Kraftwerk - Techno Pop (1983)

In 1983 Kraftwerk had just released the successful 'Tour de France' EP, and plans were in place to follow this up with an album called 'Techno Pop'. But 1983 became 1984 and nothing appeared. In fact, nothing would appear for a further two years, when the 'Electric Cafe' album was released in 1986. Confusion abounded as to whether this was a reworked version of 'Techno Pop' or if it was a brand new album, and that it had created a mysterious 'lost album' in between. When 'Electric Cafe' was reissued in 2004 under the name 'Techno Pop' we got our answer. Apparently the band had just had a crisis of confidence about it when comparing it to the dance music they were hearing in New York at the time, and coupled with Ralf Hutter's serious cycling injury which put him out of action for a while, they'd decided to shelve the whole album. As most of the tracks from the proposed 'Techno Pop' eventually turned up on 'Electric Cafe', this isn't so much a reconstruction as a 'what could have been', so I've used alternate versions and demos, to make the album that should have come out in 1983. I'd rounded it off with a rare track called 'Cybernetik Interspace', but Steve W has pointed out this is actually from a Kraftwerk tribute album by DJ Steve Lombardoni and not by Kraftwerk, but it sort of fitted with the rest so I've left it on. 

Track listing

01 Techno Pop/Sex Object (Unreleased Demo 1983)
02 The Telephone Call (original mix)
03 Sex Object (Unreleased Demo 1983)
04 Tour de France (allemande)
05 Cybernetik Interspace (Unreleased mix)
06 Sex Object (Spanish Version)
07 Boing Boom Tschak (Funkstar Deluxe)