"Tour de France" is a song by German electronic band Kraftwerk. It was first issued in early August 1983, peaking at number 22 in the United Kingdom singles chart since 6 August. It is notable for the use of sampled voices and mechanical sounds associated with cycling that were used to supplement a simple electro-percussion pattern – an approach Kraftwerk had used on earlier tracks such as "Metal on Metal" (from '' Trans-Europe Express'') and "Numbers" (from ''

Computer World ''Computer World'' (german: link=no, Computerwelt) is the eighth studio album by German electronic band Kraftwerk, released on 10 May 1981. The album deals with the themes of the rise of computers within society. In keeping with the album's co ...

''). The music is credited to

Ralf Hütter Ralf Hütter (born 20 August 1946) is a German musician and composer best known as the lead singer and keyboardist of Kraftwerk, which he founded with Florian Schneider in 1969. On May 12, 2021, Kraftwerk was announced as one of the inductees of ...

Florian Schneider Florian Schneider-Esleben (7 April 194721 April 2020) was a German musician. He is best known as one of the founding members and leaders of the electronic band Kraftwerk, performing his role with the band until his departure in 2008. Early li ...

and

Karl Bartos Karl Bartos (born 31 May 1952) is a German musician and composer known for his contributions to the electronic band Kraftwerk. Career Karlheinz Bartos was born on 31 May 1952 in Marktschellenberg, Germany, named after his grandfathers Karl an ...

; the lyrics are credited to Hütter and Maxime Schmitt, a French label associate of the band. The melody appears to quote a fragment of the opening section of

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...

's "Sonata for Flute and Piano" ("Heiter Bewegt"). The sleeve design depicted the band on road bikes in a paceline, superimposed across an angled representation of the French national flag. The design was adapted from an image that had appeared on a 1953 Hungarian postage stamp, one of a sport-themed set commemorating the opening the Népstadion (People's Stadium) in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. The piece was also included in the 1984 film ''

Breakin' ''Breakin (also known as ''Breakdance'' in the United Kingdom and ''Break Street '84'' in other regions) is a 1984 American breakdancing-themed musical film directed by Joel Silberg and written by Charles Parker and Allen DeBevoise based on a ...

'', also known as ''Breakdance'' internationally. Although the song did appear briefly in the film, Kraftwerk did not let the song appear on the movie soundtrack; instead, a cover version of the song was released by a group called "10 Speed".

Composition

For Kraftwerk, "Tour de France" was a departure from the technological tone of the two previous albums, ''

The Man-Machine ''The Man-Machine'' (german: link=no, Die Mensch-Maschine) is the seventh studio album by German electronic music band Kraftwerk. It was released on May 1978 by Kling Klang in Germany and by Capitol Records elsewhere. A further refinement of the ...

'' and ''

''. Instead, the song is a

joie de vivre ( , ; "joy of living") is a French phrase often used in English to express a cheerful enjoyment of life, an exultation of spirit. It "can be a joy of conversation, joy of eating, joy of anything one might do… And ''joie de vivre'' may be ...

celebration of cycling, marking the group's increasing interest in the sport. Of the current line-up, Hütter and

Fritz Hilpert Friedrich "Fritz" Hilpert (born 31 May 1956) is a member of the electropop group Kraftwerk. Background Fritz Hilpert studied trumpet and percussion at the Musisches Max-Reger-Gymnasium, Germany, until 1976. He also played drums in several li ...

have been known to take part in cycling events. The track was originally recorded with the intention of being included on the subsequently abandoned ''

Techno Pop Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

'' album. The single was originally released on seven and twelve inch vinyl, and as a cassette-single. It has the most complicated set of variants of any Kraftwerk song, having been variously edited and remixed to the point that there is no completely definitive version.

Releases

Original release

In Germany it was released in both German- and French-language versions, one on each side of the vinyl disc, but in other countries the versions of the song that were issued were sung only in French. Typically, the seven-inch sides were edited down versions of the longer tracks released on twelve-inch singles. In the UK however the seven-inch B-side was an instrumental edit of the A-side track; an additional instrumental track of percussion and samples, "Tour de France, Étape 2", was included on the UK twelve-inch and cassette releases.

Remix release

On 22 June 1984 the song was re-released in two new versions: a substantially different and largely instrumental arrangement, remixed by

François Kevorkian François Kevorkian (born 10 January 1954), also known by the stage name François K, is a French-born, U.S.-based DJ, producer, remixer and label owner of Armenian descent, who started his career DJing in clubs such as the Paradise Garage an ...

in New York; and a Kraftwerk-remixed alternative version of the original arrangement, featuring longer percussive sections than the 1983 version in the latter half of the track. Sleeves for later UK pressings of this version included the message "As featured in the film ''

Breakdance Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...

''" on the front. The remix reached number 24 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and number 4 on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.

Digital remaster

In October 1999, the recordings were digitally remastered and released, this time as a CD and a twelve-inch single, with a slightly modified version of the original cover design: the faces of former members

and

Wolfgang Flür Wolfgang Flür (born 17 July 1947) is a German musician, best known for playing percussion in the electronic group Kraftwerk from 1973 to 1987. Flür claims that he invented the electric drums the group used throughout the 1970s. However, pa ...

, who had left the band by 1999, were replaced by faces presumably representing current members

and Henning Schmitz. The 1999 vinyl twelve-inch had the 1984 Kraftwerk remix as the A side (now sub-titled "Kling Klang Analog Mix") and the Kevorkian version as the B side (re-titled "Remix François K"). The CD also included the 1983 seven-inch single edited mix of the song (re-titled "Radio Version") and a QuickTime format file of the video, featuring an edited version of the 1984 Kraftwerk remix with German lyrics ("Multi-Media-Track") over an amended video. The video itself was re-edited to remove sequences showing the 1983 incarnation of the band and now comprised only archive footage of

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

cyclists, such as the Italian champion

Fausto Coppi Angelo Fausto Coppi (; 15 September 1919 – 2 January 1960) was an Italian cyclist, the dominant international cyclist of the years after the Second World War. His successes earned him the title ''Il Campionissimo'' ("Champion of Champions ...

and the French champion

Jacques Anquetil Jacques Anquetil (; 8 January 1934 – 18 November 1987) was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964. He stated before the 1961 Tour that he would gain the ye ...

2003 version

A completely new recording was made for the 2003 album ''

Tour de France Soundtracks ''Tour de France Soundtracks'' (renamed to ''Tour de France'' for its remastered release) is the eleventh studio album by German electronic music band Kraftwerk. It was first released on 4 August 2003, through Kling Klang and EMI in Europe and A ...

'', based on the original 1983 arrangement. The album was remastered and re-released in 2009.

Music videos

For the 1983 release a video clip with cycling footage was released. The 1984 Kevorkian version had a rare video which included footage of the band members in Düsseldorf on their bicycles. The 1999 release had the same video as the 1983 Version.

Track listing

UK 12-inch vinyl, 1983 Catalog number: 12 EMI 5413 #"Tour de France (Long Version)" – 6:30 ¹ #"Tour de France" – 3:00 #"Tour de France, Étape 2" – 2:40 ² UK 7-inch vinyl, 1983 Catalog number: EMI 5413 #"Tour de France" – 3:00 #"Tour de France (Instrumental)" – 2:40 UK cassette, 1983 Catalog number: TC-EMI 5413 #"Tour de France (Long Version)" – 6:30 #"Tour de France" – 3:00 #"Tour de France, Étape 2" – 2:40 ² US 12-inch vinyl, 1984 Catalog number: 20146 #"Tour de France" (6:45) #"Tour de France (Remix)" (6:47) UK 12-inch vinyl, 1984 Catalog number: 12 EMI 5413 #"Tour de France (Remix)" – 6:47 (François Kevorkian remix) #"Tour de France (French Version)" – 6:44 ³ (Kraftwerk remix sung in French) #"Tour de France" – 3:00 Has the same catalogue number as the 1983 release UK 7-inch vinyl, 1984 Catalog number: EMI 5413 #"Tour de France (Remix)" – 3:55 (Edit of François Kevorkian remix)
Tour de France
– 3:45 (Edit of Kraftwerk remix sung in French) Has the same catalogue number as the 1983 release German 12-inch vinyl, 1983 Catalog number: 1CK 052 1652046 #"Tour de France (Version Allemande)" – 6:30 (sung in German) #"Tour de France (Version Française)" – 6:30 German 7-inch vinyl, 1983 Catalog number: 1C 006 1652047 #"Tour de France (Version Allemande)" – 3:00 (sung in German) #"Tour de France (Version Francaise)" – 3:00 German 12-inch vinyl, 1984 (1) Catalog number: 1CK 052 1652046 #"Tour de France (Version Allemande)" – 6:44 ³ (Kraftwerk remix sung in German) #"Tour de France (Version Francaise)" – 6:30 This may be a mis-pressing or promo as it has the same sleeve and catalogue number as the earlier release; replaced by (2) below, it was also released in Australia as EMI ED 85 German 12-inch vinyl, 1984 (2) Catalog number: 1CK 062 2003776 #"Tour de France (Remix)" – 6:47 (François Kevorkian remix) #"Tour de France (Version Allemande)" – 6:44 ³ (though actually this track is sung in French!) #"Tour de France" – 3:05 German 7-inch vinyl, 1984 Catalog number: 1C 006 200376-7 #"Tour de France (Remix)" – 3:50 (Edit of François Kevorkian remix) #"Tour de France" – 3:10 (sung in German) EU 12-inch vinyl, 1999 Catalog number: 7243 8 87421 6 0 #"Tour de France (Kling Klang Analog Mix)" – 6:44 (1984 Kraftwerk remix sung in French) #"Tour de France (Remix François K)" – 6:45 (1984 François Kevorkian remix) Note 1: "Tour de France (Long Version)" is the same track as "Tour de France (Version Française)".
Note 2: "Tour de France, 2e Étape", (listed as such on sleeves but misleadingly put as "Tour de France (Version)" on the B-side label of the 1983 12" disc and cassette), it is not the same track as the later song from ''

'' that has this title. It is a unique rhythmic instrumental track.
Note 3: On some releases "Tour de France (French Version)" is sub-titled "New York Club Mix", or even "Version Allemande" for the 1984 German Remix 12", though this latter one may have been the result of an error. The track was digitally remastered and re-released as "Tour de France (Kling Klang Analog Mix)" in 1999.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control Kraftwerk songs 1983 singles Songs written by Karl Bartos Songs written by Florian Schneider Songs written by Ralf Hütter Songs about bicycles Songs about France Cycling music 1983 songs Tour de France mass media