I would disagree there based on what Music was heard in Germany in that era. Yes, I know, Krautrock really represented us outside... but nearly no German listened to Krautrock at that time. Kraftwerk was new. NDW started VERY creative, but then got also turned into clone hell. Luckily you missed most of it. The only true German international stars of that era had been the Scorpions though. And that is just west Germany. We also had a East.
But... if you look at what hit the charts in German from 1970 to 1989 it looks pretty...well... boring to me by German contributions. Just start looking here:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Nummer-eins-Hits_in_Deutschland_(1970)
Roy Black, Peter Maffey... both sure the best in their genre. But that genre was Schlager. A lot of James Last in the album charts - at least somebody with lasting impact on the world. One of my favourite records as child came out as early as 1973 (Otto 1) ... 1978, when I was born, best selling single of the year: The Smurf Song. Top Album: Saturday Night Fever.
I don't think it was more creative or edgier then, than it is today. You just see a different one. After all, today we have Rammstein to Tokio Hotel as span what the pop world sees of us.
Interesting. I had to look up NDW, though I guessed correctly that it's German New Wave. I think a lot of New Wave got tedious everywhere, really, but we tend to remember the good stuff and filter out the mediocre.
I remember groups like Nina and Peter Schilling, and of course in hard rock/metal Scorpions broke huge in the 80s worldwide. Since the end of the Cold War, though, we to see a slowdown in popular music coming out of Germany these days, and I think that says more about how the industry has changed than it does about Germany per se.
The who stoner/doom/psych metal scene seems pretty strong in the underground in Germany for those of us who follow it, but of course it's called "underground" for a reason: none of our corporate clone radio stations will ever play that stuff, whether it comes from Germany or anywhere else. I personally like it, though I admit a lot of it is derivative 70s revival Sabbath worship, there is some pretty creative and groovy stuff in it.
I guess I am of the impression that the tough times Germany had in the Cold War being the point of contact between the East and West and recovering from WWII brought out some creative stuff, but like you said, it's all based on what filtered out to New Jersey where I grew up.