I'm answering the enquiry about me and krautrock which appeared on your comment board. No, I did not know anything about the BBC4 documentary which I see is being broadcast this Friday. Yes, I did introduce krautrock to the UK and spent a lot of time in Germany at the beginning of the 1970s.
I'd like to boast: I am the only person in history who bought the first albums of the Velvet Underground, the Stooges and Can upon their release, so when I became the Spectator's rock columnist in 1970 one of the first things I did was go to Cologne and connect up with Can who became good friends and I wrote a lot about them. I also hung out in Berlin with Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel and told Tony Stratton-Smith of Charisma Records to sign up the former but he was too slow and Polydor got them, later Virgin Records.
David Bowie arrived in Berlin much later at the end of the 70s and of course was never in on anything seminal. In Munich I was with Amon Duul and Popol Vuh (re last, see video below). The latter was the brainchild of Florian Fricke who was the first person I ever knew to sleep under a fur blanket. Fur was popular at the time - see the film Performance for a graphic illustration of this and remember too the famous fur-topped bar at the Byblos Hotel in St Tropez (since removed). Florian was a delightful man, quiet, intense and generous, and a wonderful pianist. He already knew Herzog and Popol Vuh subsequently provided the music for all Herzog's major films. Sadly Florian died early from a stroke.
I hope Friday's documentary mentions him because I'd call him the inventor of 'ambient music' in the current sense of the phrase. As we know, ambient music as an idea was the invention of the Franco-Scottish genius Eric Satie.
With best wishes, Duncan Fallowell
Popol Vuh - Improvisation (1971)
18 comments:
How about some memoirs from Duncan too?
Fricke's music to Nosferatu is magic
If Duncan Fallowell is so clever how come he's spelt ERIK Satie wrong? Anyway it was Sounds & the NME who pushed KrautRock & Nick Kent who popularised the Velvets & Stooges - what self-respecting teen rock fan ever read the fucking Spectator?!!
He was christened Eric (accent on 'E' if you wish) and later signed himself Erik. Both were used.
Best, Duncan Fallowell
Krautrock was never ze teenybopper pop, what are you sinking of, Diana darlink?
I am Acid Rain
Furher to my earlier comment, I hate to sound trivial (actually I love it ha ha), why doesn't Fallowell (I keep wanting to type Halliwell of Ginger Spice fame)boast he was the first person ever to buy the unlistenable bollocks of Gong (Pothead Pixies) & Henry Cow - I would've thought that'd be right up his, err, street - or are they too boringly ENGLISH? Come to that, what is "Daevid" Allen doing these days, or is he dead?
Is that really u, Diana? Hven't seen u since Holiday Inn, Telford, last Groundhogs tour, you out of it, me into it. Bighugs
Fuhrer to my earlier comment
Wasn't Simon Napier-Bell in on 'krautrock' as well with that band Japan ?.
I believe he broke all his bands first in Germany and tailored them for a German audience via Hansa Records.
As for David Bowie-there is a memorable quote from Mick Jagger saying (words to the effect of) "don't let Bowie see your act before it goes public or next thing you will find he's copied every idea"
Japan were later than this and David Sylvian worked with Holger Czukay of Can in the 1980s.
Czukay also worked a lot with sexy Cockney Jah Wobble. Jah W also has a great memoir recently published. We're in memoir gulch here! I read in an interview somewhere that Johnny Rotten told Duncan Fallowell that what made him want to be in a band was reading Fallowell's liner notes to Can's Tago Mago.
I will be glued
I was interested to read this as someone who bought the records too. I'm sure the late John Peel, a frequent visitor to Hamburg had a lot to do with introducing strange and new music. That's where I first heard Neu! for instance
Further to my earlier comment, sorry Duncan I am a drunken cunt & hope you are not stung by my ignorant insensitive stupid comment, I will watch the "KrautRock" thing tonight on repeat, but on a diff subj did you see the fab prog on BBC 4 (maybe not, it wasn't mentioned in the Spectator) on Al Bowlly - oh & by the way, are you really telling us you LIKED all those ghastly German bands?!!!! Even AMON DULL?!!!!
By the way, aren't you the man who shags Julie Christie or am I mixing you up with someone else?!
P P S Nice free DVD of Darling in today#s erk Daily Mail!
I know I am being silly but exactly how many people does Duncan thingy know who sleep under a fur blanket? (is this a euphemism?) Not many I would have thought unless they are about 2 months old, & even then it would have to be fake fur. Sorry pissed again ...
Beautiful-Profile_&-Cock-That-Works
C'mon Dinky lighten up have a g weekend anyway old bean!
does Duncan Fallowell still go to Berlin and has he been to the Mudd Club ? (formely in New York). I spoke on the telephone to the owner the other day and he said it's thriving because Germany was 15 years behind the times.
Not been to Berlin since the wall came down. Have been waiting for the wastelands to be rebuilt so that I can do a visual reappraisal. Have just bought the Ullmann guide so a visit in the offing. The Quiller Memorandum (1966, Pinter script) is a fabulous visual record of the Berlin I visited a few years later - light and flimsy rectilinear modernism interspersed with macabre ruins.
Best, Duncan
Post a Comment