German electro-pop pioneers Kraftwerk flew mostly below the radar stateside, yet they were a very influential group to many synth based artists that charted highly in America. Driving rhythms with flowing melodies can be a formula for pop success and this was the basic recipe for their 1978 release, “The Model.” While it never charted in the U.S., it received some mild rotation in the infancy of MTV with it’s limited library. Kraftwerk enjoyed the success of a number one in the UK with this track and it stayed in the top 75 singles charts for a total of 21 weeks. Depeche Mode, Human League and Erasure are just a few mainstream successes that have cited Kraftwerk as a major influence to their sound and in some cases even image.