Posted by Autobahn was released in 1974, the year zero of Kraftwerk and (for many) of the history of electronic music. But he didn’t have an official video originally. We were on the 70s, music didn’t explode yet in TV channels and it was too early to think about making up a short film on a particular single.
But you know, Kraftwerk liked to be pioneers. In 1979 the video below has been made, reusing a previous work of the animator Roger Mainwood, who at that time had just finished his studies at the Royal College Of Art. In the video there are no highways (english for “Autobahn”), instead there is an alien who wants to get in touch with humans and many other living forms.
Roger Mainwood explained to Kraftwerkonline: “I was a young thing in those days. That video gave me an excuse to do a lot with the animation which I enjoyed and I think some people also have, although I can see it could be viewed as a rather frustrating film for anyone looking for a conventional storyline. ” And the song gives a special atmosphere to the video, with its loops mixing and expanding in a hypnotic way.
It’s an old piece of history that remained buried in internet since long time, likely to be lost among the huge amount of hidden content that populates the web today. Things that are worth to rediscover and to celebrate, from time to time.
