The Foreign Correspondent - Stories About German Rock Music # 27

When I started this series I thought it will end after a couple of weeks, not expecting that it last this long. In # 2 of this series I introduced you to Neonbabies a band that was well known in the beginning of the so called German New Wave. In the beginning two sisters, Inga and Annette Humpe was heard on vocals. Both of them were part of the Berlin punk scene in the late 70s. There were many rumors why Annette has left the group. Anyway, it was a good decision. Because if she didn't go her own musical way we would have missed another band in this era. Ideal was a band which hit the nerve of the time and they combined classical punk attitude, short riffs and a forward going rhythm with lyrics which act from the life and also the boredom of young people in Berlin at these days. Their self titled debut record from 1980 was nearly the start of a lot of other bands to catch the bus to Hitsville Germany to do it the same way. This record was played at these times in so many pubs in my town because a lot of people could agree to this sound. The band split in 1983 announcing it to the media with an telex: „The group Ideal resolves. Ideally was planned from beginning as a project, a study group which should insist so long, how the differences of the single members made the work exciting and creative. Our music was always a result of the discussion of four different personalities, find not around compromises, but around songs to (him) on which everybody could stand. In three great years we have got out of this constellation the best.“

Enjoy and have a good weekend people.

Ideal - Berlin
Ideal - Blaue Augen
Ideal - Hundsgemein
Ideal - Luxus
Ideal - Roter Rolls Royce

The Foreign Correspondent - Stories About German Rock Music # 2

Started this series a few weeks ago to bring you folks some German music that was underrated or nearly forgotten. I tried to post it regular Friday's series and then Dirk challenged me to our 'Battle of the Blogs' and I focused on this. I would not like to step in competition to this. So let's try a second time for a Friday post and be surprised what I'll present.

This one is from a band that has his roots in the early German punk movement in the late 1970s. The Neonbabies was formed in Berlin by the sisters Inga and Annette Humpe. They recorded three records until they split in 1983. Annette Humpe left the band after their first record to join Ideal - another band from the so called New German Wave. Ideal's first hit single 'Blaue Augen' is a monument of this era and was originally released in a rough version on Neonbabie's first record. My favorite record of them was their last record '1983'. They turned away from their basic roots and made some experiments in psychedelic sounds and classic songwriting.

As said, Annette Humpe got success with Ideal and as a producer. She produced the first record from the group her sister Inga joined after the split. It was a German-Austrian collaboration called DÖF a persiflage to the punk/dance band DAF. They had big success among the NDW-era and were one of them bands that didn't play that nonsense the other bands did. In the 1990s the sisters had a collaboration and recorded two records under their own name. Mostly soft and tender songs I use to play later in the evening. Inga got also success early this century with 2raumwohnung.

Neonbabies - Blaue Augen
Neonbabies - Fata Morgana
Neonbabies - Horizont ohne Ende
Neonbabies - Eiskalter Engel