''Keine Macht für Niemand'' (“No power for nobody”) is the name of both the second album and best-known song by the German rock band

Ton Steine Scherben Ton Steine Scherben () was one of the first and most influential German language rock bands of the 1970s and early 1980s. Well known for the highly political and emotional lyrics of vocalist Rio Reiser, they became a musical mouthpiece of ...

. The

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

, released in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

, is also sometimes called “die Weiße” (“the white one”) in reference to its simple cover with a white background and black text. The album as a whole, as well as the song ''Keine Macht für Niemand'' heavily criticised social and political ills. The lyrics call for resistance against the extant system. In ''Die letzte Schlacht gewinnen wir'' (“We will win the final battle”), the demand for a replacement of the present capitalist system is very clear. The phrase “No power for nobody” is a

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...

ised interpretation of

anarchy Anarchy is a society without a government. It may also refer to a society or group of people that entirely rejects a set hierarchy. ''Anarchy'' was first used in English in 1539, meaning "an absence of government". Pierre-Joseph Proudhon adopted ...

. When the album was released,

Rio Reiser Ralph Christian Möbius (9 January 1950 – 20 August 1996), known professionally as Rio Reiser, was a German musician and the singer of rock group Ton Steine Scherben. He supported squatting in the early 1970s and later the green political part ...

and had still yet to adopt their

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Use as a slogan

According to

, the phrase came from an anarchist publication called ''Germania''. Similarly, the song '' Macht kaputt, was euch kaputt macht'' also has a title in the same vein. In Germany, even 35 years after the album's release, the phrase will appear on banners and posters produced in the leftist scene, or as

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

; the song's lyrics call to “write the slogan onto every wall.”

Title

#''Wir müssen hier raus!'' (Ralph Möbius, Ralph Steitz) – 5:21 #''Feierabend'' (Möbius, Steitz) – 4:41 #''Die letzte Schlacht gewinnen wir'' (Möbius, Steitz) – 4:18 #''Paul Panzers Blues'' (Nikel Pallat, Möbius) – 6:41 #''Menschenjäger'' (Möbius, Steitz) – 4:18 #''Allein machen sie Dich ein'' (Möbius, Steitz) – 4:41 #''Schritt für Schritt ins Paradies'' (Möbius, Steitz) – 6:52 #''Der Traum ist aus'' (Möbius) – 9:24 #''Mensch Meier'' (Möbius, Steitz) – 3:43 #''

Rauch-Haus-Song The Rauch-Haus-Song is a track performed by West Berlin band Ton Steine Scherben on their second studio album Keine Macht für Niemand. It has become famous in leftwing circles in Germany. Background The double album Keine Macht für Niemand ( ...

'' (Möbius) – 3:59 #''Keine Macht für Niemand'' (Möbius, Steitz) – 4:08 #''Komm schlaf bei mir'' (Möbius) – 4:02

Lineup

Ralph Möbius Ralph Christian Möbius (9 January 1950 – 20 August 1996), known professionally as Rio Reiser, was a German musician and the singer of rock group Ton Steine Scherben. He supported squatting in the early 1970s and later the green political part ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

clavinet The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tension ...

*Ralph Steitz – guitar,

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, backup vocals *Kai Sichtermann – bass guitar,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

, backup vocals *Nikel Pallat – vocals, backup vocals *Jörg Schlotterer –

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, backup vocals *Angie Olbrich – backup vocals *Anna Schimany – backup vocals *Olaf Lietzau – drums *Jochen Petersen –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

*Klaus Schulz – cowbell *Eva Zeltner & Rauch-Haus-Chor – backup vocals *Gaby Borowski & Rauch-Haus-Chor – backup vocals *Klaus Freudigmann – sound engineer *Richard Borowski – sound engineer *Hendrick Knoch – additional sound engineer *Gert Möbius – cover design

Reception

Musikexpress ranked ''Keine Macht für Niemand'' number 3 in its list of the 100 best German albums of all time. It was voted number 4 in the list of the 50 best German albums of all time in the German-language edition of

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

. The German band

Kraftklub Kraftklub are a German band from Chemnitz. Their music combines rock music, rock / indie rock, indie and Sprechgesang with German lyrics and is generally considered to be a mixture of rap and indie rock, indie. History Founding and early ye ...

named their album ''Keine Nacht für Niemand'' (“No night for nobody”) after it.

References

Literature

* Hartmut El Kurdi: ''Schwarzrote Pop-Perlen.'' Band 2 der Reihe ''The Essence of Rock''. Laatzen: Wehrhahn, 2001.

External links

Alle Texte des Albums ''Keine Macht für Niemand''

Zum Einfluss der Parole ''Keine Macht für Niemand''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keine Macht fur Niemand 1972 albums Ton Steine Scherben albums 1970s German-language albums