Lift (belt)
lift | |
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Lift 2017 in the cast (from left to right): René Decker, Peter Rasym , Werther Lohse , Andrè Jolig, Peter Michailow |
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General information | |
Genre (s) | Rock , art rock , jazz rock , fusion |
founding | 1973 |
Website | www.lift-rockballaden.de |
Founding members | |
Gerhard Zachar († 1978) | |
Konrad Burkert | |
Jürgen Heinrich | |
Till Patzer († 2017) | |
Manfred Nytsch | |
Wolfgang Scheffler | |
Karl-Matthias Pflugbeil | |
Bernd Schlund | |
singing |
Christiane Ufholz |
Current occupation | |
Vocals, drums, keyboards |
Werther Lohse (1974–1978, from 1979) |
Saxophone, keyboard |
René Decker |
Keyboard |
André Jolig |
Drums |
Peter Mikhailov |
bass |
Jens Bruessow |
bass |
Peter Rasym |
former members | |
singing |
Stephan Trepte (1973–1975; † 2020) |
Keyboard, vocals |
Franz Bartzsch (1973–1974; † 2010) |
Keyboard |
Michael Heubach (1974–1978; 1984–1986) |
Vocals, harmonica
|
Henry Pacholski (1975–1978 †) |
guitar |
Peter Sandkaulen (1976) |
Guitar, vocals |
Bodo Kommnick (1985-2014) |
Violin , keyboard, vocals |
Hans Wintoch (1984–1985) |
Keyboard, vocals |
Frank Gursch (1985–1990) |
Violin, vocals, keyboard |
Ivonne Fechner |
Drums |
Frank-Endrik Moll |
Drums |
Thilo Pietschmann |
Bass, vocals |
Michael Schiemann |
bass |
Michael Single |
Bass, vocals |
Jochen Kittan |
bass |
Holger Coast |
bass |
Henning Protzmann |
Lift is an art rock band founded in Dresden in 1973 and singing in German .
history
The group Lift emerged from the Dresden Septet in 1973. The group gave their first concert on January 28, 1973. They initially played blues , soul and gospel with wind instruments. The founding members were Gerhard Zachar , Konrad Burkert, Jürgen Heinrich, Till Patzer, Manfred Nytsch, Wolfgang Scheffler, Karl-Matthias Pflugbeil, Bernd Schlund and the singer Christiane Ufholz .
In 1973 the singer Stephan Trepte joined them; the brass left the band. Keyboarder Franz Bartzsch , who also joined Lift in 1973, joined the Veronika Fischer Band in 1974 . He was replaced by Michael Heubach . Drummer and singer Werther Lohse joined the band in 1974 for Konrad Burkert and is now the only remaining member of the lift from this time. In 1976, after his time with the NVA , keyboardist Wolfgang Scheffler returned to Lift together with the new singer and harmonica player Henry Pacholski , while Trepte switched to the newly founded band Reform . In 1977 the band's first Amiga LP, Lift , was released. In the spring of 1978 Lohse fell ill and was replaced by Frank-Endrik Moll. In the same year the LP Meeresfahrt was recorded with the hits To the South and Day Trip. It was released in 1979. While previously most of the lyrics had been written by full-time copywriters such as Kurt Demmler and Ingeburg Branoner , Henry Pacholski had written five of the six lyrics on this album.
On November 15, 1978, Pacholski and Gerhard Zachar died during a tour in a traffic accident near Kalisz in Poland, Michael Heubach was seriously injured. The band processed the event a few months later in the title Am Abend some days , the text of which comes from Joachim Krause , who also wrote numerous texts for Lift. After the death of the two musicians and the temporary departure of Heubach, Lohse returned after a year from the star combo Meißen as lead singer. Michael Schiemann joined the band as bass player. For the two following LPs, too, significant changes were made, so that the musical quality turned out to be quite different. In 1980, Schiemann was replaced by Michael Ledig, who in turn gave way to Jochen Kittan two years later. For the album reflects wrote Andreas Reimann several texts.
The band's success waned in the early 1980s. In 1984 Scheffler, Kittan and Patzer left the band. Lohse formed the new line-up with Moll, the returned Heubach and the violinist Hans Wintoch . Wintoch and Heubach left the band after a short time. In 1985 four new members joined the band: Bodo Kommnick, Frank Gursch, Thilo Pietschmann and Holger Coast. The fourth Amiga LP, Home , is considered a rarity.
After the fall of the Wall , the band, led by Lohse, remembered their successful days. From 1992 to 2000 Henning Protzmann was the bassist with Lift. With the related bands electra and star combo Meißen , the band has been giving concerts as a Saxon three , originally a well-known postage stamp. In 2011 Lift consisted of Werther Lohse (vocals, drums, percussion), Bodo Kommnick (guitar, vocals), Ivonne Fechner (violin, vocals; originally Yvonne Fechner), Peter Michailow (drums) and Jens Brüssow (bass). In 2014, Kommnick and Fechner left the band and were replaced by René Decker (saxophone, keyboard; formerly with Bromm Oss , among others ) and André Jolig (keyboard). The band no longer has a guitarist. Since June 2016 Peter Rasym (formerly with the Puhdys ) has been representing Brüssow at Lift.
style
Especially in the years from 1975 to 1980, Lift's music was characterized by melodic, often long art rock pieces. This includes Meeresfahrt from the LP of the same name and the ballad vom Stein on the first album. The lyrics are full of metaphors. Some pieces are dreamy and intimate, while others can be assigned to jazz rock . A defining element is the polyphonic, powerful choral singing . In addition to the usual rock instruments, the instrumentation also includes the flute and string instruments .
From the third album, Spiegelbild , electronic instruments and more emphasis on rhythm predominated.
Discography
LPs
- 1977: Lift ( Amiga )
- 1979: Sea voyage (Amiga)
- 1981: Mirror image (Amiga)
- 1987: Home (Amiga)
Singles
- 1973: Scandal / Rainy Day (Amiga)
- 1973: Song to the Andes (B-side, Amiga)
- 1973: Wenn (A-side, Amiga)
- 1974: Just come with me / Every day is a long journey / Musicians are in town / But the forests are green ( Amiga Quartet , Amiga)
- 1975: Soldier vom Don (B-side, Amiga)
- 1977: My heart should be a water / Red stone / Water and wine / Every evening (Amiga-Quartet, Amiga)
- 1980: In the evening of some days / Come out (Amiga)
- 1984: Tell me everything you know / Always on (Amiga)
CDs
- 1992: Rock from Germany East 6 - Water and Wine
- 1994: Mirror Image / Home
- 1995: Best of Lift
- 1995: my debts
- 1996: The most beautiful ballads
- 1998/2003: LIFT classics
- 1999: South
- 1999: Sachsendreier live (with electra and star combo Meißen)
- 2000: elevator
- 2000: sea voyage
- 2000: Lift Unplugged
- 2003: Classics & unplugged
- 2005: Day trip - Best (1976-2003)
- 2007: Sachsendreier live - the second (with electra and star combo Meißen)
- 2008: Hits & Rarities (Buschfunk)
as well as various pieces on samplers, including Ostrock in Klassik (2007; CD and double DVD)
DVD
- 2005: Sachsendreier Live (with electra and Stern-Combo Meißen)
See also
literature
- Jürgen Balitzki: It started with Gerhard . In: Ernst Günther, Heinz P. Hofmann, Walter Rösler (eds.): Cassette. An almanac for the stage, podium and ring (= cassette ). No. 5 . Henschelverlag Art and Society, Berlin 1981, p. 23-26 .
- Jürgen Balitzki: Electra. Lift. Star combo Meißen: Stories from the Saxon threesome . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 978-3-89602-323-0 .
Web links
- Official website
- Portrait at deutsche-mugge.de
- Band history up to 1984 on Wolfgang Scheffler's homepage
- Portrait at ostbeat.de ( Memento from June 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (archive version)
- Portrait at ostmusik.de ( Memento from March 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (archive version)
- Discography at discogs.com
- Works by and about Lift in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Website on the band's history ( Memento from August 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Krause's memories , accessed on October 21, 2010
- ^ Band history up to 1984 on Wolfgang Scheffler's homepage , accessed on April 9, 2011