__NOTOC__ The Bates were a German

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band, founded in

Eschwege Eschwege (), the district seat of the Werra-Meißner-Kreis, is a town in northeastern Hesse, Germany. In 1971, the town hosted the eleventh ''Hessentag'' state festival. Geography Location The town lies on a broad plain tract of the river Wer ...

, federal state of

Hessen Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Darm ...

, in 1987. The name referred to the character

Norman Bates Norman Bates is a fictional character created by American author Robert Bloch as the main antagonist in his 1959 thriller novel '' Psycho''. He has an alter, Mother, who takes from the form of his abusive mother, and later victim, Norma, wh ...

from

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

's 1960 film, '' Psycho''. The Bates were mainly known for their

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of songs made famous by other artists. On each of their albums they published at least two such cover songs alongside original compositions. Because the cover versions were particularly well received, The Bates released the album ''2nd Skin'' (2000), which featured cover versions of songs taken from various genres.

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 ...

(" Helter Skelter"),

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

(" Out of Time"),

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

("Wailing Wall"),

Sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

("Glass of Champagne"), Aneka ("Japanese Boy"), and

Eiffel 65 Eiffel 65 is an Italian music group that was formed in 1997 in the studios of the Turin record company Bliss Corporation, consisting of Jeffrey Jey, Maurizio Lobina and Gabry Ponte. They gained global popularity with their singles " Blue (Da Ba ...

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

") were covered in the album in typical Bates style. Amongst the Bates' most commercially successful

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

was their cover version of

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

's "

Billie Jean "Billie Jean" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on January 2, 1983, as the second single from his sixth studio album, '' Thriller'' (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson and produced by Jackson and ...

" (1995), which reached No. 10 in the Swiss charts, and No. 67 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, gaining them the highest chart entries of their career. Some other well-received songs were the

Shakespears Sister Shakespears Sister is an alternative pop and rock musical duo based in the United Kingdom that was formed in 1988 by singer-songwriter Siobhan Fahey, a former member of Bananarama. Shakespears Sister was initially a solo act, but became a duo ...

cover " Hello (Turn Your Radio On)" (1994), "A Real Cool Time" (1995), "It's Getting Dark" (1996), and "Independent Love Song" (1997). Fan favourites were "It's Getting Dark", "Say It Isn't So", "A Real Cool Time", "Bitter End", "I Don't Wanna Love You", and "Not Like You". In 2000, the Bates disbanded. The band members reunited only briefly in December 2006 to play one concert, as a tribute to their former singer Markus "Zimbl" Zimmer, who had died earlier that year. The concert was filmed and, together with some interviews of family, friends and former acquaintances of Zimbl, made into a film: ''Zimbl – A Real Cool Time''. A shortened version was first screened a year later on the same date as the concert.

Discography

Studio albums

*1989: ''No Name for the Baby'' *1990: ''Shake'' *1992: ''Psycho Junior'' *1993: ''The Bates'' *1995: ''Pleasure + Pain'' *1996: ''Kicks 'n' Chicks'' *1997: ''Punk?'' *1998: ''IntraVenus'' *1999: ''Right Here! Right Now!'' *2000: ''2nd Skin''

Live albums

*1993: ''Unfucked: Live'' *1997: ''Live''

Singles

*1994: "

Hello ''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the ''Norwich C ...

" *1995: "A Real Cool Time" *1995: "

" *1995: "Say It Isn't So" *1996: "It's Getting Dark" *1996: "Poor Boy" *1997: "Independent Love Song" *1999: "Bitter End"

References

External links

Laut.de

The-bates.de

Arealcooltime.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, The 1987 establishments in Germany German punk rock groups