Which one is your favorite? - LIX -

This week's song is coming from one of the greatest electronic music bands of all time. It was released in 1978 in Kraftwerk's The Man-Machine album (released in German as Die Mensch-Maschine). The song was initially a B-side to their single, "The Model" ("Das Model"), but later the sides were swapped. The 12-inch single was pressed on luminous vinyl.

By the way, I am currently reading a book by Uwe Schütte called "Kraftwerk: Future Music from Germany". I would like to thank my dear friend from Basel (@cereyanlimusiki) who was kind enough to send me the book during these tough times. I highly recommend the book not only to Kraftwerk fans but to all music lovers.

Here is the song for this week;

"Neon Lights"

The song was written by the band members; Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider and Karl Bartos.

It has a lilting melody and reflects Düsseldorf at night, paying tribute to the many colorful neon signs that advertise shops, hotels and bars in the band's hometown. "Neon Lights" is a frequently underrated classic in the Kraftwerk oeuvre, a sublimely atmospheric piece.

Andy Gill in his review for the NME hailed the album but he did not single out either the title track or "The Robots". Instead, without hesitation, he names "Neon Lights" the best track on the album. Indeed, the captivating melody has been described as a "sonic refutation of the allegations that Kraftwerk had no soul"...

Here are the 6 versions I picked for you;

• U2 - "Neon Lights"

• Simple Minds - "Neon Lights"

• OMD - "Neon Lights"

• Luna - "Neon Lights"

• Mitja V.S. (with Enzo Fabiani Quartet) - "Neon Lights"

• Senor Coconut - "Neon Lights"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.