Montanablue was a rock band formed in 1985 in Cologne, Germany by Leon Kieven (Bass), Jiri Douda (Drums) and

William Lee Self William Lee Self (*2. July 1958 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina) is an American musician and composer, who emigrated to north Germany in 1982 and who has been living in Hamburg since 1995. Life Self was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina as Wi ...

(guitar, vocals).

History

Montanablue recorded an EP of material with Rainer Assman meant for release on Normal records until the German television producer and music publisher Harold Goldbach heard the recordings and promised the band he could secure them a major label contract. After an appearance on the German Musik Convoy television show (a first for an unsigned act) and an opening slot on

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s 1985 German tour the band were signed to

WEA The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of the ...

and almost immediately began recording their debut album with renowned German producer Conny Plank. The resulting "Compliments and Roses" album was released in Europe and received fantastic reviews making Montanablue a critic's favorite in Germany and Benelux. The album includes contributions from

Blaine L. Reininger Blaine Leslie Reininger (born July 10, 1953 in Pueblo, Colorado) is an American post-punk, new-wave and alternative pop singer, songwriter, musician, multi-instrumentalist (particularly violin), writer and performer. He is known for being a membe ...

and from Jürgen Dahmen who would become the bands permanent keyboardist. David Hudson produced a video for the "What She Needs" EP/single. Unfortunately being the critic's darlings did not translate into the kind of sales WEA had imagined and after releasing 2 more EP's on WEA and most importantly after the death of Conny Plank in 1987 the band lost any leverage it may have had and were dropped by WEA and Harold Goldbach. The band felt relieved, after having been burdened with such expectations from the outset and began work on a new album with German producer and musician Arno Steffen. After entering into a licensing agreement with Pinpoint Records and signing with the publisher Kick the band released their second full studio album "Chained To An Elephant". Once again the album and its singles (including "Zeb And LuLu" (a song Reininger penned especially for the band) received great reviews and airplay, but sales remained sluggish. Pinpoint released a live album titled "A Showcase Of Manly Delights" recorded by Thomas Stern (

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) from the band's 1989 tour with Blaine Reininger. Montanablue and Reininger toured together during this period, incorporating Reiningers material into their own set.Corbisier, Isabelle: "Music for Vagabonds - The Tuxedomoon Chronicles", Openmute, 2008, pp. 296-322 These shows were very successful and the 500-1000 seat venues were inevitably sold out. The band parted ways with Pinpoint and were picked up by Choldwig Musik/

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

for what was to be their final LP "We Always Are Where We Go" recorded at the Conny Plank studio by Thomas Stern and Ingo Kraus, released in 1991. The band dissolved shortly thereafter.

Discography

* We always are where we go (

, 1991) * Short Tempers (

, 1990) * Showcase of manly delights (Pinpoint Records, 1989) * Foolish Man (Pinpoint Records, 1988) * Zeb & Lulu (Pinpoint Records, 1988) * Chained to an elephant (Pinpoint Records, 1988) * What she needs (

, 1987) * Look after me (

, 1986) * Compliments & Roses (

, 1986) * Waiting (by the walk) (

, 1985)

List of TV Show appearances

* Level 43 ( RTL) * Doktor Mambo ( ARD) * Musik Convoy (

SWF SWF ( ) is an Adobe Flash file format used for multimedia, vector graphics and ActionScript.Open Screen Pr ...

) * WDR Rocknacht Live ( WDR) * ( ARD) * Aktuelle Stunde Köln ( WDR) * Aktuelle Stunde Dusseldorf ( WDR) *

TELE 5 Tele 5 is a German free-to-air television channel that broadcasts classic American films, series, cartoons and Japanese anime. On 3 July 2020, Discovery, Inc. agreed to acquire the channel from Leonine Holding, completing the purchase on 1 Se ...

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Germany *

Viva Viva may refer to: Companies and organisations * Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator * Viva Air, a Spanish airline taken over by flag carrier Iberia * Viva Air Dominicana * VIVA Bahrain, a telecommunication company * ...

References

External links

William Lee Self
{{Authority control German rock music groups