Doing things differently is an omnipresent idea in the West German music scene of the Eighties. Starting from scratch, and owing to a straightness rooted in punk, new things and personalities get invented everywhere and all the time, resulting in an infrastructure with magazines, record labels, and venues.

detail cover art Max Müller – Wir steh’n hier jeden Tag (1989, Die Tödliche Doris Schallplatten)

The corresponding adventurous lifestyle, its irony, artistic concepts, and some golden German humour are captured in this 53-minute mix with works by Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle, Ingrid Wiener & Chor, Martin Kippenberger, Santrra and others.

Featured cover art: Die Tödliche Doris – ” “


The Poetry of DIY – Ideas Expressed With Sound (1956-2016)

39 minutes of ideas being expressed with sound: made up trains, works with found sounds, or a collective approach in making music – realized by Amy Taubin, Angus & Hetty MacLise, Tom Recchion, Tuli Kupferberg and others.

Die Tödliche Doris – Fliegt schnell laut summend

Ingenious Dilletantes from West Berlin, focussing on performance art and music (1982, Zickzack)

Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle – Move Ahead

avantgarde band from Munich that refused to have a drummer for the first ten years – due to aesthetic reasons (1983, Zickzack)

Der Plan – Kennen Sie Köln?

the electronic music group from Düsseldorf was among the first to release music on their own label (1987, Ata Tak)

Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft – Goldenes Spielzeug

minimalistic superstars from Düsseldorf, inspired by living in London (1981, Virgin)

Sternhagel – King Kong

the only original song on Xao Seffcheque’s spoof concept album Sehr gut kommt sehr gut (1981, Schallmauer)

Conrad Schnitzler – Das Tier

the Joseph Beuys student and living sound cloud was a seminal figure in West Berlin’s music scene of the Seventies (1981, Sky Records)

Holger Hiller – Herzmuskel

early work, produced while studying at Hamburg’s Hochschule für bildende Künste (1980, Warning Records)

Santrra – Dao Dao

singer-songwriter solo project with accordion by the later zen nun from West Berlin (1985, Rebel Rec.)

Sentimentale Jugend & Einstürzende Neubauten – Wollt ihr die Totale Befriedigung

first collaboration between 16-year old Alexander Hacke and his later band Einstürzende Neubauten (1980, Zensor)

Die Dominas – Die Wespendomina

singer Rosi Müller and fashion designer Claudia Skoda playing with Manuel Göttsching in his studio in West Berlin (1981, Fabrikneu)

Die Zimmermänner – Ich werde in der Sonne immer dicker

new wave project from Hamburg that started in school (1981, Zickzack)

Säurekeller – Hiroshima

protest song the Hamburg way (1985, Ulan Bator)

Max Müller – Sie ist aus Holland

the A-side of this 7“ was a hit in West Berlin’s bohemian bar Kumpelnest 3000 (1989, Die Tödliche Doris Schallplatten)

Martin Kippenberger – Yuppi Du

dadaist humor meets italo-pop in West Berlin (1984, Zickzack)

Andreas Dorau – Der lachende Papst

yet another record by a teenager (1981, Zickzack)

Ingrid Wiener & Chor – Vermutlich

choir of famous artists from West Berlin reflecting about life (1985, Exil Schallplatte)

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