Crocus (band)

crocus
General information
Genre (s)	Hard rock , blues rock
founding	1975
Website	www.krokusonline.seven49.net
Founding members
Singing , piano , drums	Chris von Rohr (until 1983, 1987–1989, since 2008)
Vocals, lead guitar	Tommy Kiefer (until 1981) († December 24, 1986)
Rhythm guitar	Hansi Droz (until 1976) († 1999)
bass	Remo Spadino (until 1976) († March 7, 2010)
Current occupation
Singing (1980–1989, 1994–1996, since 2002)	Marc Storace
Rhythm guitar (1977–1981) lead guitar (1982–1989) bass (1990–1992) lead guitar (1994–2005, since 2008)	Fernando from Arb
Lead guitar (1981, 2005–2008, since 2012)	Mandy Meyer
Rhythm guitar (1982–1983) bass (1983–1984) rhythm guitar (1984–1989, 1994–1996, since 2008)	Mark Kohler
Drums (1976) vocals (1976–1978) bass (1979–1983, 1987–1989, since 2008)	Chris von Rohr
Drums (since 2013)	Flavio Mezzodi
former members
Singing (1976)	Daniel Debrit
Singing (1978–1979)	Henry Fries
Singing (1990–1992)	Peter Tanner
Singing (1999-2001)	Carl Sentance
Vocals (1976) lead guitar (1976–1981)	Tommy Kiefer († December 24, 1986)
Lead guitar (1990–1992) bass (1994–2000)	Many masons
Rhythm guitar (1975-1976)	Hansi Droz († 1999)
Rhythm guitar (1983)	Patrick Mason
Rhythm guitar (1990–1992) bass (2000–2008)	Tony Castell
Rhythm guitar (1999-2000)	Chris Lauper
Rhythm guitar (2000-2001)	David Stettler
Rhythm guitar (2002–2008)	Dominique Favez
Bass (1975-1976)	Remo Spadino († March 7, 2010)
Bass (1977–1979)	Juerg Naegeli
Bass (1984–1985)	Andy Tanas
Bass (1985-1987)	Tommy Keizer
Percussion (1977–1982, 1994–1996, 2008–2011)	Freddy Steady
Drums (1983)	Steve Pace
Percussion (1983–1987)	Jeff Klaven
Percussion (1987-1989)	Dani Crivelli († April 17, 2013)
Percussion (1990–1992, 1999–2001)	Peter Haas
Drums (1999)	Cliff Rodgers
Drums (2001)	Marcel Kopp
Percussion (2002-2005)	Patrick Aeby
Percussion (2006-2008)	Stefan Schwarzmann

Krokus is a Swiss hard rock band.

After the group from Solothurn started their career with playful progressive rock , they celebrated their greatest successes in the first half of the 1980s after a radical change in style to straight, riff-heavy hard rock . Because of this, comparisons with AC / DC are not uncommon , although Krokus also included ballads in their song repertoire. The band achieved several platinum awards and was made honorary citizenship of Memphis, Tennessee in 1983 . However, the formation was denied even greater success, not least because of the countless line-up changes in the band's history - since the studio album Hardware from 1981, all successors have been recorded in a different line-up to this day.

The album Rock the Block , released in 2003, marked the return of the band on the road to success and brought Krokus the first number 1 album in their homeland. Since then, and especially with the reunification of the original formation in 2008, the band has been able to significantly increase its international fame, which it has since lost. This was also shown by the fact that the well-known Barbadian pop singer Rihanna wore a top with a crocus motif from the 80s at a live concert in 2014. With the albums Hoodoo , Dirty Dynamite and Big Rocks released after reunification , which also climbed to number 1 in the Swiss album charts, the band was also able to build on the successful times of the early 80s.

history

The icebreaker: Krokus 1975–1976

Krokus was founded in July 1975 in Solothurn , Switzerland , a melting pot of many bands (e.g. Kaktus, Terrible Noise, Montezuma, Lovely Fleas and Inside) on the initiative of Chris von Rohr . The name Krokus came before band founder Chris von Rohr while taking a walk in the spring at Solothurn's local mountain, Weissenstein, when he noticed a crocus that had broken through snow and ice as the first flower of the year. Since he also liked the band name Kaktus - Kaktus was the first and most well-known rock band in Solothurn at the time, which von Rohr was a second drummer alongside Duco Aeschbach for a performance - and in Krokus, appropriately, the word "rok", too, albeit without c, was convinced von Rohr that he had found the right name for his future band. The newly formed band held their first rehearsals in the basement of a psychiatric clinic in Langendorf , a suburb of Solothurn. The original line-up consisted of von Rohr, acting as drummer and pianist, lead guitarist Tommy Kiefer, rhythm guitarist Hansi Droz and Remo "Cemu" Spadino on bass. Guitarist Kiefer and bassist Spadino were also part of the Kaktus line-up before. The group played the first concert as the opening act for Nella Martinetti in the Saalbau in Gerlafingen , also in Switzerland. Since the singer Peter Richard - former front man and bassist of Terrible Noise - who was acting at this gig, decided to be available to the band only temporarily, Chris von Rohr and Tommy Kiefer took over most of the vocal parts on the debut album Krokus . Richard still sang two compositions of the debut and also participated as a songwriter.

The first, self-titled album Krokus , which was produced by Peter J. Mac Taggart in Sinus Studio in Bern , was released in 1976 and stylistically had little to do with the riff-heavy hard rock that would later make the band famous. Playful, progressive sounds could be heard instead. The release was followed by two concerts in the opening act for the then less well-known Scorpions , who had just released their album In Trance , in the Volkshaus in Zurich and in the Kultur Casino in Bern, as well as a festival appearance as the opening act for Rumpelstilz in Kloten, Switzerland . The band presented a new front man, Daniel Debrit, who was soon to give up again. From their debut, the so-called "Eisbrecher", Krokus produced and sold a total of 560 pieces.

The first hard rock sounds: To You All 1977

At the beginning of 1977 Krokus merged due to several recruitment attempts by Chris von Rohr with Montezuma, another band from Solothurn. From the original Krokus line-up, only Tommy Kiefer and Chris von Rohr remained, with the latter taking over the drums and entirely taking over the vocals. Rhythm guitarist Fernando von Arb, who inherited Hansi Droz, bassist Jürg Naegeli, who replaced Remo Spadino, and drummer Freddy Freig, who later became much better known under the name Freddy Steady, were added. In this newly formed line-up, Krokus had the opportunity to do a few concerts in the opening act of the progressive rock band TEA, which Marc Storace also belonged to at the time, and to play as the opening act for Jane in the Volkshaus in Zurich. The first part of the album To You All , which was again produced by Peter J. Mac Taggart in the Sinus Studio in Bern, was then recorded before the band went on a tour to the Costa Brava in Spain. There they played for a month, five days a week, as a house band in a club called L'Arto in El Port de la Selva , before some gigs along the coast followed. During this concert tour, the other songs required for the album To You All were created , which were finally recorded in the Sinus Studio in Bern after returning to Switzerland. The music had meanwhile been reduced to the essentials and less playful, which was clearly shown by “ Highway Song ”, the first single in the band's history and also the opening title of the album. This song also marked the band's first small hit in Switzerland thanks to a video shoot for which a section of the motorway was closed to traffic. After the album was released, a tour of the local Alpine republic followed, again as the opening act for Rumpelstilz.

The complete style correction: Pay It in Metal / Pain Killer 1978–1979

In the same line-up, the next album Pay it in Metal - also released under the name Pain Killer - was recorded within five days at Manor Studio in Oxford , Great Britain. This time Fernando von Arb and Chris von Rohr acted as producers. The release of the single " Susie " followed, video shoots for the songs "Rock Me, Rock You" and "Bye Bye, Baby" as well as concerts in Switzerland, Spain and Germany. Meanwhile, Krokus' success grew. The group was voted the best national band by the fans in Switzerland, and Chris von Rohr was also voted the best singer of the year. In October 1978 Krokus appeared again in the opening act for the Scorpions, before von Rohr registered that his vocal abilities did not help the band to focus on straight, riff-oriented hard rock in the style of AC / DC .

Therefore von Rohr switched to the bass, while Jürg Naegeli was responsible for the technology and the live mix from then on. Shortly thereafter, Krokus seemed to have found a singer in Henry Fries - the band even made demo recordings with him for the next album - and they toured Germany, Austria and Hungary as the opening act for the Hungarian rock band Omega . In addition, a concert for Mother's Finest was opened in Hamburg . But Fries could not remain loyal to Krokus, as he had already signed a solo contract in Italy a year before joining the formation, which obliged him to take part in the Sanremo Festival . The singer then left the band after a brief guest appearance.

The breakthrough: Metal Rendez-Vous 1979–1980

In retrospect, Fries' exit was an absolute stroke of luck for Krokus, because after intensive attempts to recruit the bassist von Rohr, the frontman Marc Storace from Malta was hired as his successor, who had already released three studio albums with TEA and then briefly with the British band Eazy Money appeared. With Storace on the microphone, the band completed a tour of Germany in 1979, the highlight of which were two concerts in the legendary Star Club in Hamburg.

Subsequently, the first studio album with Marc Storace on vocals was tackled with a budget of 20,000 Swiss francs in the Platinum One Studio in Zurich, which was ultimately to bear the title Metal Rendez-Vous . The album produced by Martin Pearson, Fernando von Arb and Chris von Rohr was released in the spring of 1980 and, including the singles " Bedside Radio ", " Tokyo Nights " and " Heatstrokes ", represented the international breakthrough for Krokus. In particular the song "Heatstrokes", for which a video clip was also produced, blossomed into a hit both in Great Britain and in the USA: On the one hand, the title occupied number 1 in the metal charts of the British music magazine Sounds , where at the same time "Bedside Radio" and " Come On ”, two more songs on the album were also in the top 20. On the other hand, a sustained heat wave west of the Atlantic increased the popularity of the song in America considerably. The album, which includes “Fire” and “Back-Seat Rock 'n' Roll”, which still enrich the band's live set today, sold around the world about three million times, which ultimately meant quadruple platinum.

After the release, Krokus completed a concert tour through the local Alpine republic with the Swiss formation Bitch in the opening act, before the gates of the international rock business opened for the band: First, they toured as the opening act for well-known hard rock bands such as Nazareth , Ted Nugent or Rainbow through Europe, before they went on a tour of England with Girlschool , More and Angel Witch in May . During these performances, bassist von Rohr and drummer Freddy Steady performed their so-called “Percussion Battle” for the first time. This was followed in early July with a concert tour as opening act for Sammy Hagar along the west coast as well as a club tour as headliners, including with Quiet Riot by appearances in the opening act for AC / DC and the opening act, the first trip to the United States, Cheap Trick yet was refined. In late August, Krokus returned to England to play the legendary Reading Festival , headlined this year by Rory Gallagher and Ian Gillan . Back home, the band was awarded the "Culture Prize for Special Creation".

The consolidation of the reputation: Hardware 1980–1981

As early as November 1980, Krokus recorded the follow-up album Hardware at Roundhouse Studios in London , which Fernando von Arb and Chris von Rohr produced on their own. At that time, Butch Stone, the American manager of the southern rock band Black Oak Arkansas , took over the boosting of the career of the Swiss band. The album, released in 1981, built on this success with the singles " Rock City ", "Smelly Nelly" and "Winning Man" as well as other songs such as "Easy Rocker" and "Celebration", which still appear frequently in the band's live set today and subsequently achieved gold status in Switzerland. The fact that the band became more and more popular beyond the borders of Switzerland was also shown by the Industrial Strength EP , which was only released in Great Britain and which is the only one in the British single charts to date. However, the soaring of the band was slowed down slightly for the first time by the expulsion of lead guitarist Tommy Kiefer, who was struggling more and more with his heroin addiction and was also often unreliable, immediately after the album was released . In the beginning, this should not be so clear due to the wave of success that the band was on at the time, but with this personnel change the never-ending era of line-up changes began, which should have a lasting negative impact on the image of the band and them moreover brought to the brink of their existence.

Kiefer's replacement for all subsequent concert engagements was Mandy Meyer from Switzerland . Together with the new lead guitarist, Krokus first toured through Great Britain - including a performance at the legendary Hammersmith Odeon in London - and through Germany with April Wine in the opening act, before a few appearances in Switzerland, including again at the Volkshaus in Zurich and in the Simplonhalle in Brig followed. The band then went on their second North American tour. During the Hardware Tour they mostly played as support act or special guest, including Mother's Finest, Nazareth, Ted Nugent, Rainbow, AC / DC, Pat Travers , Blackfoot , Blue Öyster Cult and Iron Maiden . Despite the success, Mandy Meyer was supposed to leave the band before the recordings for the next studio album. Fernando von Arb then switched to lead guitar and his guitar student Mark Kohler took over the rhythm guitar.

"The album that AC / DC never released": One Vice at a Time 1982

In 1982 the band released the studio album One Vice at a Time, produced by Tony Platt (including Iron Maiden, Motörhead , Gary Moore ), Fernando von Arb and Chris von Rohr . This was again recorded in London, this time not in the Roundhouse Studios, but in the Battery Studios, also located in the north of the city. One Vice at a Time , described by Chris von Rohr as the "album that AC / DC never released", contains the singles "Long Stick Goes Boom", "Bad Boys, Rag Dolls" and The Guess Who - Cover “American Woman” with “Down the Drain” another song that is regularly featured in the live set. The album also includes “I'm on the Run”, a duet by Storace with Bruce Dickinson , the front man of Iron Maiden. Afterwards Krokus toured with bands like Motörhead, Rush , Rainbow and Cheap Trick through the USA and Europe. In 1982, the formation also underlined its status as the most successful Swiss rock band of all time, as they were the first band in the Alpine republic to sell out the 10,000-seat indoor stadium in Zurich - a record that still exists today. After the World Vice Tour, drummer Freddy Steady was replaced by Steve Pace.

The preliminary highlight: Headhunter 1983

Krokus reached the peak of her career with the next studio album, Headhunter , produced by Tom Allom (including Judas Priest , Def Leppard , Y&T , Rough Cutt ) at the Bee Jay Studio in Orlando . This work contains the single "Screaming in the Night", the band's biggest hit in the US to date. In addition, the other singles “Eat the Rich” and the Bachman-Turner Overdrive cover “Stayed Awake All Night” as well as the title track “Headhunter” and “Ready to Burn”, a duet by Marc Storace and Rob Halford , the singer of Judas Priest, included other band classics that continue to strengthen the band's live set to this day. Headhunters brought the band gold awards in Canada and the United States. Krokus then made a guest appearance as a special guest along with Gary Moore as a heat-up on Def Leppard's Pyromania Tour, the second largest US concert tour of the year. The band ended the North American excursion as the opening act for Judas Priest and ZZ Top but also with Ted Nugent as co-headliner. Despite the negative headlines related to Def Leppard, the band's popularity continued to rise. In the meantime, Krokus filled halls with capacities of 3,000 to 5,000 places.

But even during the Headhunter tour there were other line-up changes. First, Mark Kohler was replaced by Patrick Mason, because he was a better background singer. Soon afterwards, at the end of 1983, the actual band leader Chris von Rohr was dismissed because, as the unofficial mouthpiece of the group, he had clearly exceeded his skills in the opinion of the others. He had willingly given the Swiss tabloid Blick information about the rock star life of the band and openly talked about tour excesses, alcohol, drugs and groupies. Again, the band needed a replacement quickly, as more gigs were pending, and so Mark Kohler was back faster than many assumed. Kohler took over the bass, which he also played at the Rockpop in Concert festival held in Dortmund in December 1983 and recorded by ZDF, and Patrick Mason stayed on the rhythm guitar. After the tour, the line-up changes were not yet completed. The newly entered rhythm guitarist Mason and drummer Steve Pace left the band after a few months and after about a year. Pace has been replaced by former Cobra drummer Jeff Klaven. The rhythm guitar was initially unoccupied.

The beginning of the creeping descent: The Blitz 1984–1985

The next studio album The Blitz , which was released in 1984 and produced by Bruce Fairbairn (including AC / DC, Bon Jovi , Loverboy , Aerosmith ) at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver , marked the turning point in the band's career. In addition to the debut Krokus, the only work recorded as a quartet in the USA and Canada was supposed to achieve gold status and achieve the first ever chart position in Switzerland - the singles "Midnite Maniac" also reached the Billboard Hot 100 and "Our Love" "With a placement in the mainstream rock tracks in the American charts and also the third single, The Sweet cover" Ballroom Blitz ", gained wider attention - but not least because of the never-ending line-up changes and the difficult-to-top predecessor Headhunter at this point the band reached their zenith. But the descent was gradual because the band was still in great demand live: In the same year Krokus toured North and South America and Europe as a co-headliner with Sammy Hagar. Andy Tanas, formerly with Black Oak Arkansas, was now on bass, which is why Kohler was able to return to the rhythm guitar. In February 1985 the band played as the main act in Viña del Mar, Chile, at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in front of 80,000 spectators. In addition, afterwards, again as a co-headliner, they were touring the US together with Accept and Rough Cutt in the opening act. But the next personnel change took place on the bass again during The Blitz Tour: Andy Tanas was replaced by the former Cobra bassist Tommy Keizer.

The low point in the band's history: Change of Address 1985–1986

The following studio album Change of Address in 1986 should reveal all the grievances in the band. It showed a band that could no longer withstand the constant internal differences and personnel restructuring as well as the pressure of the record company to succeed. Instead of riff-heavy hard rock, the album produced by Tom Werman (including Molly Hatchet , Mötley Crüe , Ted Nugent , Poison ) in the Artisan Sound Recorders in Los Angeles contained trendy glam metal, which was becoming more and more popular at this time, and especially the US rock scene began to dominate. However, Change of Address was also able to reap successes: Supported by the single releases "Say Goodbye", "Let This Love Begin", the Alice Cooper cover " School's Out ", which is the band's most successful song in the US Billboard charts to date represents, and “Burning up the Night”, the highest chart position in Switzerland up to that point in time, was set by The Blitz . A highlight in the band's history came shortly after the album was released, when Van Halen performed as a special guest in front of 80,000 spectators at the Texxas Jam Festival in Dallas , USA. In the same year the first live album Alive and Screamin ' , which had been recorded during the previous North American tour, and the live single "Screaming in the Night" that was extracted from it were released. On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1986, all of Tommy Kiefer's relatives and companions, including the band, were surprised by the shocking news of his suicide. Kiefer was 34 years old.

The return to old strengths: Heart Attack 1987–1989

After completing the Change of Address Tour, Krokus pulled the rip cord and as a consequence of the negative experiences with the last studio album, they switched from the record company Arista to MCA . In addition, there were further personnel restructuring: In 1987 the surprising return of Chris von Rohr was announced, who replaced Tommy Keizer on bass. Jeff Klaven was also replaced by former Killer drummer Dani Crivelli, who also played on von Rohr's solo album Hammer And Tongue . The album Heart Attack , released in 1988 and produced by Fernando von Arb and Chris von Rohr in the Pink Tonstudios in Zuchwil , Switzerland , which featured a completely new Krokus lettering, was therefore created for the first time since Headhunter under the aegis of the united band leaders von Arb, von Rohr and Storace and was ultimately a step back musically into the successful past of the band, even if the sound of the album still has a discreetly polished glam metal finish. Following this - the tenth in total - the band's album, which was also produced by von Arb and von Rohr and supported by the singles “Wild Love”, “Everybody Rocks” and “Let It Go” as well as the song “Rock 'n 'Roll Tonight', which is still regularly included in the band's live set today, brought the most successful chart placement in Switzerland so far, followed by a European tour in the opening act for Ted Nugent and another headlining tour through the USA. But if you thought that Krokus had found the track again, you soon learned better, because the tour ended due to symptoms of fatigue and persistent management problems with the departure of singer Marc Storace and lead guitarist Fernando von Arb and the associated temporary breakup of the band. After that, Chris von Rohr gathered the former Bloody Six frontman Peter Tanner, the guitarist Many Maurer , who had already reached into the six strings on von Rohr's solo debut Hammer and Tongue , as well as the rhythm guitarist Tony Castell and drummer Peter Haas to present mostly solo material from Hammer and Tongue live under the name Grand Slam . With this line-up, Grand Slam then toured through Germany, Austria, including an appearance at the Rockhaus in Vienna with the Austrian band Sextiger in the opening act, and Hungary, where the band also appeared as the opening act for Bonfire . The widespread story that after the departure of Storace and von Arb the remaining members Kohler, von Rohr and Crivelli with the Swedish singer Björn Lodin, who was formerly active in the Swedish band Six Feet Under and is also the founder of Baltimoore, and Lead guitarist Many Maurer dared to make a short-lived new beginning under the name of Krokus.

The first surprising return with a completely new line-up: Stampede 1990–1992

The final end of Krokus seemed imminent, but after Chris von Rohr and the other band members of Grand Slam had gone their separate ways, ironically Fernando von Arb filled the gap created by Rohr and the tide turned. Although this formation played a few live appearances as a Grand Slam in early 1990, including in Germany, after the decision to record a new studio album, the idea of ​​releasing it under the Krokus banner came up. After some deliberation, this was finally sealed and so Fernando von Arb surprised the music world with a completely new line-up of Krokus and the album Stampede, which was again recorded in the Pink recording studios in Zuchwil and produced by him . Also surprising was the fact that von Arb, who had been the band's guitarist for many years, now played the bass, but this decision was based on the fact that von Arb was of the opinion that Maurer and Castell harmonized well as guitarists and that he would also like to play one another wanted to play bass in a band full-time. Ultimately, the reanimation of Krokus in a completely different line-up was not a lucky star, although Stampede reached the Swiss album charts without an additional single and the work was basically supposed to be the most typical Krokus album since The Blitz and the hardest since headhunter . On the one hand, the album was initially only released in Switzerland, which cost the band its international status and, on the other hand, the work was incomprehensibly received by the music press with mostly negative reviews. Today the album is clearly undervalued and an insider tip. After Fernando von Arb was diagnosed with cancer, the newly formed line-up fell apart again in 1992.

The attempt at a new beginning with old friends: To Rock or Not to Be 1994–1996

When Fernando von Arb had completely recovered from his cancer, Krokus surprisingly appeared again almost in the cast of One Vice at a Time in 1994 : Marc Storace on the microphone, Fernando von Arb again as usual on the lead guitar, Mark Kohler on the rhythm guitar , Many Maurer, who swapped instruments with von Arb, on bass and Freddy Steady on drums first formed in the spring of that year for the Living Legend Tour, before the EP You Ain't Seen Nothin 'Yet that same year and one year later the studio album To Rock or Not to Be was released. Stylistically less rigid than Stampede , the work produced by von Arb and Maurer again in the Pink recording studios in Zuchwil contained blues-soaked, mature hard rock that once again sounded unmistakably like crocus. Since the music genre Hard Rock did not have a good year during this time, the international interest was limited and yet the album was able to set Heart Attack's highest chart position at least in Switzerland . But just like at the time of the 1988 album, the line-up could not consolidate this time and after two years the new beginning with the old friends was history again.

The second surprising return with a completely new line-up: Round 13 1999–2001

As in 1990 with Stampede , Fernando von Arb surprised the music world again in 1999 by reviving Krokus again in a completely new formation: In addition to von Arb, Carl Sentance , the former front man of the NWoBHM band Persian Risk , and rhythm guitarist Chris Lauper formed bassist Many Maurer, who was the only constant next to von Arb in the line-up during the difficult 1990s for the band, and Cliff Rodgers on drums, the new line-up. But the first line-up change took place during the studio recordings, with drummer Cliff Rodgers being replaced by Peter Haas, who was already on the drums during the Stampede era . With Haas, they finally recorded the album Round 13 , recorded in the Watermill studios in Wil , Switzerland and again produced by von Arb and Maurer , which, however, despite considerable appearances on many European stages, including the renowned German metal festivals Bang Your Head and Wacken Open Air as well as in front of 30,000 fans as the opening act for AC / DC in Basel , who brought in almost entirely positive feedback, did not experience the desired public interest. This was mainly due to the fact that the album contains some compositions that don't really sound specifically like Krokus and on top of that Carl Sentance doesn't have the scratchy organ typical of the Krokus sound. In 2001 there were further line-up changes: rhythm guitarist David Stettler, bassist and returnees Tony Castell and drummer Marcel Kopp replaced Chris Lauper, Many Maurer and Peter Haas.

The commercial resurgence and the first number 1 album: Rock the Block 2002-2005

The changes in the line-up didn't stop there: In 2002, after differences with Fernando von Arb had been resolved, Krokus announced the return of Marc Storace. In addition, the rhythm guitarist Dominique Favez and the drummer Patrick Aeby were presented for David Stettler and Marcel Kopp. The newly formed band then completed a tour of Switzerland in the summer before starting the new studio album Rock the Block in autumn . From a stylistic point of view, a course correction was undertaken again and so the album produced by Arb, Favez and Aeby and mainly recorded in the Soundlake Studios in Lausanne sounded more like the successful years of the band. This was promptly recognized by both the fans and the music press and so Rock the Block including the singles "I Want It All" and "Open Fire" became more or less the turning point in the right direction for Krokus after more than a decade . The album climbed to number 1 in the charts at home and also achieved gold status in the Alpine republic within a few weeks. In addition, international awareness should slowly increase again. Following the album release, the band embarked on the longest European tour since 1988, which included Switzerland, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. In addition, they made their first appearance in Sweden in June 2003 at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg . Recordings from this concert as well as from other performances recorded in Switzerland finally resulted in the second live album Fire and Gasoline (Spontaneously Combustible) - Live! which was released in early February 2004. The DVD Krokus: As Long as We Live , an audiovisual documentary about the eventful history of the most successful Swiss rock band of all time , was released only a short time later . This publication and the contacts made during its creation were ultimately also intended to initiate the subsequent rapprochement between Fernando von Arb and Chris von Rohr, which in turn laid the foundation for the return of the original formation four years later.

Ultimately, due to the new relationships created by the DVD publication, the line-up of Rock the Block should also only be short-lived, because lead guitarist Fernando von Arb, who had been since 1977, left before a concert tour along the North American east coast planned in September and October 2005 The band could be heard on every studio album. Mandy Meyer was hired as a replacement, who briefly stepped in as a replacement for Tommy Kiefer on tour in 1981. After the trip to North America, Patrick Aeby also quit his job and the renowned drummer Stefan Schwarzmann , formerly active in Accept and Running Wild , took over the position.

The stabilization of success and the longest tour through Europe: Hellraiser 2006–2008

With Marc Storace as the only remaining original member and lead guitarist Mandy Meyer, rhythm guitarist Dominique Favez, bassist Tony Castell and Stefan Schwarzmann on drums, the band initially toured Germany in May 2006 with Axxis in the opening act as a headliner. Then in August of the same year the pre-release single "Angel of my Dreams" was released, followed in September by the studio album Hellraiser , mainly produced by Dennis Ward and Storace in the House of Audio in Winterbach , Germany , which, contrary to the law of the series, was just about the last It was able to keep the success of its predecessor almost for 15 years and also gained gold status in Switzerland. From October on, the headliners went on a European tour - including the first concert in Marc Storace's home country Malta as well as the first appearances in Greece - before going on European stages as a special guest of Hammerfall with The Poodles in January and February 2007 was seen. It is noteworthy that drummer Schwarzmann performed all of these performances despite a diagnosed umbilical hernia . After Schwarzmann's surgery and recovery, the band played mainly on Swiss stages and a handful of festivals in Europe, including the Rock of Ages in Rottenburg am Neckar and the Schwung Festival in Roeselare , Belgium. Meanwhile, the reunited former members of Krokus should also move, as Freddy Steady joined the former band heads Fernando von Arb and Chris von Rohr, who had been in harmony again for some time. In November of the same year, the classic line-up consisting of the quartet Storace, von Arb, von Rohr and Steady appeared in the Swiss television show The Biggest Swiss Hits , for one thing, to win the Diamond Award for a total of over a million Receiving records and also presenting a medley from the hits “Tokyo Nights”, “Bedside Radio” and “Heatstrokes” - all by Metal Rendez-Vous . After this appearance, which helped the song "Bedside Radio" to its first chart entry 27 years after its first release, the rumors about a new reunion became more and more concrete, but the actual line-up performed in Malta in February 2008, which was the most extensive The European tour since the existence of Krokus should be decided before an "artistic break" for the band was announced on the official website.

The determined, successful return of the original formation and the second number 1 album: Hoodoo 2008–2011

Krokus at the concert in Bern in 2008

This artistic break was ultimately used to implement what many fans already suspected: Marc Storace revealed his decision to Mandy Meyer, Dominique Favez, Tony Castell and Stefan Schwarzmann to continue with the so-called "original formation" and soon afterwards Fernando was lead guitarist von Arb, bassist Chris von Rohr and drummer Freddy Steady are back on board as permanent band members. Again only a short time later the return of rhythm guitarist Mark Kohler was announced and the line-up consisted of exactly the same musicians who had recorded the album One Vice at a Time 26 years earlier . This revival of the original line-up was greeted with joy by almost all fans and received positive feedback without exception from prominent musicians such as Lemmy Kilmister from Motörhead, Alice Cooper, Gene Simmons from Kiss , Doro Pesch , Peter Maffay and Udo Jürgens . The original line-up performed the baptism of fire in front of 10,000 visitors in the Stade de Suisse in the Swiss capital Bern in August 2008 , before slowly but surely starting work on the new studio album. But before this should appear, Krokus contributed the official song for the Ice Hockey World Championship 2009 in Switzerland with “Live for the Action” , which the formation also presented live before the opening game. In addition, in August of the same year, they headlined the Hehre Open Air in Zofingen, Switzerland .

At the end of February 2010, after the album release party in the Kulturfabrik Kofmehl in Solothurn, which is also used by the band as a rehearsal room, the long-awaited reunional album, produced by Chris von Rohr himself and again largely made in the House of Audio in Winterbach, was released Hoodoo . Including the singles "Hoodoo Woman", which also made it into the Swiss single charts, and "Too Hot", this went down in the band's history as the second number 1 album and also earned the band a platinum award within a few weeks. Shortly after the album was released, on March 7, 2010, to be precise, Remo "Cemu" Spadino, a founding member of Krokus, died of complications from lung cancer. After Hoodoo was released , Krokus didn’t take a tour but did numerous festival dates . E.g. at the Bang Your Head Festival in Balingen , the Benátská Noc Festival in Malá Skála in the Czech Republic and the Schupfart Festival in Schupfart in Switzerland as well as a concert as the opening act for AC / DC in front of 42,000 fans in the Stade de Suisse in Bern and a short Christmas concert series in Switzerland, with Uriah Heep and The Sweet in the opening act, among others . But as befits their standing, the band didn't stay together until the next album, because after the concerts, drummer Freddy Steady announced his departure in May 2011. However, Krokus subsequently refrained from filling the post. In mid-October 2011, Krokus played the first ever appearance in Japan at the Loud Park Festival in Saitama - albeit surprisingly with two musicians from Unisonic , namely with Mandy Meyer, who was already active in the band in 1981 and from 2005 to 2008, replacing the Fernando von Arb and the drummer Kosta Zafiriou fell ill at short notice.

Rock 'n' Roll at the legendary Abbey Road Studios and the third number 1 album: Dirty Dynamite 2012–2016

Without a drummer firmly integrated in the line-up, the recording of the new album Dirty Dynamite , again produced by Chris von Rohr, was started . This part was finally taken over by Kosta Zafiriou, who was a guest musician. Since the band did not want to spare any costs or efforts for this album, they moved into the famous Abbey Road Studios in London for a few weeks from the end of August 2012 . There the individual instruments were gradually played in, before it was announced that the guitarist Mandy Meyer, who was still active for Unisonic, would henceforth enrich the formation as the third guitarist. In mid-December, Meyer and Zafiriou performed at the Knock Out Festival in Karlsruhe . At the end of February 2013, Dirty Dynamite was released , which together with the singles “Dirty Dynamite”, “Go Baby Go” and “Dög Song” could be celebrated as the third number 1 album in Switzerland shortly after its release, and moreover within less Weeks platinum status. At the latest with the creation and release of this album, Chris von Rohr emerged as the new old band leader, as he acted as the sole producer, as with Hoodoo , but also took over a large part of the public relations work associated with the release in the form of press interviews. Another indication are the songwriter credits of Dirty Dynamite , which for the first time show the order of Rohr / von Arb instead of Arb / von Rohr. Even before Krokus was able to make the first live appearances after the album was released, the band members were surprised by the sad news of the death of former drummer Dani Crivelli. Crivelli, who was still in contact with his former colleagues, although he left the band in 1989 as a result of the interim breakup, died on April 17, 2013 at the age of 53.

At the beginning of May, Krokus completed the The Close Contact Dög Tour, which consisted of five concerts and consisted of three concerts in the Kulturfabrik Kofmehl in Solothurn and two in the Volkshaus in Zurich. The line-up on drums was completed exclusively by Flavio Mezzodi, although Dani Löble, the current drummer of Helloween , was initially planned as a guest musician. Löble had to cancel the guest appearances because of a serious cold. For Mezzodi, on the other hand, it was not just these five guest performances, as he was presented by the band as a permanent member during this short series of concerts. In the summer of 2013 Krokus could also be seen on larger stages, including the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, the Hellfest in Clisson , France, the Stars of Sounds in Murten, Switzerland, and the Rock of Ages in Rottenburg am Neckar, as well as more musically mixed music Audience at the Moon and Stars Festival in Locarno and the Summerdays Festival in Arbon . Shortly afterwards, they performed another gig at the Kofmehl culture factory, the proceeds of which were donated in full to two children's foundations. This concert was released in March 2014 under the name Long Stick Goes Boom: Live from da House of Rust as the third live album in the band's history - incidentally, the band's first live album with Chris von Rohr, who, as with the previous studio albums, is also the producer acted. Long Stick Goes Boom: Live from da House of Rust reached number 3 on the Swiss album charts. After the live album, the band completed a short tour of Germany in May 2015 before they played on the festival stages of the Rock The Ring Festival in Hinwil , Switzerland , the Masters of Rock Festival in Vizovice, Czech Republic or the Honberg Summer Festival in Tuttlingen . At the Kavarna Rock Festival in Kavarna on the Black Sea, guitarist Dominique Favez, who was a regular member of Krokus from 2002 to 2008, replaced Mark Kohler, who was unable to travel to Bulgaria for health reasons. After a short detour to the HardRockHell VIII festival in Pwllheli, Wales in November 2014, the band received the Lifetime Achievement Award for their life's work in February 2015 as part of the Swiss Music Awards . In 2015, Krokus was first seen live at Snowpenair on Kleine Scheidegg in Switzerland before setting off for the USA. However, only five of Krokus made the trip to the United States of America, because Fernando von Arb had to forego the grueling trip to the United States, as did Mark Kohler, who had to go short term due to a wrist injury. Dominique Favez stepped in to replace the two guitarists. The tour started with the heavy metal cruise Monsters Of Rock Cruise, which began in Miami and returned via Nassau , the capital of the Bahamas. This was followed by a tour across the States, including club shows in Dallas , Kansas City , El Paso and Las Vegas as well as festival appearances at the M3 Rock Festival in Columbia and at the Diablo Music Fest in San Antonio . The concert tour was concluded with two sold-out gigs in the legendary rock club Whiskey a Go Go in Los Angeles . The organizer of the Whiskey a Go Go announced after the concerts that no band had managed to fill the famous rock club completely on two days in a row for 15 years.

A tribute to the heroes of their youth and the fourth number 1 album: Big Rocks 2016 to date

In 2016, Krokus took it easy, at least in terms of stage presence. Only one concert was played this year and that was at the Riverside Open Air in Aarburg, Switzerland . Behind the scenes, however, the band was working flat out on a new album - a work made up of a total of twelve cover versions by artists who had a major impact on the youth of the band members, and a newly recorded version of "Back-Seat Rock 'n' Roll" composed. Until about the release of the first single "The House of the Rising Sun" no information about the cover album reached the public. It was only with this single release that it was announced when the work, baptized Big Rocks and again produced by Chris von Rohr, was to be released. The cover album was finally released in January 2017 and, supported by the singles and video clips for "The House of the Rising Sun" and "Rockin 'in the Free World", like the last two studio albums, hit number 1 on the Swiss album charts. In addition, the album reached number 31 in the German charts, number 36 in the Austrian charts and number 97 and number 137, respectively, in the two Belgian charts, Wallonia and Flanders.It is noteworthy that Big Rocks after the live album Alive And Screamin ' from 1986 is the first album with which there were no line-up changes compared to the previous work.

After the publication of Big Rocks , Krokus played two co-headliner shows with Gotthard for the first time in March 2017 in Bern and Dübendorf , which Shakra opened as a special guest. The band then performed two more appearances in the Salle Metropole in Lausanne , this time as Gotthard's special guest. In May Krokus first made a detour to Malta for a concert before the band could be seen again on numerous festival stages in the summer. a. on the Loreley open-air stage of the RockFels Festival in St. Goarshausen , at the Rock The Ring Festival in Hinwil, at the Norway Rock Festival in Kvinesdal , at the Bang Your Head Open Air in Balingen, at the Skogsrojet Festival in Rejmyre, Sweden and at the Alcatraz Festival in Kortrijk, Belgium . Krokus are planning to play the last shows in 2019. The final show under the name "Adios Amigos" will take place on December 7, 2019 in the Swiss Rock Temple, the Hallenstadion in Zurich. Numerous companions and friends are expected for this event.

Side projects by musicians who were active at the same time for Krokus

The Heavy's

Fernando von Arb and Peter Tanner recorded the studio albums Metal Marathon and More Metal Marathon , which were released in 1989 and 1992, together with the musicians Jürg Naegeli and Chris von Rohr who were not active as members of the Krokus band at the time . Various, mostly very well-known rock and metal songs were then re-recorded and merged into medleys, which brought the project quite considerable success with chart placements in Switzerland and Norway. It is remarkable that all of the musicians involved are listed under pseudonyms: Fernando von Arb's name was Ben Branov, Chris von Rohr played under the name Rob Weiss and Jürg Naegeli called himself Walter Hammer. Peter Tanner even acted with two different pseudonyms - on the first album Metal Marathon under the name Mark B-Lay and on the successor More Metal Marathon as Eric St. Martin.

Ain't Dead Yet

In 1991 lead guitarist Many Maurer and bassist Tony Castell - at the same time active as lead and rhythm guitarist with Krokus - together with singer David Leach, rhythm guitarist Marcel Infanger and Dani Crivelli, the former drummer of both Killer and Krokus, founded the Hard rock band Ain't Dead Yet . The formation initially acted as a pure cover band, as evidenced by the live album Alive MCMXVII , published in 1992 . After that, however, Ain't Dead Yet developed more and more into a full-fledged band, which was particularly noticeable through the personnel restructuring that took place in 1995: David Leach and Dani Crivelli were joined by front man Andy Portmann , who was the background singer at the Krokus -Albums To Rock or Not to Be and Round 13 was involved, as well as by the drummer Peter Haas, who played the drumsticks for Krokus on Stampede and Round 13 . In addition, rhythm guitarist Marcel Infanger got out. The band then released the first and only studio album Read Your Mind as a quartet , in which Krokus members Marc Storace and Fernando von Arb - the former as a background singer and the latter as a songwriter for the composition "Reincarnation" - were involved. With the 1995 single "You Know What Love Is" and the EP Read Your Mind: Unplugged from 1996, two more releases followed by the band. In 1997 Igor Gianola, the current guitarist of UDO , was hired before the band broke up in 1998.

Manfred Ehlert's amen

Around the same time that Krokus' second reunion started in 1994, Marc Storace also began to work on the AOR studio project Manfred Ehlert's Amen, which was initiated by Manfred Ehlert, a Swiss composer and multi-instrumentalist . Storace sang a total of six of the nine included tracks on the first, self-titled album, namely "Call My Name", "Total Control", "We Just Have Got to Do It", "I Don't Wanna Lose My Mind", "Boys." in Blue (Everybody Get Down) ”and“ Love Me as I Am ”. Glenn Hughes , the former front man of Trapeze , Deep Purple and Black Sabbath , gave his voice to the three remaining songs . Manfred Ehlert's Amen was particularly successful in Switzerland and consequently also reached the album charts of the Alpine republic. Just a year later, Ehlert and Storace were already working on a successor to the successful debut, which was finally released in 1996 under the name Aguilar . In addition to his work as a singer, Storace also co-wrote the lyrics. Glenn Hughes only sang “Make My Day II”, a new recording of the song already on the debut. Regarding the musical direction a bit more rocky, the second album could not build on the success of the previous one.

D / C World

Tony Castell, who replaced Many Maurer on bass at Krokus in 2000, released in October of the same year - also as bassist - the project D / C World, an equally titled cover album that consists exclusively of AC / DC songs. The peculiarity of the tribute album, which was produced by Leo Leoni, the guitarist of Gotthard , is that 31 of the 32 presented cover versions are only contained in fragments, which were put together to a total of five medleys. Only "Ride On" was replayed in full. In addition to Tony Castell, there were other musicians involved in D / C World who also appear in the family tree of Krokus: Marc Storace, former but also future singer of the band at the time of publication, took on the Bon Scott songs on the album, while himself the front man Peter Tanner, who was involved with the formation in the times of Stampede, was responsible for the Brian Johnson compositions. In addition, D / C World played with rhythm guitarist Dominique Favez and drummer Patrick Aeby (here under the name Pat Holzhey), two components of the then future rhythm section of Krokus. The line-up was completed by lead guitarist JJ Bozzy.

Warrior

After Marc Storace had joined Krokus as the front man for the third time and celebrated the first number 1 album Rock the Block with the band , he received an offer in mid-2003 in which he took up the position of singer with Warrior, one from Los Angeles , USA, native heavy metal band, was offered. This offer came about through Christoph Berger, an old companion from the early 90s, who at the time wrote his solo album Blue (re-released in 1998 as Vergeat / Storace with the title When a Man ... ) when he was composing his solo album Blue, which was recorded with guitarist Vic Vergeat. under his arms, but has now held a leading position at the American label CMC. Additionally, Storace knew Warrior's guitarist and bandleader Joe Floyd from a couple of meetings when Krokus made a guest appearance in Los Angeles in the early 1980s. Storace finally agreed, probably also because the American formation had planned only a few isolated festival appearances in addition to the recording of a studio album and thus the side engagement was compatible with the obligations at Krokus. Subsequently, Storace initially made his compositional contribution by completing some text fragments and writing further texts, before he sang the songs in full in September 2003. The fourth and to this day last studio album by Warrior was finally released under the title The Wars of Gods and Men in February 2004, but the planned festival appearances were not realized, which is why the work received no live promotion and Storace with the band, incidentally, was released after the Debut Fighting for the Earth from 1985 took a little more than 13 years to complete a sequel, so never got on stage.

bite

Not even a year after the short-lived engagement with Warrior, Marc Storace had the next offer, in which he was supposed to perfect a studio album vocally, so to speak. This time the request came from Biss, a German band founded in 2000 whose musical direction fluctuates between hard rock and heavy metal. At the time of his entry, Storace was already the third well-known singer in the band's short history: First, Fernando Garcia, the former frontman of Victory , sang the self-titled debut album Biss , released in January 2002 , before Michael Bormann, who was the singer of Jaded Heart was active, took over the microphone for the second studio album Joker in the Deck , which was released almost exactly one year after the first album. The collaboration between Marc Storace and Biss came about through bandleader and guitarist Ralf Heyne, who had met the Maltese singer privately some time before in a zoo and was also convinced of his vocal qualities. In contrast to Warrior, Storace was much less involved in the songwriting process on this side project. In principle, Biss had already written all of the lyrics in full when Storace intervened in the creation process of Face-Off in December 2004 by singing the vocal passages . Since the recordings for the third studio album progressed quickly, there was still time to complete further compositions and so Storace contributed two of his own lyrical creations with the lyrics to "Lady of the Night" and "Wiseman". The album, produced by multi-instrumentalist Michael Voss - already active at UDO and Bonfire and still the band leader of Mad Max today - was finally released in May 2005, but individual concerts or even a tour did not take place due to a lack of financial resources. Nonetheless, the cooperation between Storace and Biss continued and this fact should also be reflected in the title of the successor produced by Voss: X-tension (German: extension) appeared about one and a half years after the face-off , in November 2006, was again completely sung by Storace and again contains two songs with "Run for Your Life" and "Born to Ride", the lyrics of which come from the pen of the frontman. Since after the release of this fourth and so far last album by the band there were no live appearances again - probably also because of the extensive tour activities of Krokus at the time - X-tension was the last testimony of the collaboration between Marc Storace and Biss to date.

Unisonic

In December 2012, Krokus surprisingly announced the return of Mandy Meyer as a third guitarist integrated into the line-up - a novelty in the band's history. Meyer is still active for the German heavy metal band Unisonic , founded in 2009 , with whom he first released the EP Ignition in January 2012 , before the self-titled studio album Unisonic was released in March of the same year . With bassist Dennis Ward and drummer Kosta Zafiriou, Unisonic also has two other musicians who have connections to Krokus: Zafiriou, who is one of the founding and former members of Pink Cream 69 , had the band for the first time in mid-October 2011 at Loud Park -Festival in Saitama , Japan, before he recorded the studio album Dirty Dynamite as a guest drummer in 2012 . Dennis Ward, who, unlike Zafiriou, continues to play with Pink Cream 69, first worked with Krokus in 2006 when he was responsible for the mix as well as for the production with Marc Storace for the studio album Hellraiser . Subsequently he was responsible for the mix for the following works Hoodoo and Dirty Dynamite . Unisonic is currently completed by the two well-known musicians Michael Kiske , the former singer of Helloween , and Kai Hansen , who was also active with Helloween in the past and has also been the band leader of Gamma Ray since 1989 .

Discography

→ Main article : Krokus (band) / discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1976	crocus	-	-	-	-	-	First published: April 29, 1976
1977	To You All	-	-	-	-	-	First published: April 29, 1977
1978	Pay It in Metal / Pain Killer	-	-	-	-	-	First published: October 30, 1978
1980	Metal Rendez-Vous	-	-	CH- × 4 Quadruple platinum CH	-	-	First published: June 30, 1980 Sales: + 200,000
1981	hardware	DE56 (2 weeks) DE	AT16 (3 weeks) AT	-	UK44 (4 weeks) UK	US103 (12 weeks) US	First published: February 18, 1981
1982	One Vice at a Time	DE38 (7 weeks) DE	-	-	UK28 (5 weeks) UK	US53 (20 weeks) US	First published: March 1, 1982
1983	Headhunters	-	-	-	UK74 (2 weeks) UK	US25th gold (41 weeks)US	First published: April 25, 1983 Sales: + 550,000
1984	The Blitz	DE55 (2 weeks) DE	-	CH6 (8 weeks) CH	-	US31 gold (27 weeks)US	First published: August 22, 1984 Sales: + 550,000
1986	Change of Address	-	-	CH6 (12 weeks) CH	-	US45 (17 weeks) US	First published: June 16, 1986
1988	Heart attack	-	-	CH5 (8 weeks) CH	-	US87 (11 weeks) US	First published: March 25, 1988
1990	Stampede	-	-	CH18 (6 weeks) CH	-	-	First published: November 14, 1990
1995	To rock or not to be	-	-	CH5 (15 weeks) CH	-	-	First published: April 29, 1995
1999	Round 13	-	-	CH35 (5 weeks) CH	-	-	First published: October 8, 1999
2003	Rock the block	DE69 (1 week) DE	-	CH1 gold (11 weeks)CH	-	-	First published: Jan 18, 2003 Sales: + 20,000
2006	Hellraiser	-	-	CH2 gold (9 weeks)CH	-	-	First published: September 15, 2006 Sales: + 20,000
2010	Hoodoo	DE33 (4 weeks) DE	-	CH1 platinum (25 weeks)CH	-	-	First published: February 26, 2010 Sales: + 30,000
2013	Dirty Dynamite	DE17 (3 weeks) DE	AT46 (2 weeks) AT	CH1 platinum (21 weeks)CH	-	-	First published: February 22nd, 2013 Sales: + 30,000

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

literature

• Chris von Rohr : You dogs want to rock forever. My trip through the rock jungle. 11th edition, Steinblatt, Lugano 1991. ISBN 3-9520081-0-9 .

swell

1. ↑ blick.ch - We are no longer a drunk bunch . Retrieved April 1, 2013.
2. ↑ blick.ch - Rihanna is a crocus fan! . Retrieved December 4, 2015.
3. ↑ ^{a b} chrisvonrohr.ch - Krokus forever (PDF; 815 kB). Last accessed April 1, 2013.
4. ↑ ^{a b} kaktus-rock.ch - History - Kaktus 1970 ( Memento of the original from February 16, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Last accessed June 25, 2015. 
5. ↑ ^{a b c} krokusonline.seven49.net - Chronological - Krokus (First) . Last accessed April 1, 2013.
6. ↑ Chris von Rohr: You want to rock dogs forever. My trip through the rock jungle. 1991, pp. 119-121.
7. ↑ krokusonline.seven49.net - Musical (Instruments) - Daniel Debritt . Retrieved April 1, 2013.
8. ↑ ^{a b c d} krokusonline.seven49.net - Chronological - To You All . Last accessed April 1, 2013.
9. ↑ Chris von Rohr: You want to rock dogs forever. My trip through the rock jungle. 1991, pp. 123, 127.
10. ↑ Chris von Rohr: You want to rock dogs forever. My trip through the rock jungle. 1991, p. 129.
11. ↑ Chris von Rohr: You want to rock dogs forever. My trip through the rock jungle. 1991, p. 129.
12. ↑ Chris von Rohr: You want to rock dogs forever. My trip through the rock jungle. 1991, pp. 130-131.
13. ↑ Chris von Rohr: You want to rock dogs forever. My trip through the rock jungle. 1991, p. 140.
14. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} krokusonline.seven49.net - Chronological - Painkiller . Last accessed April 1, 2013.
15. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} krokusonline.seven49.net - Chronological - Metal Rendez-Vous . Last accessed April 1, 2013.
16. ↑ Chris von Rohr: You want to rock dogs forever. My trip through the rock jungle. 1991, p. 166.
17. ↑ krokusonline.seven49.net - News - Quadruple Platinum For Metal Rendez-Vous . Retrieved March 4, 2014.
18. ↑ Chris von Rohr: You want to rock dogs forever. My trip through the rock jungle. 1991, p. 163.
19. ↑ ^{a b c} krokusonline.seven49.net - Chronological - Hardware . Last accessed on May 17, 2013.
20. ↑ chartarchive.org - Chart Archive - Krokus - Industrial Strength (EP) . Last accessed on May 16, 2013.
21. ↑ ^{a b} bernerzeitung.ch - 50 Years of Bernese Rock - No Blues, Thommy . Last accessed April 1, 2013.
22. ↑ krokusonline.seven49.net - Musical (Instruments) - Mark Kohler . Retrieved April 1, 2013.
23. ↑ ^{a b c d} krokusonline.seven49.net - Chronological - One Vice at a Time . Last accessed on May 17, 2013.
24. ↑ ^{a b c d e} krokusonline.seven49.net - Chronological - Headhunter . Last accessed on May 17, 2013.
25. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} krokusonline.seven49.net - Chronological - The Blitz . Last accessed April 1, 2013.
26. ↑ ^{a b} krokusonline.seven49.net - Chronological - Change of Address . Last accessed April 1, 2013.
27. ↑ ^{a b c d} krokusonline.seven49.net - Chronological - Heart Attack . Last accessed on May 17, 2013.
28. ↑ ^{a b c d e} krokusonline.seven49.net - Press - Stampede . Last accessed on May 17, 2013.
29. ↑ ^{a b} krokusonline.seven49.net - Chronological - Stampede . Last accessed on April 2, 2013.
30. ↑ ^{a b c} krokusonline.seven49.net - Chronological - To Rock or Not to Be . Last accessed on April 2, 2013.
31. ↑ ^{a b c d} krokusonline.seven49.net - Chronological - Round 13 . Last accessed on April 11, 2013.
32. ↑ krokusonline.seven49.net - Musical (Instruments) - Carl Sentance . Retrieved April 10, 2013.
33. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} krokusonline.seven49.net - Chronological - Rock the Block . Last accessed on April 2, 2013.
34. ↑ imdb.com - Krokus - As Long as We Live . Retrieved April 29, 2013.
35. ↑ ^{a b} hitparade.ch - Music News - Krokus: von Rohr and von Arb jamming together . Last accessed April 30, 2013.
36. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} krokusonline.seven49.net - Chronological - Hellraiser . Last accessed on April 2, 2013.
37. ↑ bravewords.com - News - Crocus drummer Undergoes Hernia Operation . Retrieved April 3, 2013.
38. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} krokusonline.seven49.net - Tour . Last accessed on November 21, 2016.
39. ↑ krokusonline.seven49.net - History - From the Beginning: The History of a Swiss Rock Giant . Retrieved April 2, 2013.
40. ↑ ^{a b} Krokus on Myspace . Last accessed on May 6, 2013.
41. ↑ setlist.fm - Krokus Setlist at Hehre Open Air, Zofingen, Switzerland . Retrieved April 2, 2013.
42. ↑ krokusonline.seven49.net - News - Hoodoo Turns Platinum in Switzerland . Retrieved April 2, 2013.
43. ↑ underground-empire.com - News - Cemu Spadino † ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved June 25, 2015. 
44. ↑ blabbermouth.net - News Archive - Krokus Drummer Quits . Retrieved April 2, 2013.
45. ↑ ^{a b} metalfactory.ch - Interview: Krokus . Last accessed on May 7, 2013.
46. ↑ ffm-rock.de - Krokus - Abbey Road Studios-from The Beatles to Krokus . Retrieved April 2, 2013.
47. ↑ ^{a b} krokusonline.seven49.net - News - Mandy Meyer Rejoins Krokus! . Last accessed on May 7, 2013.
48. ↑ youtube.com - Krokus - Easy Rocker . Retrieved April 3, 2013.
49. ↑ krokusonline.seven49.net - News - Platinum for Krokus . Retrieved May 17, 2013.
50. ↑ krokusonline.seven49.net - News - Ex-Krokus Dani Crivelli RIP . Retrieved April 23, 2013.
51. ↑ schweizer-illustrierte.ch - Mysterious death of drummer Crivelli . Retrieved April 24, 2013.
52. ↑ sonntagonline.ch - Dogs want to rock forever . Retrieved April 26, 2013.
53. ↑ dani-loeble.de - News - Due to a Severe Cold, Dani Had to Cancel the Krokus Shows ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved May 13, 2013. 
54. ↑ krokusonline.seven49.net - News - Meet Our New Drummer Flavio Mezzodi . Retrieved May 12, 2013.
55. ↑ krokusonline.seven49.net - News - Charity Show For Kids - August 30th At Kofmehl Solothurn . Retrieved March 4, 2014.
56. ↑ Krokus To Release Long Stick Goes Boom - Live in the House of Rust . Retrieved March 4, 2014.
57. ↑ hitparade.ch - Krokus - Long Stick Goes Boom - Live From Da House Of Rust . Retrieved March 25, 2015.
58. ↑ ^{a b} krokusonline.seven49.net - Musical (Instruments) - Dominique Favez . Last accessed June 29, 2015.
59. ↑ schweizer-illustrierte.ch - Boos for Köppel in the Hallenstadion . Retrieved March 25, 2015.
60. ↑ krokusonline.seven49.net - Guestbook ( Memento of the original from June 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 25, 2015. 
61. ↑ latimes.com - Still room on heavy-metal Monsters Of Rock Cruise in April . Retrieved June 25, 2015.
62. ↑ blick.ch - The girls are as wild as at the Lucerne Carnival . Retrieved June 25, 2015.
63. ↑ blick.ch - People - People Switzerland - Wilde Kerle! - Krokus surprise with cover CD . Retrieved April 12, 2017.
64. ↑ ^{a b} hitparade.ch - Krokus - Big Rocks . Last accessed on April 12, 2017.
65. ↑ ^{a b} musik-sammler.de - The Heavy’s . Last accessed on April 11, 2013.
66. ↑ hitparade.ch - The Heavy's-Metal Marathon . Retrieved April 11, 2013.
67. ↑ 80s.takemetal.com . Retrieved April 11, 2013.
68. ↑ rockdetector.com - Ain't Dead Yet - Biography ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved April 11, 2013. 
69. ↑ biwidus.ch - Swiss Heavy Metal: Ain't Dead Yet . Retrieved April 11, 2013.
70. ↑ ^{a b} alldp.narod.ru - Manfred Ehlert's Amen - Manfred Ehlert's Amen . Last accessed on April 15, 2013.
71. ↑ hitparade.ch - Manfred Ehlert's Amen feat. Glenn Hughes and Marc Storace - Amen . Retrieved April 15, 2013.
72. ↑ ^{a b c} manfredehlert.ch - Discography - 1996 Manfred Ehlert's Amen II: Aguilar ( Memento of the original from June 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Last accessed on April 15, 2013. 
73. ^ Spirit-of-metal.com - AC / DC - Tributes . Retrieved April 11, 2011.
74. ↑ ^{a b c} heavymetal.ch - D / C World ( Memento of the original from May 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Last accessed on April 11, 2013. 
75. ↑ blacksheep.ch - We felt it: The rock is coming back ( Memento of the original from December 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved April 11, 2013. 
76. ↑ ^{a b c} hmbreakdown.de - Archive - Warrior 05-04 ( Memento of the original from July 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Last accessed on April 15, 2013. 
77. ↑ home-of-rock.de - Interview - Warrior and Krokus: Marc Storace can do both! ( Memento of May 14, 2005 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved December 4, 2015.
78. ↑ rockdetector.com - Warrior - Biography ( Memento of the original from August 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved April 16, 2013. 
79. ↑ myrevelations.de - Interviews - Biss - The name says it all . Retrieved April 22, 2013.
80. ↑ ^{a b} hmbreakdown.de - Archive - Biss 12-05 ( Memento of the original from March 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Last accessed on April 22, 2013. 
81. ↑ sonny1968.de - Interviews - Biss - Everyone has their own qualities . Retrieved April 22, 2013.
82. ↑ sonny1968.de - Specials - Bite . Retrieved April 22, 2013.
83. ↑ myrevelations.de - Interviews - Biss - The rocking doctor . Retrieved April 22, 2013.
84. ↑ hmbreakdown.de - Archive - Biss 11-06 ( Memento of the original from March 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved April 22, 2013. 
85. ↑ ^{a b} mandymeyer.ch - News . Last accessed on May 7, 2013.

Web links

Commons : Krokus  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website
• Official website - Globe Club for Clan and Fan