Neu! • Hero • Live at the Dingerland Free Concert • Rattingen, Germany • 14 September 1974

Neu! • Hero • Live at the Dingerland Free Concert • Rattingen, Germany • 14 September 1974 • This video is my restored and re-edited version of this classic clip of Neu! performing an early punk as f*ck live version of Hero. A couple of months later, this lineup of Neu! would record a reworked Hero for inclusion on the Neu! 75 album. • Neu! was a German band formed by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother after their split from Kraftwerk in 1971. Dinger and Rother worked closely with producer and “non” (unofficial third) member Conny Plank. Together they created completely unique and ground-breaking music on three albums: Neu!, Neu! 2 and Neu! 75. Neu! had minimal commercial success during its existence, but is retrospectively considered one of the formative Krautrock bands and a significant influence on many artists including David Bowie, Brian Eno, Sex Pistols & PIL, Joy Division, Stereolab, Gary Numan, Ultravox, Simple Minds, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Julian Cope. Neu! split for the first time in ‘73. Klaus Dinger then formed La Düsseldorf with his brother Thomas and Hans Lampe. And Michael Rother formed the band Harmonia with Cluster’s Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius. Neu! reformed in ’74, fulfilling an obligation to record another album. This September ’74 clip was shot at the Dingerland free outdoor concert, at Blauer See (Blue Lake) in Ratingen, near Düsseldorf. The concert was one of two that had been organised to publicize Klaus Dinger’s short-lived new label Dingerland. Apparently, this show may have been the only time Neu! played live with this line-up; that was basically the La Düsseldorf band Michael Rother. Side two of Neu! 75 (particularly “Hero“) was acknowledged as an important influence by many later involved in the UK’s punk rock scene, with Dinger’s sneering, barely intelligible vocals searing across a distorted Motorik beat with aggressive single chord guitar pounding. After recording Neu! 75, Dinger and Rother split again, and pursued their separate musical projects. They again reformed in the mid-80’s and an album of those sessions “Neu! 4” surfaced in the mid 90’s. David Bowie was greatly influenced by Neu!, La Düsseldorf and Harmonia. Check out the obvious similarity of Bowie’s “Red Sails“ from ’79, and the Harmonia track “Monza (Rauf Und Runter)“ from the ‘75 album Deluxe. Bowie later proclaimed La Düsseldorf “the soundtrack of the eighties”. Brian Eno has stated that Harmonia was “the world’s most important rock band“ in the mid ’70s. Just prior to his pioneering work with Bowie in ’76, Eno joined Harmonia to record what would eventually become the Tracks and Traces album. • Links Neu! • Web site Kraut und Rüben - Anfänge Deutscher Rockmusik • German WDR documentary series Klaus Dinger, Urvater des Techno • German Arte documentary The Wire 2001 • Interview with Klaus Dinger Klaus Dinger • Bio Michael Rother • Web site Michael Rother • 2018 interview Kraftwerk • Rückstoss-Gondoliere • Recommended listening Neu! • Neu! • 1972 Cluster • Zuckerzeit • 1974 Neu! • Neu! 75 • 1975 Harmonia • Deluxe • 1975 La Düsseldorf • La Düsseldorf • 1976 Harmonia & Eno • Tracks and Traces • 1976 Michael Rother • Flammende Herzen • 1977 • This two minutes is unfortunately the only known footage of Neu! in circulation. It has long been one of my favourite music clips on the internet. But as is often the case with me, I was frustrated with the poor quality of the existing versions of the clip. Additionally, the original contains some pretty bad editing. And so, I’ve tried to rectify the situation. Hope you dig it! • Credits Video Source: Neu! • Hero • Live at the Dingerland Free Concert • Rattingen, Germany • 14 September 1974 • From the WDR 2006 documentary series Kraut & Rüben Musicians: Klaus Dinger • Vocals, guitar Michael Rother • Guitar, electronics Thomas Dinger • Drums Hans Lampe • Drums • Always more videos to follow, so please keep your electric eye on me babe! I don’t own the rights, and I’m not making any money out of this etc. Just a fan making videos for other fans. Please Share, Like, Comment, Subscribe TheNachoVideos@ I edit, therefore I am #Neu! #KlausDinger #MichaelRother #LaDüsseldorf #1974 #1975