Kraftwerk cassettes

V/A - Suck It And See (UK, 1973) Vertigo 7432 027 And now, a Various artists compilation, haven't had any of those in an age, and this one is interesting, not least in a chronological sense! As mentioned before, Kraftwerk were very tight with their output, and never contributed exclusive non-album tracks to film soundtracks, compilation albums or even their own singles. On this 1973 compilation, which came out on both vinyl and cassette (a double LP on single cassette, quite a good deal I expect!), listeners get the 1970 recording "Ruckzuck", one of the highlights of their debut LP - which came out in the UK in 1972 as a double LP with their sophomore effort. "Ruckzuck" is presented here in its full, near 8-minute glory, among prog rock, hard rock, some psych and folk - track list is in the last picture.  I believe this is the first various artists compilation cassette that Kraftwerk feature on, so it's kind of fitting that they use the opener track of the d...

HIGHRAIL (Germany, 1979) Philips, 7172 299 Today, let's go back to the realm of early works compilations! The German "Highrail", another recent acquisition. I'm glad I got this one, at long last, as it has escaped me quite narrowly on several occasions. I'm not particularly superstitious, but I was beginning to feel like I'd never get it... But here it is! Highrail came in 1979, and in the Reflections series - a sizeable reissue program originally on the Fontana label, with best-of's and compilations of scores of artists. The name "Highrail" and the locomotive on the front cover follow on from 1977's Trans-Europa Express album, of course, and I believe this came in 1979, one of the last of these compilations of pre-Autobahn material. In fact, I'm beginning to speculate if the later " Pop Lions " compilation is a kind of companion to this? Considering the track list (where only Autobahn overlaps), the (supposed) connection to the...