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Neu! debut album, Rother played two concerts, Michael Rother & Friends: Celebrate 50 years NEU!. The first in Berlin, on 26 October 2022, and
424-490: A project that is unreleased to this date. On 25 May 2009, the new record label Feraltone released a compilation CD called Brand Neu! containing tracks by many modern artists who credit Neu! as an influence. Most notably, it featured a track from Michael Rother from the previous Neu! homage album ( A Homage to Neu! ) and a new track by La Duesseldorf.de, one of Klaus Dinger's final recordings before he died. The compilation features both new and established artists from all around
477-497: A second concert in London on 3 November 2022. Neu!'s rhythms and sparse atmospherics have been widely influential on genres such as electronica and punk . Their sound was described as "a droning, hypnotic style made up of Mr. Dinger’s simple, perpetual-motion rhythms and Mr. Rother’s fluid guitar effects" by The New York Times critic Ben Sisario. Sisario called their first three albums "landmarks of German experimental rock ,
530-486: A solo artist. His first three albums; Flammende Herzen (1977), Sterntaler (1978), and Katzenmusik (1979) were recorded with Neu! producer Conny Plank. Klaus Dinger, his brother Thomas and Hans Lampe formed La Düsseldorf , cited by David Bowie as "the soundtrack of the eighties". The band released three successful albums; La Düsseldorf (1976), Viva (1978) and Individuellos (1981). Between October 1985 and April 1986, Dinger and Rother tried to rekindle
583-503: A song called "Michael Rother" which appears on CD2 of the Deluxe edition of the album Jehovahkill . In 1974, Rother had already collaborated with German electronic duo Cluster , recording as Harmonia an album titled Musik Von Harmonia . In 1975, he recorded a second Harmonia album, Deluxe , and further sessions followed with Brian Eno, which were not released until 1997 as Tracks and Traces . In 1977, Rother started recording as
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#1732772495966636-703: Is a trend critics such as Lester Bangs have traced to as far back as Ritchie Valens ' 1958 version of the Mexican folk song " La Bamba ", which set in motion a wave of influential garage rock bands including the Kingsmen , the Kinks , the 13th Floor Elevators and the Sonics . By the late 1960s, Detroit bands the Stooges and MC5 had used the influence of these groups to form a distinct prototypical punk sound. In
689-467: Is anything, it might as well be that." Ellis writes: "Forerunners of punk by 20 years, Donegan and the thousands of other skiffle acts that sprang up after ' Rock Island Line ' wrested control from the establishment, democratizing the industry in the process." In his Book Protopunk: the Garage Bands , music journalist Lester Bangs traced the origins of punk to Ritchie Valens ' 1958 version of
742-581: Is the most diverse record available from the krautrock scene. While this can be seen as a positive point, the differences in musical direction (as well as personal issues) not only isolated the Dinger/Rother duo, it isolated their already small fan base. Neu! broke up after the release of Neu! '75 . Neu! are highly praised in Julian Cope 's Krautrocksampler , along with other krautrock artists such as Kraftwerk and Can , and Cope has also written
795-536: The Astralwerks label in the United States), packaged with stickers featuring rave reviews by notable artists, including Thom Yorke. Following the release of the first three albums, Dinger and Rother tried but failed to agree on a legal release of Neu! 4 . Rother called the failure of those negotiations "unfortunate". Rother has said that he and Dinger had been considering recording a fifth Neu! album, but
848-792: The BBC stated that "The roots of underground and experimental music, indie and alternative , punk, post-punk and art-punk all snake back to the four Velvet Underground studio albums". In Japan, the anti-establishment Zunō Keisatsu ( 頭脳警察 , lit. ' Brain Police ' ) , formed in 1969 and disbanded in 1975, mixed garage, psychedelic rock and folk; the band's first two albums were withdrawn from public sale after their lyrics were described in Mark Anderson's book The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Japanese Culture to violate industry regulations, with their "spirit... [being] taken up again by
901-603: The Electric Eels formed. The immediate predecessor to British punk was the early to mid–1970s pub rock scene, which was mostly based around London. Influenced by Detroit proto-punk, this style made use of stripped down, back to its basics, rock music similar to punk, and was fronted by groups including Dr. Feelgood , Tyla Gang , Eddie and the Hot Rods and Count Bishops . Many of the early British punk scene's musician began their careers in pub rock acts, including
954-481: The Legendary Pink Dots , Download , Autechre , Dead Voices on Air , Khan , System 7 , and James Plotkin , as well as an original track from Rother entitled "Neutronics 98 (A Tribute to Conny Plank)". Plank had died in 1987. For many years the acrimony and legal wrangling between Rother and Dinger prevented their reaching agreement over licensing arrangements to make Neu!'s music available on CD. In
1007-478: The Motorik benchmark tracks "Hallogallo" and "Negativland" (the band Negativland took their name from this track), and bizarre "songs" like "Sonderangebot". Their second album, Neu! 2 , features some of the earliest examples of musical remixes . The duo, excited about recording another album, decided to expand their horizons by purchasing several new instruments. With the money they had left as an advance from
1060-554: The " motorik " beat, a minimalist 4 rhythm associated with krautrock artists. Their work has exerted a widespread influence on genres such as electronica and punk . Neu! was formed in 1971 in Düsseldorf as an offshoot from an early line-up of another seminal krautrock band, Kraftwerk , whose early works were also produced by Conny Plank . Drummer Klaus Dinger had joined Kraftwerk midway through sessions for their eponymous debut album . Guitarist Michael Rother
1113-522: The 101ers ( Joe Strummer , Richard Dudanski , Tymon Dogg ), Kilburn and the High Roads ( Ian Dury , Nick Cash ) and Flip City ( Elvis Costello ). By 1976, pub rock had ultimately declined in popularity. At the same time as pub rock, the influence of the New York Dolls had spread to London, where a wave of glam punk bands, including Hollywood Brats and Jet , coalesced by the middle of
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#17327724959661166-535: The 13th Floor Elevators and the Sonics . AllMusic states that bands like the Sonics and the Monks "anticipated" punk; the latter have likewise been cited as examples of proto-punk and the Sonics' 1965 debut album Here Are The Sonics as "an early template for punk rock". The raw sound and outsider attitude of psychedelic garage bands like the Seeds also presaged the style of bands that would become known as
1219-465: The 2010 Grönland Records Vinyl Box . Proto-punk Proto-punk (or protopunk ) is rock music from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. A retrospective label, the musicians involved were generally not originally associated with each other and came from a variety of backgrounds and styles; together, they anticipated many of punk's musical and thematic attributes. The tendency towards aggressive, simplistic rock songs
1272-639: The Dogs , the Punks and Death , the latter a pioneering but commercially unsuccessful African-American proto-punk group. Formed in New York in 1971, the New York Dolls , merged Detroit's specific proto-punk sound with elements of glam rock, pioneering the glam punk genre. A 2022 article by Alternative Press stated were "the most important of all protopunk bands after the Stooges [sic]". Their style
1325-462: The Mexican folk song " La Bamba ", due to the song's simplistic three chord song structure and the aggressive vocals relative to the time. He places it first in a lineage of influential tracks, which over time developed punk: the Kingsmen 's " Louie Louie " (1963); the Kinks " You Really Got Me " (1964) and the Stooges ' " No Fun " (1969). By the 1960s, garage rock a style of raw, loud and energetic rock music had developed significant scenes in both
1378-472: The United Kingdom's punk rock scene, with Dinger's sneering, barely intelligible vocals searing across a distorted Motorik beat with aggressive single chord guitar pounding. To aid with performing on the album (and more importantly, live), Hans Lampe and brother Thomas Dinger were enlisted to help execute more music than was possible by two men. Upon its release, and arguably to this day, Neu! '75
1431-521: The United States and United Kingdom. The Kingsmen and the Kinks both came from the UK's garage rock scene, with the former's cover of "Louie Louie" being described by academic Aneta Panek as "punk rock's ur-text ". Under the influence of "Louie Louie", the Kinks released " You Really Got Me " the following year, which was one of the earliest songs to make use of significant electric guitar distortion and
1484-474: The Velvet Underground and the earlier garage rock genre, with the sound then spreading to the United Kingdom, New York and Cleveland, Ohio. One of the earliest influences on both punk rock music and the punk subculture as a whole is folk musician Woody Guthrie . Beginning in the 1930s and becoming popular in the 1940s, Guthrie is often known as one of the first punks. In the United Kingdom,
1537-605: The archetypal figures of proto-punk, other examples are the Electric Prunes (who writer Gath Cartwright states were "embraced by the punks" due to covers by the Damned and Wayne County & the Electric Chairs ), Red Crayola and Chocolate Watchband . The hit single " Psychotic Reaction " from 1966 by the garage band Count Five featured fuzztone guitars and blazed the trail for punk rock, influencing
1590-691: The decade. A new generation of Australian garage rock bands, inspired mainly by the Stooges and MC5, came even closer to the sound that would soon be called "punk": in Brisbane , the Saints (formed in 1973) recalled the raw live sound of the British Pretty Things , who had made a notorious tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1965, while in Sydney , Radio Birdman , co-founded by Detroit expatriate Deniz Tek in 1974, began playing gigs to
1643-592: The development of a new musical style. Not only did the unconventional sound of proto-punk bands go against what was popular in the mainstream, but the visual styles of many bands were purposely contrasted with more popular, polished aesthetics found in more well known bands. Musically distinct from most other punk predecessors, New York's the Velvet Underground were not aggressive, instead influencing punk through their avant-garde take on rock, which incorporated dissonance and taboo lyrical topics such as urban decay , drug addiction and sadomasochism . A 2014 article by
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1696-474: The earliest written uses of the term "punk rock" was by critic Dave Marsh who used it in 1970 to describe the garage rock group Question Mark & the Mysterians in the United States, who had scored a major hit with their song " 96 Tears " in 1966. While garage bands varied in style, the label of garage punk has been attributed by critic Michael Hann to the "toughest, angriest garage rockers" such as
1749-503: The emergence of skiffle in the 1950s as a popular music movement is comparable to punk, in that skiffle similarly "stripped music to its core", with its simplistic instrumental setup that "[sending] out a clear anyone-can-do-it signal, and as the skiffle explosion proved, anyone could and did", according to PopMatters writer Ian Ellis. According to Aidan Smith in The Scotsman , popular skiffle musician Lonnie Donegan embodied
1802-451: The ensuing vacuum, illegal and inferior-quality bootleg CDs ( mastered from old vinyl records) were distributed by an outfit called Germanofon. This situation was finally resolved in 2001, when Rother and Dinger put aside their differences and entered a studio to transfer the three Neu! albums to CD, from the original master tapes (reportedly mastering each album three times). These were produced and released by Grönland Records (licensed to
1855-421: The flame that was Neu! by adding more synthesizers and a slightly more commercial aspect to some compositions, the band sounded like a cross between their old selves and the recent new wave groups. However, they were torn apart again by personal and musical issues. An example of the sharp contrast between Dinger and Rother was evidenced by such tracks as "Crazy", Rother's attempt at pop, and "'86 Commercial Trash",
1908-517: The following years, this sound spread both domestically and internationally, leading to the formation of the New York Dolls and Electric Eels in the United States, Dr. Feelgood in England, and the Saints in Australia. The AllMusic guide defined it as "never a cohesive movement" but as "a certain provocative sensibility that didn't fit the prevailing counterculture of the time", most of
1961-455: The forthcoming movement were appearing as far afield as Düsseldorf , West Germany, where "punk before punk" band NEU! formed in 1971, building on the krautrock tradition of groups such as Can . Simply Saucer formed in Hamilton, Canada in 1973 and have been called "Canada's first proto-punk band", blending garage rock, krautrock, psychedelia and other influences to produce a sound that
2014-412: The group's "hidden member". They released three albums in their initial incarnation— Neu! (1972), Neu! 2 (1973), and Neu! 75 (1975)—before disbanding in 1975. They briefly reunited in the mid-1980s. Although Neu! had minimal commercial success during their existence, the band are retrospectively considered a central act of West Germany's 1970s krautrock movement. They are known for pioneering
2067-401: The idea was aborted after personal disagreements resurfaced between them. Dinger died of heart failure on 21 March 2008. Rother said that he was unaware of Dinger's illness until just before he died. Rother writes and produces solo albums. Before his death, Dinger was a member of the band La! Neu? - whose name also irritated Rother - as well as collaborating with Miki Yui and band sub-tle. in
2120-417: The idiosyncratic images of David Bowie and Roxy Music )". With his Ziggy Stardust persona, David Bowie made artifice and exaggeration central elements, that were later picked up by punk acts. The Doctors of Madness built on Bowie's presentation concepts, while moving conceptually in the direction that would The Guardian writer Simon Reynolds identified as "prophes[ying] punk". Bands anticipating
2173-628: The music by messing with the tape machine or placing the record off center on the turntable. The songs "Super 16" and "Super 78" (slowed down and sped up versions of the proto-punk song "Super," respectively) unwittingly became the theme songs to the 1976 martial arts cult classic Master of the Flying Guillotine by Jimmy Wang Yu . This film was later referenced by Quentin Tarantino in Kill Bill Volume 1 by also featuring
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2226-493: The previously mentioned Neu! 4 recordings from the 1985–1986 sessions. It also released Neu! '72 Live in Düsseldorf (recorded on 6 May 1972), which comprised poorly recorded rehearsals for some abortive live shows, but notable for the inclusion of Eberhard Kranemann, who had briefly been in Kraftwerk with Dinger. A 1999 tribute album, entitled A Homage to Neu! ( Cleopatra Records ), features covers from artists including
2279-776: The punk movement." In the early 1970s, the UK underground counter-cultural scene centred on Ladbroke Grove in West London spawned a number of bands that have been considered proto-punk, including the Deviants , Pink Fairies , Hawkwind , Edgar Broughton Band , Stack Waddy , and Third World War ; contemporaries Crushed Butler have been called "Britain's first proto-punk band." According to Allmusic , glam rock also "inspired many future punks with its simple, crunchy guitar riffs, its outrageous sense of style, and its artists' willingness to sing with British accents (not to mention
2332-475: The record company, they could record only half an album's worth of material. The company would not increase their advance because the first album did not sell well enough and the label did not see a reason to further finance what was most likely to become a flop. To rectify the lack of material, the band filled the second side with manipulated versions of their already-released single "Neuschnee"/"Super", playing back each song at different speeds and sometimes warbling
2385-481: The time combined with a sound which was "primitive and stripped-down, even when it wasn't aggressive, and its production was usually just as unpolished". In contrast, in the book Screaming for Change (2010), it is defined as a specific sound which included simplistic instrumental work and amateurish compositions. The book cites this style as being pioneered in Detroit by the Stooges and MC5 , who were influenced by
2438-408: The track "Super 16". Dinger and Rother were both very different when left to their own devices, and this led to their final album of the 1970s, Neu! '75 being two solo half-albums. Side One was Rother's more ambient productions which were similar to the first album, albeit more keyboard-driven. Side Two (particularly the song "Hero") was acknowledged as important influence by many later involved in
2491-426: The world including Oasis , Primal Scream , Kasabian , School of Seven Bells , Ciccone Youth (Sonic Youth), Holy Fuck and the young band Pets With Pets from Australia. This was to outline the enormous influence of Neu! which spans multiple decades and countries. The rights to the Neu! back catalogue are jointly owned by Rother, Dinger's estate and Plank's widow, Christa Fast. Rother worked with them to produce
2544-732: Was adopted by a number of New York bands, including the Stilettos , the Brats and Ruby and the Rednecks , and subsequently was the catalyst for the city's early punk rock scene, which included Television , Talking Heads , Patti Smith , the Ramones , Blondie and Richard Hell and the Voidoids . The Detroit proto-punk sound also spread to Cleveland Ohio by the middle of the decade, where influential proto-punk bands including Pere Ubu and
2597-703: Was immediately influential for this reason. In the following years, this raw sound was being adopted by other British Invasion acts including the Who on their single " My Generation " (1965) and the Rolling Stones on their 1966 live album Got Live If You Want It! . In South America, the garage rock band Los Saicos formed in Lima , Peru in 1964, later being called "the world's first punk band" in Zona de Obras' book Spanish Dictionary of Punk and Hardcore . One of
2650-483: Was inspired by the prevalence of the advertising business in Düsseldorf at the time, according to Dinger, who described it as "the strongest word in advertising" and even owned a pro forma advertising agency himself for the purpose of booking studios. The band's eponymous first album sold just 30,000 records, yet is today considered a masterpiece by many, including influential artists such as David Bowie , Brian Eno , Iggy Pop and Thom Yorke of Radiohead . It included
2703-956: Was later adopted by other krautrock bands. Dinger himself later referred to it as the "Apache beat". Artists such as David Bowie, the Sex Pistols, Sonic Youth, Stereolab , and Tortoise have drawn on the work of Neu! in their music. Siouxsie and the Banshees cited the band in their influences. Japanese experimental group Boredoms cite Neu! as a prominent influence on their later sound, evident in their unique application of tape manipulation remix techniques and driving 4/4 rhythms pioneered by Rother and Dinger. All Neu! albums on Brain Records were reissued in 2001 by Astralwerks and Grönland Records . All Neu! albums on Captain Trip Records have at least in part been re-released as part of
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#17327724959662756-686: Was later described as having a "frequent punk snarl." Debut albums by two key US proto-punk bands were released in 1969, both from Metro Detroit in Michigan ; Detroit 's MC5 released Kick Out the Jams in January, and the Stooges , from Ann Arbor , premiered with their self-titled album in August. The sound of these albums influenced a wave of subsequent bands in Michigan, which notably included
2809-488: Was then recruited to the Kraftwerk line-up on completion of the album. (Rother had been playing in a local band called The Spirits of Sound, the line-up of which also included drummer Wolfgang Flür , who would himself go on to join Kraftwerk two years later.) Kraftwerk co-founder Ralf Hütter left the band at this point to complete his studies and, for six months, Kraftwerk consisted of a trio of Rother, Dinger and Florian Schneider . This line-up played sporadic gigs and made
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