Britain, the United States, and West Germany

Decades of Cultural Exchange and Musical Evolution

Presenter: Max Nizetich

Presenter Status: Undergraduate student

Academic Year: 20-21

Semester: Spring

Faculty Mentor: Michaela Grobbel

Department: Modern Languages & Literatures

Funding Source/Sponsor: Other

Other Funding Source/Program: Senior Project

Screenshot URL: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1QVldGcc94Wd93m_JmEuujCtetsa7GDqy

Abstract:
By the mid to late 1970s, West Germany participated in a cyclical exchange of culture when its music reached Anglo-American artists such as David Bowie and Joy Division/ New Order.  This cultural exchange allowed musicians to push the boundaries of what popular music can sound like. Cultural imperialism that dominated West Germany after World War II divided the German population. German radio stations, movie theatres, and bookstores were filled with Anglo-American works. Anglo-American culture fascinated the German youth, who were trying to distance themselves from their parents. This cultural difference led to the generational conflict with the older culturally conservative parents against the radical liberal youth. Cultural imperialism, however, also led to the emergence of an avant-garde musical movement known as Krautrock.

Kraftwerk, NEU!, Amon Duul II, and Tangerine Dream avoided the mainstream up-beat rock n roll, beat music, and German Schlager. They aimed at expanding the forms of composition and production of psychedelic rock and avant-garde composers like Stockhausen, Pink Floyd, and The Who. Bands associated with Krautrock pushed the boundaries of what could be done with synthesizers, motorik drum beats, electronic equipment, and computers. Their decision to take a more avant-garde approach by adopting synthesizers, computers and long segments of improvisation reached Anglo-American Artists like David Bowie and Joy Division/ New Order. These artists who were exposed to this new German music and culture were influenced by Krautrock bands to reinvent themselves and their music. By the early 1980s, synth-pop, post-punk, and electronic dance music emerged as mainstream genres. The result of this cultural exchange between England, the United States, and West Germany led to the emergence of Krautrock, which in turn played a role in how modern music would splinter into various genres during the latter half of the twentieth century in the USA and England.