Die Toten Hosen
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| Die Toten Hosen | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Also known as | Die Roten Rosen | |
| Origin |  Düsseldorf, Germany |
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| Genre(s) | hard rock, punk rock | |
| Years active | 1982–present | |
| Label(s) | Jochens kleine Plattenfirma | |
| Website | dietotenhosen.de | |
| Members | ||
| Campino (Andreas Frege) Andi (Andreas Meurer) Breiti (Michael Breitkopf) Kuddel (Andreas von Holst) Vom (Stephen George Ritchie) |
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| Former members | ||
| Walter November (1982-1983) Trini Trimpop (Klaus-Dieter Trimpop; 1982-1985) Jakob Keusen (1985-1986) Wölli (Wolfgang Rohde; 1986-1999) |
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Die Toten Hosen is a German punk band from Düsseldorf. They are one of very few German-language acts who have enjoyed decades-long mass appeal in Germany.
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[edit] History
The members of Die Toten Hosen (literally "The Dead Pants" in English although most closely translated to "The Dead Beats;" "tote Hose" is a German expression meaning "impotent", "lifeless", "boring", or "nothing going on") are Campino (Andreas Frege), Kuddel (Andreas von Holst), Vom (Stephen 'Vom' Ritchie), Andi (Andreas Meurer) and Breiti (Michael Breitkopf). Although most of the members are German, drummer Vom is actually from England and replaced Wölli as the drummer in 1999; Wölli's untimely departure from the band was due to injuries caused by a car accident. Wölli himself had replaced Trini in 1985, and is still an honorary member of the band; Trini became the band's manager when Wölli joined.
The band has existed for over 20 years, and their songs' focus gradually shifted from funny and nonsensical to serious; the songs from their first LP were mostly about having fun, but by the end of the 1980s they were focusing more on political and social issues such as racism.
Part of the folklore surrounding the band is the story that in their early days they played for free at private birthday parties or similar events. However, this was only under the condition that the host provided an unlimited beer supply and paid for all damages caused by the band.
The debut single "Wir sind bereit" ("We are ready") was released in 1982, and was followed by their first album, "Opel-Gang", the next year. In 1988, Die Toten Hosen released the LP "Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau", which featured the song "Hier Kommt Alex" (referring to the movie A Clockwork Orange based on the book by Anthony Burgess); in 1993, Frank Castorf produced a German theater version of the book, in which the band performed as actors and musicians. "Hier Kommt Alex" (here comes Alex) was later redone for the Unplugged show in 2005 with the opening piano of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.
Their 1000th concert was on 28 June 1997, in the Düsseldorfer Rheinstadium, and was attended by more than 60,000 fans. A Dutch girl died in the crowd; after various talks with security and police, the band decided to play soft songs until the end, in order not to panic the crowd. Later the band produced the song "Alles ist Eins" in memoriam for the Dutch girl. Their first tour after this event was as part of the 1998 Warped Tour to New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Hawaii, and included hospital visits for Campino after two of the nine Australian dates (Byron Bay and Geelong).
Die Toten Hosen have collaborated with numerous other musicians (like Bad Religion, AC/DC, U2, Rolling Stones); they are also one of the few German punk bands popular outside of Germany (esp. in South America, Australia, Eastern Europe) other notable bands being Die Ärzte and WIZO.
As longtime fans of their local soccer team Fortuna Düsseldorf they sponsored the club from 2001 to 2003.
In August, 2006, Campino (Andreas Frege) starred as Mack the Knife in a new version of "The Threepenny Opera" staged at Berlin's Admiralspalast, a short distance down Friedrichstrasse from where the play received its premier in 1928. Staged by actor Klaus Maria Brandauer, the much-awaited production opened to mixed reviews, with cheers for German rock star Campino, but scattered boos for Brandauer's "conventional" staging.
[edit] References
Artist Andreas Gursky sold a famous work called "Tote Hosen", a blown up photograph of the crowd from a Die Toten Hosen concert. It features a crowd of German youths, many wearing the red Hosen shirt, excitedly cheering for the band. It is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
Faith No More seem to be fans as well, as bassist Billy Gould is seen wearing a Mach et... ficken, bumsen, blasen T-shirt on their greatest hits album, This Is It: The Best of Faith No More. In addition, Faith No More have covered the song "Hofgarten" in live shows.
Fellow German Rock group Samsas Traum covered "Hier kommt Alex" on the Endstation Eden album. this was a remarkably different version to the original, as it featured a more Goth orchestration take on the song, and main singer Alexander Kaschte changes the final lyric to "Hey! Ich bin Alex!" for a joke on the song's theme itself. Also, legendary UK punk band UK Subs recorded an English-language cover of the song on their 1993 album Normal Service Resumed.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
 Opel Gang |
 Under the Wrong Flag |
 Ladies' Choice |
 (1987) |
 To the Bitter End |
 A little bit of horror show |
 On the Crusade to Luck - 125 Years of Die Toten Hosen |
 (1991) |
 Buy ME! |
 Rich & Sexy |
 (1994) |
 Opium for the People |
 By Order of the Lord |
 We Wait for the Christ-child |
 (1999) |
 Immortal |
 Away Game |
 Rich & Sexy II |
 Back to Luck |
 Just Visiting - Unplugged in the Vienna Burgtheater |
[edit] Singles
- Wir sind bereit – 1982 (We are ready)
- Reisefieber - 1982 (Travel nerves)
- Eisgekühlter Bommerlunder/Opelgang - 1983 (Ice cooled Bommerlunder/Opel gang)
- Hip Hop Bommi Bop - 1983
- Schöne Bescherung - 1983 (Nice how-d'ye-do)
- Kriminaltango mit Kurt Raab - 1984 (Criminal tango with Kurt Raab)
- Liebesspieler - 1984 (Love player)
- Liebesspieler/Die John Peel Session – 1984 (Love player/The John Peel Session)
- Faust in der Tasche - 1985 (Fist in the pocket)
- The Battle of the Bands – 1985 EP
- Das Altbierlied - 1986 (The old beer song (traditional Düsseldorf drinking song))
- Im Wagen vor mir - 1987 (In the car in front of me)
- Alle Mädchen wollen küssen - 1987 (All girls wanna kiss)
- Hier kommt Alex - 1988 (Here comes Alex)
- 1000 gute Gründe - 1989 (1000 good Reasons)
- Alles wird gut - 1990 (Everything will be alright)
- Azzurro - 1990 (Italian: Blue)
- All die ganzen Jahre - 1990 (All the years)
- Carnival In Rio (Punk Was) – 1991 (Carnival in Rio (punk was...))
- Baby Baby - 1991
- Whole Wide World - 1992
- If The Kids Are United - 1992
- Sascha... ein aufrechter Deutscher - 1992 (Sascha... an real German, lit. Sasha ... an upright/honest German)
- Wünsch DIR was - 1993 (Have a wish)
- Alles aus Liebe - 1993 (All out of love)
- Kauf MICH! - 1994 (Buy me!)
- Put your money where your mouth is... 5-Track EP- 1994
- Sexual - 1994
- Nichts bleibt für die Ewigkeit - 1995 (Nothing's eternal)
- Paradies - 1996 (Paradise)
- Bonnie & Clyde - 1996
- 10 kleine Jägermeister - 1996 (10 little Jägermeister, after the German drink Jägermeister)
- Alles aus Liebe - Live - 1997 (All for the sake of love - live)
- Pushed Again - 1998
- Weihnachtsmann vom Dach - 1998 (Santa Claus from the roof)
- Auld lang Syne - 1999
- Schön sein - 1999 (Being beautiful)
- Unsterblich - 2000 (Immortal)
- Bayern - 2000 (Bavaria; meant is the German soccer club FC Bayern München)
- Warum werde ich nicht satt? - 2000 (Why don't I get enough?)
- Was zählt - 2001 (What matters, lit. What counts)
- Kein Alkohol (ist auch keine Lösung)! - 2002 (No alcohol (isn't a solution either))
- Steh auf, wenn du am Boden bist - 2002 (Get up when you're down)
- Nur zu Besuch - 2002 (Only visiting)
- Frauen dieser Welt - 2002 (Women of this world)
- Friss oder Stirb – 2004 (Eat or die)
- Ich bin die Sehnsucht in Dir - 2004 (I'm the longing in you)
- Walkampf - 2004 (normally it's called "Wahlkampf" (German for election campaign), but it's written "Walkampf", German for whale fight)
- Alles wird vorübergehen - 2005 (Everything will go by)
- Freunde - 2005 (Friends)
- Hier kommt Alex (unplugged) - 2005 (Here comes Alex - unplugged)
- Guns of Brixton (unplugged) - 2006
[edit] Promo-Singles
- The Nightmare Continues - 1991
- Mehr davon - 1992 (More of that)
- The return of Alex - 1994
- Tout pour sauver l'Amour - 1995
- Soul Therapy - 1998
[edit] Singleboxes
- Musik war ihr Hobby – 1995 (Music was their hobby)
- Mehr davon - 2001 (More of this)
[edit] Sampler
- Gegen Nazis
- Vans Warped Tour '98 - 1998
- You're Dead (OST) - 1999
- On the Run (Pro Asyl) - 2004
- Punk Rock BRD Vol. 1 & 2 & 3 - 2004
- Berlin wir kommen 1995
- Soundtracks zum Untergang 4 - 1999
[edit] External links
