Kraftwerk again....

After watching a BBC4 doc on Krautrock (again) last night and realising that:
1. Trans Europe Express is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever.

2. I could listen to a loop of Autobahn pretty much forever without getting tired of it.

3. I'm so very pleased I got to see them live, because I'm not sure they'll ever play live again.

It was fitting to read this from Tim O'Neil:

"Because I love pointing out the obvious, let's run down all the people who haven't been inducted into the Hall of Fame yet despite their eligibility.

Kraftwerk
Estimated Years Eligible: 16
Chances of Eventually Being Inducted: Even

The same crowd who complained when Madonna and ABBA were inducted (and Grand Funk once again overlooked!) would probably weep tears of blood to see Kraftwerk inducted.

And yet: without a doubt one of the five most influential bands ever. I mean, they're German! But without Kraftwerk the shape of modern music would be so different as to be recognizable. Every group either goes through a Kraftwerk phase or they go through a phase where they emulate the no-/new-wave bands who were influenced by Kraftwerk, or the 70s Bowie albums that were made under the direct influence of Kraftwerk and cocaine, in that order. Even U2 went through a Kraftwerk phase, for Chrissakes. If you're a rapper, you've got Kraftwerk so far back in your RNA that even if you don't know who Florian Schneider is, you know all the guys who built hip-hop out of sampling "Trans-Europe Express." If you sing pop music in 2011, you're basically standing on Kraftwerk's shoulders.

They'll get in eventually, I'll wager, but probably not before half the band is dead."