Editing Conny Plank (section)

==Career==
===1960s===
In mid-to-late 60s, Conny attended new-music courses at the Rheinische Musikschule in [[Cologne]], taught by [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]], [[Luciano Berio]], [[Henri Pousseur]], and [[Earle Brown]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=Rob |last2=Schmidt |first2=Irmin |authorlink2=Irmin Schmidt |title=[[All Gates Open: The Story of Can]] |year=2018 |edition=e-book |publisher=[[Faber and Faber]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-571-31151-4|pages=24–25}}</ref>

In the late 1960s, Plank began producing albums and working as a sound engineer, and became involved in the underground music scene, which was spreading from [[Berlin]] throughout Germany. In 1969 he served as engineer for the first [[Kluster]] album, ''[[Klopfzeichen]]'', which was released the following year. His long association with [[Dieter Moebius]] and [[Hans-Joachim Roedelius]] of Kluster and later [[Cluster (band)|Cluster]] endured until his death. He also served as engineer for [[Alexander von Schlippenbach]]'s album ''The Living Music'', which was released in 1969, the first of a long list of engineering and production credits.<ref name="discogs"/>

===1970s===
In 1970 he had a 56 channel [[mixing desk]] hand built by himself, Peter Lang and Michael Zähl.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://audiomediainternational.com/the-one-of-a-kind-mixing-console-built-by-conny-plank/|title=The one-of-a-kind mixing console built by Conny Plank|author=Colby Ramsey|magazine=Audio Media International|date=21 March 2018}}</ref> and went on to produce and/or engineered many recordings by significant German progressive/experimental music acts often referred to as [[krautrock]] internationally, including [[Kraftwerk]], [[Organisation (band)| Organisation]], [[Neu!]], [[Cluster (band)|Cluster]], [[Harmonia (band)|Harmonia]], [[Night Sun (Hard Rock Band)|Night Sun]], [[Holger Czukay]] and [[Guru Guru]].<ref name="discogs"/>

In 1977, through [[Brian Eno]], Plank recruited Dave Hutchins from Island Studios, as house engineer. Hutchins undertook recording and mixing roles on many of the productions originating from the studios in the following ten years.{{cite needed|date=December 2024}}

As a musician, Plank played guitar and keyboards on three Guru Guru albums: ''Kang Guru'', ''Guru Guru'', and ''Mani und Seine Freunde'', the Os Mundi album ''43 Minuten'', and Cluster's self-titled debut album. In 1978 and 1979 he added guitar and percussion to two Roedelius solo albums, ''[[Durch Die Wuste|Durch Die Wüste]]'' and ''[[Selbstportrait]]''. He was a member of the short lived band Liliental, contributing guitar, keyboards, and vocals. In 1979 he went into the studio with Dieter Moebius to record the first Moebius & Plank album, ''[[Rastakraut Pasta]]'' which was released the following year.<ref name="discogs"/>

===1980s===
Plank continued to work as one half of the duo Moebius & Plank, recording four additional albums. Their second album, ''[[Material (Moebius & Plank album)|Material]]'', was released in 1981. Their third album, the African-influenced ''[[Zero Set]]'', with Guru Guru drummer Mani Neumeier, was released in 1983. These two albums are early examples of the predecessors of [[techno]] and [[electronica]]. In 1983, Moebius & Plank also recorded the album ''[[Ludwig's Law]]'' using an [[E-mu|Emulator]], an early form of sampling keyboard that enabled them to duplicate other instruments without having musicians to play them. [[Mayo Thompson]] of [[Red Krayola]] contributed vocals, mainly spoken monologues. The project was rejected by Sky Records and was not released until 1998. The final Moebius & Plank collaboration, ''[[En Route (album)|En Route]]'' was recorded in Conny's Studio in 1986 but left incomplete as Plank's health deteriorated. It was completed and mixed in 1995, primarily by Dieter Moebius, and released that year.<ref name="discogs"/>

During the eighties, Plank remained in high demand with the new generation of electronic pop and [[New wave music|new wave]] artists, including [[Devo]], [[The Meteors (Dutch band)|the Meteors]] from the Netherlands (''Hunger'' in 1980 and ''Stormy Seas'' in 1981), [[Hunters & Collectors]] from Australia ( ''[[The Fireman's Curse]]'' in 1983 and ''[[The Jaws of Life (Hunters & Collectors album)|The Jaws of Life]]'' in 1984) [[:de:Fred Banana Combo|the Fred Banana Combo]], [[Ultravox (band)|Ultravox]] (''[[Systems of Romance]]'', ''[[Vienna (album)|Vienna]]'' and ''[[Rage in Eden]]''), [[Echo & the Bunnymen]], [[Freur]], [[Killing Joke]], [[the Tourists]] (''Luminous Basement'') and [[Eurythmics]] (''[[In the Garden (Eurythmics album)|In the Garden]]''). He also worked on pop and rock productions with artists such as [[Scorpions (band)|Scorpions]], [[Clannad (musical group)|Clannad]], [[Play Dead (band)|Play Dead]], and [[Gianna Nannini]] (''Latin Lover'', ''Sogno Di Una Notte d'Estate'', ''Tutto Live'' and others, also credited for music).<ref name="discogs">{{cite web|title=Conny Plank's recording contributions|website=Discogs|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/40135-Conny-Plank?srsltid=AfmBOoobyn6zmBv8TtLIaQmOcAF2JtegKkW7sbLiber5CjGTKzpFckW7}}</ref>

Plank's other production credits include [[Liaisons Dangereuses (band)|Liaisons Dangereuses]], [[Phew (singer)|Phew]], [[Einstürzende Neubauten]], [[Ástor Piazzolla]], Psychotic Tanks, [[Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft|DAF]] (including the classic single "Der Mussolini"), [[Les Rita Mitsouko]], and [[Nina Hagen]].<ref name="discogs"/><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://thevinylfactory.com/features/10-essential-conny-plank-records/|magazine=The Vinyl Factory|title=An introduction to Conny Plank in 10 records}}</ref>

According to [[René Tinner]] and Stephan Plank in a radio documentary about the life of Conny Plank, it was [[Brian Eno]]'s idea that Plank should produce the [[U2]] album ''[[The Joshua Tree]]'' instead of him. After being introduced to the band by Eno and after a short meeting, Plank turned down the job ("I cannot work with this singer").<ref>''Conny Plank – eine Produzentenlegende'', NDR German Radio, 11 February 2006</ref> According to the companion website of the documentary film ''Conny Plank – The Potential of Noise'' (but not the film itself), after the meeting, Plank firstly asked for time for a second thought. In the meantime he attended a U2 concert at [[Freilichtbühne Loreley]], where U2's Bono introduced Plank to the audience as their new producer, after which Plank is said to have left the concert and never communicated further with any member of U2.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://conny-plank.de|title=Conny Plank – The Potential of Noise|website=Conny-plank.de}}</ref>