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Die Toten Hosen

Encyclopedia : D : DI : DIE : Die Toten Hosen

Andreas Frege (Campino)
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Andreas Frege (Campino)

Andreas Meurer (Andi)
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Andreas Meurer (Andi)

Andreas von Holst (Kuddel)
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Andreas von Holst (Kuddel)

Kuddel and Andi
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Kuddel and Andi

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; BAP, Die Ärzte, Böhse Onkelz, Udo Lindenberg, Fettes Brot, Marius Müller-Westernhagen and Herbert Grönemeyer being the only other contenders in this respect.

The members of Die Toten Hosen (literally "The Dead Trousers" in English; "tote Hose" is a German expression meaning "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), who himself had replaced Trini in 1985 and is still an honorary member of the band; Trini became the band's manager.

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 Sontana.

Their 1000th concert was on 28th 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.

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 have been sponsoring the club from 2001 to 2003.

Contents

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.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Promo-Singles

Singleboxes

Sampler

External links

 

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