Quick Facts
Biography
Wolfgang Flür (born 17 July 1947) is a German musician, formerly a member of the electronic group Kraftwerk from 1973 to 1987, playing electronic percussion. Flür claims that he also invented the group's electric drums used throughout the 1970s. However, patent records dispute this citing Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter as the creators.
Background
Previously he had played an acoustic drum kit in the Düsseldorf 1960s band The Spirits of Sound. Guitarist Michael Rother was also a member of The Spirits of Sound, later forming Neu! with then Kraftwerk drummer Klaus Dinger.
Post-Kraftwerk
In 1997, Flür founded Yamo, which released an album Time Pie, a collaboration with Mouse on Mars. Flür's next release, the 12" and remixes of I Was A Robot, climbed to number 6 in the German club charts. Collaborations with Pizzicato Five and Der Plan founding member Pyrolator have been announced, and the lyrics to the song "Greed" are in Flür's autobiography, but this material remains unreleased.
Flür wrote an autobiography, published in the year 2000, called Ich war ein Roboter (English version: I Was a Robot), and released in 2011 in Spanish as Kraftwerk: Yo fui un robot (Ed. MILENIO),. The autobiography includes his youth, early career as a musician, and some of his activity within Kraftwerk. Hütter and Schneider filed a lawsuit against Flür, causing halt of the publication and rewriting parts that included disputed accounts of his time with the band.
Recently, Flür has been seen DJing in clubs, playing tech house and electro. He has also accompanied the German synthpop duo Dyko, in live shows as an electronic percussionist, and on a single released in 2009. As of 2011, Flür has gone under the moniker Musik Soldat.
Japanese singer Maki Nomiya's album Party People included the song "Yamate Line" with songwriting and co-production credited to Flür/Yamo.
On 16 October 2015, Flür released his first solo album under his own name, Eloquence.
Discography
Solo
Albums
- Eloquence: Complete Works (2015)
With Kraftwerk
- Autobahn (1974)
- Radioaktivität (1975)
- Trans-Europa Express (1977)
- Die Mensch-Maschine (1978)
- Computerwelt (1981)
- Electric Café (1986)
Yamo
Albums
- Time Pie (1996)
EPs
- Musica Obscura (1997)
Singles
- "Guiding Ray" (1996)
- "Stereomatic" (1996)
- "I Was a Robot" (2004)
Collaborations
- Maki Nomiya – "Yamate Line" (featured on the album Party People, 2005)
- Dyko feat. Wolfgang Flür – "Autobahn" (B side to the single "In Ordnung", 2009)
- Empire State Human feat. Wolfgang Flür/Yamo – "Melancholic Afro" (featured on the album Audio Gothic, 2009)
- Giorgio Li Calzi feat. Wolfgang Flür – "Freakin' Out" (featured on the compilation Switched on Bob: A Tribute To Bob Moog, 2009)
- Cultural Attaches feat. Wolfgang Flür – "Golden Light" (featured on the Lazy Summer Vol 2 compilation, mixed by Chris Coco; 2011)