Naked in the wind

Naked in the wind
Band for Africa
publication	January 23, 1985
length	5:11
Genre (s)	Rock music
text	Wolfgang Niedecken
music	Herbert Grönemeyer

Naked in the Wind is the name of a 1985 by Herbert Grönemeyer and Wolfgang Niedecken written song, as Vinyl - Single released. It was created for the Band für Afrika project , which, based on the example of the Band Aid project led by Bob Geldof (1984), implemented a comparable German benefit music project to raise money for the victims of the famine in Ethiopia 1984–1985 .

background

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Singles

Naked in the wind   DE 3 02/04/1985 (10 weeks)   AT 18th 03/15/1985 (10 weeks)   CH 21st 02/17/1985 (3 weeks)

In order to avoid having to pay too much of the money raised by GEMA to individual artists (which would have reduced the amount available for donations), the song and its authors came out under the name "Band für Afrika". In fact, Herbert Grönemeyer (music) and Wolfgang Niedecken (text) had designed the song. Niedecken originally wrote the text for BAP when the request came about whether he would like to participate in the project. He found the text appropriate and offered it at a meeting in Frankfurt am Main. Grönemeyer then wrote the music for it.

Niedecken later commented critically on his text:

“ I think that one or the other line would have to be revised. At that time the text was very strongly attached to the sins of our ancestors. But it is also not possible to trace everything back to the colonial times that is present in the way of problems. That is the cardinal error of this text. If I were to rewrite it today, I would probably approach it completely differently! "

Artists who were particularly popular in Germany at the time took part in the recordings. These included Alphaville , BAP , Ina Deter , Extrabreit , Geier Sturzflug , Herbert Grönemeyer , Gitte Haenning , Hans Hartz , Heinz Rudolf Kunze , George Kranz , Klaus Lage , Udo Lindenberg , Wolf Maahn , Peter Maffay , Ulla Meinecke , Marius Müller-Westernhagen , Münchener Freiheit , Nena , Rheingold , Rodgau Monotones , Spider Murphy Gang , Spliff , Trio and Juliane Werding .

In order to serve the purpose of the record, all those involved waived their fees and royalties. The initiators even went one step further by making the trade responsible by means of a special imprint on the record sleeve:

“ The artists attach great importance to the fact that really nobody except the donation recipients benefits from this record. The composer, lyricist, musician, producer, record company and publisher forego any earnings and donate at least DM 2.00 per single (plus GEMA licenses that may apply subsequently) to the above accounts. The record trade is asked to follow suit. "

Almost 150,000 copies of the single were sold - so donations of around 300,000 D-Marks were achieved.

reception

Nackt im Wind was released on January 21, 1985 as a single and maxi single, each containing the sung and an instrumental version of the song, and achieved acceptable to good positions in the hit lists in Austria (18th place) and Switzerland (21st place) and Germany (3rd place).

Others

• There are four different versions of the single under the number CBSA 6060 - both as a regular 7 "single and a 12" maxi single as well as with two different covers, as not all artists involved were named on the first cover . Also on the first cover, 3 DM per single are given as the donation sum, on the second it is only 2 DM.
• In 2006 the album Zwesche Salzjebäck un Bier by the group BAP was re-released. This CD edition includes a bonus CD, which among other things contains the "original version" of Nackt im Wind , played solo by Wolfgang Niedecken and recorded in Schladming in 1985. This version is 2:35 minutes long. The version of the song recorded by Band for Africa is included as the second track on the CD.

See also

• Green Wall : Benefit campaign and single for Africa 1985 with Hans Hartz, Heinz Rudolf Kunze, Udo Lindenberg, Hendrik Schaper and Rolf Zuckowski

Web links

• Naked in the wind in the podcast The greatest hits and their history on SWR3

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Charts DE Charts AT Charts CH
2. ↑ Social politics , uncomfortable paths and solidarity : Interview with Wolfgang Niedecken on podcast.de
3. ^ Page 158 in: Stephan Kurenbach: UDOgraphie - the ultimate Lindenberg discography . Königswinter 2019, ISBN 978-3-95843-935-1
4. ^ Page 158 in: Stephan Kurenbach: UDOgraphie - the ultimate Lindenberg discography . Königswinter 2019, ISBN 978-3-95843-935-1