K...!
Encyclopedia
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band, founded in 1975 in East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
, then part of the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
. Karat also gained a strong following in West Germany when its 1982 album Der blaue Planet (The Blue Planet) was one of the year's top sellers in both East and West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, making Karat one of the more prominent bands in German-language rock.
History
Karat developed out of the East Berlin jazz-rock fusion group Panta Rhei, which lost much of its focus in 1973 when its lead-singer Veronika Fischer left to pursue a solo career, and dissolved in 1975 when three further members left to form a new band named Karat. The initial Karat lineup consisted of: singer Hans-Joachim "Neumi" Neumann, keyboardist and songwriter Ulrich "Ed" Swillms, bassist Henning Protzmann, drummer Konrad Burkert, acoustic guitarist Herbert DreilichHerbert Dreilich
Herbert Dreilich was a German-language rock musician. He was an early pioneer in, and an important contributor to, German-language Rock music...
, and electric guitarist Ulrich Pexa.
The following year Burkert was replaced by Michael Schwandt, and Pexa by Bernd Römer. Neumann left in 1977 due to military service, after which Austrian-born Dreilich became the band's vocalist.
By 1978, Karat had released several singles, and these were compiled together with other original songs into a debut self-titled album. Although most of this was fairly pedestrian German-language rock, it contained the hit single "König der Welt" ("King of the World"), a song which stood out and established Karat's signature style of a melodic brand of progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
. Poet Kurt Demmler wrote the words to this song, which like much of Karat's later output were philosophical in character.
Karat's second album, titled Über sieben Brücken (Across Seven Bridges) and released in 1979, brought the band a great deal of attention. It included the seven-minute long, classically structured "Albatros" ("Albatross"), the lyrics to which ("... der Albatros kennt keine Grenzen."/"... the albatross knows no borders.") had a double meaning that implied an indirect criticism of the GDR's austere travel restrictions and the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
. The title track "Über sieben Brücken mußt Du geh'n" ("You Must Cross Seven Bridges") is still the band's best-known song. Its deeply moving personal reflection introduced Karat to audiences outside of East Germany, especially when West German singer Peter Maffay
Peter Maffay
Peter Alexander Makkay better known as Peter Maffay is a German musician.- Biography :Born in Brasov, Romania, the son of a German , he was 14 when his family relocated to his parents' Germany in 1963. In the same year, he started his first band, The Dukes...
recorded a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of it that became a massive hit for him in 1980.
Karat's third album, titled Schwanenkönig (Swan-King) and released in 1980, expanded the band's following in both East and West Germany, although it failed to produce any top hits. Its cerebral lyrics were penned by journalist Norbert Kaiser, who continued to author many of the band's lyrics over the following six years.
In contrast, the 1982 album Der blaue Planet (The Blue Planet) sold more than 1.3 million copies, propelled by its uptempo, radio-friendly title track referring to the looming dangers of nuclear and environmental cataclysm (a topic of some popular concern at the time). This song is still frequently heard on German radio, partly for nostalgic reasons. Der blaue Planet became not only Karat's best-selling record, but the best-selling album of any East German recording artist ever, in or outside the country.
With its followup album Die sieben Wunder der Welt (The Seven Wonders of the World) in 1983, Karat drifted toward more emotionally stirring tunes like "Mich zwingt keiner auf die Knie" ("No one Forces Me to my Knee"). This period is considered by many to be a high point of the band's success, as it appealed to audiences in both East and West Germany, and even in other countries of Eastern
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
and Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
. In 1984, Karat and its lyricist Norbert Kaiser were honored with the National Prize of the GDR for Arts and Literature
National Prize of East Germany
The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic was an award of the German Democratic Republic given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, and other meritorious achievement...
. That year Karat also appeared on the popular West German television show Wetten, dass..?
Wetten, dass..?
Wetten, dass..? is a long-running German-language entertainment television show. It is the most successful Saturday television show in Europe...
, where it was the only music group ever to be invited from the GDR. In 1986, Karat received the Goldene Europa, West German television's oldest award.
Bassist and founding member Henning Protzmann left the band, and was replaced by Christian Liebig for Fünfte Jahreszeit (Fifth Season), released in 1986. This record had a more commercially-oriented sound, with songs like "Hab' den Mond mit der Hand berührt" ("Touched the Moon with my Hand") and "Glocke Zweitausend" ("The 2000 Bell"). The latter track included Silly
Silly (band)
Silly is a German rock band. Founded in East Germany in the year 1978, Silly was one of the country's most popular music acts, and was well known for its charismatic lead singer Tamara Danz. Her death in 1996 ended the band's recording career for 14 years...
singer Tamara Danz
Tamara Danz
Tamara Danz was the lead singer and lyricist of the East German rock group Silly. She died at age 43 of breast cancer.- Life and work :...
, with whom Swillms, Römer and Dreilich had briefly performed in the East German supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
the Gitarreros.
A turning point came in 1987, when another founding member, principal composer and first keyboardist Ulrich Swillms, left Karat citing health concerns. A second keyboardist, Thomas Kurzhals, had already been recruited in 1984, and he remained in the band. (Swillms would return 18 years later as a loosely associated member). The group's first album produced without Swillms, ... im nächsten Frieden (... in The Next Peace), was released in 1990 shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and reflected a strong shift toward a radio-friendly pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
structure. Although this album included a duet between lead singer Herbert Dreilich and Peter Maffay on a new version of "Über sieben Brücken," it was widely ignored. Karat, along with other East German bands such as The Puhdys
Puhdys
The Puhdys are a veteran German rock band, formed in Oranienburg , in what was then the German Democratic Republic, in 1969, although they had been performing together, with various lineups, as the Puhdys since 1965. They continue to record and tour...
and City
City (band)
City is a German rock band, formed in East Berlin in 1972, best known for the song "Am Fenster" from its 1978 first album....
, seemed to be passé when their East German fans were suddenly able to buy western albums with ease. During 1990 many top western rock acts performed in East Germany for the first time, and free shows such as Roger Waters
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
' The Wall
The Wall
The Wall is the eleventh studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. Released as a double album on 30 November 1979, it was subsequently performed live with elaborate theatrical effects, and adapted into a feature film, Pink Floyd—The Wall.As with the band's previous three...
extravaganza in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, which did not include any East German performers, took their toll on East German performers' fanbases.
Karat released a second self-titled album in 1991, with the title intended to suggest a new beginning. Instead it sold poorly, and Karat would not record again for four years.
The doldrums in popularity for East German recording artists began to give way around 1993-1994. Karat's albums, having been re-released as compact discs by DSB (the privatized successor to East German state-owned record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
AMIGA
AMIGA (label)
AMIGA was a record label for popular music of the VEB Deutsche Schallplatten Berlin in East Germany. In 1994 it became a label of the Bertelsmann Music Group....
), started to sell fairly well again. Karat celebrated its 20th anniversary with a sold-out concert at a horse racing track in the Karlshorst
Karlshorst
Karlshorst is a locality in the borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. It houses a harness racing track and the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin , the largest University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, and the German-Russian Museum Berlin-Karlshorst.-History:Established in 1895 as the...
district of Berlin, with appearances by well-wishers including the bands City and The Puhdys, and singer Ute Freudenberg. Coinciding with this concert was the release of an album that returned to Karat's more distinctive style of progressive rock, Die geschenkte Stunde (The Given Hour). This was the first to include new keyboardist Martin Becker, and it sold well to the band's core fan base among eastern Germans. Thereafter Karat was widely considered one of the former GDR's top remaining live acts, yet it eschewed the Ostalgie
Ostalgie
Ostalgie is a German term referring to nostalgia for aspects of life in East Germany. It is derived from the German words Ost and Nostalgie ....
movement and emphasized its new material in concerts. The 1997 album Balance received similar success, including its relative comeback hit "Der Ozean" ("The Ocean").
An abrupt shock came in October 1997, when lead singer Herbert Dreilich suffered a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
on stage in Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
. He survived the event, but returned to performance only after a full year of recuperation and songwriting. Afterward, Karat's pace slowed considerably. In 2000, the band released the compilation Ich liebe jede Stunde (I Love Every Hour), consisting of a few remakes, a few new songs, and some of its most popular older material remastered. The band's 25th anniversary was celebrated in front of a crowd of 20,000 people in Berlin, with former first keyboardist Ulrich Swillms making a guest re-appearance, and sharing the stage with the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg
Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg
The German Film Orchestra Babelsberg is a symphony orchestra based in Potsdam, Germany. It was founded in 1993 by Klaus Peter Beyer. The orchestra derives its name from the legendary Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam-Babelsberg, a city part of Potsdam today, where notable films such as Metropolis, Dr...
and Peter Maffay. A year later recordings from this concert were released as a live album and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, titled 25 Jahre Karat - Das Konzert (25 Years of Karat - The Concert). The 2003 album Licht und Schatten (Light and Shadow) was to be Dreilich's last personally completed effort (notably, it contained the only Karat song ever recorded in English, "Someone Got Hurt," a demo from 1983 that may have been a reference to Dean Reed
Dean Reed
Dean Cyril Reed was an American actor, singer and songwriter who lived a great part of his adult life in South America and then in communist East Germany.-Life and career:...
). In 2004, a tour with The Puhdys and City was cancelled at the last minute when Dreilich was diagnosed with liver cancer
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common type of liver cancer. Most cases of HCC are secondary to either a viral hepatitide infection or cirrhosis .Compared to other cancers, HCC is quite a rare tumor in the United States...
. He died that December, at the age of 62.
Schürzenjäger
The Schürzenjäger, formerly Zillertaler Schürzenjäger, is one of the most successful bands of Austria and was founded in 1973. "Schürzenjäger" is a German term for "Heartbreaker", which was first used in the early 1900s...
. The second CD contained songs Herbert Dreilich wrote and was working on in the last years of his life, performed by himself where recordings existed and by others where they did not, finished for release. It ended off with the heartbreaking "Manchmal denk' ich" ("Sometimes I Think"), sung by the band's long-standing friend and contributor Thomas Natschinski.
At Herbert Dreilich's suggestion, the band replaced him with his 35-year-old son Claudius Dreilich, who had previously been manager of an IKEA
IKEA
IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...
furniture store in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. The younger Dreilich bore an uncanny resemblance to his father, both in appearance and in vocal style. He was well received by the other members of the band, whom he had already known for many years, as well as its fans. Former first keyboardist Ulrich Swillms also rejoined the group, although appearing only occasionally in live performance.
However, due to a legal dispute with the elder Dreilich's widow, who claimed ownership of the name "Karat" because her husband had registered it as a trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
in 1998, the band stopped using it, and in January, 2006 adopted the name K...!. After a protracted legal process, in June 2007 the Berlin courts ruled that the name Karat should belong to the members of the band. The name K...! was retired, and the band returned to calling itself Karat.
During the summer and fall of 2007, Karat took part in a large multi-band tour, called Ost-Rock in Klassik ("East-Rock in Classical"), where famous East German rock acts played their biggest hits in a classical style together with the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg, conducted by Bernd Wefelmeyer. In April 2010 the band celebtrated its 35th anniversary with two concerts in the Alte Oper Erfurt, a new album called Weitergeh'n, a book about the band and its history, and a special anniversary-tour during autumn and winter.
Karat continues to give live performances and to record, occasionally releasing new singles.
Members
- Claudius Dreilich – vocals (joined in 2005)
- Bernd Römer – lead-guitar (joined in 1976)
- Christian Liebig – bass-guitar (joined in 1986)
- Michael Schwand – drums (joined in 1976)
- Ulrich "Ed" Swillms – keyboards (1975–1987, returned in 2005 as sole founding member but without making complete band-tours)
- Martin Becker – keyboards (joined in 1992)
Former members
- Hans-Joachim "Neumi" Neumann – vocals (1975–1977)
- Herbert DreilichHerbert DreilichHerbert Dreilich was a German-language rock musician. He was an early pioneer in, and an important contributor to, German-language Rock music...
– vocals, acoustic guitar (1975–2004) - Ulrich Pexa – vocals, electric guitar (1975)
- Henning Protzmann – bass, management (1975–1985)
- Konrad Burkert – drums (1975)
- Thomas Kurzhals – keyboards (1984–1992)
- Thomas Natschinski – keyboards (1981–1984)
Albums
- 1978 Karat
- 1979 Über sieben Brücken ("Across Seven Bridges")
- 1979 Albatros ("Albatross") — West German debut album, compiling first two East German albums.
- 1980 Schwanenkönig ("Swan King")
- 1982 Der blaue Planet ("The Blue Planet")
- 1983 Die sieben Wunder der Welt ("The Seven Wonders Of The World")
- 1985 10 Jahre Karat – Auf dem Weg zu Euch – Live ("10 Years Of Karat – Coming At You – Live") — Live albumLive albumA live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
. - 1987 Fünfte Jahreszeit ("Fifth Season")
- 1990 ... im nächsten Frieden ("... In The Next Peace")
- 1991 Karat (second self-titled album)
- 1995 Die geschenkte Stunde ("The Given Hour")
- 1997 Balance ("Balance")
- 2000 Ich liebe jede Stunde ("I Love Every Hour") — Compilation albumCompilation albumA compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
. - 2001 25 Jahre Karat – Das Konzert ("25 Years Of Karat – The Concert") — Live album.
- 2003 Licht und Schatten ("Light And Shadow")
- 2005 30 Jahre Karat ("30 Years Of Karat") — Compilation album.
- 2010 Weitergeh'n ("Move On")
- 2010 Ich liebe jede Stunde ("I Love Every Hour") - 14-CD-Box with all albums and a CD full of rarities.
Films
- 2001 25 Jahre Karat - Das Konzert (VHS, DVD)
- 2007 Ostrock in Klassik (DVD)
- 2010 Live aus der Alten Oper Erfurt (DVD)
- 2011 Albatros (DVD)
Literature
All titles are in GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
:
- Pop Nonstop – Caroline Gerlach, VEB Lied der Zeit, 1985.
- Über sieben Brücken – Wolfgang Schumann, Henschel Verlag, 1995.
- Meine Jahre mit Karat ("My Years with Karat") – Jens Fritzsche, 2005.
- Über sieben Brücken musst du gehn – Christine Dähn, Verlag Neues Leben, 2010.
- Karat (1) (Songbook) – Gert Friedrich, HMV, 1980.
- Karat (2) (Songbook) – Gert Friedrich, HMV, 1981.
- Karat (3) (Songbook) – Gert Friedrich, HMV, 1984.
- Über sieben Brücken (Songbook) – Gert Friedrich, HMV, 1985.