Next month, a remarkable coincidence in live entertainment arrives on these shores. Bill Bailey, the great English comedian with musical leanings, returns for his umpteenth national tour. Also playing at the same time will be Kraftwerk, the influential electronic band that is arguably Germany’s greatest contribution to pop music.
That the 58-year-old Bailey and the 53-year-old group will be in the same country on the other side of their world is a case of the planets aligning. Because among Bailey’s finest musical parody moments was Das Hokey Kokey, his version of Hokey Cokey in a Kraftwerk style complete with three other guys in black suits.
His introduction to the piece, performed on his 2004 Part Troll tour, offered it as a tribute to one of his favourite bands. We wondered: Did he mean that? Yes, he did, he said, when the Listener asked if he would like to explain his long-term affection for the band, its aesthetic and sense of humour and how he’s sent them up, complete with a recently recorded Kraftwerkian Wheels on the Bus. Here’s Bailey’s take on the Teutonic techno titans …
Early encounters
I first encountered them as a teenager growing up in the West Country, with their hit The Model. I loved the pared-down sound, the tech, the cool lyrics describing the hollow nature of artifice and glamour and celebrity which accurately pre-empted the 80s and continues to this day. This was the gateway to all of their earlier work, and subsequent albums. I had a little four-track recorder that I used to record my own demos on and was at the time playing in a band with synthesisers. So their look and sound really appealed. It was so different from everything else around.
Listening to them today
I listen to their music while walking, cycling, driving, flying and also when working. But the best way is travelling on a train through Europe, particularly the Eurostar, or driving through northern France. Cycling with headphones on or walking or running in London is too dangerous. So I tend not to these days. Something that requires rhythm, like pedalling – so on an exercise bike or a treadmill, you can sync your strides or pedal to the music. It makes the whole experience much more enjoyable.
Favourite Kraftwerk album and tracks
Their albums suit different moods. If feeling contemplative, or a little melancholy, then it’s Trans-Europe Express, but for general use, I actually love the Tour de France album. I was on tour with this album in my head, everywhere: it was the perfect soundtrack to trains, planes and automobiles. It was my pre-show music in its entirety. It’s a bit more polished than the earlier albums, more dynamic range, and more contemporary sounding. The track Vitamin, which is shimmering waves of synth chords under a spoken list of various vitamins, is so shiveringly, deliciously metallic, it’s like licking a battery – or blood – while at the same time being hilariously po-faced and ludicrous. It’s so Kraftwerk. Me and my old pal Sean Lock would sing along to it, just listing ingredients: “Chicken … onions … carrots, meat and two vege – casserole.”
Last time he saw them live
They delivered a rip-roaring set of classics, electronic dance music that sent the moshpit into a bouncing rave, austere soundscapes that seem to come from the future and the past simultaneously. They did that while looking quite like hotel reception staff who say, “There is no record of your reservation.”
Das Hokey Kokey
I’d seen Kraftwerk, and I loved the show, and then I was playing around in the studio, just jamming some Kraftwerk-style chords, and it struck me: Do they ever do cover versions? Has it ever occurred to them? Do they sometimes say, “let’s start with I Feel Love, or Whiskey in the Jar …”. And then, of course, it became a list of inappropriate songs – Country Roads, Yes Sir, I Can Boogie, Since You’ve Been Gone. I had a whole album of Kraftwerk covers but the Hokey Cokey seemed the most ludicrous – “Come on guys, let’s have ein Cockney knees-up.”
After I did it, I did meet them briefly in Brixton and there was a nodding acknowledgment, which I will accept as an endorsement.
The Kraftwerk sense of humour
When Coldplay wanted to use the melody from Computer Love for their song Talk, from the album X & Y, I love that the permission was granted simply by a handwritten note, that said “Yes”. This to me says that they do have a very dry sense of humour, a sense of the absurd.
They had this austere aesthetic, which may at one time have looked like an arch affectation, but it was also cool, and people loved it. So they just carried that on over the years with robots on the stage and luminous computer graphic suits. They were showmen. They knew it had a theatrical, almost cabaret-style element.
Kraftwerk is rock’n’roll
They are, most definitely. I saw them at an outdoor festival where they had 3D projections, and the audience of kids and families were all wearing 3D glasses, which looked really cool. Also, there was an audience of ravers at Brixton – so they bring in a lot of different crowds. They put on a show wherever and everyone gets into it. That, to me, is the definition of rock’n’roll – a kind of undefinable, timeless cool. They don’t care what people think. They do their thing, they transcend trends and musical styles. They are Kraftwerk and that’s it, and this is also rock’n’roll.
Bill Bailey “Thoughtifier” tour dates:
- Christchurch Town Hall, Nov 4 & 5
- Dunedin Town Hall, Nov 7
- Invercargill, Civic Theatre, Nov 8
- Queenstown Events Centre, Nov 9
- Nelson, Trafalgar Centre, Nov 12
- Whanganui Royal Opera House, Nov 14
- New Plymouth, TSB Showplace, Nov 16
- Palmerston North, Regent On Broadway, Nov 17
- Wellington, Michael Fowler Centre, Nov 19 & 20
- Auckland, Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Nov 23 & 25
- Hastings, Toitoi Events Centre, Nov 27
- Tauranga, Baypark, Nov 30
- Rotorua, Sir Owen Glenn Theatre, Dec 2
- Hamilton, Globox Arena, December 4
Kraftwerk tour dates:
- Wellington, TSB Arena, Nov 29
- Auckland, Spark Arena, Dec 1
