SPLIFF - The Spliff Radio Show 1980

OK, just a few words about yesterday's K.O. of the German team: First; they deserve it, they never showed their form and the will to get the cup again. All three games were agonizing, they played timid and inhibited and as defending champion unworthy. Of course the criticism is loud again but I would not speak of a new beginning, Löw made mistakes, He should have taken more young fresh hungry players and should not nominate the two players who made this stupid photo with this dictator. Anyway, Leber geht weiter! and the WM continues. Now to the post and a record a record which I haven't heard for ages. Spliff was a New German Wave rock band, active in the 1980s. The members were already playing together before they were 'adopted' by Nina Hagen when she came to West Germany in 1977. They recorded two albums with her as the Nina Hagen Band before continuing under the name Spliff when Hagen went solo. Their characteristic sound was a mix of electronic music, reggae and punk rock. They recorded "The Spliff Radio Show" in 1980, their only album in English. After parting ways with vocalist Alf Klimek, the remaining members carried on in German sharing vocals between all four of them. Their album 85555 however was released in a limited English edition too, which is extremely rare. They had major hits on the German singles chart with Carbonara and Das Blech. Despite their influential status, the band was short-lived. Many of the musicians subsequently formed a band called Froon. The Other Ones was another offshoot band, which included Alf Klimek, who appeares on this album as Alf Klimax and I must say, this is their best record, sixteen solid punk rock songs, top lyrics, a few funny jingles in between and the euphoric Rock Is A Drug as coronation at the end.

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SPLIFF - 85555 1982

One of my favorite NDW albums is the second by Spliff from Berlin which were active in the 1980s. The slab ran up and down and is still brilliant after almost forty years. The members were already playing together before they were 'adopted' by Nina Hagen when she came to West Germany in 1977. They recorded two albums with her as the Nina Hagen Band before continuing under the name Spliff when Hagen went solo. Their characteristic sound was a mix of electronic music, reggae and punk rock. They recorded The Spliff Radio Show in 1980, their only album in English. After parting ways with vocalist Alf Klimek, the remaining members carried on in German sharing vocals between all four of them. 85555 however was released in a limited English edition too. They had major hits on the German singles chart with "Carbonara" and "Deja Vu". Despite their influential status, the band was short-lived.

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SPLIFF - Herzlichen Glückwunsch! 1982

Okay folks; Monday evening and surprisingly it has been quite a pleasant day to date... that was not always so, but who fucking cares? - After the success of the album 85555 in early 1982, Spliff followed suit with their third album at the end of the same year. Commercially this was not quite as successful as its predecessor, but Herzlichen Glückwunsch! is still a solid classic nowadays. With "Das Blech" and the title track, two singles went to the crowd in advance, and musically both shot little splashes of dancing pleasure around the mob. The band presents a sound that has little in common with that of the debut. Not least thanks to Reinhold Heil, who pursues his weakness for strange keyboard sounds, and Herwig's electronic drum pads, Spliff is the perfect symbiosis of rock & electronic musicians.

A review: "Released the same year as their smash hit 85555, Spliff's third album Herzlichen Glückwunsch! doesn't feature anything approximating their immensely catchy ironic pop single "Carbonara," but it continues their fusion of rock & electronics and manages to stay interesting throughout its running time. The main forces within the band are still drummer Herwig's rock-based songwriting, the booming sound of his Simmons drums, and his punk-influenced singing voice on one end of the spectrum, and Reinhold Heil's keyboard textures, his laconic, almost rap-like vocals, and his electronic-oriented songs on the other. The group managed to score another hit with the single "Das Blech" (as in "Da Fliegt Dir Ja Das Blech Weg," a colloquialism which could be roughly translated as "This Blows Your Mind"), a coolly arranged synth funk number for the dancefloor, with an electronic percussion solo in the middle. Elsewhere on the album, there's Mitteregger's energetic title track with an almost atonal bridge, a dreamy funk song written and sung by bassist Manfred Praeker ("Tag Für Tag"/"Day By Day"), and the Kraftwerk-ian "Herr Kennedy", with vocals by all four group members. Even though Heil's contributions are more diverse and interesting, the album's best tracks are written by Mitteregger: the frantic "Wohin? Wohin?" ("Where To? Where To?"), a fast-paced rock number about smuggling in Algeria, and the epic album closer "Glaspalast" ("Glass Palace"), which keeps building its intensity from its slow, moody beginning. While nothing on Herzlichen Glückwunsch! is absolutely essential, the album is an interesting clash of styles that rewards repeated listening." [Christian Genzel]

The third album is the band's last usable release. After that, the fucking commerce grabbed them by the balls and 1985 they finally split up due to musical differences and various solo projects.

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EXTRABREIT - Welch Ein Land! - Was Für Männer: 1981

Well-known and also popular overseas are Hagen's Extrabreit and they returned 1981 to the studio to record their sophomore effort. At that time the band consisted of Kai (vocals), Stefan & Ulrich (guitars), Wolfgang (bass), Rolf (drums). In the early 1980s, 3D technology was slowly gaining momentum, resulting in films, posters and even some TV commercials. To experience the effect, paper glasses with red and green plastic lenses were distributed everywhere. An interesting gag for the time. Extrabreit had the idea of using the new technology for Welch Ein Land!... and designed a stereoscopic three-dimensional photo for the cover and as far as I know it's the only one of its kind, and the first edition came with anaglyph glasses and this is innovation I miss these days. Well, a nice review: "WEL-WFM is a more angry, politically quarrelsome album and to everyone's big surprise, first single "Polizisten" immediately turned into the band's first hit, only gaining strength when the Bavarian government banned the song for openly insulting the country's police force. Around the same time, German music journalists had discerned a new trend and dubbed it NDW. Bands like Ideal, Trio, and Spliff demonstrated a new national self-esteem, and Extrabreit, with their raucous, untamed attitude, fit right in. Over a year after its release, Extrabreit's debut album followed its successor into the charts and the single "Hurra, Hurra, die Schule Brennt" quickly climbed into the Top Ten. By 1982 both of the band's albums had established themselves in Germany's Top Five album chart and against all odds Extrabreit had turned into Germany's most successful band of the year." - Enough bla bla, listen and enjoy the weekend!

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V/A - Die Neue Tanzmusik Ist Da Da Da 1982

The first NDW sampler now and as you probably recognize, here are a few punk bands represented which have more less to do with traditional NDW music style. This record was created in collaboration with the German Cancer Society and a certain amount per purchase this plate went to those. A great thing! And I think that we have here a collection that shows how individual the early german music scene was and this demonstrated a knack for putting together different music styles on one album. I love such diversions (a little boring are the tracks from the Doraus & Palais Schaumburg but who give's a shit). Now it's up to you, brain or pleasure!

1.Da Da Da Ich Lieb Dich Nicht Du Liebst Mich Nicht - TRIO

2.Roter Rolls Royce - IDEAL

3.Heut' Nacht - SPLIFF

4.Ich Habe Mir Sooft Gewünscht - INA DETER

5.Stille Tage In Ostberlin - KFC

6.Exakt Neutral - DEO

7.Wir Bauen Eine Neue Stadt - PALAIS SCHAUMBURG

8.Lokomotivführer - DIE DORAUS & DIE MARINAS

9.Polizisten - EXTRABREIT

10.Radio - NICHTS

11.Beim Erstenmal Tut's Immer Weh - ABWÄRTS

12.Taxi - JAWOLL

13.Los! - STRASSENJUNGS

14.Messertraum - KATIA

15.Der Kommissar - THE WIRTSCHAFTSWUNDER

16.Sabine Sabine Sabine - TRIO

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HERWIG MITTEREGGER - Kein Mut-Kein Mädchen 1983

First solo album from Herwig Mitteregger and I bought it because of the terrific 'Kalt Wie Ein Stein' single which became one of my favorite songs and I still enjoy listening to it nowadays. A bit info: "Herwig was ahead of his time. His music is far more akin to the Punk it originally came from than the typical Spliff sound. Less pop, more rock is the order of the day here. Production techniques that were innovative at the time, multifaceted arrangements and ingenious ideas when writing Mitteregger's words make this album something special. Kein Mut - Kein Mädchen is a diverse and inspired album that was unparalleled at the time." (Source: Deutsche-Mugge) - Eight atmospherically varied songs, including a cool cover version of AC/DC, are gathered on this record, which aren't always funny, but inspire and still have a merriment here and there. Good stuff!

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