Richard Barone is an example to all of us who get trapped in our daily grind. He seems to be the perpetual glass-half-full kind of guy. He admits he feels pretty much the same way he did 30 years ago when Barone on lead vocals and guitar along with bassist Rob Norris and drummer Frank Giannini gave birth to the Bongos, a wonderful, jangly power-pop combo that could light up any room with its overflowing energy. It’s difficult to believe that their new album, Phantom Train (Jem), is not really new at all. With guitarist James Mastro added to the band, it was cut in 1985 and 1986 and has languished on the shelf ever since. Barone has also kindly agreed to serve as guest editor for magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.
Barone: One band whose influence on pop is never, ever disputed is Kraftwerk. Beginning in the early ’70s in Düsseldorf, Germany, the electronic beats and the very machinery they invented and hold patents on were the not-so-humble beginnings of the melding of pop and electronic music. The sound that dominates what we think of today as modern pop. “No other band since the Beatles has given so much to pop culture,” said The Observer. And they are right. Among those who can be counted as being directly influenced are David Bowie, Depeche Mode and Daft Punk, but really the list is endless. For Kraftwerk it has never been the music alone, but the finely crafted image and graphic elements that complete the picture; an odd and attractive juxtaposition of vintage and futuristic, the past’s vision of the future. It makes Kraftwerk timeless, and both reinforces and contradicts the “modern,” machine aspect of the sound. The images and artwork associated with their Trans Europe Express, Ralf And Florian and Radioactivity albums, are good examples. Emil Schult, their Düsseldorf compadre and fellow traveler is responsible for much of the Kraftwerk iconic look (and some of their equally iconic lyrics). We met in the Bahamas in the ’80s while the Bongos were making Phantom Train, to which he contributed the cover artwork and photos. He was always coming up with design ideas and conceptualizing. And he is still at it today, more than ever. Check out his website and see what I mean. His style is often a gorgeous re-imagining of art deco, sometimes with an added color vibrancy, and always engineered to perfection.
Video after the jump.
