Can (band)

Can was an experimental rock group founded in Germany in 1968. Describing themselves as an "anarchist community", and constructing their music largely through improvisation and edit, they had only occasional commercial success, but exerted a huge influence on subsequent rock and electronic music. They are generally held to be the finest of the original Krautrock bands, and are among the most important experimental artists in recent music history.

Can formed in Cologne in 1968 as "Inner Space", comprising bass guitarist Holger Czukay, keyboard player Irmin Schmidt (both music teachers who had studied under Karlheinz Stockhausen), guitarist Michael Karoli (a pupil of Czukay), and jazz drummer Jaki Liebezeit, along with original member David Johnson.

In the fall of 1968, they enlisted the creative, highly rhythmic, but often confrontational American vocalist Malcolm Mooney, with whom they released the album Monster Movie in 1969. His bizarre and (often apparently psychotic) ranting stood in contrast to the stark minimalism of the music, which was influenced particularly by the Velvet Underground, James Brown, and Pink Floyd. As with those influences, repetition was stressed on bass and drums, particularly on the 20-minute "Yoo Doo Right", which had been edited down from a six-hour improvisation. This song, which features Mooney yelling what appear to be the highlights from a love letter, has been covered in abbreviated form by The Geraldine Fibbers, Thin White Rope, and others.

Mooney returned to America soon afterwards (on the advice of a psychiatrist, according to legend) and was replaced by the less overtly challenging Damo Suzuki, a Japanese traveller found busking outside a cafe. The band's first record with Suzuki was Soundtracks (1970). Suzuki was a very different sort of singer from Mooney: his multi-lingual (he claimed to sing in "the language of the Stone Age"), often inscrutable vocal style (somewhat influenced by Yoko Ono) added the missing ingredient to a set of playful pop songs. Also included were two songs recorded with Mooney, including an unexpected foray into melodic jazz, "She Brings the Rain".

The next few years saw Can release their most acclaimed works, which arguably did as much to define the Krautrock genre as those of any other group. While their earlier recordings tended to be loosely based on traditional song structures, on their mid-career albums the band reverted to an extremely fluid improvisational style. Tago Mago (1971) is a groundbreaking, influential and deeply unconventional record, based on intensely rhythmic jazz-inspired drumming, improvised guitar and keyboard soloing (frequently intertwining each other), extensive tape edits, and Suzuki's idiosyncratic vocalisms. The rhythm section's work on Tago Mago has been especially praised: One critic writes that much of the album is based on "long improvisations built around hypnotic rhythm patterns" [1]; another writes that "'Halleluwah' finds them "pounding out a monster trance/funk beat" [2].

Tago Mago was followed by Ege Bamyasi (1972), a more accessible but still avant-garde record which featured the catchy "Vitamin C" and the Top 40 German hit "Spoon". Next was Future Days (1973), an unassuming but quietly complex record which represents an early example of ambient music and is perhaps the band's most critically successful record. Also included on this album was the refreshingly unexpected pop song "Moonshake". The names of these albums represent the band members' interest in world music, referring to other cultures' languages and traditions.

Suzuki left in 1973 to become a Jehovah's Witness, and the vocals were taken over by Karoli and Schmidt. Both were competent but not especially memorable singers, especially when compared to Mooney's demented energy or Suzuki's freewheeling charm. In live performance, though, the music grew in intensity without a vocal center, and the band maintained their ability to collectively improvise with or without central themes for hours at a time, resulting in a rather great body of performances.

Soon Over Babaluma from 1974 continued in the ambient style of Future Days, though regaining some of the abrasive edge of Tago Mago and Ege Bamyasi. In 1975 Can signed to Virgin Records in the UK and EMI/Harvest in Germany. The albums Landed (1975), Flow Motion (1976), Saw Delight (1977) and Out of Reach (1978), saw Can moving towards a somewhat more conventional style. Accordingly, the disco single "I Want More" from Flow Motion became their only hit record outside of Germany.

In 1977 Can added former Traffic bassist Rosko Gee and percussionist Reebop Kwaku Baah to the existing personnel, pushing Holger Czukay, who is now perhaps the best-known ex-member, to the fringes of the group's activity; in fact he played only the wave table, a table consisting of shortwave radios, morse code keys, tape recorders and other sundry objects. Czukay left in late 1977 and did not appear on the albums Out Of Reach (1978) or Can (1979) - he did, however, do some production work on the latter album. Out Of Reach has subsequently been disowned by the band and is not listed on their website's discography. Can quietly disbanded at the end of the 1970s, but has reformed on a few occasions since.

Since the split, all the former members have been involved in musical projects; Czukay seems to have had the most success. In 1986 they briefly reformed, with Mooney but without Suzuki, to record Rite Time (released in 1989). There was a further reunion to record a track for the Wim Wenders film Until the End of the World, and Can have since been the subject of numerous compilations, live albums and samples.

In 1999 the four founding members of Can - Holger Czukay, Michael Karoli, Jaki Liebezeit, Irmin Schmidt - performed live in the same show, but separately as "Can-Solo-Projects", playing with their current solo projects. These solo projects were:

• Michael Karoli - Sofortkontakt
• Jaki Liebezeit & Club Off Chaos
• Irmin Schmidt & Kumo
• Holger Czukay & U-She

• During their Kid A tour, the English band Radiohead performed a cover of the song Thief. They reportedly covered it at least 9 times between 2000 and 2001.
• Michael Karoli died on 17 November 2001 after a long battle with cancer.
• Irmin Schmidt has begun working with the acclaimed drummer Martin Atkins, producing a remix for the industrial band The Damage Manual, and a cover of Banging the Door for a Public Image Ltd tribute album, both released on Atkins' label, Invisible Records.
• In 2004, the band began an ongoing series of Super Audio CD remasters of its back catalog. Currently, the first seven studio albums are available, as is the compilation Unlimited Edition.
• The Mooney Suzuki was named in tribute to Mooney and Suzuki.
• Popular Indie Rock band Spoon (band) based their moniker off of the "Can" song of the same name.

Holger Czukay (b.March 24, 1938): Bass guitar, sound engineer and electronics (1968-1977, 1986).

Michael Karoli (b.March 29, 1948; d.November 17, 2001): Guitar, vocals and violin.

Jaki Liebezeit (b.1939): Drums and percussion.

Irmin Schmidt (b.May 29, 1937): Keyboards and vocals.

Malcolm Mooney: Vocals (1968-1970, 1986-1991).

Damo Suzuki (b.January 16, 1950) Vocals (1970-1973).

David Johnson: Reeds, winds, electronics and tape manipulation (1968).

Manni Löhe: Vocals, percussion and flute (1968).

Rosko Gee: Bass guitar and vocals (1977-1979).

Rebop Kwaku Baah: Percussion (1977-1979).

Michael Cousins: Vocals (April 1976).

• Monster Movie (Liberty, 1969)
• Soundtracks (Liberty, 1970)
• Tago Mago (United Artists, 1971)
• Ege Bamyasi (United Artists, 1972)
• Future Days (United Artists, 1973)
• Soon Over Babaluma (United Artists, 1974)
• Landed (Virgin, UK/Harvest, Ger., 1975)
• Flow Motion (Virgin, UK/Harvest, Ger., 1976)
• Saw Delight (Virgin, UK/Harvest, Ger., 1977)
• Out of Reach (Harvest, 1978)
• Can (Harvest, 1979)
• Rite Time (Mercury, 1989)

The first seven albums are currently available as remastered SACDs - in the future all of the band's albums will be available remastered in this format.

• "Kama Sutra"/"Null" (Music Factory, 1968)
• "She Brings The Rain"/"Deadlock" (Liberty, 1970)
• "Turtles Have Short Legs"/"Halleluwah" (Liberty, 1971)
• "Spoon"/"Shikaro Maru Ten" (United Artists, 1972)
• "Moonshake"/"Splash" (United Artists, 1973)
• "Dizzy Dizzy"/"Come Sta La Luna" (United Artists, 1974)
• "I Want More"/"..and More" (Virgin, 1976)
• "Silent Night"/"Cascade Waltz" (Virgin, 1976)
• "Don't Say No"/"Return" (Virgin, 1977)
• "Can-Can"/"Aspectacle" (Harvest, 1979)

• Limited Edition (United Artists, 1974) - collection of 1968-1974 rarities
• Unlimited Edition (Virgin, UK/Harvest, Ger., 1976) - collection of 1968-1975 rarities
• Delay 1968 (Spoon, 1981) - 1968-1969 rarities and outtakes collection
• Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit, 1995) - collection of 1973-1976 recordings from BBC radio's John Peel Show
• Radio Waves (Sonic Platten, 1997) - collection of 1969-1972 live and rare recordings
• Live (Spoon, 1999) - collection of live recordings 1972-1977 (originally packaged with the Can Box cd/video/book set)

Unlimited Edition is currently available as a remastered SACD.

• Opener (Sunset, 1976) - compilation from 1972-1974 album material
• Cannibalisms (United Artists, 1978) - compilation from 1969-1974 album material
• Incandenscence (Virgin, 1983) - compilation from 1969-1977 album material
• Cannibalism 2 (Spoon, 1992) - compilation from 1974-1981 album material
• Anthology (Spoon, 1993) - compilation from 1968-1991 album and soundtrack material
• Cannibalism 3 (Spoon, 1993) - compilation from 1979-1991 solo album material

• Prehistoric Future, Paris 1968
• Mother Sky Berlin, Waldbühne 1971
• University Of Essex, Colchester, UK 8-5-72
• Horror Trip in the Paper House Köln 03.02.72
• Live at Paris Olympia, France 1973
• Live at Sussex University, Brighton, November 1975
• Live at Stuttgart 31.10.1975
• Live at Hannover 4.11.1976
• London und Grenoble Live 1976

• (1972) Free Concert
• (1998) The Can Documentary
• (1999) The Can Box (Box set including Can Documentary, Free Concert, Two Live CDs and a book)
• (2004) The Can DVD (2 DVDs with CAN material and 1 Audio CD with the solo material)

All are re-issues of previously released Can albums (all re-released by Spoon Records).

• Monster Movie
• Soundtracks
• Tago Mago
• Ege Bamyasi
• Future Days
• Soon Over Babaluma
• Unlimited Edition
• Landed

• (1968) Kama Sutra
• (1969) Ein Großer graublauer Vogel
• (1970) Creem
• (1970) Deadlock
• (1970) Deep End
• (1972) Tatort - Tote Taube in der Beethovenstraße
• (1973) Alice in den Städten
• (1991) Until the End of the World
• (2002) Morvern Callar

• When preparing a soundtrack, only Irmin Schmidt would view the film and then give the rest of the band a general description of the scenes they would be scoring. This assisted in the soundtrack being successful both inside and outside the film's context.

• Although Can's sound has always been ahead of its time, they did not use multi-track recorders until 1975.

• Irmin Schmidt's wife Hildegard has managed the band and handled all the band's financial affairs since 1974.

• Damo Suzuki's debut performance with Can in 1970 nearly frightened an audience to the point of rioting due to his odd style of vocalizing. David Niven, of Pink Panther fame, was amongst the crowd who remained to hear what Can and Damo would do next.

• Can made attempts to find a new vocalist after the departure of Damo Suzuki, although no one quite fit the position. One such vocalist, Michael Cousins, toured with Can in April, 1976. Audience members disapproved of his presence and literally spat at him while on stage. The only available recording with Cousins is the Live Hannover 1976 bootleg.

• In 1976, folksinger Tim Hardin took the lead vocal spot with Can for one song, performing his classic The Lady Came From Baltimore.

• John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten), formerly of the Sex Pistols formed Public Image Limited patterned after Can's early 70's line-up. Lydon wanted to join Can in 1979 as the group decided to disband.

• Rock: The Rough Guide (second edition), Penguin, 1999.
• Martin C. Strong's Great Rock Discography (fifth edition), MOJO Books, 2000.

• Spoon Records.com - The official Can website
• Can discog (short) - With credits, sleeve details.
• Can discog (extensive) - Albums, collections, compilations, collaborations, lives, solos.
• Yoo Doo Right music performance in memory of Michael Karoli (1948-2001)
• Then I Saw Mushroom Head: The Story of Can - Book excerpt about Can
• Video: Can playing "Paperhouse" (at the Beat Club)