Kleenex (tape)

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LiLiPUT
General information
Genre (s) Post-punk , Swiss wave
founding 1978 as Kleenex
1979 as LiLiPUT
resolution 1984
Founding members
Regula Sing (1978–1979)
Marlene Marder
guitar
 Gogi Düggelbach (1978)
Bass , vocals
 Klaudia Ship (Klaudia Schifferle)
Lislot Ha. (Lieselotte Hafner) (1978–1980)
Later members
singing
 Chrigle Freund (1979–1980)
Singing, violin
Astrid Spirit (Astrid Spirig) (1981-1984)
Angela Barrack (1980)
saxophone
 Christoph Herzog (1981–1982)
Drums
 Beat Schlatter (1981-1983)

Kleenex (or since 1980 LiLiPUT ) was the only Swiss post-punk band that also became internationally known and is still considered a cult band by a small fan base.

history

Prehistory (1977-78)

Lislot Ha. and Klaudia Schiff met at the beginning of 1977 in Zurich and in July 1977 they formed an artist duo called Superchunks , who made a few short films. Inspired by the punk movement that was also emerging in Zurich , the two decided to reorient themselves towards music and to found a band.

Beginning as Kleenex (1978-79)

On January 8, 1978, Ha. and Schiff, together with the singer Regula Sing, formed the band Kleenex and began to learn their instruments in a bunker in Zurich. Two members of the friendly punk band Nasal Boys , Rudolph Dietrich and Gogi Düggelbach, helped out on the guitar during the initial rehearsals. A few weeks later they met the saxophonist Marlene Marder at a concert by the Nasal Boys and invited her to play with them.

The first Kleenex concert took place on March 29, 1978 at 10.30 p.m. at Club Hey in Zurich as the opening act for the Nasal Boys . The band had only four self-written songs, which were presented to the enthusiastic audience with the help of Dietrich and Düggelbach. As an encore, the band played the songs again, but now with Marlene Marder on guitar, who became a permanent member of the band. At the end of April 1978, two more concerts took place in which Gogi Düggelbach helped out as the second guitarist, one of which was the opening act for the British band XTC .

On May 3, 1978 Kleenex played for the first time as a four-person band as an all women band, which from then on determined their image in the media. In September 1978 Kleenex went to the Sunrise studio in Kirchberg for two days to record a single with four songs, which was released in early November 1978 on the Swiss label Sunrise Records .

Both the single cover and the promotional photos brought the band for the first time in connection with art forms such as Dadaism , Expressionism and Futurism , a connection that was picked up in 1981 by the American music journalist Greil Marcus , a fan of the band, and later mentioned in several of his books .

The band also sent the single to British music magazines, with the success that Sounds made it "Single of the Week".

In November 1978 Kleenex appeared for the first time with some of their songs on Swiss television. However, the previous evening show Karussell only allowed them to mime in full playback , much to the annoyance of the band (Klaudia Schiff: "We tried to play in a TV show in Switzerland. It sucks because you can't play live." ) The TV appearance had the consequence that the singer Regula lost her job as a saleswoman in a Zurich photo shop. Another playback appearance took place on December 14, 1978 on German television. The clips were officially released on DVD in 2010 by the American label Kill Rock Stars .

Rough Trade brought out a British pressing with two of the four songs on January 12, 1979, which sold 12,000 times by April 1979. In mid-March 1979 the band went to London for six days to record their second single "Ü" at Kingsway Studios , which was released on May 10, 1979 by Rough Trade . On that day, a tour of Great Britain began with the Raincoats and Spizzenergi , which lasted until June 5, 1979.

The UK tour meant the end of Kleenex, as they then separated by mutual agreement from the singer Regula Sing, with whom there had been differences for a long time. In addition, the band had earned nothing on the tour, on the contrary, had been left with considerable expenses. The previous manager had also failed to pay several installments for the equipment, so the amplifier and instruments had to be returned.

The three remaining musicians decided to put the old song material aside and continue with a new singer. Regula Sing, on the other hand, reappeared in 1980 as a member of the "Lucerne girls' band Retro ".

On November 5, 1979, Klaudia Schiff received an attorney's letter in which the band was also prohibited from using the protected brand name Kleenex in the future . So a new band name had to be found.

First LiLiPUT line-up (1979-80)

Marten, ship and ha. first rehearsed in threes and began looking for a new singer in autumn 1979. In October, 16-year-old Chrigle Freund from Bern , who had previously briefly sung Chaos with the Bernese punk band , successfully applied for the job. She initially drove to Zurich to rehearse three times a week and then moved into Klaudia Schiff's house. In December 1979 the saxophone player Angela Barrack also joined the band. On December 15, 1979, the new line-up gave the Drop Dead fanzine an interview in which live performances were announced for March at the earliest. The interview still took place under the name Kleenex as a new name had not yet been found.

The first concert of the new band took place on April 2, 1980 in Geneva under the provisional name Wigwam . At the next concert on April 26, 1980 the new name LiLiPUT , the Lislot Ha , was used for the first time . had contributed. A concert on May 28th in Biel was broadcast on Swiss radio and published in 1993 on the Complete Recordings CD. A tour of Germany followed in June.

At the beginning of July 1980 the first LiLiPUT single ( Split / Die Matrosen ) was released on the English Rough Trade label , which had been recorded again in the Sunrise studio in Kirchberg and had a much more chaotic sound than the old Kleenex. Not least because of the very catchy, partially whistled B-side, the single reached number 17 in the alternative charts in Sounds magazine in England .

On September 26, 1980, the compilation " Swiss Wave - The Album " appeared on the Zurich Off Course label , on which LiLiPUT were represented with two songs. After the band Grauzone, which was also represented on it, hit the charts in Germany and Austria in 1981 with their single "Eisbär" , the record sold a total of half a million times.

A week-long tour of England at the beginning of October 1980 again ended in a dispute: this time the band's founder Lislot Ha left. the group. Angela Barrack also got out again, both left the music industry. A tour of Germany booked for November has been canceled.

In a three-man line-up (Chrigle Freund played drums) LiLiPUT recorded a second single ( Eisiger Wind / When the cat's away then the mice will play ) in the Sunrise studio in Kirchberg , which was on the off course in February 1981 in Switzerland - and in England appeared on the Rough Trade label. On the cover of the single LiLiPUT posed in costumes reminiscent of the Dadaist Hugo Ball . This and the clearly Dadaist text of the previous single ( Split ) caught the attention of the American music journalist Greil Marcus , who published an essay about it in the Californian "New West" magazine and thus made the band known to a small fan base in the USA. The essay was published in January 1982 in German translation in the "Rock Session" paperback series by Rowohlt Verlag .

At the time the single was released, however, the singer Chrigel Freund had already quit and left Marder and Schiff as a duo. In an interview, Klaudia Schiff spoke of a "huge mountain of debt" that the band is now sitting on.

Second LiLiPUT line-up (1981-84)

At the end of January 1981, LiLiPUT found a new singer in the 26-year-old office worker Astrid Spirig (previously with the Zurich band Neon ). A new line-up emerged from rehearsal sessions with 19-year-old drummer Beat Schlatter and 22-year-old saxophone player Christoph Herzog, although the inclusion of two men in the band led to irritations in the music press. Marlene Marder made it clear: "We never saw ourselves as a women's band and we didn't want to be built up like that in the media!"

The new band made their live debut at the Munich Rock Days in April 1981, followed by an appearance at the feminist rock festival in Berlin's Tempodrom on June 20, 1981. A live song of this appearance ( Waxing Moon ) was published on the compilation album Venus Weltklang .

The band recorded three songs ( I had a dream / Turn the table / Dolly Dollar ) for a single in 1981 , which was not released. The songs finally appeared on the Complete Recordings CD in 1993 .

In February 1982 LiLiPUT went to the Platinum Studio in Oberehrendingen to record their first studio album Liliput with the sound engineer Harry Zindel , which was released on August 11th on the English Rough Trade label. When asked why the band had not yet recorded a complete album, Marlene Marder remarked: "We financed the first singles ourselves, each of us contributed something. An album is much more expensive. Rough Trade asked us and paid, well we did it. [...] We took the opportunity. And we just had time. " The music had developed from the edgy New Wave rhythm of the early Kleenex to the chaotic sound of the 1980s LiLiPUT line-up to slightly jazzy, improvisational New Wave with playful echoes of world music .

In line with the LP release on August 11th, an extensive tour of Germany followed in September 1982. The band, which was accompanied by Stephan Eicher as a guest musician, took a Super 8 camera with them and made some recordings without sound, which were published on Live Recordings, TV-Clips & Roadmovie DVD in 2010 . After the tour, Marder and Schifferle (who had exhibited at the documenta in Kassel from June 1982 ) actually wanted to break up the band, but Astrid Spirig persuaded them to continue and took over the management of the band.

On March 11, 1983 the band played a concert in the Rote Fabrik in Zurich, which was recorded by Swiss radio and published in 2010 on Live Recordings, TV-Clips & Roadmovie -DVD. Then there was the musical Der Hundschwindel von Moscow in 1983 in Stans with compositions by Stephan Eicher.

In March 1983 the new single The Jatz / You did it was released as the first release of the newly founded Rough Trade Germany label, with which Spirig also negotiated the financing of a second studio album, which was recorded in June 1983 at Studio Platinum in Oberehrendingen with various guest musicians . A video was also shot for the album track Boat song , which appeared on Live Recordings, TV-Clips & Roadmovie DVD in 2010 .

The last LiLiPUT concert took place in October 1983 at the Mascotte Club in Zurich.

In December 1983 the new album Some Songs was released and LiLiPUT gave their last interviews, in which they reported about plans for the future: "In the future, depending on the project, the women's trio wants to bring in more musicians for individual projects." Astrid Spirig also wanted to "attend a musical school in New York because we wanted to incorporate more visual elements into our stage appearances. I got pregnant and had to choose between New York and the child."

Marlene Marder: "The idea that Rough Trade Germany had of the second album was that we should go on tour with it. But then Astrid got pregnant and that was the end of the band. The classic end. [...] You came up to us and said, "I'm pregnant. Sorry girls. Don't tell Rough Trade Germany any of this, they've invested all the money and won't see it again now." I wasn't really disappointed. It was just over. "

After the dissolution

After 1984, Marlene Marder was the only one who continued to work in the music industry. At the end of 1986 she published her memories in the book "Kleenex / LiLiPUT - The diary of guitarist Marlene Marder" . In 1993 she put together the compilation Complete Recordings , which appeared on the Swiss Off Course label and was re-released in 2001 by Kill Rock Stars in the USA. In 2010, a live compilation CD followed with live recordings, TV clips & road movies , which was accompanied by a DVD with video clips. She died of cancer in 2016 at the age of 61.

Klaudia Schifferle is now a well-known visual artist, Beat Schlatter is a successful TV and film comedian in German-speaking Switzerland .

Discography

  • 1978: Hedi's Head / Nice / Ain't You / Beri Beri EP (Sunrise / CH 078-S 1964)
  • 1978: Ain't You / Hedi's Head single (Rough Trade / UK RT 009)
  • 1979: You (Friendly Side) / Ü (Angry Side) Single (Rough Trade / UK RT 014)
  • 1979: Hedi's Head (live) / You (live) / Nice (live) on 'Into The Future' LP (Konnekschen / BRD Kon LP1)
  • 1980: Split / Die Sailors Single (Rough Trade / UK RT 047)
  • 1980: Hitch-Hike / DC-10 on 'Swiss Wave The Album' LP (Off Course / CH ASL-3310)
  • 1981: Eisiger Wind / When the cat's away then mice will play Single (Off Course / CH ASL-20, Rough Trade / UK RT 062)
  • 1981: Waxing Moon on 'Venus Weltklang' LP (Flame / BRD)
  • 1982: 'Liliput' LP (Rough Trade / UK Rough 43)
  • 1983: The Jazz / You did it Single (Rough Trade Deutschland / BRD RTD 01)
  • 1983: 'Some Songs' LP (Rough Trade Germany / BRD RTD 15)
  • 1993/2001: 'The Complete Recordings' double CD (Off Course / CH ASL-2CD-12-2, Kill Rock Stars / USA FU 014CD)
  • 2010: 'Live Recordings, TV Clips & Roadmovie' CD / DVD (Kill Rock Stars / USA)
  • 2016: First Songs, A Collection Of Singles DO-LP (Water Wing Records / Kill Rock Stars USA / Mississippi Records)

bibliography

  • Kleenex: a special treat . In: Brigitte Rohkohl: Rock women . Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1979, ISBN 3-499-14454-9 , pp. 37-45.
  • Marlene Marder: Kleenex LiLiPut . Neighbors of the World, Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-907500-05-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Zurich Kid - "Kleenex: Not To Be Sneezed At" ( Sounds January 27, 1979, page 8)
  2. ↑ Mick Wall - "Kan Kleenex Klean Up?" ( Sounds March 17, 1979, page 14)
  3. ↑ Zurich Kid - "Kleenex: Not To Be Sneezed At" ( Sounds January 27, 1979, page 8)
  4. ^ Orion Cinema in Dübendorf (March 5, 1978)
  5. ↑ Center de loisir in Carouge (April 22, 1978) and Limmathaus in Zurich (April 30, 1978, with XTC )
  6. ^ Allmend school building in Oberengstringen (May 3, 1978)
  7. ↑ Robert Fischer - "Kleenex" (Pin-Up No. 4, September 1978)
  8. ^ Greil Marcus - "Ideal Home Noise" (New West, April 1981)
  9. ↑ Alan Lewis - "Single Of The Week" ( Sounds November 11, 1978, page 21)
  10. ↑ Marder and Schiff interview in "The Story So Far" (English Fanzine, No. 2 December 1979, pages 16-17)
  11. ↑ Jürg Woodtli - "Hard rock by a tender hand" ( TELE December 11, 1978, page 9)
  12. ↑ "Snow White sets the tone" ( ARD , December 14, 1978, 4.15 p.m.)
  13. ↑ Robert Fischer - "Kleenex" (Pin-Up No. 8, April 1979)
  14. ↑ Band interview "Drop Dead" -Fanzine (February 1980)
  15. ↑ "senseless" -Fanzine (September 1980)
  16. ↑ Band interview "Drop Dead" -Fanzine (February 1980)
  17. ^ Nouveau Palladium in Geneva (April 2, 1980)
  18. ↑ Drahtschmidli in Zurich (April 26, 1980)
  19. ^ AJZ gas boiler in Biel (May 28, 1980)
  20. ^ Greil Marcus - "Ideal Home Noise" (New West, April 1981)
  21. ^ Greil Marcus : "Dada-Connection" (in: Walter Hartmann, Gregor Pott (eds.) - "Rock Session 6", Rowohlt Verlag January 1982)
  22. ↑ Viktor MischMasch: "LiLiPUT" ( Tell magazine, March 1981)
  23. ^ Karl Ludwig Dragan: "LiLiPUT in Munich" ( SPEX magazine, May 1981)
  24. ^ [1] Jason Gross: "Kleenex / LiLiPUT" (Perfect Sound Forever website, May 1998)
  25. ^ "Züri brännt" in the province , NZZ, February 6, 2017
  26. ↑ Hanspeter Vetsch: "Lifestyle in Tones" ( Züri Woche January 5, 1984)
  27. ↑ [2] Heinz Nigg: "Giving people a kick by singing" ( Die Wochenzeitung , June 15, 2000)
  28. ↑ [3] Jason Gross: "Kleenex / LiLiPUT" (Perfect Sound Forever website, May 1998)
  29. ↑ Zurich punk pioneer Marlene Marder is dead. In: 20 minutes from May 18, 2016.