PRICE:
$17.00
IN STOCK
ARTIST
TITLE
Die Doraus & Die Marinas Geben Offenherzige
FORMAT
CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
BB 088CD BB 088CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
2/14/2012

...Antworten Auf Brennende Fragen. After the success of his debut album Blumen Und Narzissen (1981), featuring his "Fred Vom Jupiter" hit, German new wave/pop upstart Andreas Dorau was urged by his new record company, Teldec, to come up with a sophomore effort as soon as possible. To bridge the gap, Dorau first released a single entitled "Kleines Stubenmädchen," a jaunty number with amusing lyrics and a professional, radio-friendly production. But Dorau had not reckoned with the sensitivity of the censors: the humorless sexism detector ruthlessly raised the alarm amongst the radio stations. Those making the decisions at Teldec had the odd idea of asking Dorau to record an apology or explanation on cassette for radio programmers to play either before or after the incriminating song. Dorau could have filled a whole cassette to clarify the subject, perhaps even upholding a claim to artistic freedom. But -- doffing his cap to the spirit of punk -- Dorau naturally rejected the suggestion. A shame. Teldec lost interest in Dorau and the album was released on CBS -- minus "Stubenmädchen," of course. A far greater problem loomed, however: the musical landscape of the Federal Republic of Germany had changed since the release of Blumen Und Narzissen. Major record companies had radically commercialized what Alfred Hilsberg had once benevolently termed "Neue Deutsche Welle" (NDW)/German New Wave (thinking of bands such as Fehlfarben, Der Plan, D.A.F.). They remolded rock bands into new wave bands, wrote idiotic ditties and had clueless jumping jacks and jills perform them. One can imagine that Dorau did not exactly jump for joy when he realized he was about to be lumped in with the rest of them. The relationship between Dorau and his sophomore work was clouded from the word "go." And it still is. Although it is actually a really good record: from the psychedelic lyrics of "Polizist," "Sandkorn" and "Texas" to beautiful observations of daily life ("Feierabend"), the music meanders its way through snappy pop, bossa nova, exotica, disco and new wave. A certain, unique strain of psychedelia courses through the whole album, detectable in the cover, the lyrics and the instrumentation. Of course, there's a world of difference between Die Doraus Und Die Marinas Geben Offenherzige Antworten Auf Brennende Fragen (trans. "The Doraus And Marinas Give Openhearted Answers To Burning Questions") and the "idiots of NDW." But try explaining that to the man on the street. By the way: "Kleines Stubenmädchen" is included on this re-release as a bonus track, along with three others. Housed in a digipak with liner notes and rare photos.