Wolfgang Flür handled electronic percussion for Kraftwerk throughout the band’s most fertile stretch before stepping away to pursue solo work, first under the Yamo alias and later under his own name, where his output took on a lighter tone than the group’s. He entered the lineup in 1973 and appeared on several of its best-known and most consequential releases, among them Autobahn and The Man-Machine. After reduced involvement through the 1980s he exited in 1987, only to return ten years later with Time Pie, a Mouse on Mars-produced set issued as Yamo. Scattered guest performances and recordings followed, culminating in his first proper solo album, Eloquence: Complete Works, in 2015; the collaboration-driven Magazine 1 arrived in 2022.
Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Flür had already played acoustic drums with the Beathovens by 1966. He next joined the Spirits of Sound, whose members included Wolfgang Riechmann and Michael Rother; the latter spent a brief spell on guitar in Kraftwerk before departing with drummer Klaus Dinger to form Neu! Rehearsals with Kraftwerk began in 1973, where Flür performed on specially built electronic percussion instruments. He supplied electronic drums for the 1974 album Autobahn, the group’s first international breakthrough, and once Karl Bartos joined, the classic configuration of the band locked into place. The follow-up records Radio-Activity (1975), Trans-Europe Express (1977), and The Man-Machine (1978) achieved modest sales yet proved enormously influential, laying groundwork for techno, electro, new wave, and early hip-hop.
Flür joined Kraftwerk’s 1981 tour and appeared in the artwork for Computer World (1981) and Electric Cafe (1986), though he did not play on either album as the group increasingly relied on sequencers. Irritated by the five years required to finish Electric Cafe, he departed after its release; only a 2009 reissue finally listed him as an artist on the record. A ten-year hiatus ended with two short-lived 1990s projects. In 1996 he co-wrote and supplied spoken vocals for “Waiting,” the sole single by trance act Exxcelsior. As Yamo he also issued two singles produced by Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner of Mouse on Mars, followed by the album Time Pie in 1997.
Multiple invitations to rejoin Kraftwerk were turned down. His memoir Kraftwerk: Ich war ein Roboter appeared in 1999, was briefly withdrawn, then reissued in revised form as the English-language edition I Was a Robot following legal action from the band’s remaining members. A 12" single sharing the book’s title surfaced in 2004 and later featured on the 2015 collection Eloquence: Complete Works, which gathered previously unreleased Flür material dating back to 2002 and included guest spots from Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto, Maki Nomiya of Pizzicato Five, and Bostich of Nortec Collective.
Flür stayed active as a DJ and collaborated with Tiny Magnetic Pets, Scanner, and Anni Hogan. He contributed to U96’s 2018 album Reboot and joined the group again for 2020’s Transhuman. In 2021 Kraftwerk entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the early-influence category. Flür also appeared on Newmen’s Futur II and released the electro single “Cinema” with Fabrice Lig. The full-length Magazine 1 followed in 2022, drawing contributions from Juan Atkins, Midge Ure of Ultravox, Carl Cox, Peter Hook of Joy Division/New Order, and additional guests.
