La Düsseldorf

La Düsseldorf were a German Krautrock band formed by former Kraftwerk and Neu! drummer Klaus Dinger with occasional Neu! collaborators Thomas Dinger and Hans Lampe. Hailing from the eponymous West German city, La Düsseldorf were originally active from 1976 to around 1983. Klaus Dinger continued to release material after the group split although due to legal disputes, the albums could not be released under the La Düsseldorf name. Dinger died in 2008, aged 61. (read more on Wikipedia)

Links to Peel
Despite an apparent appreciation of Krautrock in the early 70s, Peel seems to have shown little interest in La Düsseldorf's output, which came rather late in the decade. The group's eponymous debut album, originally published in 1976, was re-issued in the UK in 1978 and Peel's attention seems to have been drawn to what sounded like "a football crowd" at the beginning of the title track, which he played in March '78. The "punkier" feel to the track, fuelled by the typical motorik beat, was also in line with what the DJ was playing at the time. Peel also mentions that he had been discussing La Düsseldorf's debut album with "a Rich Kid", who had said how good "the Kraftwerk LP was as well", although Peel admits he doesn't fully understand their work. (Kraftwerk's influence on Bowie is mentioned in the same instance).

A belated play of a track from the group's 1980 album Individuellos, included in Peel's collection, may have been a listener's request.

Sessions

 * none

Other plays

 * 07 July 1978: La Düsseldorf (LP - La Düsseldorf) Radar.
 * 08 March 1982: Menschen 1 (LP - Individuellos) Albion ALB 107.