Electra (German band)

Electra
	; Gisbert Koreng, Stephan Trepte and Peter “Mampe” Ludewig (front from left to right) during a concert in Dresden in August 2009
	General information
Genre (s)	Progressive rock , art rock , rock , pop
founding	1969
resolution	2015
Website	http://www.electra-music.de
Founding members
Saxophone , flute , keyboard	Bernd Aust
bass	Helmut Rinn
Drums , vocals	Peter "Mampe" Ludewig
Keyboard	Karl-Heinz Ringel
guitar	Ekkehard Berger
Last occupation
Saxophone, flute	Bernd Aust
bass	Wolfgang Riedel
Drums	Falk Möckel
Keyboard	Andreas Leuschner
guitar	Eckhard "Ecki" Lipske
singing	Stephan Trepte († 2020)
Guitar, vocals	Gisbert Koreng
former members
bass	Michael Demnitz
Keyboard	Hans-Peter Dohanetz († 2006)
guitar	Peter Sandkaulen
Keyboard	Rainer Uebel
singing	Manuel from Senden
Drums	Dietmar Stephan
Drums	Volker Fiebig

Electra , formerly also Electra-Combo (spelling: electra), was a rock band from Dresden .

Band history

Founding member Bernd Aust (2009)

It was founded in 1969 by Peter "Mampe" Ludewig , Bernd Aust , Helmut Rinn, Karl-Heinz Ringel and Ekkehard Berger, who were then students at the Dresden Academy of Music Carl Maria von Weber .

Electra is known for electronically supported adaptations of classical music, but also for progressive rock with expressive vocals and long instrumental solos. Well-known pieces are Tritt ein den Dom with Stephan Trepte as solo singer (1972) and Turkish March with a flute solo by Bernd Aust, which can be found on the 1976 album adaptations . In 1980 the rock suite The Sistine Madonna appeared on the album of the same name. In the same year the band won the Grand Prix of the Dresden International Schlager Festival with the song Esbrennen die Berge und Wälder . From around 1980, Electra's music tended towards pop music . With four billion in one boat and never before , they took 5th and 9th place in the GDR annual hit parade in 1984. With the return of the former solo singers Trepte (1989) and Ludewig (1996), the style of the band became more progressive again. At the same time it became known that Manuel von Senden had been working as an unofficial employee for the Ministry for State Security since 1984 .

Until recently Electra managed to fill large concert halls, such as on October 25, 2002 on the occasion of their anniversary concert 33 years Electra in Dresden in the old slaughterhouse and on October 23, 2004 on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the band. They also gave concerts with the related bands Lift and Stern-Combo Meißen as a Saxon three , originally a well-known postage stamp.

In December 2014, the band announced that they would split up after completing a final tour in 2015. On September 26, 2015 electra gave her last concert in Obervogelgesang .

Band line-up

Wolfgang Riedel (2009)

There have been numerous line-up changes in the history of the band. The original line-up included Bernd Aust (saxophone, flute, keyboard), Helmut Rinn (bass), Peter Ludewig (drums, vocals), Karl-Heinz Ringel (keyboard) and Ekkehard Berger (guitar). Rinn was replaced shortly afterwards by Wolfgang Riedel. In 1971 singer Stephan Trepte joined the band.

In 1974 came Michael Demnitz (bass), Hans-Peter Dohanetz (keyboard) and Peter Sandkaulen (guitar); Ringel and Berger left the band. Two years later, Trepte, who went to Reform , left Demnitz, Sandkaulen and Dohanetz Electra. Gisbert Koreng (guitar, vocals) and Rainer Uebel (keyboard) came for this. In 1978 Manuel von Senden joined the band as the new singer. Five years later, Dietmar Stephan replaced Peter Ludewig as drummer. Keyboard player Andreas Leuschner became a member of Electra in 1985.

In 1989 Stephan Trepte came back to the band as a singer and replaced Manuel von Senden. At the same time, Dietmar Stephan was replaced by Volker Fiebig, while Ecki Lipske replaced Gisbert Koreng as guitarist. From 1996 Falk Möckel was Electra's drummer. With Peter Ludewig, another former member returned to Electra, where he worked as a singer alongside Trepte until 2014. Bernd Aust was a member of Electra from the time the band was founded until it was dissolved, Wolfgang Riedel was there from 1969.

Discography

Eckhard Lipske, in the background keyboard player Andreas Leuschner (2009)

Albums

1974: Electra-Combo ( Amiga )
1976: adaptations (Amiga)
1980: Electra 3 (Amiga)
1980: The Sistine Madonna (Amiga)
1981: A day like a bridge (Amiga)
1985: Eyes of Longing (Amiga)
1987: A thousand and one feelings (Amiga)
1992: Rock from Germany East Vol. 17
1996: The hits
1999: Sachsendreier live, together with star combo Meißen and Lift
2001: Electra Live in Concert
2002: 33 years of Electra
2004: The upright walk, photo from 1989
2004: Electra - The original Amiga albums , 8 CD box
2004: Step into the cathedral, special edition for the benefit of the Frauenkirche Dresden
2007: Sachsendreier live - the second , together with star combo Meißen and Lift
2009: 40 years of Electra Klassik

Singles

1971: The New Day (A-side, Amiga )
1971: A strand of your hair (A-side, Amiga)
1971: Our summer love / The letter scales (Amiga)
1973: That comes because your soul is on fire (B-side, Amiga)
1973: The musician (A-side, Amiga)
1974: But the fire of this earth / Next, next (Amiga)
1974: Make an effort / If you ask me (Amiga)
1981: Every morning / five o'clock (Amiga)
1984: Four billion in one boat / Never before (Amiga)
1989: We are the twelfth man / We are the twelfth man (Amiga)

DVDs

2004: 35 years of Electra
2009: 40 years of Electra Klassik

literature

Jürgen Balitzki: Electra. Lift. Stern Combo Meißen: Stories from the Saxon three. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 978-3-89602-323-0 .
HP Hofmann: Beat Lexicon. Performers, authors, technical terms. VEB Lied der Zeit Musikverlag, Berlin 1977, pp. 64, 92f.

Web links

Commons : Electra (band) - collection of images, videos and audio files

Official website
Portrait at deutsche-mugge.de
Portrait at ostbeat.de ( Memento from January 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (archive version)
Portrait at ostmusik.de ( Memento from May 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (archive version)
Portrait at ostrock24.de
Analysis of the role of Electra and the monastery brothers in the GDR at Kulturation.de
Works by and about Electra in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

↑ Jürgen Balitzki: Electra. Lift. Stern Combo Meißen: Stories from the Saxon three . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 978-3-89602-323-0 , p. 65
↑ ^a ^b portrait at ostbeat.de ( memento from January 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 4, 2014
↑ Götz Hintze: Rock Lexicon of the GDR. 2nd Edition. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-303-9 , p. 330.
↑ Jürgen Balitzki: Electra. Lift. Stern Combo Meißen: Stories from the Saxon three. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 978-3-89602-323-0 , p. 189 f.
↑ Farewell tour on the band's website , accessed January 3, 2015
↑ Electra says goodbye musically , accessed on September 27, 2015

[1] Jürgen Balitzki: Electra. Lift. Stern Combo Meißen: Stories from the Saxon three . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 978-3-89602-323-0 , p. 65

[ostbeat-2] rtrait at ostbeat.de ( memento from January 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 4, 2014

[3] Götz Hintze: Rock Lexicon of the GDR. 2nd Edition. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-303-9 , p. 330.

[4] Jürgen Balitzki: Electra. Lift. Stern Combo Meißen: Stories from the Saxon three. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 978-3-89602-323-0 , p. 189 f.

[5] Farewell tour on the band's website , accessed January 3, 2015

[6] Electra says goodbye musically , accessed on September 27, 2015