- Title: GERMANY: ROCK BAND BAP PERFORM IN CONCERT
- Date: 30th November 2001
- Summary: VARIOUS BACKSTAGE PICTURES OF THE BAND CONDUCTING THE PRE-PERFORMANCE SCHNAPPS CEREMONY THAT THEY PERFORM IN FRONT OF THEIR BAND 'ALTAR' (4 SHOTS)
- Embargoed: 15th December 2001 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: OFFENBACH, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Reuters ID: LVA8MP486ZL9WSSW89HN6BXT14PJ
- Story Text: BAP are one of the mysteries of the music world: on the one hand, they are one of the biggest rock bands in Germany constantly dominating the charts over the last twenty years, producing thirteen albums and countless hits.
On the other hand, they have stayed true to their roots in Cologne, continuing to sing in the local dialect. Despite setting themselves the hurdle of making records that only part of Germany can understand, they have survived; indeed their 1982 album 'Vun Drinne Noh Drusse' is the best selling German language album of all time.
When most Germans think of BAP, two things spring to mind: firstly the group produced some of the greatest rock music the country has ever heard and secondly the fact, that they have, for over twenty years, written and sung all their material in Kölsch, the local Cologne dialect.
But despite refusing to bow to convention and sing in 'normal' German or English, the group have defied their critics to become incredibly successful.
" We of course never dreamt that it would work, but it did work and when it began to work, the first arguments came, that we should slowly change to, if not English then at least well-spoken German. And I was thankfully resilient and that I believe was right because we would have lost our authenticity.
We would have been a totally everyday rock and roll band and I don't think we would still be around."
Since Wolfgang Niedecken began the group in the late seventies, BAP has undergone many changes and seen new members come and go, but the rules about singing in Kölsch have remained intact, even for new members like Sheryl Hackett who comes from Barbados. Another thing that has remained intact since the early days is the groups concern for social issues; Wolfgang Niedecken has always been a vocal figure in Germany and he strongly believes that musicians should use their position, if not to re-educate, then simply to inform.
" I don't think it is the work of an artist to from a rock and roll to inform the public about every problem and to act as though they know how to solve them, that is the biggest mistake that they can make. It is naturally very easy to do this, but what is important is that every artist in this type of job, tries to in his small microcosm to do what he believes is right after a long time looking at the problem."
But BAP's popularity is not limited to Germany, anyone surfing the net will quickly find US site dedicated to the group and further investigation will show that import sales of their latest album 'Aff Un Zo' have reached 240,000 on one US internet record site and that is within weeks of its release.
Interest too, is bound to be sharpened both here and abroad with the forthcoming release of Wim Wenders new film on the band, 'Viel Passiert' (A Lot Has Happened), which will be released in March of next year.
"The whole thing happened through a coincidence, Wim found our 'Tonfilm' album interesting, he was captivated through the cover, which is a homage to Edward Hopper the famous American realist. And he said, Oh, that is a really nice Hopper Homage, because it shows this overworked emblem from 'New York Movie' and said lets do a film about it."
Indeed everything seems to be going well for the German institution that is BAP, but typically Wolfgang Niedecken has his mind on another pressing problem of our time.
"For Christmas I would wish for myself, that the third world problems, or the so called third world problems would be tackled in a way that really gives a result, not just brushed out of the way, and not just for reasons of propaganda and then the next problem arrives. We are seeing at the moment across the world, particularly with what is happening in Afghanistan, and what happened on the 11th of September that we will have to pay for neglecting certain things in the past.
We can only move forward if we begin early to tackle this."
Ironically, it may be the very fact that BAP refused to bow to convention and remained outspoken that saved them, and created such a loyal fan base here in Germany. If nothing else, they will certainly be remembered as the band that proved that you do not have to sing in English to be a national and international success.
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