DIE TOTEN HOSEN
DIE TOTEN HOSEN (literally "The Dead
Pants"; figure of speech "tote Hose" is pejorative for
"dead boring event") is a German punk band from Düsseldorf.
The band is reputed to have played for free at private birthday parties or similar events in their early years, provided that the host provided them with unlimited beer and covered all damage caused by the band.
Die Toten
Hosen formed in 1982 at the Ratinger Hof, a Düsseldorf
bar frequented by punk musicians. Its founder members were Campino and Andreas
von Holst, both from local punk band ZK, with Andreas Meurer, Michael
Breitkopf, Trini Trimpop and Walter November. According to their friend and one
time promoter Andrea Berzen, they chose the name Die toten Hosen – which
literally translates as "the dead trousers" but connotes the German
idiom "hier ist tote Hose" or "hier herrscht tote Hose"
meaning "there is nothing going on here", "it’s boring
here"[2]
– over Die Pariser.[3]
According to Andrea Berzen, Campino preferred the former because it implied
that their concerts might not be sold out, but there might be "tote
Hose" on the nights.[4]
At their
first concert at the Bremer Schlachthof over Easter 1982, the compère mistakenly introduced them as Die
Toten Hasen (The Dead Hares).[5]
The debut single Wir sind bereit (We are ready) was released in 1982,
and was followed by their first album, Opel-Gang,
the next year.
Guitarist
Walter November left the band in November 1983 due to his drug problems.[6]
One of the two A sides of the third single was the drinking song Eisgekühlter
Bommerlunder (ice-cold Bommerlunder schnapps),
which received considerable radio airplay and increased their fan base. The
band released their first album titled Opel-Gang in early
1983 on their own label Totenkopf (skull).
In July
1983, the band signed to EMI,
who financed a video for Eisgekühlter Bommerlunder, directed by Wolfgang
Büld. It depicts a chaotic wedding ceremony in a small Bavarian church, with Kurt Raab
playing an alcoholic priest and Marianne Sägebrecht playing the bride. After
the filming the congregation called for the church to be reconsecrated. German
public television refused to screen the video for several years for fear of
offending churchgoers.[7]
At the
end of 1983, they released Hip Hop Bommi, a hip-hop version of Eisgekühlter
Bommerlunder featuring New York rapper Fab
Five Freddy.[8]
In 1984,
the band played a session on the BBC’s John Peel Show. EMI were displeased with the band's high
travel costs and by Norbert Hähnel publicly parodying their million-selling
artist Heino at a
Toten Hosen concert. Heino successfully obtained a court order to cease and desist.
Die Toten Hosen left EMI and signed to Virgin
Records. Their second album Unter Falscher Flagge (Under False
Colours), was released in 1984. The title explained the front cover of the LP,
which carried a picture of the band members dressed as pirates aboard a ship.
The original back cover featured the skeleton of a dog sitting in front of a
gramophone, a caricature of the His Master's Voice artwork used by EMI. Legal
action by EMI prompted the album cover to be changed to the skeleton of an
eagle, which, along with the Jolly Roger, became a band logo.
In Spring
1985, the band toured France for the Goethe
Institute[9]
and in Fall they travelled Hungary and Poland. In late 1985, Trini Trimpop
moved from drumming for the band into their management, where he worked until
1992. Jakob Keusen briefly replaced him as the band's drummer before Wolfgang
Rohde (Wölli) took over in January 1986. Rohde’s first concert was also the
band’s first concert in front of a very large audience. Along with Herbert Grönemeyer, Udo
Lindenberg, Marius Müller-Westernhagen, BAP, the Rodgau Monotones and many others, they
performed at the Anti-WAAhnsinns-Festival in July 1986 to
protest the construction of a nuclear waste processing plant in nearby Wackersdorf.
In 1986,
they recorded their third album, Damenwahl
(Ladies' Choice). The Damenwahl tour was sponsored by the northern German
condom manufacturer Fromms, who arranged for free samples to be scattered
amongst the crowd.[10]
In 1987, the band celebrated its first chart success with the record Never Mind the Hosen,
Here's Die Roten Rosen (Never mind the Trousers – Here’s the Red Roses)
using the pseudonym Die Roten Rosen (The Red Roses). The album contains rock
versions of German 1960s pop songs. The name and cover art of the record are a
parody of the LP Never Mind the
Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols by the Sex
Pistols from 1977.
In late
1987, Die Toten Hosen released their first live album Bis zum bitteren Ende (Till the Bitter
End). It charted in the German and Austrian Top 30.
In 1988,
the LP Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau (A little bit of horrorshow –
"horrorshow" is Nadsat for "ok", coming from the Russian
word хорошо (khorosho (good)) referring to the phrase in A Clockwork Orange), which featured
the song "Hier kommt Alex", referring to the movie A Clockwork Orange based on the book by Anthony
Burgess. Bernd Schadewald produced a German theatre version of the book, in
which the band performed as actors and musicians. Hier kommt Alex (Here
comes Alex) was later re-recorded in an unplugged version in 2005 incorporating
the opening piano phrase of Beethoven's Moonlight
Sonata.
Die Toten Hosen - Live NOX, Berlin
27.12.84
Eigenproduktion
Hier noch mal die die Hosen während der 3 oder 4 tollen in Tage in
Berlin, mit dem Konzert im NOX. Das Ballhaus Tiergarten Konzert 3 Tage Später hier.
Die Toten Hosen - Demos 80s
Comentarios
Publicar un comentario