automaten (German for

robots" \n\n\n\n\n\n\nrobots.txt is the filename used for implementing the Robots Exclusion Protocol, a standard used by websites to indicate to visiting web crawlers and other web robots which portions of the website they are allowed to visit.\n\nThe sta ...

) is a 1985 "cult" song composed by the Swiss band

mittageisen "Mittageisen" is a song by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It originally appeared on the band's 1978 debut album ''The Scream'' as "Metal Postcard (Mittageisen)"; the track was re-recorded in 1979, this time with the lyrics sung i ...

Background and writing

The 12-inch single (LUNA-MB 8501) was released on 14 January 1985 with a for that time new electro sound. The songs were recorded in a studio in Switzerland in the autumn of 1984. but, as Bruno W said in an interview, the band wasn't satisfied with the first studio-version of "automaten" and he travelled to Cologne to mix the final-version in collaboration with Detlev Kühne (Die Hornissen) and Tom Dokoupil (

The Wirtschaftswunder The Wirtschaftswunder (sometimes simply called Wirtschaftswunder) was a German band consisting of musicians Angelo Galizia (vocals, Italy), Tom Dokoupil (guitar, Czechoslovakia), Mark Pfurtschneller (keyboards, Canada) and Jürgen Beuth (drums, ...

) at their on line studios. Just after the publication was "automaten" selected for ''Record of the Week'' by the radio show "Sounds!" of the Swiss Radio DRS3. The 12-inch single found also the way into the legendary

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

show on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

and became an 'indie disco' hit. Because of the success of the 12-inch version a 2 minutes shorter 7-inch version was released four months later, so the song could be played not only on specialised alternative radio-shows. The two, in relation to the length, different versions are still available on the 2008 released double CD ''mittageisen 1983–1986 remastered''. For

Record Store Day Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...

on 16 April 2016 the label

mital-U mital-U (stylized in lowercase) is an independent record label based in Lucerne, Switzerland. It was founded in 1996 by Swiss musician and producer Bruno Waser. The label is known for its work in post-punk, dark wave, and alternative rock genres, ...

re-released the maxi-single "automaten" as limited and numbered 12" vinyl record (U-7C0-V1). 2014 "automaten" was one of the Top 20 songs of the 'CH Hall of Fame 80s' presented at the exhibition 'OH YEAH! - Pop music in Switzerland' at the Museum of Communication in Bern . On 20th April 2023, a new version edited by Bruno W (mev2) was released exclusively for download on Bandcamp under the title "mev2 feat mittageisen - automaten (-6y edit)". Proceeds from the download will be donated to EarthPercent an environmental charity co-founded by

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

. This as part of the 'EarthPercent x Earth Day 2023' campaign in which over 60 artists have provided previously unreleased, unheard or exclusive songs.

Content

The for

typical ambiguous text is explained by the chorus line "work – only for robots". What are meant, according to author Bruno W, with "robots" are not primarily machines, but also robot-like functioning people.

Music video

The music video for "automaten" was produced in 1995 in relation to the release of a compilation CD with songs of

. The 4-minute long video shows color distorted scenes from the everyday life of working people such as way to work, car rides, telecasts, up to exploding TVs. With the re-release of the 12" in 2016, a remastered and new edited version of the video was published.

Track listing

;12-inch (LUNA-MB 8501) #"automaten" – 6:25 #"neues china" – 5:50 ;7-inch (LUNA-MB 8505) #"automaten" – 4:23 #"neues china" – 5:50 ;12-inch (U-7C0-V1) #"automaten" – 6:23 #"neues china" – 5:48 #"automaten (radio edit)" – 3:19

Personnel

*Bruno W – Vocals, Synthesizer,

Drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

Sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...

*Daniel S – Guitar *Manuela H – Synthesizer

Additional personnel

*Tom Dokoupil (

) –

*Detlev Kühne (Die Hornissen) –

References

External links

Video "automaten" on YouTube

Video „automaten (radio edit 2015)“ on Vimeo

Official band-website of "mittageisen"
{{DEFAULTSORT:automaten (Single) 1985 singles 1985 songs