''Dampfriemen'' is a 1980 single by the German band

La Düsseldorf La Düsseldorf was a German band, consisting of onetime Kraftwerk drummer and Neu! multi-instrumentalist Klaus Dinger and occasional Neu! collaborators Thomas Dinger and Hans Lampe. La Düsseldorf was formed after Neu! disbanded following the rel ...

. Following the success of their previous single - ''

Rheinita "Rheinita" is a 1979 single by German band La Düsseldorf. It was the band's most successful single. The success of the single in both its 7" and 12" versions led EMI to offer the band a 1 million DEM advance, should they break their contract ...

'' - La Düsseldorf were in high demand in Germany, and so decided to release a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

single. This arguably led to their downfall, as both ''Dampfriemen'' and ''

Individuellos ''Individuellos'' is the third album by the German band La Düsseldorf. It was shortly before the time ''Individuellos'' was released that La Düsseldorf's piano player Andreas Schell committed suicide. This is marked by a cross next to his cred ...

'' - the associated album - failed to meet the same success commercially.

Release and content

''Dampfriemen'' was released in advance of Christmas 1980 (''

'' was released on

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

), and was intended as a Christmas single. However, the A-side - whilst definitely light-hearted and comedic - is not explicitly festive and has no lyrics, perhaps contributing to its failure.

Kazoo The kazoo is an American musical instrument that adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (which itself is a membranophone), one of a class of instruments which modifi ...

s and percussion instruments feature prominently in the song, as well as the band's signature synthesizers. It was the first La Düsseldorf single to be credited to someone other than

Klaus Dinger Klaus Dinger (24 March 1946 – 21 March 2008) was a German musician and songwriter most famous for his contributions to the seminal krautrock band Neu!. He was also the guitarist and chief songwriter of new wave group La Düsseldorf and brief ...

- Dinger's brother

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

also receiving recognition. Musically, the sound owes much to traditional German

Oom-pah Oom-pah, Oompah or Umpapa is an onomatopoeic term describing the rhythmical sound of a deep brass instrument in combination with the response of other instruments or registers in a band, a form of background ostinato. The oom-pah sound is usua ...

. The B-side - "Individuellos" - is vocal, featuring lyrics in both

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. It differs slightly from the album version in that the segue into "Menschen 2" is removed. The single's cover art moves away from the sparse covers of ''

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'' and ''Rheinita'', hinting at the chaotic covers of future Dinger albums like ''

Cha Cha 2000 - Live in Tokyo ''Cha Cha 2000 - Live in Tokyo 1996 Vol. 1'' is a 1998 live album by the German group La! Neu?, recorded at a 1996 concert in Tokyo during the band's Japanese tour. The album consists of the second half of the 3½ hour concert, during which time ...

'' or '' Live As Hippie-Punks''. In the UK the single was released by Albion Records in 1981, with "Tintarella Di..." replacing "Individuellos" as the B-side.

Track listings

German 7" & 12" singles # "Dampfriemen" - 3:33 (

Thomas Dinger Thomas Dinger (28 October 1952 — 9 April 2002) was a German drummer, singer and songwriter who was active in solo pursuits in addition to having been a member of Neu! and La Düsseldorf, both with his brother Klaus Dinger, and 1-A Düsseldo ...

) # "Individuellos" - 3:07 (K. Dinger) UK 7" single # "Dampfriemen" - 3:33 (K. Dinger / T. Dinger) # "Tintarella Di..." - 4:42 (T. Dinger)

Personnel

* Klaus Dinger - kazoo, percussion, synthesizer, vocals * Thomas Dinger - kazoo, percussion, synthesizer, vocals * Hans Lampe - drums {{authority control 1980 songs Songs written by Klaus Dinger