Jane is a German
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
Krautrock
Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock
Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...
band, that was formed in October 1970 in
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
, Germany.
Band history
Playing a melodious synthesis of symphonic hard rock, that has occasionally been compared to
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
, Hanover Krautrockers Jane can trace their origins back to the late sixties psychedelic band ''The J.P.s'' (Justice of Peace). Releasing a single "Save Me"/"War" in 1968, the band featured future Jane members
Peter Panka on vocals, Klaus Hess on bass and
Werner Nadolny on saxophone. By late 1970 ''The J.P.s'' had dissolved and regrouped as Jane with Panka on vocals and drums, Hess switching to guitar and Nadolny assuming keyboards.
Charly Maucher joined on bass and power vocalist Bernd Pulst completed the band in April 1971 and their first LP ''
Together
''ToGetHer'' (, aka Superstar Express) is a 2009 Taiwanese drama starring Jiro Wang of Fahrenheit, Rainie Yang and George Hu. It was produced by Comic International Productions ( 可米國際影視事業股份有限公司) and directed by Linzi P ...
'' was released on the
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
-based
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
Brain Records
Brain was a Hamburg-based record label prominent in the 1970s releasing several important Krautrock records by bands such as Neu!, Cluster and Guru Guru. Many of its more prominent records are currently being reissued on CD by Repertoire Recor ...
in the spring of 1972. Singing in broken English, which helped create passionate effects, a heavy expressive bluesy sound emerged with blistering Les Paul solos and slabs of Hammond organ backdrops, that was consolidated by Peter Panka's almost hypnotic oscillating drum beats, that would characterize Jane's music for almost 40 years. ''Together'' was warmly received by the German music press including Sounds magazine, who had declared Pulst its vocalist of the year for 1971.
The first of an almost continual succession of lineup changes occurred later that year with Pulst departing and Maucher bowing out for health reasons. Former Justice Of Peace guitarist Wolfgang Krantz joined on bass and guitar with Panka and Hess sharing the vocals, which displayed even more lethargic and stoned out sonic timbres. Applying their proven formula, their 1973 follow up album ''
Here We Are'' was somewhat more harmonious with the addition of synthesizers, that provided spacier atmospheres and produced a fan favourite in the form of the sombre rock ballad "Out in the Rain". Shortly after the album's release Nadolny left to form a new band Lady with the recovered Maucher returning on bass and vocals. Jane's third endeavour, simply entitled ''
Jane III'' (1974), was a scorching guitar blowout and with Krantz on second guitar. The void left by departing keyboardist Nadolny was adequately compensated for with two dueling guitarists as demonstrated by an impressive in-studio jam entitled "Jane Session" as well as a spaced out extended track "Comin' Again" featuring Maucher's harder edged vocals. Not long after the release of ''Jane III'', Maucher and Krantz departed, eventually forming Harlis on the fledgling Sky Records label. In May 1974 Jane rejuvenated itself by absorbing two members from the recently disbanded hard rock band Dull Knife with Martin Hesse on bass and Gottfried Janko on vocals and keyboards. The slightly more upbeat album ''
Lady
The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inform ...
'' (1975) was recorded by this lineup in early 1975, during which time Matthias Jabs of Scorpions fame would also join them for a brief period for some live performances.
Keyboardist Werner Nadolny returned in 1976 for Jane's expansive 33 minute symphonic progressive rock masterpiece ''
Fire, Water, Earth & Air'' (1976). Featuring layers of Hammonds, Moogs, Mellotrons and synths, it was unquestionably Jane at their creative zenith and the Jane album that would hold the most appeal for progheads.
Nadolny would split once again after the completion of ''Fire, Water, Earth & Air'' and was appropriately replaced by Eloy keyboardist Manfred Wieczorke for an extensive tour, which spawned another coup de grace for Jane resulting in the stunning ''
Jane at Home Live'' (1977) double live LP replete with a cover of a Martian landscape snapped by the Viking Mars lander. Released in early 1977 and broadcast nationally in its entirety on
WDR Radio in January of that year, ''Live at Home'' went gold in their native Germany and helped them break the international markets in both
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
as well as
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
.
Containing somewhat darker conceptual atmospheres, their 7th studio album ''
Between Heaven and Hell'' (1977) once again followed progrock paradigms. Mixed reactions within the German music press did not prevent the album from being embraced by fans, that was at times similar to Pink Floyd's capacious stylings. By this time Jane had become one of the top draws in the German music scene as well as attracting followings in Switzerland and Austria even though they continued to sing in English.
Recorded in the band's personal 24 track studio, 1978's ''
Age of Madness
Age or AGE may refer to:
Time and its effects
* Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed
** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1
* Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...
'' rocked it out a little harder maintaining emotional spacey timbres and was released internationally, being presented in clear and red vinyl formats on the now defunct Canadian label Bomb Records. A successful European tour ensued but Wieczorke departed in early 1979.
Jane's following album ''
Sign No. 9'' (1979) was a near disaster with Jane being reduced to a trio forcing Hess to double on keyboards and the album inevitably had a guitar dominated sound, which was devoid of the spacious moods created by lush keyboards on earlier Jane recordings. Signs of creative burnout cast some doubts not only in the minds of fans but within the band themselves.
A new direction was taken in the 1980s on a self-titled album ''
Jane (Mask)
Jane may refer to:
* Jane (given name), a feminine given name
* Jane (surname), related to the given name
Film and television
* ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd
* ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fi ...
'' (1980), that is sometimes referred to as ''Mask'' by aficionados. It incorporated new wave, punk and jazzy elements in straight rock configurations and introduced a new vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist, Yugoslavian eccentric
Predrag Jovanovic or "Pedja". Vocals were never Jane's forte and Pedja's energetic deliveries gave them a fresh sound but unfortunately it was his only appearance with the band and he returned to his native Yugoslavia to form the synth-pop group
D' Boys D' may resemble:
* D' (''D'' + apostrophe), the contracted form of words in several languages (for example, a French indefinite article); for a full list, see the Wiktionary entry
* Dʼ (''D'' + modifier apostrophe), Slavic notation for palata ...
.
Bassman Charly Maucher returned to the fold for 1982's ''
Germania
Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north- ...
'' (1982) and although it contained some more experiments including a reggae excursion on the track "Get Back to You" Jane remained, for the most part, a straight hard rock band and included a reworked version of "Your Circle" from their ''Between Heaven and Hell'' album entitled "Southern Line", that even ventured into heavy metal territory.
Internal disagreements between founding members Peter Panka and Klaus Hess resulted in Hess' departure in 1982. He would subsequently release a solo album ''Sternentanz'' in 1983, that would recall earlier Jane stylings.
Meanwhile, after collaborating on the musical production on the German rock Opera "Warlock" with other former members of Jane, Peter Panka reformed Jane as a touring band under the moniker Lady Jane in 1984 with various musicians. Unfortunately a coherent unit failed to materialize for the remainder of the decade and only one pop-oriented album ''Beautiful Lady'' was released in 1986 with no real connection to past glories. Two live albums were also released in 1989 and 1990 with the former being limited to only 300 pressings and both featured Panka on drums/vocals, Nadolny on keyboards, Klaus Henatsch on bass and keyboards, and
Kai Reuter on guitar performing older Jane material.
In 1992 Hess and Panka attempted to reconcile and along with Nadolny on keyboards and with
Jens Dettmer Jens may refer to:
* Jens (given name), a list of people with the name
* Jens (surname), a list of people
* Jens, Switzerland, a municipality
* 1719 Jens, an asteroid
See also
* Jensen (disambiguation)
* Jenssi
Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) ...
they embarked on a reunion tour, that included 13 dates in New Zealand! But the reconciliation failed and Jane split into two factions with Hess calling his version Mother Jane while the Panka formation became unofficially known as Peter Panka's Jane as he retained the rights for the band name and logo.
In 1996 Peter Panka's Jane (initially referred to as Pano's Jane) recorded the studio album ''
Resurrection
Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...
'' and introduced ex-
Epitaph
An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...
member
Klaus Walz along with Kai Reuter (formerly of Kasch) on guitars with veteran Nadolny returning on keyboards and Mark Giebeler on bass.
Meanwhile Hess' Mother Jane with younger musicians was also touring playing mostly Jane classics, releasing a single in 1998 and finally a surprisingly impressive live album ''
Comes Alive'' in 2000, that reflected the heavier side of Jane.
A more cohesive attempt was made by Panka in 2002 to rekindle the classic Jane groove of the seventies with Klaus Walz joining original members Panka, Nadolny and Maucher. A new album ''
Genuine
Genuine may refer to:
Companies
*Genuine Parts Company, a Fortune 1000 company that was founded in 1928
*Genuine Scooters, a Chicago-based scooter manufacturer
*Genuine Games, a video game company founded in early 2002
Music
* ''Genuine'' (S ...
'' (2002) (that also contained some live tracks from the failed 1992 reunion) materialized and was followed by a tour which saw the band performing the new material but focused on renditions of old classics.
A live album, ''
Live 2002'' (2002), documented the shows and although not possessing the impact of 1976's ''Live at Home'', it was a definite indication of Jane's return to the limelight attracting both old and new fans. Not content to tour solely as a retro-Jane band, two more studio albums ''
Shine On'' (2003) and ''
Voices
Voices or The Voices may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Voices'' (1920 film), by Chester M. De Vonde, with Diana Allen
* ''Voices'' (1973 film), a British horror film
* ''Voices'' (1979 film), a film by Robert Markowitz
* ''Voices'' (19 ...
'' (2006) were released, that burned on in the classic Jane tradition.
Tragically, founding member Peter Panka died as result of cancer in June 2007, which put the band on hold. However, in compliance with Panka's wishes original member Charly Maucher took over as leader and another studio album ''
Traces
Traces may refer to:
Literature
* ''Traces'' (book), a 1998 short-story collection by Stephen Baxter
* ''Traces'' series, a series of novels by Malcolm Rose
Music Albums
* ''Traces'' (Classics IV album) or the title song (see below), 1969
* ''Tra ...
'' was released in 2009 with the current lineup of Charly Maucher on lead vocals/bass, Klaus Walz guitar/vocals, Arndt Schulz guitar vocals and Fritz Randow (ex Eloy & Saxon) on drums plus Werner Nadolny on keyboards. Although Werner Nadolny has since left the band, he currently tours with his own Jane tribute band performing vintage Jane material. Klaus Hess' Mother Jane also remains active with a recently released 2009 album titled ''
In Dreams''.
Along with other bands such as
Amon Düül II
Amon Düül II (or Amon Düül 2, PronunciationAmon Düül is a German rock band. The group is generally considered to be one of the pioneers of the West German krautrock scene. Their 1970 album ''Yeti (album), Yeti'' was described by British ma ...
,
Grobschnitt
Grobschnitt was a West German rock band which existed between 1970 and 1989. Their style evolved as time passed, beginning with psychedelic rock in the early 1970s before transitioning into symphonic progressive rock, NDW and finally pop rock in ...
and
Guru Guru
Guru Guru is a German krautrock band formed in 1968 as The Guru Guru Groove by Mani Neumeier (drums), Uli Trepte (bass) and Eddy Naegeli (guitar), later replaced by the American Jim Kennedy. After Kennedy collapsed on stage due to a serious illn ...
, Jane continues to bear the torch of the early seventies Krautrock phenomenon and continues in that spirit to this day in three different guises led by original members.
Gallery
File:041211-Jane-02.jpg, Peter Panka with Jane in 2004
File:041211-Jane-01.jpg, Charly Maucher with Jane in 2004
File:041211-Jane-03.jpg, Werner Nadolny with Jane in 2004
Line-up
Current members of Peter Panka's JANE
*
Klaus Walz - lead guitars, vocals
* Fritz Randow - drums from 2007 (replacing the late Peter Panka)
*
Niklas Turmann - lead vocals, guitar, from 2011
*
Corvin Bahn - keyboards, vocals from 2011
Current members of Werner Nadolny's JANE
*
Werner Nadolny - keyboards
*
Dete Klamann - guitars
*
Rolf Vatteroth - bass
*
Torsten Ilg - lead vocals
* Sven Petersen - drums
*
Frank Wertwizki - keyboards
Past members
*
Peter Panka (b. March 3, 1948, d. June 28, 2007) - lead vocals, drums (deceased)
*
Werner Nadolny - keyboards, saxophone, synthesizer (1970 - 1973, 1975 - 1976, 1983 - 2007)
*
Predrag Jovanović (aka
Pedja) - guitar, keyboards, lead vocal
(1980)
*
Martin Hesse - bass, lead vocals (1974 - 1980) (b. May 23, 1949 - d. August 18, 2020) (deceased)
*
Gottfried Janko - lead vocals, organ, synthesizer (1975) (ex-Dull Knife),(b. July 19, 1946, d. autumn 2004 of a heart attack) (deceased)
*
Klaus Hess - guitar, bass, lead vocals (1970 - 1982, 1992)
*
Manfred Wieczorke
''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Gothic fiction.
B ...
- keyboards (1976 - 1979) (ex-member of Eloy)
*
Arndt Schulz - guitars, lead vocals (2007 - 2011) (ex-member of Harlis)
*
Wolfgang Krantz - guitar, bass, keyboards (1972 - 1974), - keyboards (2007 - 2011) (ex-Harlis, ex-Efendis Garden)
*
Charly Maucher (1970 - 72, 1973 - 74, 1982 - 84, 1988 - 92, 2000 - 2019) (b. May 6, 1947, d. August 28, 2019) - lead vocals, bass (deceased)
Discography
Vinyl
* ''
Together
''ToGetHer'' (, aka Superstar Express) is a 2009 Taiwanese drama starring Jiro Wang of Fahrenheit, Rainie Yang and George Hu. It was produced by Comic International Productions ( 可米國際影視事業股份有限公司) and directed by Linzi P ...
'' (1972)
* ''Here We Are'' (1973)
* ''Jane III'' (1974)
* ''Lady'' (1975)
* ''Fire, Water, Earth & Air'' (1976)
* ''Jane at Home Live'' (1977)
* ''Between Heaven and Hell'' (1977)
* ''Age of Madness'' (1978)
* ''Sign No. 9'' (1979)
* ''Jane (the mask album)'' (1980)
* ''Germania'' (1982)
* ''Jon Symon's Warlock - Memories of a White Magician (feat. Lady Jane)'' (1983)
* ''Jon Symon's Warlock - Lady Macbeth'' (1983)
* ''Sternentanz'' (Klaus Hess) (1983)
* ''Beautiful Lady'' (1986)
* ''Live '88'' (1989)
* ''Live '89'' (1990)
CDs
* ''
Together
''ToGetHer'' (, aka Superstar Express) is a 2009 Taiwanese drama starring Jiro Wang of Fahrenheit, Rainie Yang and George Hu. It was produced by Comic International Productions ( 可米國際影視事業股份有限公司) and directed by Linzi P ...
'' (1990)
* ''
Here We Are'' (1997)
* ''
Jane III'' (1997)
* ''
Lady
The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inform ...
'' (1997)
* ''
Fire, Water, Earth & Air'' (1990)
* ''
Live at Home'' (1992)
* ''
Between Heaven and Hell'' (1997)
* ''
Age of Madness
Age or AGE may refer to:
Time and its effects
* Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed
** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1
* Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...
'' (1997)
* ''
Sign No. 9'' (1997)
* ''
Jane (the mask album)'' (1997)
* ''
Germania
Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north- ...
'' (1997)
* ''
Sternentanz'' (Klaus Hess) (2007)
* ''Beautiful Lady'' (1993)
* ''
Live '89'' (1990)
* ''Resurrection'' (Peter Panka's Jane) (1996)
* ''Comes Alive'' (Klaus Hess' Mother Jane) (2000)
* ''Back Again'' (Lady Jane) (2000)
* ''Genuine'' (Jane / Peter Panka's Jane / Mother Jane) (2002)
* ''Live 2002'' (Peter Panka's Jane) (2002)
* ''Shine On'' (Peter Panka's Jane) (2003)
* ''Voices'' (Peter Panka's Jane) (2006)
* ''Live at META's'' (Peter Panka's Jane) (2007)
* ''Tribute to Peter Panka'' (Werner Nadolny's Jane) (2008)
* ''Proceed with Memories'' (Werner Nadolny's Jane) (2009)
* ''In Dreams'' (Klaus Hess' Mother Jane) (2009)
* ''Traces'' (Peter Panka's Jane) (2009)
* ''Hungry4Live'' (Klaus Hess' Mother Jane) (2010)
* ''Hungry4Live part 2'' (Klaus Hess' Mother Jane) (2010)
* ''The Journey - Best of Jane '70-'80'' (Werner Nadolny's Jane) (2010)
* ''Eternity'' (Werner Nadolny's Jane) (2011)
* ''Kuxan Suum'' (Peter Panka's Jane) (2011)
* ''Turn The Page'' (Klaus Hess' Mother Jane) (incl. bonus CD ''The Lost Tracks'' by Jane) (2012)
* ''Stopover'' (Werner Nadolny's Jane) (2013)
* ''The Journey II - Transformation'' (Werner Nadolny's Jane) (2014)
* ''Balver Höhle 2014 Live'' (Peter Panka's Jane) (2014)
* ''Inbetween'' (Werner Nadolny's Jane) (2015)
* ''Journey III - Arrival" (Werner Nadolny's Jane) (2016)
* ''Jon Symon's Warlock - Memories of a White Magician'' (feat. Lady Jane) (2022)
* ''Jon Symon's Warlock - Lady Macbeth" (2022)
Singles
* ''
Daytime
Daytime as observed on Earth is the period of the day during which a given location experiences natural illumination from direct sunlight. Daytime occurs when the Sun appears above the local horizon, that is, anywhere on the globe's hemis ...
'' (1972)
* ''
Here We Are'' (1973)
* ''
Bambule Rock'' (1974)
* ''
Age of Madness
Age or AGE may refer to:
Time and its effects
* Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed
** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1
* Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...
'' (1978)
* ''
Love Song
A love song is a song about romantic love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. A comprehensive list of even the best known performers and composers of love songs would be a large order. ...
'' (1978)
* ''
Beautiful Lady (Maxi-Single)'' (1986)
* ''
Together We Stand (Mother Jane)'' (1998)
Compilations
* ''
Waiting for the Sunshine'' (1979)
* ''
Rock on Brain (2 LP)'' (1980)
DVD
*''
Krautrock Meeting'' (2005)
*''
PP Jane - Live 2002 Hannover'' (2005)
*''
Jane - Tribute to Peter Panka'' (2008)
*''
PP Jane - Inside - (The Cave - Concert)'' (2010)
*''
WN Jane - Live 2010 / Fernsehkonzert 2010'' (2010)
*''
WN Jane - Eternity'' (2011)
*''
WN Jane - Visual Impressions'' (2011)
*''
WN Jane - Live at Home Again - Hannover 2011'' (2011)
*''
WN Jane - Live in Reinheim 12. May 2012'' (2012)
*''
PP Jane - Lörracher Rocknacht 2012 (live video)">Rocknacht.html" ;"title="PP Jane - Lörracher Rocknacht">PP Jane - Lörracher Rocknacht 2012 (live video)'' (2012)
*''PP Jane - Phoenix (live videos 1987-2012)'' (2013)
*''PP Jane - German Kultrock Festival Balver Höhle 2012'' (2013)
Bibliography
* Matthias Blazek: ''Das niedersächsische Bandkompendium 1963–2003 – Daten und Fakten von 100 Rockgruppen aus Niedersachsen.'' Celle 2006, p. 75–77
External links
Jane (PP's Jane), official siteMother Jane a.k.a. Klaus Hess' Jane, official siteJane (WN's Jane), official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jane
Krautrock musical groups
German progressive rock groups
Musical groups from Hanover
Brain Records artists