Son Goku was a German rock band who played a mix of hardcore punk, alternative, reggae, and electronic sounds. The band was named after the Son Goku character in the ''

Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters colle ...

'' series. Son Goku's first and only album, ''Crashkurs'' (Crash course), was released in 2002 and reached a peak position of 15 on the Media Control Charts. The group has since disbanded due to "dissension" amongst the members.

History

Origins

Son Goku was a side project of Thomas D of Die Fantastischen Vier. The band originated from the M.A.R.S. (Moderne Anstalt Rigoroser Spakker, or ''Modern Institute of Adamant Spakkers''), a commune of artists and musicians founded by Thomas D in 1998. Thomas D named the band after Son Goku, the protagonist of the ''

'' animated series, as the character embodied the band's philosophy; he stated he was "fascinated by Goku's naïveté and cheerfulness, yet, at the same time, a great warrior saving the world".

Music

Son Goku was formed with the "desire for a new form of expression and a fresh sound", resulting in a mix of hardcore punk, alternative, reggae, and electronic sounds. Established band members and access to their own recording studio at the M.A.R.S. commune allowed for experimentation with the genres. Son Goku's only single, "Alle für jeden", was released on 17 June 2002, followed by the album ''Crashkurs'' on 29 July 2002. Son Goku disbanded on or before 1 January 2003, due to 'dissension' amongst the members.

Band members

Thomas D

Thomas D is best known as a member of the German hip hop group Die Fantastischen Vier. He had also undertaken previous solo projects. Son Goku was the first in which he did not rap. Thomas D founded Son Goku with Bertil Mark and provided vocals and lyrics for the band. Or Born In 2014

Komi Togbonou

Komi Togbonou had played in the band Gajanaut and provided vocals and played digeridoo for Nina Hagen, Die Fantastischen Vier und Thomas D in both studio and concert settings. Togbonou provided vocals and lyrics for Son Goku.

Bertil Mark

Bertil Mark was born in 1976 and had his first performance experience in a youth theater production of

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. Thi ...

. Mark had worked with other German bands including, among others,

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and Fettes Brot. Since 1999, Mark had been producing for his own studio, Haus Erika Productions, and for the M.A.R.S. commune. Mark was Son Goku's drummer and producer.

Axel Hilgenstöhler

Axel Hilgenstöhler Axel "Axe" Hilgenstöhler (born August 1975) is a German Record Producer, Mixing Engineer and Guitarist. He is a founding member of the band Thumb and played guitar with many Bands, e.g. Dog Eat Dog and 50 Cent. In 2003 Afrika Islam founde ...

was the guitarist of "Thumb" for 7 years and was involved in production and songwriting for Clueso, MC Lenny, Ferris MC, Tyree Cooper, Tyrone Rickets, Virginia Nasiamento and Africa Islam. Hilgenstöhler had also toured with bands such as Henry Rollins,

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and singer Keith Flint and dancer and occasional l ...

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, and

Bad Religion Bad Religion is an American punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilitie ...

. Hilgenstöhler was a guitarist and producer for Son Goku

Jochen Hornung

Since 1999, Jochen Hornung has been a guitarist in several hardcore bands, most notably " Beat Down". Hornung has also been a columnist for ''Zap Magazine'', a concert presenter and run his own record label. Hornung met Thomas D through his work with Die Fantastischen Vier.

Paul J Greco

Born in 1966, Paul Greco toured worldwide as part of

Chumbawamba Chumbawamba () were a British rock band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include "Amnesia", " Enou ...

from 1992 to 1999. Since 2000, Greco had been doing studio work in Germany with Clueso, Arj Snoek and Klaus Cornfield. Greco was the bassist for Son Goku.

Discography

''Crashkurs''

''Crashkurs'' (Crash course) is Son Goku's first and only studio album. The album took six months to prepare and, of the approximately 16 to 18 songs written, 14 were chosen. The album peaked at number 15 on the Media Control Charts (official German music charts) and 35 on Austrian charts.

"Alle für jeden"

"Alle für jeden" (Everyone for all) is Son Goku's first and only single. The single peaked at number 86 on the Media Control Charts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Son Goku German musical groups German punk rock groups Musical groups established in 2002 2002 establishments in Germany