Böhse Onkelz

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Böhse Onkelz
Background information
Origin Frankfurt, Germany Flag of Germany
Genre(s) Hard Rock
Heavy Metal
Years active 1980–2005
Label(s) Rock-O-Rama (1984-1986)
Metal Enterprises (1987-1990)
Bellaphon Records (1991-1994)
Virgin Schallplatten (1995-2000)
rule23 Recordings (2000-2005)
Website Official Website
Members
Kevin Russell (Vocals)
Stephan Weidner (Bass guitar)
Matthias Röhr (Guitar)
Peter Schorowsky (Drums)

The Böhse Onkelz (German böse Onkel - "evil uncles") were a German rock group.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Founding in the punk scene

Inspired by bands like the Sex Pistols or the Ramones, Stephan Weidner, Kevin Richard Russell and Peter Schorowsky founded a punk band in November 1980 in Hösbach. They got their name from some kids who named the three boys "evil uncles" on 25 November, 1980, because they had stolen a carriage from one of the kids. At first, the band was active mainly in the region of Frankfurt am Main.

Matthias 'Gonzo' Röhr joined the band in 1981. He had already played guitar for six years in different bands (e.g. Antikörper) and brought his musical experience into the rather bad band. First Weidner played the guitar and Röhr the bass. Shortly before the first recordings for the punk sampler "Soundtrack zum Untergang 2" ("Soundtrack to the fall Vol. 2"), they changed instruments.

[edit] Entering the skinhead scene

The band recorded their first bigger release on the rather left-wing oriented punk sampler "Soundtracks zum Untergang", but after the so far unpolitical punk movement moved further to the left, the Onkelz lost interest in this subculture. Soccer became more important in their lives and with it fights surrounding games accumulated.

The band accounted themselves as part of the originally also unpolitical Oi! movement and went through their first drift to the political right in the early 1980s. The first gigs and demos that had been released by this point served the prejudices of their unpolitical to right-extreme fans. The release of the album "Der nette Mann" followed in 1984 on right-wing rock label Rock-O-Rama. This album was indexed in September 1986 because of its violence-glorifying and sexist content. The album also contained the patriotic songs "Stolz" (Proud) and "Deutschland" (Germany), by which the Onkelz slowly gained cult status in the right-wing scene. "Der nette Mann" was copied numerous times to cassettes and thereby spread rapidly in the scene. Shortly after the release of the "Mexico" EP in late 1985 the band split with Rock-O-Rama.

[edit] After the exit from the skinhead scene

Stephan Weidner: song writer, bassist and band leader of the Onkelz
Stephan Weidner: song writer, bassist and band leader of the Onkelz

After their split from the skinhead scene in 1986 the band proceeded without any distinguishable political motivation. The following albums also contained songs about drinking and violence but were much musically and lyrically richer. Despite substantial problems caused by Russell's alcohol and heroin addictions, the band continued to work together.

On the 16th of June, 1990, the band's best common friend, Andreas "Trimmi" Trimborn, was stabbed to death during an incident in a bar located in Frankfurt's Sachsenhausen district. BO supporters located the assailant, a "Bundeswehr" soldier whose father held a high military rank, just two days later. The murderer was trialled but released without sentence. The judge stated that the Böhe Onkelz band and entourage were known to be violent and that the stabbing was committed in self-defense. Even today all witnesses sharply reject this claim that Trimmi threatened the killer and his companion, who both allegedly snorted cocaine just minutes before the incident, with a beer beaker. Kevin fell into a severe depression about the loss of his friend and tried to compensate his grief with drugs and alcohol to the extent of nearly killing himself in the process. The songs "Nur die besten Sterben jung" (transl. "Only the best die young") and "Der Platz neben mir" (transl. "The place beside me") are dedicated to and written in memory of Trimmi.

Without any marketing, the album "Heilige Lieder" rose to no. 5 in 1992 on the German LP-charts. Despite their greater commercial success, the band was marked with the stigma of being a right-wing band till the end. During various xenophobia-related attacks, the media discovered the right-wing past of the band. Following some critical reports, the Onkelz were faced with substantial criticism, which among other things led to individual radio stations refusing to play Onkelz songs. Many outside observers simply didn't believe that the band had "seen the light" and considered their exit from the skinhead scene as a maneuver to avoid banning and prosecution. Also, some badly researched articles were published, which did considerable harm to the Onkelz's reputation. As a reaction to this, Weidner wrote songs like "Fahrt zur Hölle" (Go To Hell) on Weiß or "Danke für Nichts" (Thanks for Nothing) on "Hier sind die Onkelz".

Additionally, big department stores such as Media Markt, World of Music (WOM) and Saturn refused to sell Onkelz albums. By the end of the 1990s, however, Media Markt and WOM took the albums back into their range of products. Only Saturn refused to sell them until their last album "Adios in 2005, which, along with the later albums, was on top of the charts for several weeks. In the following years, the Onkelz repeatedly took position against extremism of any kind and referred to themselves as outsiders without any political affiliation.

Onkelz on tour 2004, second concert in Dortmund
Onkelz on tour 2004, second concert in Dortmund

The band has a huge fan community and is one of the most successful German music groups. In 1998 they sold about 300,000 copies of the album "Viva los tioz" within the first 48 hours after release.

On 8 August, 2003, despite negative headlines, the Böhse Onkelz were chosen as supporting act to the Rolling Stones for their concert in the Open Air Arena in the Hanover fairground.

[edit] End of career

When the 5-year-contract with Virgin ended in 2003, the band found a new selling partner in the indie label SPV GmbH for the last album "Adios". On 24 May, 2004 the Onkelz officially announced their retreat from the active music business. After the release of the album, a gig on the Wacken Open Air in August 2004 and the sold-out tour "La Ultima", the farewell show took place on 17th and 18th June 2005 at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz (Lusatia, Brandenburg) under the name "Vaya con tioz", to which approximately 120,000 fans came.

[edit] Music style

The musical style of the Onkelz has changed several times. First they played punk, starting with the Album "Kneipenterroristen"; their music was stylistically similar to heavy metal. The fans think they distinguish themselves by being excluded from society because of their rage which directly expresses what they are thinking. Another musical characteristic was Russell's brutal voice.

[edit] Topics of the songs

At the beginning of most albums, the first song is some kind of a welcome, in which the Onkelz present themselves as the greatest in an ironic way. Often the band played with its reputation in the songs; from the refusal that the band and their fans experienced from the public, a community feeling is sworn to.

The band also attacks its critics often because they feel treated in an unfair way. Therefore many songs are directed against the media, especially journalists who are considered with all kind of loathing and criticism.

Furthermore, the Onkelz sang in earlier years various drunkard hymns like "Heute trinken wir richtig", "Alkohol" und "Freibier".

Beyond that, lyrics of later albums are occupied with the question of the meaning of life, as a passage in the text of Finde die Wahrheit shows: "Denn die Wege sind lang, und selbst der Tod ist nicht ihr Ende, wach endlich auf! (For the paths are long, and even death isn't their end, wake up already!)". Other songs with this topic are Wieder mal 'nen Tag verschenkt, Stand der Dinge, Das Problem bist Du and Dunkler Ort.

These questions probably arose during and through the trial of the murderer of a very good friend of the band, Andreas "Trimmi" Trimborn. He was fatally injured on 16th June 1990 by a Bundeswehr soldier with a knife. The killer pleaded self-defence during the subsequent trial and was acquitted. This event was mentioned in several songs (Nur die Besten sterben jung, So geht's Dir (Deine Hölle), Das Messer und die Wunde and Der Platz neben mir).

Likewise, another important topics are individualism, self-finding and self-love. In the song "Wenn Du wirklich willst" it means: „Sei Du selbst, steh zu Dir, die Wahrheit wird gelebt und nicht doziert. Du bist was Du warst und Du wirst sein was Du tust, beginne Dich zu lieben, und Du findest, was Du suchst (Be yourself, stand for you, the truth is lived and is not taught. You are what you were and you will be what you do, begin to love yourself and you will find what you are searching for.)". Songs like Das Wunder der Persönlichkeit, Mutier mit mir, Ich mache was ich will und Ich bin wie ich bin refer strongly to that topic.

In later albums, the past is addressed again and again, whereby it often concerns the wild time of the band members. One example is the song Erinnerungen. In the text passage: "Ich erinner' mich gern an diese Zeit, eine Zeit die man nie vergißt. Doch ich muß mein Leben leben, meinen Weg alleine gehn, mach's gut, Du schöne Zeit, auf Wiederseh'n (I gladly remember that time, a time that you never forget. But I have to live my life, have to go my way alone. Farewell, beautiful time, good bye)", the exit of the skinhead scene is the topic. The songs Ein langer Weg, Scheiße passiert, Nie wieder, Flammen, Deutschland im Herbst, Buch der Erinnerungen and Ohne mich are also occupied with this topic.

[edit] Right-wing extremism reproaches

Even today the band is accused - despite many attempts at dissociation - to have right-wing-extremist tendencies, whereby frequently the song Türken raus (Turks out) from the year 1981 is named. This song was written during their punk phase. The Onkelz say that the song was developed as a reaction to a specific gang of Turks which often involved the Onkelz in fights. Critics refer to, that the song doesn't refer to a specific group, but demands, that all Turks have to go. This generalization is, so the band says, to be kept in context of their primitive way of thinking at that time. Also the song "Deutschland den Deutschen" (Germany to the Germans), which is a rewritten version of "Oi, Oi, Oi", is often named. This song, too, was developed as a reaction to their experiences on the street.

The song SS-Staat (SS state) from 1981 (on the single "Kill the Hippies - Oi!"), is - so the band says - to be understood as a deliberate provocation to the Nazis. Due to the bad recording quality the text passage "SS-Staat im Staate, wir wollen's nicht erleben" (SS-state in the state, we don't want to see it)" can be misunderstood as "SS-Staat im Staate, wir wollen's miterleben (SS-state in the state, we want to see it)". The text itself leaves the assumption of a bad and brutally Nazi song, but the band says it was written "as a glaringly provocation and anti-Nazi-song."

Fans of the band refer to the fact that Türken raus and Deutschland den Deutschen were never released on an official release of the Böhse Onkelz. These songs were spread by copying and passing on the demotapes. Weidner spoke in an interview on the topic: "The text was a big stupidity and of course there was never a release of this song, and of course there will be never such a release."

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

Der nette Mann cover image
Der nette Mann cover image

[edit] EP's


[edit] Singles

[edit] Best-Of

[edit] Live releases

[edit] LP

[edit] CD

[edit] VHS

[edit] DVD

[edit] Compilations

  • 1982: Soundtracks zum Untergang 2 - Neuer deutscher Punk-Underground

[edit] Biography

  • 1997: Danke für Nichts (Thanks for nothing) (ISBN 3-00-001743-7) – The 1st edition (15,000 books) contains a CD with 8 demo tracks from the early 1980s.

[edit] Unauthorized releases

  • 1986: No Surrender! Vol. 2 (indexed)
  • 1988: Freitag Nacht
  • 1988: Hässlich (indexed)
  • 1989: Hass / Was kann ich denn dafür?
  • 1989: Stolz / Singen und Tanzen
  • 1990: 6 für Deutschland
  • 1992: 6 für Deutschland Vol. 2
  • 1992: Könige für einen Tag
  • 1995: Digital World
  • 1995: Heilige Lieder Gold
  • 1996: Nur die Besten sterben jung
  • 1998: Buch der Erinnerung
  • 2001: Wir schrieben Geschichte
  • 2003: Fahrt zur Hölle!

These are releases from their former labels Rock-O-Rama, Metal Enterprises and Bellaphon Records. There are also over 200 bootleg recordings, such as live performances, mixes or private Best-Of albums.

[edit] External links

[edit] Sources and references

  • Edmund Hartsch: Böhse Onkelz – Danke für nichts (Frankfurt am Main, BO Management AG, 1997)
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