Carat (band)

carat
Carat (2005)
General information
origin	East Berlin
Genre (s)	skirt
founding	1975
Website	www.karat-band.de
Founding members
bass	Henning Protzmann (until 1986)
guitar	Ulrich Pexa (until 1976)
singing	Neumi Neumann (until 1977)
Drums	Konrad Burkert (until 1976)
Keyboard	Ulrich "Ed" Swillms (until 1987, since 2005 as a guest musician occasionally at live concerts in the band)
Guitar, vocals	Herbert Dreilich (until 2004, †)
Current occupation
singing	Claudius Dreilich (since 2005)
guitar	Bernd Römer (since 1976)
bass	Christian Liebig (since 1986)
Drums	Michael Schwandt (since 1976)
Keyboard	Martin Becker (since 1992)
former members
Keyboard	Thomas Kurzhals († 2014) (1984–1992)
Keyboard	Thomas Natschinski (1981–1984)

Karat is a band from Berlin , founded in 1975 , which was one of the most successful in the GDR and is successful with German-language rock music . The band's best- known song is You must go over seven bridges . For the duration of a trademark cancellation procedure, the group called itself from January 1, 2006 to June 19, 2007 instead of K…!

history

The foundation

When the jazz concept of his group Panta Rhei lost popularity in the mid-1970s, bassist Henning Protzmann decided to found a new band. The goal was to produce more popular, but still demanding music. When Protzmann met the guitarist Ulrich Pexa, who previously worked for Frank Schöbel , who suggested the name “Karat” for the group, and Hans-Joachim “Neumi” Neumann was a singer, Konrad Burkert was a drummer and Christian Steyer was a keyboardist , the first rehearsals of the new band could begin in autumn 1974. After three weeks Steyer dropped out of the project to devote himself to acting. Ulrich "Ed" Swillms , the former pianist of Panta Rhei, who was considered an expert in his field, was hired in his place . With Ed Swillms, the former singer and guitarist of Panta Rhei, Herbert Dreilich , joined the group, with which the founding line-up of Karat was born. After they had made their first four recordings on the radio ( you and me , sister , people, what a day and I walk through town , recorded from January 24th to 28th, 1975), Karat gave on February 22, 1975 in Heidenau her first concert near Dresden.

1975 to 1978

By the end of 1975, Karat had made a total of 13 radio recordings, which quickly made the group known, although the criticism of the first songs was divided. Since June 1976 Bernd Römer (guitar) and Michael Schwandt (drums), who both came from the Horst-Krüger-Band , replaced Ulrich Pexa and Konrad Burkert. In 1977 Hans-Joachim “Neumi” Neumann finally started his military service, whereby Herbert Dreilich, formerly guitarist and singer at the same time, became the sole singer. His voice eventually became a trademark of Karat. In the meantime, the lyrical titles Märchenzeit and Abendstimmung were the first major successes that formed the basis for the style typical of Karat. Winning a gold medal at the performance show at the beginning of 1977 and being awarded the FDJ art prize for the student concerts organized by Karat on the history of rock music also document the group's rise to one of the leading rock formations in the GDR. Little is known about Karat's first visit to West Berlin . In June 1977, she allowed in the "New World" in the Hasenheide under a SEW - Press Fest occur. By winning the Grand Prix at the 1978 International Schlager Festival with the titles King of the World and Over Seven Bridges You Must Go , Karat achieved its final breakthrough. Herbert Dreilich later commented on the rock band's participation in a hit festival as follows: “We gladly accepted that, because we were and still are of the opinion that one shouldn't think in boxes. Schlager , pop and rock , the boundaries are fluid. Why shouldn't we use such an international podium? It could only be an advantage! ”Due to the long lasting success, the state-owned record label for light music Amiga also became aware of Karat. In 1978 Karat's first LP Karat was published, which contains a selection of the radio recordings made up until then.

1979 to 1982

Already in 1979 the second album Over Seven Bridges was released by Amiga. In September 1979 Karat was allowed to perform commercially in West Berlin for the first time. Through the mediation of Peter Schimmelpfennig, who already had the Puhdys under contract, and his music label Pool Records, the record company Teldec in Hamburg could be won. After a few weeks, the band's second album was released under the name Albatros in the Federal Republic of Germany . Karat received a gold record for Albatros in 1984 . After an extended touring season with numerous guest appearances abroad, the album Schwanenkönig was released in the spring of 1980, characterized by lyrical pieces , the lyrics of which were mainly from the journalist Norbert Kaiser . Kaiser worked as the main text writer for Karat from then until 1986. Schwanenkönig was released simultaneously in both parts of divided Germany and continued the success story of Karat, but also caused criticism regarding the poetic and musical career of the band. At the same time, Peter Maffay interpreted the title You must go over seven bridges , which became a great success for him. In 1981 Karat took over Thomas Natschinski as the second keyboard player. In the role of a guest musician, he should represent Swillms in several appearances in order to give him enough time to compose new songs. In September 1981, Karat presented the song The Blue Planet for the first time as part of a live performance on World Day of Peace on August-Bebel-Platz in East Berlin . The single, which was released a little later, became a big seller and raised public and media expectations for the new album considerably. In fact, in 1982 the group achieved what is probably the greatest success in their history with the musically and content-wise closed album Der Blaue Planet . The subsequent tour culminated in a big concert in the sold out Waldbühne in West Berlin. In the same year, Karat was the first and only GDR band to appear at Wetten, dass ..? .

1983 to 1988

In the spring of 1983 the band received a gold record for the Blue Planet in the Federal Republic of Germany . In the same year Karat produced her next LP The Seven Wonders of the World , which was released in early 1984. The record was successful, but could not match the success of the previous records. The seven wonders of the world was also offered on CD for the first time in the Federal Republic of Germany, in addition to the then mandatory LP format and the MC . In March 1984 Thomas Natschinski, who wanted to concentrate more on realizing his own projects, was replaced by the former Stern-Combo-Meißen- keyboarder Thomas Kurzhals. The second keyboard position was now considered a permanent institution in the band and Kurzhals became the sixth permanent member of Karat. On October 7, 1984 carats and lyricist Norbert became emperor by the state and party leader Erich Honecker the National Prize awarded for art and culture. In the same year, Karat was voted one of the ten internationally most popular rock groups in Cuba by the largest youth magazine there. In 1985, Karat celebrated the band's tenth anniversary with an extensive tour and the release of the live album On the Way to You and a single with two new songs. Barely a year later, manager and bassist Henning Protzmann left the band due to human and musical differences. Christian Liebig , who had previously played in the blues band Engerling , joined as bassist . The management took over Adele Walther, who previously worked in the concert and guest performance management in Gera . In 1986, Karat was also awarded the Golden Europe . In the following year, the album Fifth Season was released , whose sales record was once again rated as a success. In 1986 and 1987 Bernd Römer, Ed Swillms and Herbert Dreilich took part in the Gitarreros project , a supergroup that played well-known tracks by the participating artists as well as international rock standards. Due to the noticeable change in the political climate and new trends in the music market, the public's interest in Karat and most other GDR artists continued to decline in the period that followed. The tours in 1987 and 1988 were still relatively cheap, but the number of appearances decreased noticeably, contact with Ulrich "Ed" Swillms and Norbert Kaiser slowly broke off, Karat slid into the "turning crisis" that also affected many other artists in the GDR.

1989 to 1994

Karat in concert - Herbert Dreilich (left) and Christian Liebig (2002)

In 1989 Karat started producing the album ... in the next peace . When the group was working on the duet Over Seven Bridges You Must Go by Herbert Dreilich and Peter Maffay in the AMIGA studio on November 9th, the Berlin Wall opened in the immediate vicinity of the recording studio . The duet, later played by numerous radio stations, subsequently became the “Hymn of the Year” and the “Song of German Reunification ”. However, the album itself received little attention and sold worse than its previous albums. Regardless of this, Karat was able to record a success at the Open Air Festival on the Hockenheimring , which took place on August 25 and 26, 1990, with a concert in front of a backdrop of 120,000 people. This concert should remain one of the few big appearances of the band during the time of the fall. In 1991, the formation of the formation's next release followed on the small music label "Extra Records and Tapes" with Karat , which, like the previous album, hardly met with any public response. Musically, the album was also not very convincing; so the band was ultimately dissatisfied with the quality of the album itself. The band members found the mix of the sound carrier to be “too smooth” and “hit-and-run”. The lack of concert dates at that time and the low success of the new album prompted Thomas Kurzhals to part with Karat in 1992 in order to set up his own recording studio. In his place came Martin Becker , who was previously keyboardist for Frank Schöbel, among others . In 1993 and 1994 there were no further releases, as the band could not realize themselves with the current label, although at least the improving concert situation indicated that the audience's interest in Karat was increasing again.

1995 to 1999

In 1995, for the band's 20th anniversary, the contract with “Extra Records and Tapes” expired, and Karat released their tenth album The gifted hour on K&P Music, the label of Toni Krahl and Fritz Puppel from Group City . The success of the album could be seen as a good sign, as well as the success of the tour and the big anniversary concert on the trotting track in Berlin-Karlshorst . In May 1996 Karat appeared in the popular WDR broadcast Rockpalast in the Berlin Waldbühne. On October 9, 1997, Herbert Dreilich suffered a stroke at a concert in Magdeburg , which initially made the band's future seem uncertain. But in 1998 he returned to the concert stage. His condition initially did not allow him to complete most of the concert standing, which is why he leaned on an armchair for a long time, but later more and more rarely. The single ocean from the 1997 CD Balance became a comeback hit for Karat.

2000 to 2004

Herbert and Claudius Dreilich in 2001 at a joint appearance with Karat

For the 25th anniversary in 2000, the band released their anniversary CD I love every hour , a best-of album with a few new titles. In addition to the band appearances on the anniversary tour, five special concerts were held under the motto "Karat meets Classic", accompanied by the Babelsberg film orchestra , which had also played on the Balance album . The combo celebrated the official anniversary concert with numerous guests on September 9 in front of almost 17,000 people in Berlin's Wuhlheide . In spring 2001 the anniversary concert was released as a second live album on CD, VHS and later also on DVD . On September 15, 2002, Karat performed alongside many other bands and artists at the benefit concert initiated by the Puhdys for the victims of the flood disaster of August 2002 in front of 30,000 spectators on the Dresden Theaterplatz. In 2003 Karat presented their new album Licht und Schatten , which was released on ZYX Music . On August 23, 2003, Karat's last concert with their longtime singer Herbert Dreilich took place in Neustadt (Orla) ; a short time later he was diagnosed with a stomach ulcer and finally liver cancer. For 2004 all planned concerts and projects were canceled. Herbert Dreilich died of cancer on December 12, 2004 at the age of 62. Five days after his death, the remaining musicians promised the fans a reunion the following year.

2005 to 2009

The memory of Herbert Dreilich (right) is kept alive at the group's concerts

On January 10, 2005 the band officially confirmed that Herbert Dreilich's son Claudius will take over as singer. The similarity of his voice to that of his father was already noticed at the anniversary concert in Berlin's Wuhlheide in 2000 during a contribution from the band members' children. The first tour with a new singer was successful and showed the sympathy of the audience towards the new band member. In the summer of 2005 the group managed to get in touch with Ulrich "Ed" Swillms, who has since been on stage at least at special concerts.

Less than a year after the death of Herbert Dreilich, his widow tried to have the use of the name "Karat" legally restricted for the formation with Claudius Dreilich and to charge fees for the use of the name. The background to the whole thing was the registration of the brand name "Karat" by Dreilich in 1998, which the other members were unaware of. Because of the hardened positions of the parties involved (the band demands the deletion of the trademark entry or the widow's waiver of its use, the widow Dreilichs, on the other hand, stated that the trademark “Karat” should be permanently linked to the name Herbert Dreilich through the trademark entry) no amicable solution can be reached. Until a final judicial clarification of the possible claims on the trademark or the trademark cancellation request of the band members could therefore not use the name "Karat". From January 1, 2006, the band had to use a provisional provisional replacement name. On 29 December 2005 it was in the sold-out Stadthalle Rostock represents the last concert under the name "carat" and gave it the alternative name "K ..." known.

K ...! on a winter time tour with the medlz (2006)

In April 2006 they released a maxi single (The Last Countdown) and began the first tour under the temporary band name "K ...!". The audience attendance at the following concerts was, however, due to the unknown name significantly lower than usual. In December of the same year the group organized a Christmas tour for the first time since its foundation, which ran under the name "Winterzeit". “K…!” The a cappella pop band “ medlz ” invited themselves as special guests . In addition to popular karat classics such as Swan King , King of the World , The Blue Planet and Over Seven Bridges You Must Go, as well as some songs from the “medlz” debut album, well-known, classically interpreted Christmas carols were performed. In April 2007, the first hearing in the name dispute, the court again suggested that the parties involved reach an agreement, but this did not come about. On June 19, 2007 the verdict was passed that the widow Susanne Dreilich was not entitled to the name "Karat" and the group was allowed to use the name again.

In the summer of 2007, Karat went on the Ostrock in Klassik tour with the Babelsberg film orchestra and the Puhdys, Silly, Dirk Michaelis, Ute Freudenberg, Werther Lohse (lift) and Veronika Fischer , in which the well-known titles of the performers were presented in the classical guise of the symphony orchestra were. On the occasion of this event, an album of the same name and a double DVD were released, on which all the artists participating in the tour participated. Karat and the other artists each received a DVD Gold Award for the DVD. Karat was also involved in the project in 2008 and 2009 and the second CD that was released. On August 18, 2007, on the five-year anniversary of the Elbe flood in 2002 , the band was awarded the Frank Köckritz Prize for flood helpers as an honor for their benefit concerts immediately after the flood. In May 2009 Karat gave some concerts in Kosovo for the UN peacekeeping forces of the German armed forces.

Karat after a concert in Pirna (2011), from left: Bernd Römer, Martin Becker, Claudius Dreilich, Christian Liebig and Michael Schwandt

From 2010

In 2010, Karat celebrated its 35th band anniversary with two anniversary concerts on April 9 and 10, 2010 in the Alte Oper Erfurt , followed by a tour. The band received a gold record for the best-of sampler Vierzehn Karat , which was released in 1992 . At the same time, the new album Weitergeh'n was released after a biographical book, written by Christine Dähn, had been published a few weeks earlier. In the 2012 concert season, Karat played an unplugged program for the first time in their band's history . From October 5 to 7, 2012, Karat performed in Kiel Castle together with the Kiel Philharmonic Orchestra and other guests for a joint crossover project entitled “ Karat's Symphony ”, which was released in October 2013 as a live album. In 2014 Karat went on tour together with the Puhdys and City. Under the name "Rock Legenden" they also released an album on which they covered their hits as well as some well-known titles by other artists and presented new songs.

Karat at the 40th birthday in the Berlin Waldbühne.

For the 40th anniversary of the band, the album Seelenschiffe was released in March 2015 . On the occasion of the stage anniversary, the band also completed a special tour in April and May in addition to the normal concert happenings, on which club concerts were played in a particularly intimate setting in front of a small audience in the broadcasting houses of six state broadcasters. On June 20, Karat celebrated their band anniversary in front of 12,000 fans in Berlin's Waldbühne. Matthias Reim , Ute Freudenberg , Gregor Meyle and Christoph Schneider von Rammstein were also on stage as musical guests and well-wishers . The concert was released as a live album in the same year. On September 5, 2015, Karat was awarded a hen of honor in the music category as part of the Golden Hen award ceremony. The studio album Labyrinth was released in October 2018 .

In the course of the COVID-19 pandemic , numerous concerts on a tour planned for the 45th stage anniversary had to be postponed. On May 20, 2020, the band gave a car concert for the first time in their history on the grounds of Messe Erfurt. A hotel room concert on June 13, 2020 in Chemnitz, at which the audience could follow the live performance from their hotel room, continued to generate interest throughout Germany. It was the first hotel room concert in Germany.

Guest performances abroad

During its existence, the group has had foreign guest appearances in Denmark , France , Luxembourg , Austria , Switzerland , Hungary , the Soviet Union , Yugoslavia , Czechoslovakia , Bulgaria , Poland , Romania , Belgium , Kosovo and Cuba .

Awards

• Silver medal of the 3rd artist competition (1976)
• Gold medal at the 5th show of entertainment art (1977)
• Art Prize of the FDJ (1978)
• Grand Prix at the International Schlager Festival (1978)
• Press Prize (1978)
• Art Prize of the GDR (1979)
• nl-Interpretenpreis (1979), (1980) and (1982)
• Gold record for The Blue Planet in the Federal Republic of Germany (1983)
• Gold record for Albatros in the Federal Republic of Germany (1984)
• National Prize of the GDR for Art and Culture (1984)
• Golden Europe (1986)
• Media Control Prize (2003)
• Frank Köckritz Prize (2007)
• Gold record for the DVD Ostrock in Klassik (2010)
• Gold Record for Fourteen Carats (2010)
• Goldene Henne (Hen of Honor for Music) (2015)
• Golden ticket for the sold out "Rock Legenden" tour 2016
• The Friedenstein (Culture Prize of the City of Gotha) (2016)
• several silver bongs and a gold bong (2010)

style

music

Excerpt from the sheet music of the instrumental middle section of the song Albatros

In the course of their development, Karat succeeded relatively early on in creating their own style of music, which is based primarily on a mixture of rock music with classical elements and which can best be assigned to prog rock . The main composer of the band, Ulrich "Ed" Swillms, is primarily responsible for this, who came into intensive contact with classical music through his music studies (major in cello and minor in piano , 1964–1968) and through his study of scores by Bach on Wagner up to Janáček learned a lot about their harmony and arranging . A noteworthy example of this is the title Albatros (album About Seven Bridges ), especially its instrumental middle section, which is dominated by the tense, indulgent sound of a string section that tries to harmonize with electric guitar , bass and drums and the fusion of rock music with most clearly represents classical elements.

The most distinctive passages in Karat titles are mostly taken from the keyboard or the electric guitar , which are thus at the center of the band's soundscape (for example, in König der Welt , Tiefsee , Schwanenkönig and Glocke Two Thousand ). Nevertheless, the course of the bass track (as in Auf den Meeren , Das Narrenschiff or The Blue Planet ) and the drums (for example in Falscher Glanz , Every Hour or The Blue Planet ) play central roles in songs, which is why diverse and varied arrangements are included Karat albums can be found. Herbert Dreilich's expressive voice has become a special trademark of Karat's music. His son Claudius later brought similar vocal qualities to the band.

After Swillm's departure, the albums … im next Frieden and Karat 91 were followed by a break in style, in which the band moved musically more between pop and hit music . These two less successful and musically less typical albums for Karat are often mixed up as so-called best-of compilations in stores. With the 1995 album The Gifted Hour , the 1997 album Balance and the 1992 change of line-up on the keyboard instruments, the band returned to their own style and increasingly used progressive elements . Especially during the time when Herbert Dreilich appeared as the sole composer (from I love every hour to Licht und Schatten , or 30 years of karat - the last songs by Herbert Dreilich ), there was a turn to more simply structured, song-like pop rock on.

With the release of the album Seelenschiffe in 2015 and even more so with Labyrinth in 2018, the band consciously turned more to contemporary and mainstream pop. On these two albums, foreign authors increasingly appeared for text and composition and numerous guest musicians recorded the titles.

Texts

While the repertoire of the group in the early years was still relatively varied, comedic titles such as Erna (1975) and Das Monster (1976), titles typically related to teenagers (certainly also with pleasant, somewhat superficial lyrics close to youth language) such as Sister ' I walk through the city' (both 1975), So 'ne Kleine (1976), Reggae Rita Star (1977) or This Summer (1978) and more profound lyrical titles like Abendstimmung (1976), Märchenzeit (1977) or King of the World (1978), from 1978/79 onwards there was a clear turn to lyrical, more serious texts. This development was related to the arrival of the later main lyricist Norbert Kaiser , who wrote for Karat almost single-handedly from 1979 to 1987 (before that, however, the group worked with many different copywriters; in addition to Herbert Dreilich himself, Jens Gerlach , Helmut Richter ( Über you have to go seven bridges ), Georg Friedrich, Burkhard Lasch and Kurt Demmler ( King of the World , On the Seas ) for Karat).

Kaiser's texts, often determined by longings, invited the listener to dream ( Albatros , 1979) and were strongly internalized and metaphorically encoded ( Magisches Licht , Tiefsee , Le Doyen II , all 1980). The LP Schwanenkönig , which was released in 1980 and was determined by precisely this poetry, came under the crossfire of criticism. Kaiser was accused of having a tendency to be bulky and kitsch. With the release of the album The Blue Planet in 1982, the group not only turned away from the slightly mystical lyrics of Swan King, the lyrics also became more political.

From the mid-1980s, singer Herbert Dreilich himself increasingly wrote the lyrics for Karat. His poetic to surreal texts ( Kalter Rauch , 1983; Hab die Mond mit der Hand , 1985) were more likely to be accepted by the public in the late 1980s than Kaiser's, in some cases still strongly encrypted, poetry because they were easier to understand. After Kaiser left the GDR in 1987 and ended his collaboration with Karat, Dreilich was the sole copywriter until his death in 2004, with a few exceptions. Since then, mainly Claudius Dreilich, keyboardist Martin Becker and bassist Christian Liebig have written, trying to continue the lyrical mood that has always been typical for Karat. Since 2015 the band has also been working with the lyric poet Michael Sellin .

It should be noted that, contrary to the allegations of some critics of being close to the state and compliant, Karat also repeatedly packed critical political statements in the titles, for example: Albatros (1979), Das Narrenschiff (1980), Marionetten (1982), Der Blaue Planet (1982), The Doppelganger (1987), Bell Two Thousand (1987), Lucifer (1995) and The Eighth Day (1995).

Discography

→ Main article : Karat (band) / discography

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	AT	CH
1978	Carat Amiga	-	-	-	First published: 1978 sales approx. 321,000
1979	Over seven bridges (GDR) / Albatros (BRD) Amiga / Teldec (pool)	DE40 gold (7 weeks)DE	-	-	First published: 1979 sales approx. 750,000
1980	Swan King Amiga / Teldec (pool)	DE26 (24 weeks) DE	-	-	First published: 1980 sales approx. 700,000
1982	The blue planet Amiga / Teldec (pool)	DE8th gold (48 weeks)DE	-	-	First published: March 20, 1982 Sales approximately 1,400,000
1984	The seven wonders of the world Amiga / Teldec (pool)	DE54 (3 weeks) DE	-	-	First published: 1984 sales approx. 450,000
1987	Fifth season Amiga / Teldec (pool)	-	-	-	First published: 1987 sales approx. 230,000
1990	… In the next peace Amiga / Extra Records and Tapes	-	-	-	First published: January 1, 1990 sales approx. 45,000 (GDR)
1991	Karat Extra Records and Tapes	-	-	-	First publication: 1991
1995	The free hour K&P Music / BMG	-	-	-	First published: March 27, 1995. Sales approx. 30,000
1997	Balance K&P Music / BMG	-	-	-	First published: May 26, 1997 Sales approx. 40,000
2003	Light and shadow ZYX Music	-	-	-	First published: April 14, 2003 Sales approx. 5,000
2010	Go on a & f music (noble)	DE81 (1 week) DE	-	-	First published: April 9, 2010
2015	Soul ships Electrola	DE63 (2 weeks) DE	-	-	First published: March 27, 2015
2018	Labyrinth Electrola	DE46 (1 week) DE	-	-	First published: October 19, 2018

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Films (selection)

Video publications

• 2001: 25 Years of Karat - The Concert (VHS)
• 2005: 25 Years of Karat - The Concert (DVD) (differs in title selection from the 2001 version)
• 2007: Ostrock in Klassik (DVD) (Karat and others)
• 2010: Karat live from the Alte Oper Erfurt (DVD)
• 2011: Albatros - A band tells their story (DVD)
• 2015: 40 Years - Live from the Waldbühne Berlin (DVD)
• 2018: KARAT - In Concert (1982) (DVD)

Others

• 1976: Evening mood ( DEFA Discofilm)
• 1977: DEFA Disko 77
• 1979: Albatros (DEFA Discofilm)
• 1979: In concert ( GDR television production ) (Karat and others)
• 1981: In concert: KARAT (GDR television production)
• 1981: Metronom Live (GDR television production) (Karat and others)
• 1982: Rock for Peace: KARAT (GDR television production)
• 1982: In concert: KARAT (GDR television production)
• 1985: Rock for Peace: 10 Years of Karat (GDR television production)
• 1996: Rockpalast: German Rock Festival (co-production of WDR and MDR ) (Karat and others)
• 2000: TV documentary 25 years of Karat - I love every hour (MDR production)
• 2015: Meylensteine ​​(TV documentary by VOX)
• and other music videos, documentaries and television productions

literature

Monographs

• Jürgen Balitzki: Rock at first hand ; Berlin: Lied der Zeit, Musikverlag, 1985; Pp. 48-57.
• Caroline Gerlach: Carat. Pop Nonstop ; Berlin: Lied der Zeit, Musikverlag, 1985.
• Wolfgang Schumann: "Karat". "Over seven bridges ..." 20 years of "Karat" ; Berlin: Henschel, 1995; ISBN 3-89487-273-3 .
• Michael Rauhut: Rock in the GDR. 1964 to 1989 ; Bonn: Federal Agency for Political Education, 2002; ISBN 3-89331-459-8 .
• J. Fritzsche: My years with karat . Radeberg, Castrop-Rauxel 2005.
• Bernd Lindner: GDR. Rock and pop ; Cologne: Komet, 2008; ISBN 978-3-89836-715-8 .
• Christine Dähn (Ed.): Karat. You have to go over seven bridges ; Berlin: New Life, 2010; ISBN 978-3-355-01768-8 .

Lexicons

• HP Hofmann: Beat Lexicon. Performers, authors, technical terms . VEB Lied der Zeit Musikverlag, Berlin (East) 1977.

Article (selection)

• B. Siegmund: 5 Karat Musik , in: Freie Welt 4 (1979)
• B. Bibratsch: You are not alone. Portrait of the Karat group , in: Sunday 47 (1979)
• B. Bibratsch: Karat-Journal , in: Neues Leben 5 (1980)
• R. Baumert: Erlebnis Studio , in: Melodie und Rhythmus 5 (1980)
• B. Bibratsch: Karat , in: Melodie und Rhythmus 4 (1981)
• L. Protzmann: Five-carat under the microscope , in: Tribüne, edition of September 3, 1982
• G. Junggebauer: Carat. Portrait in four episodes , in: Neue Berliner Illustrierte 19–22 (1983)
• I. Dittmann: Six carat rock music. Reader's interview , in: New Life 8 (1983)

Sheet music

• G. Friedrich (Hrsg.): Karat: from Amiga productions. Piano special edition ; Leipzig: Harth Musik-Verlag, 1980 (contains titles from the albums "Karat" and "Over seven bridges")
• G. Friedrich (Hrsg.): Karat: from Amiga productions ; Particell output; Leipzig: Harth Musik-Verlag, 1981 (contains the title of the album "Schwanenkönig")
• G. Friedrich (Hrsg.): Karat: from Amiga productions ; Particell special edition; Leipzig: Harth Musik-Verlag, 1984 (contains the title of the album "The Seven Wonders of the World")
• G. Friedrich (Ed.): Karat. Over seven bridges ; Leipzig: Harth Musik-Verlag, 1985 (contains a selection of the most successful titles from 1978–1984)

Web links

Commons : Karat  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website
• Artist page at Universal Music
• Information page of the management of Karat
• Portrait at deutsche-mugge.de
• Portrait at ostbeat.de ( Memento from May 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
• Works by and about Karat in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hartmut Helms, Christian Reder: What is actually doing ... Konrad "Conny" Burkert ; Interview with Konrad Burkert.
2. ^ W. Schumann: Karat. Over seven bridges . Berlin 1995, p. 23
3. ↑ The development of Karat's own style in its early years is traced in: Caroline Gerlach: Karat. Pop nonstop. Berlin 1985, pp. 16-22.
4. ↑ C. Gerlach: Karat. Pop Nonstop, Berlin 1985, pp. 41-45.
5. ↑ A piano version of the title can be found in: G. Friedrich (Ed.), Karat. Amiga productions. Piano special edition, Leipzig 1980, pp. 1–8.
6. ↑ Notes on typical arrangements of Karat titles from the late 1970s and early 1980s can also be found in: G. Friedrich (Ed.): Karat. Amiga productions. Particell edition, Leipzig 1981.
7. ↑ G. Friedrich (Ed.): Karat. Amiga productions. Particell edition, Leipzig 1981.
8. ↑ See also: Caroline Gerlach: Karat. Pop Nonstop ; Berlin 1985, p. 17.
9. ↑ B. Lindner: GDR. Rock and pop ; Cologne 2008, p. 106f.
10. ↑ This criticism was triggered mainly by an article by Wolfgang Lange: W. Lange: We heard Karat "Swan King" ; Melody & Rhythm, edition 8/1980.
11. ^ So: B. Lindner: DDR. Rock and pop ; Cologne 2008, p. 72.
12. ↑ On these allegations see: J. Fritzsche: Meine Jahre mit Karat ; Castrop-Rauxel, Radeberg 2005, pp. 64-66.