Killer (Swiss band)

killer
General information
Genre (s)	Hard rock
founding	1979, 1985, 2005
resolution	1984, 1986
Website	https://killer.band
Founding members
singing	Mark Broman
guitar	Crown cooker
guitar	Many masons
bass	Beat "Brian" Kofmehl
Drums	Ali Allemann
Last occupation
singing	Patrick Strobel (since 2018)
guitar	Crown Kocher (1979–1983, 2002, since 2005)
guitar	Peter Berger (since 2017)
bass	Mirko Buccio (since 2018)
Drums	Roberto Antonucci (since 2017)
former members
singing	Andy Lickford (2006-2018)
singing	Mark B. Lay (1985-1986)
guitar	Many Masons (1979-1984, 2002)
guitar	Jan Van Crow (1983–1986, 2005–2006)
bass	Beat "Brian" Kofmehl (1979–1984, 2002)
bass	Martin Morelli (1985-1986)
bass	Dave Gugelot (2005-2006)
Keyboard	Roland Wapf (1985–1986)
Drums	Ali Allemann (1979–1983, 2002)
Drums	Danny Crivelli (1983-1984)
Drums	Ronny Woolf (1985-1986)
Drums	Me Müller (2005-2006)
Drums	Dan Hammer (2006-2007)
guitar	Beat "Easy" Iselin (2006-2007)
guitar	Rob Strangler (2011-2012)
bass	Noisy Miller (2011-2012)
Drums	Andy Schumacher (2011-2012)
bass	Emilia Meyer (2017-2018)

Killer is a Swiss hard rock band from Solothurn . The band celebrated their greatest successes in the early 1980s and were seen as direct competition to Krokus . In contrast to them, however, Killer was unable to make an international breakthrough. Due to their stylistic proximity to AC / DC , the band had to take a lot of criticism.

history

Band boss and guitarist Crown Kocher (civil: Edgar Kocher) was active in the Swiss cult band Kaktus , before joining singer Mark Broman (civil: Markus Brönnimann), guitarist Many Maurer, bassist Beat "Brian" Kofmehl and drummer Ali Allemann in April 1979 started the band Killer . According to Broman's statement, this made them the first band to use this name, which is common in the metal scene. After the recording of the single Crazy Daisy , directed by Krokus member Chris von Rohr , the band signed a record deal for three albums with Bellaphon .

The first long-playing record Ladykiller made headlines in 1981 with its provocative cover artwork by Paul Grau , which shows a dead woman with blood running down her face. Due to the outraged media coverage and the disturbed public, the cover was first published with a black bar above the woman's head and later replaced by a live picture of Kocher in his stage convict outfit. The music cassette version was adorned with a fantasy cover. The original illustration was not used until the digital re-publication in 2018.

A year later, the band released their second album with Thriller . Western Swiss television recorded one of her appearances in Servion and Killer was invited to Bremen for a live recording in the Musikladen , the follow-up broadcast to the legendary Beat Club . At the end of the year, Killer toured Germany and Switzerland as the opening act for Motörhead .

After the tour, Allemann felt listless for the rock star life and left the band. Since contacts with Danny Crivelli had already existed, a replacement was seamlessly provided. But after internal disputes, guitarist Crown Kocher also left the band, which is why Jan Van Crow joined them, who had previously played with Crivelli for a long time. With these new members, Killer recorded the album Stronger than Ever in 1983 , which was released on Rockport Records. Again the band went on tour in the opening act for Motörhead and also played in Scandinavia. Killer broke up in 1984.

In 1985 Jan Van Crow formed a completely new band and recorded the album Young Blood , which however flopped commercially. Nobody from the original band was there anymore. In addition to Van Crow, the album featured singer Mark B. Lay, bassist Martin Morelli, keyboardist Roland Wapf and drummer Ronny Woolf.

Most of the musicians fell silent in the following years. Exceptions were Many Maurer and Danny Crivelli, who first appeared on Chris von Rohr's solo album, then with Krokus and finally in the band Ain't Dead Yet . Bassist Brian Kofmehl joined the Swiss rock band China in the late 1980s .

On April 27, 2002, the original formation of Killer gave a unique anniversary concert in their home town of Solothurn. Since 2005 the band has been active again with a new line-up. In addition to the original members Crown Kocher (guitar) and Mark Broman (vocals), Kocher's successor Jan Van Crow was also there as the second guitarist. The line-up was completed by bassist Dave Gugelot and drummer Mich Müller. Concerts in Switzerland announced for the beginning of 2006 ( e.g. as opening act for UDO ) have been canceled due to alleged health problems of singer Broman. A little later, the band published a statement on their website announcing the split from Bromann. Van Crow and Müller also left the band.

Kocher and Gugelot already had new members in February 2006. Singers Andy Lickford, the second guitarist and drummer Beat Iselin Dan Hammer, all of the Swiss rock - cover band Night Hunter arrived, the occupation was complete again. From April the previously canceled concerts were rescheduled and a new studio CD was announced. Gugelot switched to the Liechtenstein band Lovechild in October of the same year . Killer's activities were put on hold until the end of 2010 because of Kocher's hearing loss .

In January 2011 Kocher and Lickford presented a newly assembled band. The German drummer Andy Schumacher and Noisy Miller on bass and Rob Strangler as rhythm guitarist were newcomers. Her German record company Bellaphon announced the re-release of the killer LPs from the 1980s on CD for spring 2011. At the same time, Killer announced the production of a new studio album.

In 2012 Kocher and Lickford recorded the announced new killer album in the Zodiac studio in Solothurn. After completing the recording, Crown Kocher developed health problems, namely he suffered another hearing loss, a heart attack and a herniated disc , which delayed the release of the album for a long time. He gave up his full-time job as a freelance IT specialist.

In January 2017, her German record company around producer Armin Weisshaar released a maxi CD with three tracks from the work that was on hold. At the same time, the two presented their new live formation with bassist Emilia Meyer alias Emi Bassbabe, guitarist Peter Berger and drummer Roberto Antonucci. The last two live actors named were the Judas Priest association Cutest Beast, of which Lickford also belongs.

Due to the changes in the music business and digitization , Genco Pura Records took over the distribution of the back catalog and future albums from Killer in 2018 .

In 2018, Killer received a new appointment to two positions. Mirko Buccio now plays the bass and Patrick Strobel , known from the Voice of Germany Season 7, took over the lead vocals .

style

The Internet databases discogs.com and Garry Sharpe-Youngs rockdetector.com assign Killer to Hard Rock, whereby Sharpe-Young explicitly refers to the stylistic proximity to AC / DC with regard to the second album. The International Encyclopedia of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal speaks of “AC / DC clones” in this context, but by no means bad. In an interview with the metal magazine Rock Power , Mark Broman said that guitarist Crown Kocher shaped the first two LPs. The entire band was influenced by Led Zeppelin and AC / DC at the time, Broman admitted, especially by the success of the latter band. The first two albums received mixed reviews, so they were mentioned negatively twice in Metal Hammer , namely in February 1984 and April 1984. On the one hand it was said that they were boring and fulfilled "all negative heavy clichés", on the other hand they were unimaginative because of «sucked AC / DC riffs». According to Kocher, the early texts are said to have been written by a 15-year-old who spent 13 years in the US in the slum and Maurer and Kofmehl made the main part of the compositions, neither of which is proven by the information printed on the sound carriers.

The third LP Stronger than Ever been on the Metal Hammer - reviewers discussed benevolent. It is just as “stormy” as “melodious” and full of playful mood, even the ballad Stay with Me is convincing.

Martin Popoff described all four albums in his book The Collector's Guide of Heavy Metal Volume 2: The Eighties : Killer is a crocus clone on Ladykiller . They offer varied «shaky-electric-boogie» structures, in phases with matching pinched to hysterical singing. He characterized Thriller as a solid but not earth-shattering crocus imitation enriched with AC / DC styles. On Stronger than Ever , the unfortunate crocus imitation gave way to a clean, polished, hard-rock mix that has its highs, but also its lows. Finally, Young Blood offers a different style, this time towards Scorpions and Tyran 'Pace .

Discography

Studio albums

• 1981: Ladykiller (CH: gold)
• 1982: Thriller
• 1983: Stronger than Ever
• 1986: Young Blood
• 2019: Screamgunn

Singles and EPs

• 1980: Crazy Daisy
• 1981: Ladykiller
• 1982: Take Me Break Me Shake Me
• 1982: Midnight Highway Rider
• 2017: Pure Dynamite
• 2019: Gonna Be A Star
• 2019: Sugardaddy Boogie
• 2019: Hold You (Radio Edit)

Awards for music sales

Country / Region	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Switzerland (IFPI)	gold1	-	25,000	hitparade.ch
All in all	gold1	-

Web links

• Official website
• Killer at Discogs (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Genco Pura Records: KILLER History. Retrieved November 3, 2018 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Bernie Sigg: Big shock for all Swiss hard rock fans: Ex-killer star Kocher is retiring . In: POP / Rocky . September 1983, pop current.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Rockslave: Live review: Killer - Leather Leone . May 19, 2017. Aarburg - Musigburg. In: Metal Factory . Swiss Metal Magazine. August 2017.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Hucky [Heppke], Klaus [Uschmann]: Killer . In: Rock Power . Incl. Arjok. Magazine. No. 7/84 , July 1984, Interview, p. 36 .
5. ↑ YouTube: Killer - Ladykiller - original cover. March 1, 2009, accessed October 29, 2018 . 
6. ↑ ^{a b} Tony Jasper, Derek Oliver: The International Encyclopedia of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal . Facts on File Inc., New York 1983, ISBN 0-8160-1100-1 , Killer (Switzerland), pp. 178 f .
7. ↑ Ladykiller - Censored Cover. Retrieved October 29, 2018 (de-US). 
8. ↑ ^{a b c d} Garry Sharpe-Young: Killer. In: rockdetector.com. Retrieved November 6, 2018 . 
9. ↑ Killer (9) - Ladykiller. In: discogs.com. Retrieved November 6, 2018 . 
10. ↑ Crown Cooker: KILLER "Passport" at Servion 1983. April 13, 2012, accessed on November 3, 2018 . 
11. ↑ Motorhead Tour Dates. Retrieved November 3, 2018 . 
12. ↑ The Solothurn hard rock band "Killer" is back in the recording studio . In: az Aargauer Zeitung . ( aargauerzeitung.ch [accessed on October 28, 2018]).
13. ↑ Played out: The Solothurn rock band Killer disbanded . In: az Solothurn newspaper . ( solothurnerzeitung.ch [accessed on October 28, 2018]).
14. ↑ ^{a b} Andreas Kaufmann: “Killers” simply cannot be killed. Revival. Solid Solothurn rock rises to new life. «Killer» are back - in a newly mixed formation . In: Solothurner Zeitung . February 10, 2017, City of Solothurn, p. 25 .
15. ↑ Good news for “killer” fans: The fifth album will definitely come about thanks to crowdfunding . In: az Solothurn newspaper . ( solothurnerzeitung.ch [accessed on October 28, 2018]).
16. ↑ Genco Pura Records - brand. Retrieved October 29, 2018 . 
17. ↑ Labels & label code . In: GVL | Society for the exploitation of ancillary copyrights . May 19, 2014 ( gvl.de [accessed October 29, 2018]).
18. ↑ Killer | New digital distribution. Retrieved October 29, 2018 . 
19. ↑ The hard rockers from "Killer" will soon be recording their new album - this time with a ballad . In: az Solothurn newspaper . ( solothurnerzeitung.ch [accessed on October 28, 2018]).
20. ^ The Voice of Germany - Patrick "Paddy" Strobel . In: www.the-voice-of-germany.ch . October 6, 2017 ( the-voice-of-germany.ch [accessed October 29, 2018]).
21. ↑ Killer with a new singer - Radio 32. Retrieved on October 29, 2018 (Swiss Standard German). 
22. ↑ Killer (9). In: discogs.com. Retrieved November 6, 2018 . 
23. ↑ ^{a b} Marco Quinzio: Killer. "Stronger than Ever" . In: Metal Hammer . Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Poster Magazine! No. 1/1984 , February 1984, LP's, p. 31 .
24. ↑ ^{a b c} Frank "Tank" Kleiner: Killer. "Stronger than Ever" . In: Metal Hammer . Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Poster Magazine! No. 3/1984 , April 1984, History LP, pp. 53 .
25. ↑ Max Giger: Killer. Together with Motorhead and new LP in the luggage on a major tour of Germany . In: Music Scene . 1981 (exact issue details are missing).
26. ↑ Martin Popoff: The Collector's Guide of Heavy Metal Volume 2: The Eighties . Collectors Guide Ltd, Burlington, Ontario, Canada 2005, ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5 , Killer - Ladykiller, p. 183 .
27. ↑ Martin Popoff: The Collector's Guide of Heavy Metal Volume 2: The Eighties . Collectors Guide Ltd, Burlington, Ontario, Canada 2005, ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5 , Killer - Thriller, pp. 183 .
28. ↑ Martin Popoff: The Collector's Guide of Heavy Metal Volume 2: The Eighties . Collectors Guide Ltd, Burlington, Ontario, Canada 2005, ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5 , Killer - Stronger Than Ever, p. 183 .
29. ↑ Martin Popoff: The Collector's Guide of Heavy Metal Volume 2: The Eighties . Collectors Guide Ltd, Burlington, Ontario, Canada 2005, ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5 , Killer - Young Blood, p. 183 .