Spider Murphy Gang

Spider Murphy Gang
Spider Murphy Gang unplugged
General information
origin	Munich , Germany
Genre (s)	Rock and roll
founding	1977
Website	www.spidermurphygang.de
Founding members
Vocals, bass	Günther Sigl
guitar	Barny Murphy
Keyboard	Michael Busse (until 1986)
Drums	Franz Trojan (until 1992)
Current occupation
Vocals, bass	Günther Sigl
guitar	Barny Murphy
Piano, keyboard, organ, accordion	Ludwig Seuss (since 1986)
Guitar, lapsteel, bass, mandolin	Willie Duncan (since 1988)
Drums	Andreas Keller (since 2016)
Saxophone, flute, tuba	Otto Staniloi (since 1995)
Percussion, vocals	Dieter Radig (since 2002 at unplugged concerts)
former members
saxophone	Willy Ray Ingram (1984-1989)
Drums	Franz Trojan (1977-1992)
Drums	Paul Dax (1992-2016)
Keyboard	Michael Busse (1977–1986)

The Spider Murphy Gang is a band from Munich that became known for rock 'n' roll music with lyrics in Bavarian dialect . With a scandal in the restricted area , they achieved a number one hit on the music charts in German-speaking countries in 1981 .

history

Foundation and first successes

The trained banker Günther Sigl founded the Spider Murphy Gang in 1977 together with the telecommunication craftsman Barny Murphy , the drummer Franz Trojan and the physics student Michael Busse. The name arose after the fictional gangster "Spider Murphy" from Elvis Presley's song " Jailhouse Rock " ("... Spider Murphy played the tenor saxophone, Little Joe was blowin 'on the slide trombone. The drummer boy from Illinois went crash, boom, bang , the whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang ... "). Initially - since the beginning of the 1970s under different names, u. a. "Stummick" - coverte the band known rock 'n' roll pieces of the US top 40 Billboard charts , including many Elvis and Chuck Berry title. After a few successful appearances, for example in the Schwabing music club "Memoland", the owner Memo Rhein produced their first LP "Rock'n'Roll" in 1978. There, the radio presenter Georg Kostya from Bayerischer Rundfunk became aware of the group and hired them for his program "Rockhaus". After they had recorded the title music for the show at Kostya's request with a “Rock 'n' Roll in Bavarian”, they quickly became the house band of the Bavarian Radio. This gave them the opportunity to regularly present themselves to a larger audience with new, self-written songs. The music producer Harald Steinhauer brokered the first record deal with a major label . In 1980 the second LP "Rock'n'Roll Schuah" was released by EMI . The album was initially unable to place in the charts. The chart entry took place in April 1982 in the wake of their success at the time with the album " Dolce Vita ".

The triple number one hit

Günther Sigl

Barny Murphy

At the beginning of 1982 her single “Scandal im Sperrgebiet” reached first place in the German ( 8 weeks ), Austrian and Swiss charts and became part of the Neue Deutsche Welle . It is included on their third LP "Dolce Vita", which was produced by Steinhauer and the band. The platinum hit also appeared on many samplers ; Cover versions were also released in Spain, the Netherlands and Japan . Another track from the LP “Dolce Vita” was released as a decoupled single, “ Schickeria ”. This was followed by the singles “ Where are you? "And" Ich schau 'dich an "from their fourth LP" Tutti Frutti "(produced by Steinhauer and Armand Volker ) as well as a tour of several weeks through West Germany . In 1983 they were the first West German band to go on a tour through the GDR . In memory of this extraordinary event, the band released the song "Mädchen drüben", sung by the then drummer Franz Trojan. In the same year, the film " The Spider Murphy Gang ", produced by Michael Verhoeven , was released , which thematized the history of the band.

The time after the great successes

With the ebb of Neue Deutsche Welle in 1983, the Spider Murphy Gang was also calmer. With "Scharf wia Peperoni" 1984 and "Wahre Liebe" 1985 they released new albums and went on tour several times; the albums were no longer sold in the same numbers as the albums before. With Willy Ray Ingram, a saxophonist joined the band in 1984. In 1986 keyboardist Michael Busse left the band, and Ludwig Seuss came for him . Ingram returned to Texas in 1989; his successor was guitarist Willie Duncan. Trojan produced the albums "Overdose Rock'n'Roll" and "Hokuspokus"; Trojan and Johan Daansen produced “In Flagranti” together. Trojan left the band in 1992; Paul Dax followed him. In 1995 Otto Staniloi joined the band as a permanent member.

In 1997, the album “Keine Lust auf haben haben Zeiten” (produced by Barny Murphy) and in 2002 the album “Radio Hitz” came out. In 2004 the live double CD "Unplugged - Scandal im Lustspielhaus" was released. On November 9, 2012, a DVD of a live performance by the band on November 10, 1984 in the Bochum mine ( WDR Rockpalast ) was released.

In July 2016, the drummer Paul Dax left the band; Andreas Keller followed him .

At the 66th “ Night of the Proms ” show on December 11, 2016, Günther Sigl and Barny Murphy were “surprise guests” in the Munich Olympic Hall .

Anniversaries

Spider Murphy Gang live (2016)

In the autumn of 1997, thousands sang “Happy Birthday, Spider Murphy…” The 20th anniversary of the band was celebrated in the Circus Kronebau with a big anniversary concert with Willy Michl , Wolfgang Ambros and Hans-Jürgen Buchner .

Spider Murphy Gang unplugged

The "Spiders" celebrated the band's 25th anniversary in 2002 with concerts in the Kronebau again for four days. There were Peter Kraus , Willy Astor , Dr. Will and Michael Mittermeier . The BR recorded the concerts and broadcast them on a "rock night". Since then the band has also been giving unplugged concerts , often supported by Dieter Radig and Wolfgang Götz.

They also celebrated their 30th stage anniversary in 2007 in the Kronebau. a. with Willy Astor , Werner Schmidbauer , Martin Kälberer , Georg Ringsgwandl , Nick Woodland , Viva Voce and Klaus Eberhartinger from the EAV . This concert was recorded by BR television .

In 2012 the band celebrated their 35th anniversary with a big concert as part of the event “ Midsummer Night's Dream ” in the Olympic Stadium in Munich , where they received the award “ Munich lights up” from the then Mayor Christian Ude .

On October 9 and 10, 2017, the band played two club concerts in the Munich slaughterhouse concert hall and celebrated their 40th birthday on October 28, 2017, as well as with an additional concert on October 29, 2017 in the sold-out Munich Olympic Hall. Guests were Claudia Koreck , Willy Astor, the Cologne band Brings , Peter Schilling , Geier Sturzflug and Stefan Zauner (former singer of Munich Freedom ).

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	AT	CH
1978	Rock'n'Roll	-	-	-	First published in 1978; 14 tracks
1980	Rock'n'Roll Schuah	DE20th gold (30 weeks)DE	-	-	First published in 1980; Chart entry: April 12, 1982 Sales: + 250,000; 10 tracks
1981	Dolce vita	DE1 platinum (91 weeks)DE	AT1 (20 weeks) AT	-	Chart entry June 29, 1981 Sales: + 500,000; 10 tracks
1982	Tutti Frutti	DE3 gold (29 weeks)DE	AT10 (16 weeks) AT	-	First published October 18, 1982 Sales: + 250,000; 10 tracks
1984	Hot like hot peppers	DE14 (19 weeks) DE	-	CH8 (15 weeks) CH	First published April 8, 1984; 10 tracks
1985	True love	DE18 (10 weeks) DE	-	CH28 (1 week) CH	First published June 10, 1985; 9 tracks

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

In the following years the band released five more studio albums, but they could not achieve chart success.

• 1987: Overdose Rock'n'Roll (10 tracks)
• 1989: In Flagranti (9 titles)
• 1990: Hocus Pocus (11 tracks)
• 1991: Star Portrait (10 tracks; first CD release of the studio album Tutti Frutti)
• 1997: Don't feel like bad times (14 titles)
• 2002: Radio Hitz (15 tracks)

Live albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	AT	CH
1983	Live!	DE23 (16 weeks) DE	AT15 (4 weeks) AT	CH17 (4 weeks) CH	First published October 24, 1983; Tutti Frutti Tour, 1982-1983; 9 tracks
2018	40 years of rock'n'roll	DE99 (1 week) DE	-	-	First published March 2nd, 2018; Olympiahalle, Munich, 2017; 29 tracks

In addition, the band released two more live albums, but they could not achieve chart success.

• 1999: Live - the complete concert (double CD; Heide-Volm, Planegg, 1999; 24 tracks)
• 2004: Unplugged - Scandal in the Lustspielhaus (live double CD; Maximilianeum, Munich, 2004; 24 tracks)

Video albums

The following video albums were released:

• 2012: Live @ Rockpalast (DVD; Zeche, Bochum, 1984; 24 tracks plus interview)
• 2018: 40 Years of Rock'n'Roll (DVD; Olympiahalle, Munich, 2017; 31 titles)
• 2004: 25 Years of Rock'n'Roll (double DVD; Circus Krone, Munich, 2002; 36 titles plus bonus material)
• 2004: Unplugged in the Maximilianeum (DVD; Maximilianeum, Munich, 2004; 28 titles)

Compilations

The band has released 16 compilation albums so far, none of which could reach a chart placement in the German album charts .

• 1986: Greatest Hits (Version 1; 16 tracks)
• 1986: Greatest Hits (Version 2; 16 tracks)
• 1987: Mir san a Bavarian band (12 tracks)
• 1993: Single Hit-Collection 1980-1993 (16 tracks)
• 1993: Premium Gold Collection (16 titles)
• 1994: Scandal in the restricted area (16 titles)
• 1995: It's music (12 tracks)
• 1997: Your greatest successes - Mir san a Bavarian band (12 tracks)
• 1997: Rock'n'Roll Story (double CD; 38 tracks)
• 1997: Golden Stars - The Best of Spider Murphy Gang (18 titles)
• 1997: Your Hits (14 tracks)
• 2003: Time travel - 70 hits from 25 years (4-CD box; 70 tracks)
• 2005: The Essential (16 tracks)
• 2007: The hits of the 80s (12 tracks)
• 2007: 30 Years of Rock'n'Roll - All Singles (double CD; 27 tracks)
• 2014: Highlights (15 titles)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	AT	CH
1981	Scandal in the restricted area Dolce Vita	DE1 gold (36 weeks)DE	AT1 (16 weeks) AT	CH1 (11 weeks) CH	First published September 1981 Sales: + 250,000
1982	Schickeria Dolce Vita	DE12 (28 weeks) DE	AT15 (2 weeks) AT	CH5 (6 weeks) CH	First published February 1982
	Where are you? Tutti Frutti	DE4 (29 weeks) DE	AT10 (20 weeks) AT	CH8 (5 weeks) CH	First published in June 1982
	I'm looking at you Tutti Frutti	DE5 (19 weeks) DE	AT11 (12 weeks) AT	CH9 (6 weeks) CH	First published October 1982
1983	Me san a Bavarian band Live!	DE25 (18 weeks) DE	AT-AT	CH17 (7 weeks) CH	First published October 10, 1983
1984	Pfüati God Elisabeth Scharf wia hot peppers	DE29 (12 weeks) DE	AT-AT	CH14 (9 weeks) CH	First published March 12, 1984
1985	Cadillac true love	DE56 (4 weeks) DE	AT-AT	CH-CH	First published July 1, 1985

Music and lyrics

Günther Sigl & Barny Murphy at Night of the Proms in the Olympiahalle

The musical focus of the Spider Murphy Gang is still the classic rock 'n' roll, especially shaped by Barney's guitar playing, which is clearly inspired by Chuck Berry. Dance music from the 1950s and 1960s as well as individual traditional elements.

A characteristic, recurring element in the texts is above all the humorous, socially critical examination of the topics of eroticism , sex and double standards and their commercial presence in today's society, as the following examples show. Brothels: “Now go to the KP”, “Hocus pocus” - Call girl: “Scandal in the restricted area” - Erotic shop: “Dolce-Vita-Rita”, “Beate” - Dating agency: “Where are you?” - Peepshow: “I'm looking Dich an ”- Illustrated magazines:“ Big blue eyes ”.

The Spider Murphy Gang has also often addressed regional issues in their songs, for example in “Schickeria” or “A naked princess”. With the song “Freizeit 81” on the album “Tutti Frutti”, the band also took up socio-political events of the time in connection with the youth and punk movement in Munich.

Honors

In November 2007 the Spider Murphy Gang was recognized as a representative of "Chuck Berry's" style of rock'n'roll on its website.

During the Bundesliga season 2010/2011, the song “S Leben is wia a Traum” from 1984 was used as the goal anthem at Bayern Munich .

Awards

BAMBI 1983

• 1982 Bronze Lion from Radio Luxemburg for Schickeria
• 1982 Golden Europe TV Prize of Saarland Radio for "Scandal in the restricted area"
• 1982 Golden Europe as "Press Prize Winner" Saarländischer Rundfunk
• 1982 Golden BRAVO Otto in the category: Band
• 1982 Golden Pop / Rocky Hammer Smurf
• 1982 Silver POPCORN
• 1983 Golden BAMBI for the best interpreters of the Neue Deutsche Welle
• 1983 Bronze Pop / Rocky Hammer Smurf
• 2003 Schwabing Art Prize (Honorary Prize)
• 2006 Bavarian poet thaler from the Munich tower scribe
• 2012 Gold Medal Munich lights up the city of Munich
• 2017 Upper Bavarian Culture Prize

Web links

Commons : Spider Murphy Gang  - Collection of Images

• Official website of Spider Murphy Gang
• 40 years of Spider Murphy Gang - “closer to punk than pop” , interview with Günther Sigl, one day , October 26, 2017
• Spider Murphy Gang at laut.de.
• spiderfanpage
• YOUTUBE VIDEO - "Night of the Proms Tour Diary" Day 11 Munich
• Spider Murphy charts

Footnotes

1. ↑ Homepage
2. ↑ Chart sources:
   • Artist in the German charts. Retrieved December 2, 2016 . 
   • Artist in the Austrian charts. Retrieved December 2, 2016 . 
   • Artist in the Swiss charts. Retrieved December 2, 2016 . 
3. ↑ https://hitparade.ch/song/Spider-Murphy-Gang/Skandal-im-Sperr district-817
4. ↑ https://hitparade.ch/song/Spider-Murphy-Gang/Schickeria-837