Klaus Dinger (NEU!) R.I.P.

[schwenko]

Klaus Dinger, Drummer of Influential German Beat, Dies at 61

New York Times

By BEN SISARIO
Published: April 4, 2008

Klaus Dinger, the drummer for the 1970s German band Neu!, whose mechanically repetitive yet buoyant beats had a wide influence in underground rock, died on March 20. He was 61.

The cause was heart failure, according to an announcement on Wednesday by his German record label, Grönland, which did not say where he died.

Mr. Dinger formed Neu!, which means New!, with the guitarist Michael Rother in Düsseldorf in 1971, after both had played in an early incarnation of the group Kraftwerk. Over three albums, the two perfected a droning, hypnotic style made up of Mr. Dinger’s simple, perpetual-motion rhythms and Mr. Rother’s fluid guitar effects.

Exemplified in songs like the 10-minute “Hallogallo,â€￾ Mr. Dinger’s beat was a steady pulse that seemed to extend rock’s most basic rhythmic patterns infinitely. The beat came to be known as Motorik, an allusion to the industrial style then prevalent among German groups. (The name Kraftwerk means power station.)

Along with records by Kraftwerk, Can, Faust and a few other groups, the original Neu! albums — “Neu!â€￾ (1972), “Neu! 2â€￾ (1973) and “Neu! ’75â€￾ (1975) — are landmarks of German experimental rock, a genre that was quickly labeled Krautrock by journalists and fans, both affectionately and derisively. (The musicians preferred the term Kosmische Musik, or cosmic music.)

Though the Neu! albums were long out of print before being reissued in 2001, they inspired countless artists, including David Bowie, Sonic Youth, Radiohead and Stereolab. The Neu! beat can also be heard in recent work by such groups as the Boredoms, from Japan.

Brian Eno, the British producer who championed Neu! and later worked with Mr. Rother, once said, “There were three great beats in the ’70s: Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat, James Brown’s funk and Klaus Dinger’s Neu! beat.â€￾

In his student days in the 1960s, Mr. Dinger played in rock bands that he has described as influenced by the Beatles and the Kinks. He studied architecture but dropped out after three years to pursue music.

Mr. Dinger and Mr. Rother parted ways after the third Neu! album, and Mr. Dinger formed La Düsseldorf and later La! Neu? He reunited with Mr. Rother briefly in the mid-1980s and recorded an album, “Neu! 4,â€￾ that was released in 1995.

In a 1998 interview Mr. Dinger complained that he never called his beat Motorik.

“That sounds more like a machine, and it was very much a human beat,â€￾ he said. “It is essentially about life, how you have to keep moving, get on and stay in motion.â€￾

[MikeP]

Another underrated great is gone.[:(] Wow, I had my iTunes on shuffle yesterday and "Isi" played -- one of my faves from Neu! Time to crank up the incredible pre-punk "Hero", which I believe was one of Dinger's compositions.

[geoffolehane]

That's a shame. Their music had only recently come out on CD.

[Bitter Almonds]

<p align="justify">I remember when Radiohead's [i]Amnesiac[/i] debuted. The Neu! albums were reissued around the same time and it had a blurb from Radiohead as its selling point. Listen to Radiohead's "Cuttooth" and you will hear Neu! When I read the news of Klaus's passing, I felt sad. I hadn't felt sad for an artist since I read of Frank Tovey's passing.

[rotator]

I have been trying to get that 'Hallogallo' beat down for a couple months now...he was a real innovator, had a huge impact on kraftwerks use of beats, and therefore, disco and electro.....

too young to go. very sad