ROBOTS (1986, USA)
Capitol, S41 56714


I've posted this compilation cassette before, but this is a variant! As said in that other post, two editions exist - both from the USA, both from 1986, sounds and look very similar; the only difference is the cat. no and the bar code.

So to recap, this compilation came around the time of Electric Cafe. That new album came out in November 1986, in most countries, so I suppose the "Robots" compilation could have come out earlier the same year, sort of building up to their long-awaited new album - but it's also very possible it was released just before Christmas, like a "starter kit" for Kraftwerk's mid-70s output... I think it'd make the most sense to release this in advance of Electric Cafe, but I don't know. 

Moving on, the track selection is worthy of a mention. Radio edits were used in some cases, so if you want to hear the last five minutes of Neon Lights you're in for a bitter disappointment; in addition to the more obvious choices, we find Transistor and Uranium from Radio-Activity... Showroom Dummies is not in, and although this was a Capitol compilation, one does feel that Autobahn could have been licenced from Mercury or Vertigo or whoever had the rights in 1986, if the goal had been to release a proper greatest hits comp. But no, it's not here. Well, at least we get Geiger Counter.

I suppose the best feature of this compilation is the image on the front of the J-card, a colour image of Kraftwerk's dummies. It's apparently a still from the Showroom Dummies video, of the bald dummies - come to think of it now, it  must be from the same photo session as the silhouettes on the sleeve of the "Das Model" single in Germany. Anyway, the picture was used on the labels of the "Showroom Dummies/ Les Mannequins" US promo 12", but the "Robots" compilation cassette is the only place I can think of where it was reproduced in colour.

Why couldn't they call it "The Robots"? It is clearly named after the song, The Robots... Is it a compilation of robots? "Some Robots" by Kraftwerk? 

Anyway, it's a 1-panel J-card, printed on the outside only, and a clear shell cassette with white on-body print. Nobody could say Capitol Records spared no expense on the customers' behalf here, and in spite of the couple of attractions, it feels a bit like a cash-in. It wouldn't take long after this before the band asserted stronger control over their output and these sort of random compilations were a thing of the past.





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