NEONBABIES - s/t LP 1981

Ahhh.... fine stuff now from the Neonbabies: they came together at the beginning of 1979 in Berlin. Among its founding members were the sisters Inga Humpe ("DiLemma") and Annette Humpe ("Anita Spinetti"). The group made its first appearance in the spring of 1979 at the Gasthaus an der Havel and the gigs were the highlight of the concert season 1979/80. Later they were able to make their first recordings at the senate's own Beat Studio with Nikolaus (guitar), Conny (bass), Toni (drums) and Reinhard (saxophone). The first EP (I Don't Want To Loose You) came out early 1980 and includes a first version of the later Ideal killer Blaue Augen, in autumn then the 2nd EP Nervös. The band were now an integral part of the Berlin music scene and were worshiped as cult. 

In early 1980, Annette Humpe founded the band Ideal and was replaced by singer Petra (Miko) but she was only heard on the debut album and this was released on the Berlin independent label Good Noise Records in 1981 and sold ca. 16.000 times, Nikolaus said: ''We were never ideologically defined. Good Noise said: we make the record with you - and then we signed a contract for a plate". The music is a cocktail of early german punk (KFC or S.Y.P.H.) and New Wave & Pop. 

In 1982, Dave Hutchins produced the 2nd album (Harmlos) @ Conny Plank Studio which was released on Ariola Records, followed by a tour through Germany. After the quit of Nikolaus, he was replaced by Toni Kambiz, the group engaged Drafi Deutscher as producer of the 3rd 7Inch 'Ich Bin Ein Mann' but the sale was very much less, far far behind expectations. The last album '1983' was recorded with Gareth Jones in Berlin Hansa Studios and also appears at Ariola. A short time later, the group broke up. Conny left and Inga participated around the project DÖF which was produced by her sister and the single Codo became a great fuckin' hit! With Eiskalte Engel the last Neonbabies 7Inch was done and it was a remix of the title Engel from the 3rd album and was considered as farewell gift for the fans. Enjoy now fourteen crunchy poppy bubbles from album #1.

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NEONBABIES - Harmlos 1982

I hope it's finally getting warmer in this country, but until then the appropriate music has to help out, and wavie sounds are coming today by the Neonbabies from Berlin with their second album. The band has absolutely nothing to do with the Neue Deutsche Welle and their original & timeless songs belong to the best in the German underground scene, unfortunately they didn't get the attention they deserved, probably because the older ones the Humpe sisters got a lot more resonance with Ideal after she left. A newspaper at the time wrote: "Harmlos has humour, wit and irony but the catch was that the Neonbabies have just that spark of wit that the masses don't understand." That hits the core 100% in my opinion. Well, I like the album with its ten songs, which are characterized by Inga's beautiful voice and were brilliantly set to music by the talented musicians.

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V/A - Kalt Wie Eis 1981

Soundtrack slabs are rare on wdthtc, but this record is interesting because of the movie of the same name: Kalt Wie Eis (Cold As Ice) is a hard-hitting NewWave thriller that picks up on the Black Series Hollywood movies of the 1930s, and the movie itself is worth seeing and the music as well. A short description of what's about: Mike is fed up with everything and everyone. Just eighteen years old, he initially quit the apprenticeship as a car mechanic because his master supposedly acted stupidly on him. Then there is constant trouble with the grumbling parents who don't like his lifestyle. The young man leaves his previous life behind, uncompromising and radical. However, the newly won "freedom" doesn't get him any further: binges in Kreuzberg's neighborhood pubs and women's stories, which don't really satisfy him either. Things don't seem to change until Mike meets Corinna, a dark-haired neighborhood beauty. But then Mike finally takes the wrong path and his existence threatens to get out of hand. As the smallest light in a gang, he fixes stolen motorcycles and is promptly caught: juvenile prison and another downward spiral are the consequences. Corinna, who promised to wait for him, is now visiting less and less. Mike's anger boils and he decides to break out of prison. After his successful escape cost the life of a policeman, the petty criminal has become a dangerous criminal for the authorities, and the blond rebel begins to be hunted down. Betrayed by his gang buddies, who in turn believe he ratted them out to the police, Mike begins to run amok. An excess of violence, born of general frustration with life, can no longer be stopped and Mike takes bloody and explosive revenge on his former buddies. Interesting story, and the soundtrack offers a decent selection of different German interpreters whose range was attractive to me at the time, of course after more than forty years some things sound lame and diverse, but I think the record is a nice part of this time and has good songs stocked..... and now the 2023 Bundesliga final.

1.Kalt Wie Eis - TEMPO

2.Kreuzberg Ist So Wundervoll - MEKANIK DESTRUEKTIW KOMANDOE

3.Secretary Life - BEA

4.Some Velvet Phasing - KLAUS SCHULZE

5.Green Country - CHRISTOPHER LAIRD

6.Allegro Für Annemarie - EXTRABREIT

7.Skorbut Song - BLIXA

8.The Outlaw - BEA

9.Hawaii - NEONBABIES

10.Spaß Muß Sein! - NEONBABIES

11.Dependence - P1E

12.Romance Adieu - THOMAS VOBURKA

13.Kämpfen Und Siegen - MALARIA

14.Sector - TEMPO

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