Wolfgang Flür (born 17 July 1947) is a German musician, best known for playing percussion in the electronic group

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...

from 1973 to 1987. Flür claims that he invented the electric drums the group used throughout the 1970s. However, patent records dispute this, citing

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

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 ...

as the creators.

Background

In the 1960s, Flür played an acoustic drum kit in the

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

band The Spirits of Sound, along with guitarist

Michael Rother Michael Rother (born 2 September 1950) is a German experimental musician, best known for being a founding member of the influential bands Neu! and Harmonia (band), Harmonia, and an early member of the band Kraftwerk. Early life and educatio ...

, who would also go on to play in Kraftwerk, and who would later form

Neu! Neu! (; 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, w ...

with Kraftwerk drummer

Klaus Dinger Klaus Dinger (24 March 1946 – 21 March 2008) was a German musician and songwriter most famous for his contributions to the seminal krautrock band Neu!. He was also the guitarist and chief songwriter of new wave group La Düsseldorf and brief ...

Post-Kraftwerk

In 1997, Flür founded the band Yamo and released the album ''Time Pie'', a collaboration with

Mouse on Mars Mouse on Mars is a German electronic music duo formed in 1993 by Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma. Their music is a blend of electronic genres including IDM, dub, krautrock, breakbeat and ambient, featuring heavy use of organic analog synth and ...

. Yamo's next release, the 12" ''I Was a Robot'', reached number 6 in the German club charts. Collaborations with

Pizzicato Five Pizzicato Five (formerly typeset as Pizzicato V and sometimes abbreviated to P5)Yang Jeff, Dina Can, Terry Hong, (1997) ''Eastern Standard Time'' pg 277 New York: Mariner Books was a Japanese pop band formed in Tokyo in 1979 by multi-instrume ...

and

Der Plan ''Der Plan'' is a German electronic music group from Düsseldorf, formed in the earlier months of 1979 by Moritz Reichelt (A.K.A. Moritz R®), Kai Horn, and Frank Fenstermacher, originally under the name of ''Weltaufstandsplan'' ("World Rebellion ...

founding member Pyrolator were announced, and the lyrics to a song called "Greed" appeared in Flür's autobiography, but this material remains unreleased. In 2000, Flür published his autobiography, ''Ich war ein Roboter'' (English version: ''I Was a Robot''). The book covers his youth, early career as a musician, sexual escapades, and some of his activity within Kraftwerk. Hütter and Schneider filed a lawsuit against Flür, causing a temporary halt of the publication and revision of parts that included disputed accounts of his time with the band. Recently, Flür has been seen DJing in clubs, playing

tech house Tech house is a subgenre of house music that combines stylistic features of techno with house. The term ''tech house'' developed as a shorthand record store name for a category of electronic dance music that combined musical aspects of techno ...

and electro. He has also played electronic percussion with the German synthpop band Dyko in live shows and on their 2009 cover of Kraftwerk's "Autobahn". He has also performed under the moniker "Musik Soldat". Japanese singer

Maki Nomiya is a Japanese singer and musician. She released her first solo album in 1981, and worked through the 1980s as the lead vocalist of the new wave band . In 1991, she became the lead singer of the band Pizzicato Five. When the group disbanded in 20 ...

's 2005 album ''Party People'' included the song "Yamate Line," with songwriting and co-production credited to Flür/Yamo. On 16 October 2015, Flür released his first solo album under his own name, entitled ''

Eloquence Eloquence (from French ''eloquence'' from Latin ''eloquentia'') is fluent, elegant, persuasive, and forceful speech, persuading an audience. Eloquence is both a natural talent and improved by knowledge of language, study of a specific subject ...

''. Flür announced three new collaboration albums, the first of which, "Magazine 1", to be released in February 2022. On 4 September 2020, Flür collaborated with German dance act

U96 U96 is a German musical project formed by DJ and producer Alex Christensen, and a team of producers named Matiz ( Ingo Hauss, Helmut Hoinkis, and Hayo Lewerentz). After a decade-long hiatus, the band returned in 2018 without Christensen and Ho ...

to release

Transhuman Transhuman, or trans-human, is the concept of an intermediary form between human and posthuman. In other words, a transhuman is a being that resembles a human in most respects but who has powers and abilities beyond those of standard humans. The ...

, it featured 3 new songs from Flür, the only songs he's released in 5 years. On 12 May 2021, Kraftwerk was announced as one of the inductees of the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

with Flür being one of the inductees along with Schneider, Hütter 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 and ...

. Wolfgang's second solo album, ''Magazine 1'', was released on March 4, 2022, and included collaborations with Peter Duggal,

Peter Hook Peter Hook (born Woodhead; 13 February 1956) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Joy Division and New Order. Hook often used the bass as a lead instrument, playing melodies on the high strings wi ...

, Maps, Carl Cox, Claudia Brucken and

Midge Ure James Ure (born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his actual name. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s ...

Discography

Solo

Albums

* '' Eloquence: Complete Works'' (2015) * ''Magazine 1'' (2022)

With Kraftwerk

* ''

Autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...

'' (1974) * '' Radioaktivität'' (1975) * '' Trans-Europa Express'' (1977) * '' Die Mensch-Maschine'' (1978) * '' Computerwelt'' (1981; Flür is depicted on the cover but does not play on the record) * '' Electric Café'' (1986; Flür is depicted on the cover but does not play on the record)

Albums

* ''Time Pie'' (1996)

EPs

* ''Musica Obscura'' (1997)

Singles

* "Guiding Ray" (1996) * "Stereomatic" (1996) * "I Was a Robot" (2004)

Collaborations

– "Yamate Line" (featured on the album '' Party People'', 2005) * Dyko feat. Wolfgang Flür – "Autobahn" (B side to the single "In Ordnung", 2009) * Empire State Human feat. Wolfgang Flür/Yamo – "Melancholic Afro" (featured on the album ''Audio Gothic'', 2009) *

Giorgio Li Calzi Giorgio Li Calzi (born 9 April 1965), is an Italian trumpeter, composer and music producer. Giorgio Li Calzi started overdubbing piano and synthesizer as a child, and in 1990 he began to play the trumpet. His interest in improvisation using elec ...

feat. Wolfgang Flür – "Freakin' Out" (featured on the compilation ''Switched on Bob: A Tribute To

Bob Moog Robert Arthur Moog ( ; May 23, 1934 – August 21, 2005) was an American engineer and electronic music pioneer. He was the founder of the synthesizer manufacturer Moog Music and the inventor of the first commercial synthesizer, the Moog synthesi ...

'', 2009) * Cultural Attaches feat. Wolfgang Flür – "Golden Light" (featured on the ''Lazy Summer Vol 2'' compilation, mixed by Chris Coco; 2011) * U96 feat. Wolfgang Flür – "Zukunftsmusik" (featured on the album "REBOOT"; 2018) * U96 feat. Wolfgang Flür – "Hildebrandslied" (featured on the album "REBOOT"; 2018) * Anni Hogan feat. Wolfgang Flür – "Golden Light" "Silk Paper" (featured on the album ''Lost In Blue'', 2019) * U96 feat. Wolfgang Flür – "Transhuman" (2020) * Newmen feat. Wolfgang Flür - ''Futur I '' (featured on the album ''Futur II '' (2021)

Videography

*'' Romantic Warriors IV: Krautrock''

References

External links

MusikSoldatRemix – Melancholic Afro – a track with Wolfgang Flur vocals and drums
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flur, Wolfgang 1947 births Living people Musicians from Frankfurt German rock drummers Male drummers German male musicians German electronic musicians Kraftwerk members