LA DÜSSELDORF: INDIVIDUELLOS (Germany, 1980)
Teldec, 4.24524 CR


Branching out a little further in 2026, here's another cassette that isn't strictly speaking by Kraftwerk. We've had some "Related artists" before though, so it feels logical to follow that trail a bit further.


Klaus Dinger played drums on Side 2 of the first Kraftwerk LP, and stayed on as a member for nearly a year. Florian Schneider, Michael Rother and Dinger started work on the second Kraftwerk album, but sessions were aborted, Hütter returned and Rother and Dinger formed Neu!. The duo put out three brilliant albums, before personal relations had soured beyond repair and the band was no more. Rother went solo, and Dinger started La Düsseldorf, recruiting his brother Thomas Dinger and Hans Lampe. From 1976-1980, three albums were released, before relations again were so strained that they could not work together any more. One gets the impression that Klaus Dinger may have been difficult to work with? Easy for me to say of course. Maybe he just had bad luck.


This is the third album, and follows on in their trademark style: friendly, beery "krautrock", with monotonous, repetitive near-instrumental songs interspersed with some shouty singalong type choruses. While the first album had four tracks, three of them over 8 minutes, and the second, "Viva!" had the 20-minute "Cha Cha 2000", the third album doesn't have these endless one-note kraut-outs; the longest track is just over six minutes. Like Neu!, La Düsseldorf put out some really good albums, and although they didn't chart, they're said to have sold pretty well, and are all available on cassette.


This one comes in a 2-panel J-card, printed on one side, and red paper labels on a black cassette. Come on! It's a nice item, even if Ralf Hütter had nothing to do with it.





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