"Super" is a single by German band
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 ...
, released in 1972. It failed to chart and has never been re-released, but has become a collector's item due to the rarity of the original vinyl 7". After the single's recording both the
A and B side tracks were added to the album ''
Neu! 2'', which was released the following year.
Recording, release and remixing
Both tracks were recorded quickly at
Conny Plank
Konrad "Conny" Plank (3 May 1940 – 5 December 1987) was a German record producer and musician. He is known for his innovative work as a sound engineer and producer in Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scene in the 1970s. Plank was involv ...
's studio in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
during the summer of 1972, six months after the release of Neu!'s
debut album.
Brain
The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...
were pessimistic about the single's chances, and had to be convinced to release it by
Dinger and
Rother. When it was released, it was backed by only minimal promotion, and predictably failed to make any impact on the German music charts (though some
Krautrock
Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electron ...
acts – such as
Can – did have successful singles in the early
'70s).
When Dinger and Rother returned to the studio in early 1973 to record ''
Neu! 2'', they decided to fill the second side of the new album with tape manipulated remixes of the "Super/Neuschnee" single. There have been several conflicting explanations as to why this was done, the most quoted being Dinger's assertion that:
However, this has been refuted by Michael Rother, who claims that the second side was made to aggravate their record label, who they felt had insufficiently promoted the original release of the "Super/Neuschnee" single, and not as a result of financial problems. Either way, the second side of the album was ill-met by fans who thought, according to Rother, that "we were making fun of them."
The Wire – In Writing – Interviews
2001. This issue contributed to the widening gap between Dinger and Rother, both creatively and personally. Dinger later said of the issue:
The single was also released in the UK on the United Artists
United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...
label with a different cover.
Track listing
All tracks composed by 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 music, new wave group La Düsse ...
and 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 educat ...
.
# "Super" – 3:07
# "Neuschnee" – 3:59
Personnel
* Klaus Dinger – drums, vocals
* Michael Rother – bass, guitar
References
{{Authority control
1972 songs
Neu! songs
Songs written by Klaus Dinger
Songs written by Michael Rother