Radio-Activity
Template:Other uses of Template:Redirect Template:Use dmy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |Template:Short description|noreplace}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Exceller 81974Trans-Europe Express1977studioRadio-ActivityKraftwerk Radio Activity album cover.jpgKraftwerkTemplate:Start dateKling Klang (Düsseldorf)*Electronic
- experimental pop<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- ambient pop
- avant-garde<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>37:38* Kling Klang
- EMI
- Capitol* Ralf Hütter
- Florian Schneiderx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}}
Radio-Activity (German title: Radio-Aktivität) is the fifth studio album by German electronic music band Kraftwerk, released in November 1975.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The band's first entirely electronic album is also a concept album organized around the themes of radioactive decay and radio communication.<ref name="AllMusic"/> All releases of the album were bilingual, with lyrics in both English and German. The album was accompanied by single release of the title track, which was successful in France and Belgium.
BackgroundEdit
Following the success of its 1974 predecessor Autobahn, an album based on Germany's eponymous motorway network,<ref name="dig" /> Kraftwerk embarked on a tour of the United States with the "classic" lineup of the band formed by Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Karl Bartos—who joined in February 1975—and Wolfgang Flür in April and May 1975.<ref name="omnibus70" />
Album title and cover artEdit
Radio-Activity's album title displays Kraftwerk's typical deadpan humour, being a pun on the twin themes of the songs,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> half being about radioactivity and the other half about activity on the radio.<ref name="cambridge99">Template:Cite book</ref> Bartos revealed that the title was inspired by a chart column in the American magazine, Billboard,<ref name="dig">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which featured the most played singles under the title "Radio Activity".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> According to Wolfgang Flur, the concept arose as a result of the many radio interviews that Ralf and Florian had given on their American tour.Template:Sfn
The album's cover depicts a Volksempfänger radio which was produced in Germany during the Third Reich regime.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Composition and recordingEdit
The album was recorded in Kling Klang Studio, Düsseldorf,<ref name="dig" /> and it was self-produced by Hütter and Schneider.Template:Citation needed It was their first purely electronic album,<ref name="cambridge99" /> and the first one to be performed by the "classic" band line-up.<ref name="omnibus70">Template:Cite book</ref> Karl and Wolfgang worked on electronic percussion.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> LP liner notes state music and production was by Hütter and Schneider, with Emil Schult collaborating on lyrics. For this album, the band had decided to record some vocals in English and Schult's command of the language after studying for a while in the United States was better than Hutter's or Schneider's. Tim Barr pointed out the impact his experiences had in the United States on his ability to speak the language and in more subtle ways as well.Template:Sfn Schult also designed the artwork, which was based on a late-1930s 'Deutscher Kleinempfänger' radio.Template:Sfn
The overture instrumental piece "Geiger Counter" used Geiger counter beats based on musique concrète.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The album featured use of the distinctive Vako Orchestron keyboard to provide vocal choir on title track.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "Antenna" used an echo chamber effect, and Hütter's Farfisa electronic piano was used on "Transistor".Template:Sfn For the recording, extensive use was made of the vocoder.Template:Citation needed
Release and promotionEdit
In September 1975, the band toured the UK, playing 17 shows.<ref name="omnibus70" /> By 1975, Hütter and Schneider's previous publishing deals with Capriccio Music and Star Musik Studio of Hamburg had expired. The compositions on Radio-Activity were published by their own newly set up Kling Klang Verlag music publishing company, giving them greater financial control over the use of songwriting output. Also, the album was the first to bear the fruit of Kling Klang as an established vanity label under the group's new licensing deal with EMI.Template:Citation needed
Radio-Activity was released in November 1975. For their promotion, their record company sent them to a "real Atomkraftwerk" to take promotional photos. In these photos, the group was dressed in white protective suits and anti-radiation boots on their shoes.<ref name="dig" /> The album reached Template:Nobr on the Canadian charts in February 1976.<ref name="collectionscanada" /> The title track "Radioactivity" was released as a single in May 1976 and became a hit in France, selling 500,000 copies,<ref name="dig" /> and Belgium in the charts.
ReceptionEdit
Template:Album ratings Radio-Activity was released to mixed reviews, with Rolling Stone criticizing the album: "...Template:Nbspno cut on the album comes near the melodic/harmonic sense that pervaded Autobahn or the creative use of electronics on the much earlier album Ralf and Florian".<ref name="Rolling Stone">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Uncut wrote regarding their 2009 remaster that it "begins like a heartbeat in the void, accelerating into the pulse that will form the spine of the title-song, an eerie tribute to the intangibles (music, disintegrating atoms) that linger in the atmosphere." It consider that "has a musty scent of Old Europe, which proved a hit with the synth groups of 1980-81 (eg, Ultravox and Visage), and it retains a blood-chilling, Wagnerian quality even now, thanks to Kraftwerk's use of the Vako Orchestron, a choir-like relative of the Mellotron."<ref name="Uncut" />
Chris Power from Drowned in Sound praised it for the experimental feeling in 2009: "A bridge between electronic experimentalism and the powerful, groundbreaking unification of avant-garde form and catchy, commercial function that was just around the corner, Radio-Activity is the sound of Kraftwerk finding their way in a strange new landscape that they were in the very process of creating".<ref name="Drowned in Sound"/> In a retrospective review, Jason Ankeny from AllMusic called the album "a pivotal record in the group's continuing development" and stated that it "marked Kraftwerk's return to more obtuse territory, extensively utilizing static, oscillators, and even Cage-like moments of silence".<ref name="AllMusic"/>
Track listingEdit
PersonnelEdit
Adapted from 2009 remaster liner notes.<ref name="notes">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>
KraftwerkEdit
- Ralf Hütter – vocals, synthesizers, Orchestron, electronic piano, drum machine, electronics
- Florian Schneider – vocals, vocoder, votrax, synthesizers, electronics
- Karl Bartos – electronic percussion
- Wolfgang Flür – electronic percussion
Additional personnelEdit
- Peter Bollig – technical engineer (Kling Klang Studio, Düsseldorf)
- Walter Quintus – sound mix engineer (Rüssl Studio, Hamburg)
- Robert Franke – photography
- Emil Schult – artwork
- Johann Zambryski – artwork reconstruction (2009 Remaster)
ChartsEdit
Weekly chartsEdit
Template:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chart| Chart (1976) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref name=aus>Template:Cite book</ref> | 94 | |
| Canada (RPM)<ref name="collectionscanada">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
59 |
| France (SNEP)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | 1 |
Certifications and salesEdit
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