CAN “Spoon” (1971) Das Messer title sequence, ep. 1 intro

Alternative mixes of Can’s 1971 single “Spoon” bookended episodes of the West German TV thriller Das Messer (“The Knife”). Set in London with an all-German cast, the three-part series was based on “The Mellin Forrest Mystery” by English author Francis Durbridge and produced by West German Broadcasting in Cologne. Music for the series was attributed to “The Can” in the end credits, although no other music appears during the show’s actual episodes and the lyrics to “Spoon” have no bearing on Das Messer’s plot or themes. The popularity of Das Messer propelled the Can single to #6 on the German charts in 1972 with sales of over 300,000, and the song was used to fill out the end the band’s album Ege Bamyası after guitarist Michael Karoli and singer Damo Suzuki dedicated too much studio time to playing chess instead of writing and recording more material. Six of these sequences exist in total and I will publish them upon request.