The Lords are a German
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band, formed in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
in 1959. They are one of the longest-running
beat
Beat, beats or beating may refer to:
Common uses
* Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area
** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols
** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men
* Battery (c ...
groups from Germany, spanning the last half century.
They are best known for their work during the sixties and early seventies and are noted for their sometimes humorous and irreverent approach.
Between 1965 and 1969, the Lords had twelve titles on the German charts, mainly produced by Heinz Gietz. Their biggest hit was the classic, "Gloryland", from September 1967, which reached number 5,. Their last success was "Three-Five-Zero-Zero" in August 1969. By 1989, The Lords had released over thirty singles and had achieved sales of seven million copies, a record for a German rock band in their own country.
History
1959–1971: Classic period
In 1959, The Lords started out as a
skiffle
Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United States ...
band in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
using partly homemade instruments. In 1964 when
Beatlemania
Beatlemania was the fanaticism surrounding the English rock band the Beatles in the 1960s. The group's popularity grew in the United Kingdom throughout 1963, propelled by the singles "Please Please Me", "From Me to You" and "She Loves You". By ...
and the
British Invasion
The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on b ...
swept across the world, they turned into "Germany's First Beat Music Act" and developed their classic style for which they are still known in Germany today. On 23 July 1964, the Beatles film ''
A Hard Day's Night'' appeared in the German cinemas, titled ''Yeah Yeah Yeah''. Before the premiere, a competition was held, with the "Berliner Beatles" being sought. From this competition the Lords emerged as the winner on 21 July 1964. Therefore, they were eligible to participate in the nationwide finals at the Hamburg Star Club. On 6 September 1964, the Lords won here too, and were named "Germany's Beat Band No. 1". In late 1964 the band received a recording contract from EMI in Cologne and were now marketed as the German Beatles. In 1964, their bassist Knud Kuntze ("
Lord Knud") (18 March 1944 – 14 June 2020) had to leave the band due to an accident in which he lost his leg. He then started a career in radio, becoming a prominent DJ at the radio station,
RIAS.
In 1965, the Lords' band's roster changed to what most fans consider to be their classic line-up. It would consist of Ulli Günther (vocals), Bernd Zamulo (bass), Leo Lietz (guitar), Rainer Petry (guitar) and Max Donath (drums). This roster lasted until 1971, which would mark the end of what was the most successful period of the band.
In the period from 1965 until 1969 they had 11 hits in West German pop charts. Their first hit single from 1964 was ''
Shakin' All Over
"Shakin' All Over" is a song originally performed by Johnny Kidd & the Pirates. It was written by leader Johnny Kidd, and his original recording reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1960. The song is sometimes credited to Frederick ...
'' (originally recorded by
Johnny Kidd & The Pirates in 1960). Their other hits included the original song ''Poor Boy'' in 1965 (written by Leo Lietz), ''
Poison Ivy'' in 1965 (originally by
The Coasters
The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and " Young Blood" in 1957, their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing ...
, 1959), the Baptist traditional ''Gloryland'' in 1967, and ''
Rockin' Pneumonia'' in 1967 (originally by
Huey "Piano" Smith
Huey Pierce Smith, known as Huey "Piano" Smith (born January 26, 1934) is an American rhythm-and-blues pianist whose sound was influential in the development of rock and roll.
His piano playing incorporated the boogie-woogie styles of Pete John ...
, 1957). Their 1960s cover versions of ''Shakin' all over'', ''Poison Ivy'', and ''Gloryland'' still get much more airtime on German radio today than the originals or later recordings of these songs by English and American performers.
They also appeared as supporting act of
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...
and
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
on German tours of the two English bands, and performed on the contemporary TV music programme ''
Beat-Club
''Beat-Club'' is a West German music programme that ran from September 1965 to December 1972. It was broadcast from Bremen, West Germany on ''Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen'', the national public TV channel of the ARD, and produced by one of its m ...
'' several times (footage from these ''Beat-Club'' performances would continue to be rerun on German TV well into the 2000s, playing an important role in shaping public perception of The Lords as a classic beat era act). In 1967 their success allowed them to make an appearance as the main band in the Legia Stadium in Warsaw in front of 25,000 spectators; they were the first western band allowed to perform in a Soviet bloc country. In 1971 the Lords broke up due to
Bernd Zamulo forming
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull ( lkt, Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock I ...
, but they would re-unite five years later.
Since 1976: Reunion
From 1976 onwards, The Lords have re-united on several occasions with different line-ups, mostly as a nostalgia live band playing their old hits at 60s festivals and on TV shows, every few years re-recording technologically updated versions of their songs. Especially "Lord Leo" Lietz has become sort of a bandleader since they have become mostly a 1960s nostalgia act, representing them and still giving the most interviews of all current band members.
Singer of The Lords, Lord Ulli died in a Potsdam hospital on 13 October 1999, after having a breakdown while performing on stage on 9 October 1999 during a concert of their 40 years anniversary tour. Since 2000 The Lords have re-united again, in 2002 and 2009 they released two new albums. Knud Kuntze died on 14 June 2020, aged 76.
"Berlins bekannteste Radio-Stimme ist verstummt", ''BZ-Berlin'', 17 June 2020
Retrieved 18 June 2020
Style and reputation
Rather than taking the approach of a serious music band, The Lords were more of a slapstick and comedy troupe especially on stage, probably akin to bands like The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (also known as The Bonzo Dog Band or The Bonzos) was created by a group of British art-school students in the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelia with surreal humour and avant-garde art, ...
in England at the time (and indeed Johnny Kidd & The Pirates whose ''Shakin' All Over'' The Lords covered and which became their first hit single), overdoing the contemporary moptop hairstyle by making it look like a stereotypical Medieval haircut as portrayed in the modern comic Prince Valiant
''Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur'', often simply called ''Prince Valiant'', is an American comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full stretc ...
, taking the formal suit fashion introduced by The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
and turning them into waiters' clothing, and dancing like a girl group such as the 1920s Tiller Girls
The Tiller Girls were among the most popular dance troupes of the 1890s, first formed by John Tiller in Manchester, England, in 1889. In theatre Tiller had noticed the overall effect of a chorus of dancers was often spoiled by lack of discipline. ...
on stage.
This rather lighthearted attitude led to a rivalry with the more serious Hamburg-based band The Rattles
The Rattles are a German rock band, formed in Hamburg in 1960, best known for their 1970 psychedelic hit single, "The Witch".
Career
The Rattles performed in Hamburg, and played at the same venues as The Beatles on several occasions in 1962. In ...
and especially their bandleader and producer Achim Reichel
Achim Reichel (born 28 January 1944) is a musician, producer, and songwriter from Hamburg, Germany. He is known for his 1991 hit single ''Aloha Heja He'', and serving as the frontman for the 1960s beat group The Rattles, who, among other achieve ...
, who was critical of the Lords for their silly antics. In addition to their clownesqueries, which were looked down upon by more ambitious proto-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 ...
artists such as Reichel, there was a rumour that singer of The Lords, Ulli Günther ("Lord Ulli") did not speak English even though it was the language he sang in, and that therefore his German accent was much thicker than was usual in the German-produced but English-sung music scene at the time.
Towards the end of the 1960s, the band was increasingly influenced by psychedelia and brought more social commentary, serious or satirical, into their lyrics, effectually turning from a British Invasion-influenced pop band into a progressive ''Krautrock'' group. However, nothing of this development, nor the slapstick approach that came before it would be evident in subsequent reunions after 1976. Instead, since their re-formation they foster more of a rough rocker and teddy boy image both in their instrumentation, arrangements, and their clothing, now appearing in jeans clothing and sunglasses, comparable to the new style 1970s glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...
band Slade
Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British Hit Singles ...
took on during the 1980s, even though today The Lords often perform to recordings of their old singles when on TV while dressed up in their new style.
The original recordings of their singles, later often re-recorded by the band, were issued on CD as the double CD box ''The Original Singles – Collection/The A & B-Sides'' in 1999, beside which the CD version of their 1972 best-of album ''The LORDS 1964-1971'' sold well, while ''Shakin' All Over '70'' (1970) and ''The Very Best'' (1992), like most of their albums after 1971, are more recent, technologically updated re-recordings of their classic songs.
Discography
* ''In Black and White – In Beat and Sweet'' (1965)
* ''Shakin' All Over'' (1966)
* ''Some Folks by the Lords'' (1967)
* ''Good Side of June'' (1968)
* ''Deutschlands Beatband Nr. 1 Die Volksplatte'' (1968)
* ''Ulleogamaxbe'' (1969)
* ''Shakin' All Over '70'' (1970)
* ''Inside Out'' (1971)
* ''1964–1971'' (1971)
* ''Birthday Album – 15 years'' (1974)
* ''20 Jahre Lords'' (1979)
* ''The Lords '88'' (1988)
* ''Stormy'' (1989)
* ''The Very Best'' (1992)
* ''The Original Singles – Collection/The A & B-Sides'' (1999)
* ''Live 1999'' (1999)
* ''Spitfire Lace'' (2002)
* ''Lords 50'' (2009)
* ''Reloaded'' (2014)
* ''Now More Than Ever!'' (2015)
References
External links
Profile
at MusicMight
MusicMight (formerly RockDetector) was a rock music website which provides artist and product information through a global website and an ongoing book series. Based in New Zealand, the site was founded by British writer Garry Sharpe-Young, and was ...
Official Site
*
* for Lord Ulli (Ulrich Günther)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lords, The (Germany)
Beat groups
German rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1959
Musical groups from Düsseldorf
1959 establishments in Germany
Bellaphon Records artists
Columbia Records artists