GRAUZONE - Eisbär 7'' 1981

Grauzone was a Swiss band of the early 80's. The press called them pioneers of the Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW) but that is shit in my opinion. At the end of 1979 Marco Repetto (drums) and GT (bass) left the punk band Glueams, to form together with Martin Eicher (guitar, vocals, synthesizer) a new band called Grauzone. Martin had already supported Glueams on their 7'' Mental. They gave their first concert in March 1980 at the club Spex in Berne. Martin's brother Stephan Eicher (guitar) & Claudine Chirac (saxophone) complemented the group temporarily in live performances and recordings. The group refused, however, the commercial requirements, and concentrated on film and studio work. Grauzone was known by the two pieces 'Eisbär' & 'Raum', which were used for the compilation "Swiss Wave - The Album" on Off Course Records. Eisbär hits the lifestyle of that time and got radio airplay in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The song was released as a single and reached number six in the Austrian and place 12th in the german charts. The b-side is a minimalistic synth-pop love song and delight any woman's heart. A classic record I can listen to it everytime, brings back a lot of memories.

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V/A - Tanz Mit Dem Herzen 1982

One request now and another one from my former Blog. It seems NDW music is still popular and this record from EMI is a premium blend of this time. Usually only well-known bands on it with their classics and the mixture of synth-pop and 'punk' is acceptable. Those were carefree times, I was young, went to school and first approximations to the Girls and trouble with parents. Today, life is the challenge. Well, the sound is still alive and keeps me fit. A bit of nostalgia for all end 60s. Take care!

1.Dreiklangsdimensionen - RHEINGOLD

2.Eisbär - GRAUZONE

3.Die Wilde 13 - FEHLFARBEN

4.Berühren - PROFIL

5.Taschenrechner - KRAFTWERK

6.Alltag - BERNWARD BÜKER BANDE

7.Das Model - KRAFTWERK

8.Film 2 - GRAUZONE

9.Skandal Im Sperrbezirk - SPIDER MURPHY GANG

10.Ein Jahr (Es Geht Voran) - FEHLFARBEN

11.So Kühl - PROFIL

12.Fluss - RHEINGOLD

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V/A - Swiss Wave The Album 1980

All right folks, it's time for a compilation this month and let's move to the Swiss area and enjoy one of the first releases from Off Course Records and this is a decent mix of punk and powerpop. There exist many re-releases and you can read a lot of infos on the discogs page, which label, year, etc..... most of the songs appear on the bands album or 7Inches but these are the original recordings what makes this platte very rare, a good overview about the Swiss underground scene at that time. The label is one of my favourite Swiss one with lots of rare records nowadays. Volume 2 came three years later out on Astan Records, don't know this, someone?

1.Eisbär - GRAUZONE

2.Raum - GRAUZONE

3.World War III - THE SICK

4.I Think It's Over - JACK & THE RIPPERS

5.Hitch Hike - LILIPUT

6.DC-10 - LILIPUT

7.Lies - R.DIETRICH & KRAFT DURCH FREUDE

8.Do What You Want - RUDOLPH DIETRICH

9.Down - JACK & THE RIPPERS

10.Tonight - LADYSHAVE

11.Heartbreak - MOTHER'S RUIN

12.With Us - MOTHER'S RUIN

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DIE WESTDEUTSCHEN CHRISTEN - Laß Mich Nicht Allein 12'' 1980

A fairly unknown band traveled through the eighties were Die Westdeutschen Christen from Berlin. The band's name is a bit funny and I would be interested as the guys came to it and christian rock came somehow later, poser noises... rather, very good NDW sound in the vein of Grauzone or ExKurs, thus quite similar to New Wave and catchy and simple without being superficial. All the four songs on the record are nice and danceable. They released their full length s/t album in 1982. So this sound of this 12'' is absolute characteristic for the early 80's in Germany and was released via Epilepdisc. All in all, no failures, a fine record and anyone who likes minimalistic sounds is right here anyway.

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GLUEAMS - Live EP 1981

All these songs on this awesome EP were recorded @ the "Swiss Punk Now" Festival in November 1979 and Glueams are the only band which released a few samples of this legendary two-day festival and the sound quality is fuckin' TOP! Spray painted cover, done by Dorette herself and 1000 copies were pressed. Glueams were a swiss punk band from Bern with female singer and lyrics in swiss dialect. They had a short existence, I think two years exactly (1979-1981) and the band turned later to legendary art wave/punk band called Grauzone, who created the smash hit "Eisbär"! Glueams released all in all three 7inches and they arequite essential. Raw dirty + catchy killer stuff and extreme hard for an alpine country in my opinion. In 2010 came a complete discography album by Static Age out with all their official songs and if you had the chance to buy a copy don't hesitate. Swiss Punk at it's fuckin' best!! Cheers :)

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