In late 1971, Can released a single “Spoon” b/w “Shikako Maru Ten.” By the new year, it had risen to No. 6 in the West German charts. Completely infectious, Jaki Liebezeit’s drumming is enhanced by a drum machine; but it’s the relative “tune” that makes the song a hit. Of course, being the theme song for the TV show Das Messer (“The Knife”) helped too! The success afforded the band the opportunity to purchase a cinema between Cologne and Bonn, which they turned into their Inner Space Studios. Can’s third studio album Ege Bamyasi saw release at the end of 1972.

Following Malcom Mooney’s departure, Can enlisted Kenji “Damo” Suzuki, reportedly on the spot, while he was busking outside a cafe in Munich; that night, he played his first gig with the band. Intact, the band issued Soundtracks, a compilation of-you guessed it-music used in films. The band’s next studio album, Tago Mago, (named after Isla de Tagomago, an island off the east coast of Ibiza, Spain) was recorded by Holger Czukay at Schloss Nörvenich, where the band were living at the time.