“Computer Love” by Kraftwerk
From the 1981 album Computer World

Today I am sitting in my home office working on three computers from various eras in Macintosh history — the aluminum MacBook that is my primary computer today; an iMac G4 from 2002 that I used for years and have just brought up from the basement to put back into service for my kids; and a comparatively ancient (1997) Power Macintosh 7300 that I recently salvaged from someone’s curb a few blocks from my house. I’m using the MacBook to write this while I am installing Mac OS X Panther (10.3) on the iMac (and I was just reminded that that version of Mac OS X used “Eple” by Röyksopp — a more recent classic of electronic music — during the “welcome” sequence), and I’m simultaneously installing Mac OS 9.1 on the Power Mac 7300. Later on, I’m also planning to use one of the extra sets of ADB keyboards and mice I also salvaged at the curb to try to bring my really ancient (1987) and long-defunct Mac SE back to life with a fresh install of System 7.0.1 (or maybe System 6.0.8). But before I can do that I need to track down some 3 1/2-inch floppy disks. (What?)

With all of this computer love happening, there was only one song I could select to feature today on this blog. Kraftwerk is another band that is only tangentially connected to the world of progressive rock. Known best for their highly influential (and way ahead of its time) electronic music of the late ’70s and early ’80s, the band actually started in the early ’70s with a slightly more organic, if no less experimental, sound, one that was well placed alongside other groundbreaking Krautrock pioneers like CAN, Neu and Guru Guru.

But here we’re in the midst of Kraftwerk’s early ’80s electronic peak, with the 1981 track “Computer Love,” from the same album that produced the classic (and equally nerdy) “Pocket Calculator.”

Update: As I was watching the full clip (after writing the main body of this post), I noticed a melody right near the end that, to the best of my recollection, is not in the original album version of this song. But man oh man, was it recognizable. And then it hit me: Coldplay! I like those guys, but I’m beginning to wonder if any of their music is original. At least in this case (unlike the infamous Joe Satriani incident) the imitation appears to be deliberate, and done with permission.

Update to the update: I just went back and listened to the original album version of the song, and the melody is there too. I think it’s just that the album version is more electronically bleepy-bloopy than the live version, and as a result that melody never stood out to my ears so much. (Also, it’s probably been since well before the release of X+Y that I’ve actively listened to this song.)

Update to the update to the update: In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that before tonight I had never heard the original album version of this or just about any Kraftwerk song — I knew them mainly for the remixes on The Mix. But since Computer World can be downloaded from Amazon MP3 for less than $5, I went for it — and wow, what a difference. I’ve been fairly dismissive of Kraftwerk all these years, despite my awareness of their vast influence on electronic music, solely because I had been put off the band by The Mix, not realizing just how different those versions of the songs were from the originals.