Tone Float

Though only a footnote in the history of pop music, Organisation was the actual germ of Kraftwerk. In 1968, students Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider met at Art Academy Remscheid and decided to take new musical ways. Both classically trained on piano and flute, they had already played in blues and jazz bands. Together with three other musicians, who played bass and various percussion instruments, Organisation managed to release an album on RCA/U.K. It was quite unusual for a British company to sign a German band at this time, especially with that experimental sound. Sometime later the decision was questioned for sure, since the sales of Tone Float fell short of expectations. This was not very amazing, as Organisation mixed some half way conventional passages with wild percussion and alienated sounds. With this album, the band was far ahead of the time and created a new sound. They got to know that this was not everybody's cup of tea indeed, as there were vegetables thrown at the band at a concert in Berlin. Also a TV appearance at the Beatclub, German equivalent to British Ready Steady Go, produced discrepant reactions. One part of the studio audience seemed somewhat consternated, the other enthusiastic. A recording of this gig later was included on a bootleg reissue. In 1970, Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider had already released Kraftwerk 1 without the rest of the band. The once normal band relation got cooler with time and broke down gradually, 'The Robots' created their 'Man Machine'-image. Organisation disbanded in 1971 because of the well-known musical differences. Kraftwerk drove the 'Autobahn' to international success when time was right, while none of the other musicians ever appeared as recording artists again.