Pocket Calculator (Kraftwerk song)

"Pocket Calculator"[1] (German version: "Taschenrechner") is a song by the German electronic band Kraftwerk. It was released in May 1981 on the studio album Computer World and as a single at the same year. The single has a B-side entitled "Dentaku" which is the Japanese version of the single. The track is about the influence of pocket calculators.

"Pocket Calculator"
Single by Kraftwerk
from the album Computer World
B-side"Dentaku"
ReleasedMay 1981 (1981-05)
Recorded1979
StudioKling Klang Studio
GenreSynthpop
Length
  • 4:27 (single edit)
  • 4:57 (album version)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Kraftwerk singles chronology
"Neon Lights"
(1978)		 "Pocket Calculator"
(1981)		 "Computer Love"
(1981)

The track has been sampled in Contact, a single from Pizzicato Five.[2]

German version

The song was also recorded and released in a German version under the title Taschenrechner both as a single in edited form and on the German version of the album of the same name.

Japanese version

The song was recorded and also released in Japanese under the title Dentaku (Kanji:電卓) both as a single in edited form.

Live version

The track has been often featured in Kraftwerk's live sets. The suite is recorded at the Luzhniki Olympic Complex in Moscow on 2004. It is included on the group's live album Minimum-Maximum. When performed, the first half of the song is sung in either English or German depending on where Kraftwerk are performing, and the second half is sung in Japanese.

Track listing

7" vinyl
Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Pocket Calculator"4:27
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Dentaku"4:32

12" vinyl
Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Pocket Calculator"4:55
2."Numbers"3:00
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Dentaku"5:00

References
  1. Taysom, Joe (27 June 2020). "Remembering when Kraftwerk released their own pocket calculator synthesizer". Far Out Magazine.
  2. Considine, J.D. (27 May 1999). "Japan's Pizzicato Five overlays samples with originality". The Baltimore Sun.
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