‘Kerry’s spoken verse needed 39 takes spread over several months because she’d had her tonsils out’

People never believe me that Kraftwerk created Atomic Kitten. In 1996, my band OMD released Walking on the Milky Way, which I thought was one of the best songs I’d ever written. But in the age of Britpop, we were perceived as an 80s synthpop band, past our sell-by date. Radio 2 wouldn’t play the song and Woolworths wouldn’t stock it. I thought: “I’m functioning with one arm tied behind my back.” So my friend Karl Bartos of Kraftwerk said: “Why don’t you create a girl band as a vehicle for your songs?”

‘Kerry’s spoken verse needed 39 takes spread over several months because she’d had her tonsils out’

People never believe me that Kraftwerk created Atomic Kitten. In 1996, my band OMD released Walking on the Milky Way, which I thought was one of the best songs I’d ever written. But in the age of Britpop, we were perceived as an 80s synthpop band, past our sell-by date. Radio 2 wouldn’t play the song and Woolworths wouldn’t stock it. I thought: “I’m functioning with one arm tied behind my back.” So my friend Karl Bartos of Kraftwerk said: “Why don’t you create a girl band as a vehicle for your songs?”

‘Kerry’s spoken verse needed 39 takes spread over several months because she’d had her tonsils out’

People never believe me that Kraftwerk created Atomic Kitten. In 1996, my band OMD released Walking on the Milky Way, which I thought was one of the best songs I’d ever written. But in the age of Britpop, we were perceived as an 80s synthpop band, past our sell-by date. Radio 2 wouldn’t play the song and Woolworths wouldn’t stock it. I thought: “I’m functioning with one arm tied behind my back.” So my friend Karl Bartos of Kraftwerk said: “Why don’t you create a girl band as a vehicle for your songs?”