7. KraftwerkTrans-Europe Express
It’s got to be Trans-Europe Express really. I was aware of Autobahn and that was like The Beach Boys from outer space, engineered by Conny Plank – that was what they called it in those days, it was a blur between engineering and producing. I think Trans-Europe Express consolidated that futuristic thing, and of course it had a namecheck for David Bowie and Iggy Pop in there, which was an endorsement in some way. Although they were German, they were aware of ‘our world’. I think the only other German thing I’d heard of before that were Faust, and the reason I know about them was they brought an album out [The Faust Tapes] and it cost about 15p or something, so everyone bought it.
‘The Hall Of Mirrors’ is really dark! The album’s quite song-y as well. With The Man-Machine, it had the perfect record cover, it was the whole red-ness. Futuristic art deco with a slight Hitler Youth edge to it, a sinister edge. I went down to London one time, down the King’s Road – I think it was the week of release – and every single shop was playing it.
However Man-Machine is everybody’s album, whereas Trans-Europe Express is a more private album, which wasn’t as widely known. I hadn’t taken any drugs at the time, but it affected me. That line, "Even the greatest stars dislike themselves in the looking glass", it was all just very atmospheric.
