3. Some German Autons
In this particular story though, the Workshop can't take all the credit. Though they appear to look like nothing more than some well-dressed Autons, Kraftwerk were the trendiest name-drop in electronic music at the time, and their influence makes itself apparent once again here. Invest in their ' The Catalogue' box set, set aside some time to take a listen to ' Radio-Activity' (1975), ' The Man-Machine' ( 1978, easily recognisable by the cover- on which they appear to be in thrall to the Nestene Consciousness), and 1981's ' Computer World', in particular, and you'll literally hear what I mean. Everyone from David Bowie to Gary Numan, Simple Minds & Orchestral Manouvres In The Dark has at some point been taken in by their mechanical rhythmn. But the Human League take this in a brilliant new direction. Imagine watching ' The Robots Of Death' while ' The Robots', Kraftwerk's ode to the metal man-apers, plays out in the background. Spine stopped tingling yet? And there endeth the sonic lesson. By taking the best bits of classic ' Who' scores & the synthesiser sounds current to their early years, in ' Tom Baker' they cut a fine slice of retro/futurism, a feat which surely deserves more recognition than just a B-side appearance and album reissue track status, appearing as it does on the 1988 Virgin Records rejig of ' Travelogue' ( 1980).