Klaus Dinger, Kraftwerk drummer and co-founding member of Neu!, died suddenly of heart failure four days before his 62nd birthday on March 20th 2008. The news of his death was not made public until yesterday.\"There were three great beats in the 70s. Fela Kuti\'s Afrobeat, James Brown\'s funk, and Klaus Dinger\'s Neu! beat.\"
Motorik probably derives from the repetitive yet forward-flowing feel of the rhythm, which has been compared to the experience of motorway driving - indeed, the motorik beat is utilized in one section of Kraftwerk\'s Autobahn, a song designed to celebrate exactly this experience. The rhythm pattern consists of 2 quarter note (crotchet) hits of a bass drum, followed by variations of the bass and snare drums on beats 3 and 4.
After leaving Kraftwerk, Klaus Dinger formed Neu!. They released three seminal albums during the 70s, and had a noted influence on multiple artists - from David Bowie to Sonic Youth and from Primal Scream to Stereolab.
When Neu! dissolved, Dinger achieved his next commercial success with La Düsseldorf, and in the 90s he formed a composite group of sorts called La! Neu?
Klasu Dinger will be greatly missed.
