Over The Wall:
This special and boundless episode of Popart does exactly what this week’s theme contains: climb over walls and tear down walls!
That’s why the programme is compiled with extreme opposites. From the well-known tear-jerker and easy to sing along with ‘Du’ to ‘Die Weise Alm’; a project of Timothy Leary follower Sergius Golowin. Long before the Star Wars cycle ‘Raumschiff Orion’ became very popular and not just in Germany. It is funny how in those days a lot of futuristic music was South American orientated. ‘Eine Schwarzwaldfahrt’ is such a typical German product that is suitable for everything, even as background music in a documentary about German parks. Did you know that a lot of renowned musicians from both jazz and classical orchestras liked to supplement their income? They did this by playing on tracks for pornographic films at studio recordings late at night.
‘Rein und Raus’ shall we say. Of course Kraftwerk is a typical German band, blessed with the infamous predicate “krautrock". They release everything in English but their main oeuvre is German so today the ‘original fassung’. Wolfgang Riechman was a prodigy. Only he was killed shortly before the release of his first record; a senseless murder about nothing. Klaus Schulze and Edgar Froese cannot be absent on this list; both grandfathers of the German synthesizer music. Froese had his band Tangerine Dream but also made solo albums. Harald Grosskopf used to be the drummer at Schulze. E.M.A.K means ‘Elektronische Musik Aus Koeln’, the counterpart of Kraftwerk, but was never as famous. Gert Wilden is the German hack. His name appears on many films, from detective to porn. ‘Lotte’ by Stephan Sulke might be the most beautiful song written by a German. It is still touching.
01. Peter Thomas Sound Orchester. ‘Raumpatrouille’. (Peter Thomas).
CD: Raumpatrouille Orion – Bavaria Sonor Mediathek 307.2500.2.
02. Harald Grosskopf. ‘So Weit, so Gut’. (Harald Grosskopf).
CD: Synthesist – Think Progressive TPCD 1.906.051.
03. Manfred Hübler & Sigi Schwab. ‘Countdown to Nowhere’. (Manfred Hübler & Sigi Schwab).
CD: Vampyros Lesbos – A Sexadelic Dance Party – Crippled Dick Hot Wax CD26.
04. Horst Jankowski. ‘Eine Schwarzwaldfahrt’. (Horst Jankowski).
CD: Van Du tot Da Da Da – Nikkelen Nelis 983 345-9.
05. Kraftwerk. ‘Das Modell’. (Ralf Hütter, Karl Bartos, Emil Schult).
CD: Die Mensch Maschine EMI Kling Klang KLANGBOX 002DE.
06. E.M.A.K. ‘Traumreise’. (M. Peschko).
CD: A Synthetic History of E.M.A.K. 1982-88 – Universla Sound US Cd38.
07. Stephan Sulke. ‘Lotte’. (Stephan Sulke).
CD: Van Du tot Da Da Da –Nikkelen Nelis 983 345-9.
08. Edgar Froese. ‘If 810’. (Edgar Froese).
CD: Macula Transfer – Manikin Records MRCD 7030.
09. Gert Wilden & Orchestra. ‘Sexy Girls’. (Gert Wilden).
CD: Schulmädchen Report – Crippled Dick Hot Wax CD001.
10. Sergius Golowin. ‘Die Weise Alm’. (Sergius Golowin).
CD: Deutsche Elektronische Musik 2 – Soul Jazz Records CD265.
11. Gert Wilden & Orchestra. ‘Dirty Dancing’. (Gert Wilden).
CD: Schulmädchen Report – Crippled Dick Hot Wax CD001.
12. Peter Maffay. ‘Du’. (Peter Maffay, Peter Orloff, Michale Kunze).
CD: Van Du tot Da Da Da – Nikkelen Nelis 983 345-9.
13. Manfred Hübler & Sigi Schwab. ‘Necronomania’. (Manfred Hübler & Sigi Schwab).
CD: Vampyros Lesbos – A Sexadelic Dance PArty – Crippled Dick Hot Wax CD26.
14. Wolfgang Riechman. ‘Abendlicht’. (Wolfgang Riechman).
CD: Wunderbar – Bureau B/Sky BB027.
15. Klaus Schulze. ‘Maxxi’. (Klaus Schulze).
CD: La Vie Electronique 10 – MIG 00192.
