Was This Punk?

It is 40 years ago today when Nina Hagen released her first record called Nina Hagen Band after her expatriation from Eastern Germany. She was the stepdaughter of Wolf Biermann, a dissident and critical singer-songwriter from the other side of the wall. She made success in Eastern Germany with some kind of schlager in her origin country. After she crossed the border she went straight to London and anticipated the upcoming punk scene. She got in touch with punk and reggae and got befriended with Ari Up and The Slits. She also found some German musicians on the island and back to Germany they released their first album. It is certainly not a punk album in music because there were too many ingredients of classic rock inside but her voice blew us all away. Probably because she sung their songs in  our language. The Nina Hagen Band is still a record you can listen to after all these decades and having fun (if only you remember the times the record was released). I remember back then when I saw her live once. It was a terrific set. Nina in front of the band acting like none we've seen before. She filled the venue with her classical trained voice. Sadly she never reached the level of her first record.

Nina Hagen Band -  Auf'm Bahnhof Zoo
Nina Hagen Band - Rangehn'
Nina Hagen Band - TV-Glotzer (White Punks On Dope)