Born in the German village of Berchtesgaden in 1952, sound, music and culture have been a lifelong fascination for Karl Bartos. He studied at the Robert Schumann Conservatory in Düsseldorf, played at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and was in several experimental bands before he joined Kraftwerk for their American Autobahn tour in 1975. He co-composed tracks and performed with the band until 1990 and is featured on the seminal albumsRadio-Activity, Trans-Europe Express, The Man-Machine and Computer World. Later Karl worked on Electric Café (now known as Technopop) and The Mix. After leaving Kraftwerk, he first formed the band Elektric Music, releasing two albums, collaborated with Bernard Sumner (New Order), Johnny Marr (The Smiths) and Andy McCluskey (OMD), and released two critically acclaimed solo albums,Communication and Off the Record.