With a mixture of irony and reverence, Austrian musician Xao Seffcheque described Ata Tak as the new masters (die neuen Herren) in his 1981 piece Fortschrittsträume (Dreams of Progress). The label’s operators, who felt just as at home in the art world as they did in artists’ pubs, developed new directions for music; they were cosmopolitan and shared a special sense of humour.
Kurt Dahlke, Frank Fenstermacher and Moritz Reichelt, who knew each other from the experimental punk gallery Art Attack in Wuppertal, moved to neighbouring Düsseldorf in 1980. From a beautiful office, they ran the label (initially called Warning Records) and, as Der Plan, pursued the idea of a worldwide rebellion through sound in the adjacent music studio.
When 16-year-old Andreas Dorau and his backing band of nine teenage girls, Die Marinas, scored a huge hit with Fred vom Jupiter in 1981, a lot of money flowed into Ata Tak’s coffers. Unimpressed by this, the label continued to sign artists it valued.
Featured cover art: Fix Planet! – An International Record
Playlist
Minus Delta T – China
Active at the intersection between music and art, the performance group around Mike Hentz and Karel Dudesek transports a six-tonne block of granite by lorry from Stonehenge to Asia, holding events in cities along the way and meticulously documenting the trip on tape. (1982-84, Ata Tak)
Holger Hiller – Das Feuer
In order to leave common pop clichés behind, Holger Hiller experiments with a rented sampler that can record six seconds of sound; purchasing the instrument would have cost 25,000 German marks. (1983, Ata Tak)
Wirtschaftswunder – Metall
Ballad inspired by Italian singer Angelo Galiza’s memories of his work in a West German metal factory as a so-called Gastarbeiter (guest worker), a migrant worker who was expected to disappear again once his job was done. (1980, Warning Records)
Der Plan – Geri Reig
Using a four-track recorder, an MS-20 synthesizer and some rhythm boxes, the founders of Ata Tak recorded their debut album in their own studio. (1980, Warning Records)
Die Doraus und Die Marinas – Einkauf
Inventing an artful form of German Schlager music, 16-year-old Andreas Dorau and his girl group Die Marinas are kicking off the Neue Deutsche Welle with their smash hit Fred vom Jupiter. Einkauf, however, is an observation of families’ shopping habits on Saturdays. (1981, Ata Tak)
Picky Picnic – Was ich haben will
When Der Plan became successful in Japan, they introduced their brothers in spirit from there, Picky Picnic, to the German audience. This track is about the endless addictions of modern people that cannot be satisfied by anything. (1984, Marz / Ata Tak)
Pyrolator – Ein Weihnachtsmann kommt in die Disco
Christmas song by Kurt Dahlke, also known as Pyrolator, recorded and mixed at Ata Tak Studio, and initially released on the compilation LP Denk Daran! (1980, Überblick / RE: Ata Tak)
Lost Gringos – Unter dem Vulkan
According to their manifesto, Lost Gringos aimed to merge conception and emotion into jewels that possess international validity. (1983, Ata Tak)
Monitor – Mokele-Mbembe
As a statement against Western consumerism, the Los Angeles-based art collective Monitor examines the Mokele-Mbembe, a creature living in the Congo River basin that stops the flow of rivers. (1981, World Imitation Records / Ata Tak)
Raha – Marebebus
With the question ‘What’s next, humans?’, Der Plan invites musicians from all over the world to send in cassettes for Fix Planet! – An International Record. This Iranian song, banned under the Shah and Khomeini regimes, is about a young man who has to leave his daughter to join the army, knowing full well that he will die. (1981, Ata Tak)
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