Das Model

Category:Use dmy dates from December 2024

"Das Model"
German sleeve
Single by Kraftwerk
from the album The Man-Machine
LanguageGerman, English
B-side
Released22 September 1978
Genre
Length3:38
Label
Songwriters
Producers
Kraftwerk singles chronology
"Die Roboter"
(1978)		 "Das Model"
(1978)		 "Neonlicht"
(1978)
Audio sample
Kraftwerk – The Model
Category:Articles with hAudio microformats
Category:Articles with hAudio microformats
"The Model"
UK sleeve
Single by Kraftwerk
from the album Computer World
B-side"Computer Love"
Released7 December 1981
Genre
Songwriters
Producers
Kraftwerk singles chronology
"Computer Love"
(1981)		 "The Model"
(1981)		 "Showroom Dummies"
(1982)

"Das Model" ("The Model" in English) is a song recorded by the German group Kraftwerk in 1978, written by musicians Ralf Hütter and Karl Bartos, with artist Emil Schult collaborating on the lyrics. It is featured on the album, Die Mensch-Maschine (known in international versions as The Man-Machine).

In 1981, the song was re-released to coincide with the release of the studio album Computerwelt (Computer World in English).[6] It reached no. 1 in the UK singles chart. Both the German and English versions of the song have been covered by other artists, including Snakefinger, Hikashu, Big Black and Robert.[7]

Background

The lyrics were written by Emil Schult, who was in love with a model when he wrote the song. He also composed music for the song, though it was too guitar-heavy for the musical concept of Kraftwerk and it was rewritten by Bartos and Hütter to fit the sound of the band.[8]

As with all of the songs on The Man-Machine, The Model was released in both German- and English-language versions. The lyrics are very close between two versions, with the exception of a guttural-sounding "Korrekt!" added after the line "Sie trinkt in Nachtclubs immer Sekt" in the German version. (The English lyric is "She's going out to nightclubs, drinking just champagne.") This was an in-joke by the band. In his autobiography, I Was A Robot, former Kraftwerk member Wolfgang Flür explains:

Our favourite discothèque, the Mora, lay in the Schneider-Wibbel Gasse in the middle of Düsseldorf's old town, and there was a waiter who worked there who always greeted new guests with the words "Hallöchen! Sekt? Korrrrrrrekt!" You didn't have the chance to contradict him, because he always answered himself. He loved selling champagne to the guests, largely because it was the drink on which he earned the highest commission, and he forced it on everyone.

We'd heard him so often, and he was such a fine example of Düsseldorf chic, that we invited him into our studio when we were recording "The Model" so that he could speak his smug slogan directly into the microphone. That's why his pithy "Sekt? Korrrrrrrekt!" appears in our most famous song.[9]

Charts

Chart (1978) Peak
position
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[10]43Category:Single chart usages for Dutch100
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[11]
as part of The Man-Machine		39Category:Single chart usages for BillboarddanceclubplayCategory:Single chart called without song
Chart (1982) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[12] 33
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[13] 20
Ireland (IRMA)[14]4Category:Single chart usages for Ireland2Category:Single chart called without artist
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[10]41Category:Single chart usages for Dutch100
UK Singles (OCC)[15]1Category:Single chart usages for UKCategory:Single chart called without artistCategory:Single chart called without song
West Germany (GfK)[16]7Category:Single chart usages for West Germany

Certifications and sales

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Category:Certification Table Entry usages for United KingdomUnited Kingdom (BPI)[17] Gold 500,000^Category:Pages using certification Table Entry with shipments figures

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Category:Pages using certification Table Entry with shipments footnote

Rammstein cover

"Das Modell"
Single by Rammstein
B-side
  • "Kokain"
  • "Alter Mann"
Released1997
Length4:46
LabelMotor
Songwriters
Producers
Rammstein singles chronology
"Du hast"
(1997)		 "Das Modell"
(1997)		 "Du riechst so gut '98"
(1998)
Category:Articles with hAudio microformats

German rock band Rammstein covered the German version of "Das Model" in 1997 as "Das Modell". It was released as a non-album single. "Das Modell" is introduced by a French phrase spoken by film editor Mathilde Bonnefoy. The single contains three non-album tracks taken from the Sehnsucht recording sessions. In the special version of "Alter Mann", Bobo (Christiane Hebold) sings alongside Till Lindemann in the chorus.

Track listings

Promo CD

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Das Modell"Ralf Hütter, Karl Bartos, Emil Schult4:46
2."Kokain"Rammstein3:09
Total length:7:55

Enhanced CD

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Das Modell"Hütter, Bartos, Schult4:46
2."Kokain"Rammstein3:09
3."Alter Mann (Special Version)" (featuring Bobo)Rammstein4:22
4."Rammstein Computerspiel für Windows" (Rammstein computer game for Windows)n/an/a
Total length:12:17
Category:Track listings with input errors

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1997–1998) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[18]18Category:Single chart usages for Austria
Germany (GfK)[19]5Category:Single chart usages for Germany
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[20]41Category:Single chart usages for Sweden

Year-end charts

Chart (1998) Position
Germany (Media Control)[21] 96

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Reynolds, Simon (2009). Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-5712-5227-5. A few weeks later, another song from 1978 – Kraftwerk's 'The Model', the catchiest song on The Man-Machine – was released as a single and, as if to proclaim the Düsseldorf group's ancestral centrality for synth-pop, promptly soared to number 1
  2. 1 2 Owen, Tom (30 April 2024). "The top 25 greatest 1980s synthpop songs ever". Smooth Radio. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  3. 1 2 Edwards, Luke (17 July 2021). "Why were Kraftwerk so influential? Behind the electro pioneers' legacy". Dig!. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
  4. ↑ "The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s". Pitchfork. 23 June 2004. Retrieved 16 April 2023. But the inhumanity is suddenly broken towards the end with the wry, pop-art commentary of "The Model"...
  5. ↑ Edwards, Luke (17 July 2022). "Best Kraftwerk Songs: 20 great tracks from the electro-pop godfathers". Dig!. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
  6. ↑ "Kraftwerk International Discography: Great Britain". Archived from the original on 6 February 2006.
  7. ↑ Bussy, Pascal (2004). Kraftwerk: Man, Machine and Music. SAF. p. 106. ISBN 9780946719709. Being their most accessible song it has been covered on a number of occasions by other artists. A notable early version being by long-time Residents' collaborator Snakefinger (Philip Lithman). Other versions include one by the Japanese band Hikashu, a rock version by Big Black on their Songs About Fucking LP and the French female singer Robert who recorded a version in German.
  8. ↑ "Interview".
  9. ↑ Flür, Wolfgang (2017). Kraftwerk: I Was a Robot. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 9781783239269.
  10. 1 2 "Kraftwerk – The Model" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  11. ↑ "Kraftwerk Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  12. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 170. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  13. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Kraftwerk". Sisältää hitin – 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 136. Retrieved 29 June 2022.Category:CS1 Finnish-language sources (fi)
  14. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – The Model". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  15. ↑ "Official Singles Chart on 6/2/1982 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  16. ↑ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts (West Germany)" (in German)Category:Articles with German-language sources (de). GfK Entertainment charts. To see the peak chart position, click 'TITEL VON', followed by the artist's name. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  17. ↑ "British single certifications – Kraftwerk – Computer Love/The Model". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 7 September 2020. Select singles in the Formats field. Type Computer Love/The Model Kraftwerk in the "Search:" field.
  18. ↑ "Rammstein – Das Modell" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  19. ↑ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. To see the peak chart position, click 'TITEL VON', followed by the artist's name. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  20. ↑ "Rammstein – Das Modell". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  21. ↑ "Jahrescharts – 1998" (in German). Offiziellecharts.de. GfK Entertainment Charts. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015.Category:CS1 German-language sources (de)
Category:Songs about models Category:1978 songs Category:1978 singles Category:1981 singles Category:1997 singles Category:EMI Records singles Category:Kraftwerk songs Category:Rammstein songs Category:Songs written by Emil Schult Category:Songs written by Karl Bartos Category:Songs written by Ralf Hütter Category:UK singles chart number-one singles
Category:1978 singles Category:1978 songs Category:1981 singles Category:1997 singles Category:Articles with German-language sources (de) Category:Articles with Russian-language sources (ru) Category:Articles with hAudio microformats Category:Articles with short description Category:CS1 Finnish-language sources (fi) Category:CS1 German-language sources (de) Category:Certification Table Entry usages for United Kingdom Category:EMI Records singles Category:Kraftwerk songs Category:Pages using certification Table Entry with shipments figures Category:Pages using certification Table Entry with shipments footnote Category:Rammstein songs Category:Short description is different from Wikidata Category:Single chart called without artist Category:Single chart called without song Category:Single chart usages for Austria Category:Single chart usages for Billboarddanceclubplay Category:Single chart usages for Dutch100 Category:Single chart usages for Germany Category:Single chart usages for Ireland2 Category:Single chart usages for Sweden Category:Single chart usages for UK Category:Single chart usages for West Germany Category:Songs about models Category:Songs written by Emil Schult Category:Songs written by Karl Bartos Category:Songs written by Ralf Hütter Category:Track listings with input errors Category:UK singles chart number-one singles Category:Use dmy dates from December 2024