Pink turns blue
| Pink turns blue | |
|---|---|
 |
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| General information | |
| origin | Cologne , Germany |
| Genre (s) | Rock , dark wave , cold wave , post-punk |
| founding | 1985, 2003 |
| resolution | 1995 |
| Website | www.pinkturnsblue.de |
| Founding members | |
Vocals, bass, keyboard |
Michael "Mic" jogger |
Guitar, vocals |
Thomas Elbern (until 1987, 2003-2004) |
| Current occupation | |
Vocals, guitar |
Michael "Mic" jogger |
Bass, keyboard |
Rüdiger "Ruebi" Walter (since 1987) |
Drums |
Paul Richter |
| former members | |
Drums |
Markus Giltjes (1986–1990) |
Drums |
Reinhold Schobert (1990–1991) |
Drums |
Louis Pavlou (1992–1995, 2003–2007) |
Drums |
Andreas Plappert (2007-2014) |
Keyboard, vocals |
Brigid Anderson |
Bass, keyboard, guitar |
Reinhold "Reini" Walter |
Pink Turns Blue is a German rock band that was founded in 1985 in Cologne . It was particularly popular in the dark wave environment of the late 1980s, but turned to indie rock in the early 1990s and under the influence of the Madchester movement .
Band history
Beginnings (1985 to 1987)
The band was originally a duo consisting of Thomas Elbern (vocals and guitar), Mic Jogwer (vocals, bass and keyboards) and a rhythm machine.
Elbern had previously run an NDW formation in Aachen called Strange States , but now wanted to found a new band in Cologne and was looking for fellow musicians through an advertisement at the end of 1985. The music student Mic Jogwer got in touch and the two soon had smaller gigs under the name Pink Turns Blue (after the Hüsker Dü song Pink Turns to Blue ) in Cologne and the surrounding area. Musically, they orientated themselves on classic New Wave groups such as the early The Cure , The Chameleons or The Sound and in early 1986 the band was expanded to include the art student and drummer Markus Giltjes. The trio won a competition at the WDR , and Volkmar Kramarz produced the first studio recordings in Cologne in May 1986.
The years as a German independent insider tip (1987 to 1991)
Mic Jogwer switched from bass to guitar, and “Ruebi” Walter joined the band as a new bass player and keyboard player, which gave its first concerts in June 1987.
In August, the newly founded Münster record label Fun Factory! Pink Turns Blue under contract. The band went back to the studio, the existing material from the previous year was remixed and a few more songs were recorded. The debut album If Two Worlds Kiss was released in October 1987. Mic Jogwer's sometimes wailing vocal style and the keyboard-heavy melancholy guitar pop of the record often evoked comparisons with the early The Cure , which the band saw as an incentive to develop musically.
From October 1987 to March 1988 they toured almost continuously, including in December with the controversial Yugoslav band Laibach , with whose sound mixer Janez Križaj Jogwer became friends. Križaj invited Pink Turns Blue to record their second album in Ljubljana , Yugoslavia , as payment the band smuggled western music equipment across the border. In August 1988, the single Touch the Skies was released and Pink Turns Blue played some concerts in Great Britain for the first time. The second studio album Meta followed in October, taking the depressive, keyboard-heavy The Cure sound to extremes and selling surprisingly well (2,300 pieces in the first eight weeks). The track Your Master Is Calling was released as a further single .
The third album Eremite was recorded again with Janez Križaj in Ljubljana and was completed in August 1989. The record company Fun Factory! But got into distribution difficulties and Pink Turns Blue switched to the Rough Trade sub-label Our Choice , which released the album in April 1990 after a long delay. The songs were much more experimental and atonal, but the album contained a memorable piece with Michelle , which was remixed in Manchester in August and was released as a single in October. The remix single was criticized as a superfluous and unsuccessful attempt to attach to the Madchester scene and fell through with many fans. At the beginning of 1990 the band was strengthened by “Ruebi” Walter's younger brother Reinhold, who took over the keyboards, while drummer Markus Giltjes left the band at the end of 1990 and moved to Hamburg , where he later became a member of Girls Under Glass .
The fourth studio album Aerdt ( Art = Art / Earth ) was recorded as a duo by Mic Jogwer and “Ruebi” Walter from January to February 1991 in Ljubljana . Jogwer decided to further reduce the sound and only present a single basic musical idea per piece in order to give the lyrics more weight. A drum machine was also used. The album was released in August and caused irritation among the fans because it no longer contained any classical song structures or guitars. The live concerts, however, were played with a conventional line-up.
Moved to London (1991 to 1995)
After Aerdt was completed , Mic Jogwer and “Ruebi” Walter moved to London in spring 1991 . Jogwer felt that he had creatively exhausted the concept of Pink Turns Blue and expected fresh ideas from the change of environment. In addition, his new job as a sound engineer at Remaximum Studios in London quickly brought him into contact with the English musician and producer scene.
The so-called Madchester scene, a crossover of indie rock and rave disco music, was very popular in London, and Jogwer was inspired to take a radical change of direction. First the Aerdt track Seven Years was re-recorded in a dance version in June 1991 and released as a single in September. The previous drummer Reinhold Schobert then left the band at the end of 1991. At the beginning of 1992 two more dance-heavy singles followed, Overloaded and Star .
In May 1992 Pink Turns Blue went into the studio with their new drummer, 18-year-old Englishman Louis Pavlou, and recorded their fifth album, Sonic Dust , which was released in August. The song material was based on the indie rock style that was fashionable in England at the time and was even compared with U2 in the music press . Many German fans, however, considered it too commercial and too far removed from the original band sound.
In December 1992 Pink Turns Blue recorded the sixth album Perfect Sex with The Cure and The Sisters of Mercy producer Dave Allen , which was not released until February 1994 after a long delay. Perfect Sex was simply and directly produced, even sounded punky in places, but was not well received by the band's fans.
In November 1994 Muzak was released , an unplugged album that Mic Jogwer had recorded solo with a colleague sound engineer named Marc Williams in his apartment. It contained acoustic versions of a selection of Pink Turns Blue pieces.
In 1995 the band broke up. Mic Jogwer later said that after moving to London they lost their musical sense and got bogged down. Jogwer continued to work in the music industry, making a living from web design and the production of CD-ROMs .
Re-Union (2003 to 2016)
In April 2001 Mic Jogwer produced three songs by Violetta Superstar, the band of the Hamburg musician and artist Brigid Anderson, which appeared on a compilation CD (Die fiesen Diven) in October 2001 . The two decided to found an electronics duo called Orden and began writing songs and recording demos together.
At the beginning of 2003, the organizer of the Leipzig Wave-Gotik-Treffen asked about an order performance, and they also talked about Mic Jogwer's old band Pink Turns Blue. Jogwer and Anderson persuaded Thomas Elbern, "Reini" Walter and Louis Pavlou to a one-time reunion ("Ruebi" Walter and Markus Giltjes canceled), and Pink Turns Blue performed on June 8, 2003 at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen. The reaction of the audience was so enthusiastic that it was decided to seriously revive the band and more headlining appearances at major international festivals followed ( M'era Luna 2004).
The restart of Pink Turns Blue was announced in May 2004 with the release of the Greatest Hits album Re-Union , but in autumn 2004 Thomas Elbern left the band again due to lack of time. Markus Giltjes returned for him, who from now on took care of the band's artwork and the design of the website as an artist.
The seventh studio album, Phoenix , was recorded in Berlin in the winter of 2004/05, mixed by Janez Križaj in Ljubljana and released in April 2005. The dark and melancholy song material marked a return to the original sound and concept of the band and was unanimously well received by the music press and fans.
The eighth album Ghost , which was created in Berlin in autumn / winter 2006/07 with the same line-up, followed in May 2007. The release was presented live at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen on May 26, 2007, on which occasion "Ruebi" returned Walter returned to the band as the second guitarist. After this gig, drummer Louis Pavlou stepped out to focus on publishing his first novel. He was replaced by Andreas Plappert. Keegan's drummer, who had already been active on All Fools Day with “Reini” Walter, played the Ghost tour a short time later .
In November 2009 the band began recording their ninth album Storm in Berlin . After a headlining appearance at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen , Pink Turns Blue released a pre-single for the album, which was released in September 2010, with the double A-side 7-inch vinyl Storm Rider / Run from Me, which is limited to 300 copies .
In April 2016 Pink Turns Blue released their tenth studio album The AERDT - Untold Stories .
Discography
Studio albums
- If Two Worlds Kiss (Fun Factory!) October 1987
- Meta (Fun Factory!) October 1988
- Eremite (Our Choice) April 1990
- Aerdt (Our Choice) August 5, 1991
- Sonic Dust (Our Choice) August 10, 1992
- Perfect Sex (Our Choice) February 28, 1994
- Phoenix (Order) April 4, 2005
- Ghost (Strobelight Records) May 18, 2007
- Storm (Strobelight Records) September 10, 2010
- The AERDT - Untold Stories (Order) April 15, 2016
Compilations
- Muzak (Our Choice, Best Of - Unplugged) November 14, 1994
- The Best Of Pink Turns Blue and Rareties (TCM Music Productions) September 14, 1998
- Re-Union (Order) May 3, 2004
Singles
- Touch The Skies (FunYour Factory!) August 1988
- Your Master Is Calling (Fun Factory!) July 1989
- Michelle (Our Choice) October 1990
- Waiting for the Son (Our Choice) July 1991
- Seven Years (Our Choice) September 1991
- Overloaded (All I Ever Wanted) (Our Choice) 1992
- Star (Our Choice) June 25, 1992
- Talk Baby (Our Choice) November 7, 1994
- Now's the Time (medal, DJ promo single ) March 16, 2005
- Can't Be Love / Walk Away / Break It (Strobelight Records, DJ promo single ) April 16, 2007
- Storm Rider / Run from Me (Strobelight Records) June 1, 2010
Exclusive compilations tracks
- Procession (on: Bouquet Of Dreams, Dark Star) October 1991
- Last Love Tonight (on: United - Music for Compilations, Fun Factory!) March 1993
- OK Pussy (on: Rough Trade - Music for the 90's Vol. 5, Rough Trade Germany) 1993
- Marcella (1985 demo) (on: Escape With Romeo -Compilation Like Eyes in the Sunshine, Sound Factory) 1994
- Dirty Love (on: Sonic Seducer 10 Years Anniversary Compilation, Sonic Seducer) January 2006
