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First Techno (Kraftwerk 1970)

PhineasFreakers
Music
YouTube
1 HN user recommended this music video1 month2018–2026 score 1.5
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

Used in techno-history threads as evidence of Kraftwerk's role in the genre's origins and as an example of original work.

The earliest existing concert video of Kraftwerk, from a 1970 performance shortly after the band formed. It shows the band in its original setup and the audience's reactions.

“Still one of my favourite clips on youtube: the very first video recording of Kraftwerk live, from 1970!” (HN, 2020)

1 strong recommendations · 3 citations · 1 jokes · Music

5 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@awiesenhofer May 2020 Strongly recommends
on HN thread Florian Schneider has died
Still one of my favourite clips on youtube: the very first video recording of Kraftwerk live, from 1970! [this video] (Those audience reactions!)
First video recording of Kraftwerk live in 1970, with striking audience reactions.

Citations, criticism and jokes

@Dowwie Apr 2021 Cites it
on HN thread History of Techno
1978 Kraftwerk live performance of 2 songs: [link] Kraftwerk's first live recorded performance was in 1970: [this video] How many people in the 1970 audience sensed that they were listening to something as significant as what it became?
Kraftwerk's first recorded live performance in 1970.
@aa-jv Apr 2023 Cites it
on HN thread The Battle over Techno’s Origins
Techno was started in Düsseldorf by Kraftwerk. [this video] People found this very inspiring and created their own variants. The Detroit variant came along. The Chicago variant came along. The UK variant came along. But it all goes back to Kraftwerk.
Cited as evidence techno originated with Kraftwerk in Dusseldorf.
@yencabulator Aug 2026 Cites it
on HN thread Patterns and problems in emerging multi-agent systems
"A lot of creative work is remixes" in no way conflicts with "That's pretty low-value creativity." Hiphop made using samples a fashion . You can think of it as choosing to restrict one's in order to explore something deeper, like a painter deciding to paint with only two pigments to exercise their skills at shading at patterning. Or you can think of it as a cheap way to make demo tracks in your bedroom. If you want to find actually creative things, look outside of mainstream, Disney, etc. I'll leave you with this link. You tell me if you think it is just a remix of something earlier: [this video]
Offered as an example of original creative work, not a remix.
@kowdermeister Jul 2018 Makes a joke
on HN thread Keep on moving: the bizarre dance epidemic of summer 1518
I feel some details might have lost in 500 years :) The council probably liked the decadence of the happening and they added some fuel. It was probably unreal to be at a "festival" you never seen before so I can understand. Just like experiencing a techo party for the first time no one seen before. [this video]

Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.

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