Lady Godiva (band)
| Lady Godiva | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Folk-Rock , Folk-Punk , Irish Folk |
| founding | 1994 |
| resolution | 2006 |
| Website | www.ladygodiva.de |
| Founding members | |
| Andreas Beckmann | |
Tin Whistle , vocals |
Thomas Rünker |
| Ingo Schwingenheuer | |
| Christian Eickel | |
Electric bass , vocals |
Carlo Hellwig (until 2001) |
| Thorsten Donner | |
guitar |
Lars Ohlig (until 1999) |
| Last occupation | |
singing |
Andreas Beckmann |
Tin Whistle, vocals |
Thomas Rünker |
Guitar, mandolin, banjo |
Ingo Schwingenheuer |
accordion |
Christian Eickel |
guitar |
Michael Schweinberg |
Bass, vocals |
Lars Schneider |
Drums |
Thorsten Donner |
| former members | |
violin |
Yvonne Kexel (1995–1999) |
Guitar, vocals |
Jan Beckmann (1999-2001) |
Lady Godiva was a German Irish folk rock band from Arnsberg , North Rhine-Westphalia , that existed from 1994 to 2006. Born in March 1994 from the idea of founding a band that makes music in the style of the Pogues , the instruments were distributed among the friends. Some of the new band members had to learn their instrument self-taught in order to be able to participate. The band name was chosen based on the title "Lady Godiva's Operation", which was released on Velvet Underground's 1967 album White Light / White Heat and refers to the legend of Lady Godiva .
history
founding
By chance, the newly founded band was given the opportunity to perform: The first concert - less than three months after the band was founded - took place at the parish festival of the Catholic community in Arnsberg-Herdringen . The positive response to this performance resulted in more gigs and the band managed to make a name for themselves as a guarantee for hearty party evenings dedicated to Irish music.
The line-up chosen at the beginning - drums , bass , mandolin / banjo / guitar, accordion, tin whistle and vocals - was soon supplemented by a violinist. Initially, the band made use of the rich fund of Irish traditionals , which were of course supplemented by cover versions of some of the Pogues' pieces. Later, a steadily growing number of original compositions followed.
Lady Godiva quickly gained a reputation as a good live band and was used nationwide for larger festivals such as B. Sound of Frankfurt , Force Attack Festival , Freiburg tent festival, Open Flair Festival or the port birthday in Hamburg .
Album Whiskey You're The Devil
In November 1996 the band released their first album, "Whiskey You're The Devil", which caused quite a stir with a provocative cover: The record featured a photo of a dog that was run to death, which the band used as an exaggerated allusion to the dangers of alcohol abuse. The public in Arnsberg did not understand this presentation right away, so that the band was forced to appease with public statements.
The album contained one of the band's most famous tracks: "One Whiskey".
Album Tales Of Kings And Boozers
“Tales Of Kings And Boozers”, the band's second album, was released in May 1998 and consistently continued the musical path taken on the first release and was not as rough as its predecessor, both technically and musically.
Red Letter Day album
At the end of 1999, the original lineup was changed for the first time: there was a change on the guitar and Jan Beckmann joined the band, and the violinist left the band. With the new “Lady Godiva” the sound of the band got a lot more rock. With this line-up, the third album "Red Letter Day" was recorded in the studio "Der Ton" of producer Martin Meinschäfer ( Hob Goblin / Dolls United / Rosen und Gomorrha) in winter 2000/2001 . The album was released in April 2001 and contained, in addition to traditionals and the band's own pieces, cover versions of Bob Dylan's "The Death Is Not The End" and Lee Majors ' "The Unknown Stuntman," which was the theme song for the US television series Ein Colt für alle Cases had become known. Compared to the two previous albums, the third album turned out to be very versatile - in addition to the previous folk and rock elements , influences from punk and country were also processed, an a cappella piece was added as a bonus track .
Album Zooperation
In the middle of 2001 two more changes in the lineup followed: Jan Beckmann and Carlo Hellwig left the band for professional reasons. They were replaced by Michael Schweinberg (guitar) and Lars Schneider (bass), who had already made music together in the Arnsberg metal formation "Down The Drain".
With this line-up, the fourth - and so far last - album of the band, "Zooperation", was recorded in 2003. This album was also produced by Martin Meinschäfer.
Single In the Christmas Bakery
Already in autumn 2000 Lady Godiva had applied to the then internet music platform peoplesound.de with a semi-professionally recorded cover version of the well-known Christmas carol In the Christmas Bakery by the well-known children's songwriter Rolf Zuckowski . From day one, this version was number 1 on the peoplesound.de-X-Mas charts and even reappeared in the platform's folk charts in summer 2001. This "rocky" version of the song was professionally recorded again as part of the recordings for the CD "Zooperation". The official single release (RockUp Records / ZYX Music ) was in November 2003. The song brought the band airplay and various contributions to samplers nationwide. The song was an integral part of the set list at concerts during the Christmas season until the band split up.
DVD drink, dance, dangle
On January 10, 2004, during a concert in the old slaughterhouse in Soest , the band recorded their first DVD, which was released on April 1, 2004 on RockUp Records on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the band. In addition to 16 live tracks, the DVD also contained a bonus part with an interview with the band and an “on the road” video clip.
Review of the DVD from in-your-face.de:
- Irish folk punk always has something to do with having fun, being in a good mood and having a bunch of people partying together. "Drink Dance Dangle" is the gift that Lady Godiva give herself and her fans for the ten year old, which brings exactly this feeling to the point. In a quality that is surprisingly good for underground labels, the seven guys on this live DVD relax and rock their set and spray the good mood over the screen and boxes into the room.
- The guys know how punk works and they know how traditional Irish folk works with all the instruments that the folk in the green has come up with. Last but not least, they know how to have fun. They put all of this into beautiful songs on “Drink Dance Dangle-DVD”, with which they have conjured a smile on the face of many people and a glass of beer in the hand for ten years.
Dissolution and reunion
In January 2006 Lady Godiva split up after almost twelve years of band history, over 300 concerts throughout Germany and neighboring countries, as the double burden of work and band was no longer manageable for some musicians.
On November 15, 2013, the band announced on Facebook that a one-time reunion concert was planned in Arnsberg on April 20, 2014. The occasion was the band's 20th anniversary.
Follow-up projects
After Lady Godiva broke up, some band members decided to found the band "Fußballgott". In the summer of the 2006 World Cup, this band brought well-known soccer songs such as “Soccer is our life” to the stage. From this band in turn emerged after the world championship "Kings & Boozers", which u. a. Lady Godiva plays songs in a somewhat heavier tune. In addition, some members of this band also play with the band "Muirsheen Durkin & Friends".
Others
Tribute To The Petards
The band has a long friendship with the "FMS - Free Musicians Initiative Schrecksbach". Lady Godiva recorded the song “Love is all around” as part of a “tribute project” for the beat band The Petards , which came from the Schrecksbach area and achieved national fame especially in the 1960s. This song can be found on the Petards sampler "Tribute To The Petards" (Zun Records, EAN 4033758032173) as well as on the Lady Godiva CD "Zooperation".
The Whiskey Priests
After some members of the band had already attended concerts of the Whiskey Priests in the 1980s, first personal contact was made in 1994 at a concert at home. As a result, a friendly relationship developed and a series of joint concerts. At these concerts, both bands were on stage together and played some songs such as B. Do-li-a or Johnny Miner as an encore.
Discography
Albums
- 1996: Whiskey You're the Devil
- 1998: Tales of Kings and Boozers
- 2001: Red Letter Day
- 2003: cooperation
Singles
- 2000: Unknown stuntman
- 2003: Christmas baking
DVDs
- 2004: Drink Dance Dangle - Live