The Robots

"The Robots" (German Die Roboter) is a single by German electronic-music group Kraftwerk, which was released in 1978. The single and its B-side, "Spacelab", both appeared on the band's seventh album, The Man-Machine. However, the songs as they appear on the single were edited into shorter versions.

This article is about the Kraftwerk single. For the Leeds emo band sometimes called The Robots, see And None of Them Knew They were Robots.
For other uses, see Robot (disambiguation).
"The Robots"
Cover for the original German release
Single by Kraftwerk
from the album The Man-Machine
A-side"Die Roboter" (German title)
B-side"Spacelab"
ReleasedMay 1978
GenreElectronic, synthpop
Length4:20 (single edit)
3:42 (UK single edit)
6:11 (album version)
LabelKling Klang (EMI) 1C-006-32941 (Ger)
Capitol CL15981 (UK)
Songwriter(s)Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Karl Bartos
Producer(s)Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider
Kraftwerk singles chronology
"Showroom Dummies"
(1977)		 "The Robots"
(1978)		 "Das Model"
(1978)

Track listing

1978 7-inch single
Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Die Roboter"4:20
Side two
No.TitleLength
2."Spacelab"3:34

Lyrics

The lyrics reference the revolutionary technique of robotics, and how humans can use them as they wish. The Russian lines "Я твой слуга" (Ya tvoy slugá, "I am your servant") and "Я твой работник" (Ya tvoy rabótnik, "I am your worker") (also on the rear sleeve of the album) during the intro and again during its repetition at the bridge are spoken in a pitched down voice, the main lyrics ("We're charging our batteries and now we're full of energy...") are "sung" through a vocoder. Wolfgang Flür, a member of Kraftwerk at the time of the single's release, later wrote, "ich war ein roboter" (I Was a Robot in English), with his title referencing the lyrics of "The Robots".[1] The book, published in 2003, has been described as a "controversial and uncompromising autobiography of Kraftwerk", more because the other members of the band tried to censor its publication than anything else.[2] The lyrics were also referenced in the title of a BBC Radio 4 documentary, Kraftwerk: We Are the Robots, broadcast for the first time on Thursday November 22, 2007. The documentary focused on the band's place as "part of a new generation of young West Germans, living in the shadow of the Cold War, who identified with the need to recapture a German cultural identity distinct from that of Britain and America."[3]

Live performances

When the song is performed live, the band is traditionally replaced by robots that resemble themselves.[4] The method in which this is carried out varies and depends on the performance. For example, one report of a performance in 1997 describes "four legless robot bodies [being] lowered from a lighting rig and programmed to make mechanical movements to the music",[5] another from the following year describes the spectacle as "robot torsos and heads [being] suspended in the air, slowly twisting and waving as the music plays on",[6] and yet another describes witnessing on-screen "plastic-head representations of the band, stuck on dull gray torsos with mechanical arms and metal-rod legs". The lyrics, "We are the robots" flash up on this screen followed by the line, "we are programmed/just to do/anything you want us to." The screen then lifts to reveal the band following their transformation into robots. But they are said not to move "in the popping spurts that robots are famous for; they swiveled and moved their arms slowly, thoughtfully, humanly, as if practicing t'ai chi."[7] It has also been said that these "robots" give a far more lifelike performance than the band themselves.[8] There was, however, "an air of farce" at one show in Ireland in 2008 when a curtain refused to close, disrupting the transformation of the band into robots. Stagehands had to intervene and close the curtain themselves, after which it was possible for the sequence to continue.[9] The curtain issue repeated itself at the band's appearance at Manchester Velodrome, on July 2, 2009.

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (1978) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 39
West Germany (Media Control Charts) 18

1991 re-issue
"The Robots"
Single by Kraftwerk
from the album The Mix
A-side"Die Roboter" (German title)
B-side"Robotnik/Robotronik"
ReleasedMay 1991
GenreElectronic
Length3:47 (single edit)
8:58 (album version)
LabelKling Klang, EMI
Songwriter(s)Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Karl Bartos
Producer(s)Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider
Kraftwerk singles chronology
"The Telephone Call"
(1987)		 "The Robots"
(1991)		 "Radioactivity (1991 re-release)"
(1991)

In 1991, a re-recorded and re-arranged version of the song was issued as a single from the band's album The Mix.

Track listing

English versions only

1991 7-inch single
Side one
No.TitleLength
1."The Robots" (single edit)3:43
Side two
No.TitleLength
2."Robotronik" (single version)3:46

1991 12-inch single
Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Robotnik" (Kling Klang Mix)7:41
Side two
No.TitleLength
2."Die Roboter" (single edit)3:43
3."Robotronik" (Kling Klang Mix)4:51

1991 CD single
No.TitleLength
1."Die Roboter" (single edit)3:43
2."Robotnik" (Kling Klang Mix)7:41
3."Robotronik" (Kling Klang Mix)4:51

Cassette single
Side one
No.TitleLength
1."The Robots" (single edit) 
2."Robotronik" (single version) 

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (1991) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA) 26
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 20
UK Music Week Dance Singles[10] 32
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 42
US Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales 42

Influence

Montenegrin alt-rock singer Rambo Amadeus has published on his 2004 album song titled "Robot by heart and soul", which is a mash-up of Kraftwerk's song with Balkan music.[11]

The rippling 16th-note synth lick that repeats throughout the song was sampled by Bruce Forest in the remix of dance act Twenty 4 Seven's 1990 single "I Can't Stand It!".[12] The song has been heavily sampled by other artists.[13]

References
  1. "Kraftwerk: I Was a Robot - Reviewed by Troy Southgate". S Y N T H E S I S. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  2. Flür, Wolfgang (2003). Kraftwerk: I Was a Robot (Paperback). ISBN 1860744176.
  3. "Kraftwerk: We Are the Robots". BBC. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  4. "KRAFTWERK THE ROBOTS LIVE". Google Video. 2006-08-13. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  5. Strauss, Neil (1997-06-15). "Call Them the Beatles Of Electronic Dance Music". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  6. Strauss, Neil (1998-06-11). "ARTS ABROAD; Hardly a Pocket Calculator: Kraftwerk's Studio Goes on Tour". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  7. Ratliff, Ben (1998-06-15). "POP REVIEW; It's a Techno World, With Nothing to Fear From Gears and Switches". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  8. Pareles, Jon (2005-06-03). "The Live Concert Experience, as Mechanized as Possible". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  9. "Still Krafty after all these years". Irish Independent. 2008-09-15. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  10. "Top 60 Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 1991-06-01. p. 22. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  11. "Robot u srcu i duši (2008)" (in Montenegrin). Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  12. "Twenty 4 Seven's 'I Can't Stand It! (Bruce Forest Remix)' - Discover the Sample Source". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  13. "Samples of The Robots by Kraftwerk on WhoSampled". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
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