Thomas Hösli

Thomas Hösli (born December 17, 1965 in Lucerne ; † August 23, 2007 there ) was a Swiss guitarist , singer , songwriter and entertainer ( punk , rock , chanson ).

life and work

Hösli spent his childhood and youth in Lucerne's Maihof district, with direct eye contact with the former Sedel prison, which was to play a formative role in his life. The Sedel shaped him and vice versa. From the very beginning (conversion of the former prison in 1981) he frequented the Sedel Music Center . Here he had countless appearances, here he rehearsed, here he was repeatedly involved in the board of the sponsoring association, here he also lived when he officially acted as caretaker in 1985 and 1986.

The beginnings were all about punk , for example in the band Naturakt (1981–1985). In the mid-1980s he founded Steven's Nude Club, a long-lived band that was at times a great success. With the club he not only performed widely in Switzerland, but also in Germany, Holland, France and Italy. In terms of style, Steven's Nude Club around his mastermind Hösli pioneered the crossover style mix, in which punk, ska and rhythm'n'blues had their place. He wrote high German songs early on (primarily in the role of his alter ego Gilbert Dessert, under which name Hösli also appeared as his own producer). In the last eleven years of his life, Hösli brought high German writing to its bloom as a continuation of his activities as Gilbert Dessert in the duo Hösli & Ricardo. Three sound carriers testify to this era; in addition there is the duo project together with the Yellow Caps Orchestra of the Lucerne civil defense.

Hösli repeatedly realized numerous side projects when he played music by Alex Harvey , Sweet or The Kinks in cover programs with specially founded tribute bands . In order to allow himself the freedom of musical life, Hösli worked part-time as a reprographic since the early 1990s and was also active as an expert on apprentice exams.

With trips to places of residence such as Reussbühl and Zurich, Hösli remained connected to his hometown Lucerne throughout his life. In 1992, he wrote the portrait song of the same name about the Lucerne suburb of Reussbühl, a classic and evergreen, not only of Lucerne's musical culture. A valid film portrait of the nature and work of Hösli (and his duo partner Ricardo Regidor) was created by Stefan Kälin and Norbert Wiedmer in 2005 with “Blau”.

On August 23, 2007, Hösli died of lung cancer caused by asbestos dust . Hösli had come into contact with the cancer-causing substance many years earlier when he was working on renovation work at the University Hospital Zurich.

For more than two decades, Hösli played a key role in shaping the Lucerne cultural scene, and not just as a musician. Lucerne city president Urs W. Studer paid tribute to Hösli the day after his death with the words: «Hösli's death is a loss for the cultural city of Lucerne. I see him as a personality who has enriched society, not only culturally, but also in general, as a person. " The " Neue Luzerner Zeitung " wrote in an obituary: "His voice remains unmistakable, his way of conveying his music on stage with gestures and facial expressions was considered inimitable: an entertainer by God's grace."

Bands

• 1981–1985 sponsored children , sponsored children , Die Reiber , Naturakt
• 1984-2000 Steven's Nude Club
• 1984–1988 (The Great) Gilbert Dessert (Hösli solo)
• 1988–1989 Moses In Heavy Syrup
• 1992-1993 MD Moon
• 1996-2007 Hösli & Ricardo
• 2002-2003 Kings Of Cunnilingus
• 2005 Sindells
• 2006 Beatralon

Tribute band projects

• 2000 The Sensational Alex Harvey Project
• 2001 Sweeter than Sweet, songs by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman (The Sweet, Suzi Quatro)
• 2004 The Missing Kinks (The Songs of Ray Davies)

theatre

• «Narrator-Conférencier» and together with Ricardo Regidor interpreter of 5 songs in the performance «Money and Spirit or The Reconciliation» based on Jeremias Gotthelf at the Lucerne Theater (premiere November 2001, director: Michael Talke ).

Moderations / miscellaneous

• 1991–2000 initiator, organizer and presenter of the Lucerne playback show «Interpretenfestival»
• 2003–2006 moderator of the draw, speaker and moderator award ceremony at the Lucerne cultural football tournament Kick'n'Rush http://www.kick-n-rush.ch/
• 2002–2007 moderator of the “Kick Ass Award” gala from Radio 3fach
• 2004–2007 WOW input team for the satirical animation program “WOW” (Swiss television SF DRS)

Columns

• “Zwischenenton”, “Speaker's Corner” or “Lucerne today” in Lucerne today and WOZ Die Wochenzeitung Luzern , May 1997 to July 2001

Discography

• 1985 Naturakt (MC)
• 1988 The Great Gilbert Dessert : Nobody Falls Deeper (MC)

Steven's Nude Club

• 1986 Go Nude (EP),
• 1988 An Overdose Of Gloux (LP),
• 1989 Nervous (LP),
• 1994 Dedicated To: ... (CD)
• 1996 Pool Position (CD)
• 1997 17 hits in stereo quality (Best of) (CD)

Hösli

• 1992 Reussbühl
• 2008 Music For Happy Lovers (posthumous)

Hösli & Ricardo

• 1999 All the best
• 2001 blue
• 2003 Hösli & Ricardo / Yellow Caps Orchestra
• 2003 Always Kick'n'Rush (Single)
• 2005 In good company

various bands, guest appearances

• 1992 MD Moon: Honeymoon (guitar, choir singing)
• 1994 MD Moon: Prince Of Beirut , maxi CD
• 2003 Kings Of Cunnilingus (Demo CD)

Sampler / compilation

• 1989 Steven's Nude Club: Kill The President, on: Swiss Benefice Sampler. Stop the Army
• 1989 Steven's Nude Club: Bang; Now, on: Original & Cover Versions
• 1992 Steven's Nude Club: Trust No Magazine, on: The Lux-Noise -Single-A-Side-Compilation
• 1993 Nude Club: Tree, on: SKAmpler
• 1995 Steven's Nude Club: The Wrong Guy, on: Central Rock. Rock from central Switzerland
• 1995 Al Pesto with Hösli: Lonely Town, on: Lucerne musicians help
• 1997 Steven's Nude Club: Hit In My Back, on: SKAmpler 3
• 1999 Steven's Nude Club: Haunted House, on: SKAmpler 4
• 1999 Hösli & Ricardo: Would you? On: Selection Swiss Radio International. Swissness and Quality
• 2002 Steven's Nude Club: Bo Diddley (1986), on: Sedel 1981–2001 (CD supplement to the book, 2002)
• 2006 Hösli & Ricardo: Der Dixielandfaschist (1999), on: Rock Down. Sampler against the Asylum Act / Aliens Act , Bern 2006 (ww.rockdown.ch)
• 2007 Hösli & Ricardo: Dark blue, on: The greatest Swiss hits. Special & crazy
• 2008 Hösli & Ricardo: teacher and at the SP, on: Hin & Weg. Compilation against signposting , Lucerne (www.luzernfueralle.ch)

DVD

• 2005 [1] [2] , 2005 Stefan Kälin, Norbert Wiedmer: Blue. A music film with Hösli & Ricardo, Biograph Film, Switzerland, DVD 2006
• 2006 [3] , Marcello Pirrone: Yesterday's Rebels. Thomas Hösli, Hannibal Buri, Kerstin Ramser. Zurich University of Art and Design, documentary film, 25 '
• 2007 [4] , WOW, DVDs, Böse Follow 1–10, 2004–2005, with the bonus “Faking of” (cameo of Hösli as a make-up artist); www.wow-tv.ch
• 2008 WOW, DVD, Böse Episodes 21–25, 2006–2007, with bonus «Hommage an Hösli»

Awards / honors

• 1988 [5] (PDF; 866 kB), music contributions from the city and canton of Lucerne to Steven's Nude Club
• 1991 Tabasco Prize for “pioneer status for socio-cultural flavoring”, Lucerne
• 1996 [6] (PDF; 2.1 MB), music contributions from the city and canton of Lucerne to Thomas Hösli
• 1997 recognition award from the city of Lucerne
• 2006 Top 100 - Cultural Heads of Central Switzerland. The culture magazine, Lucerne, 12/2006 (26.)
• 2007 Life Time Award 2006, honorary award as part of the “Kick Ass Award” awards from www.3fach.ch, Radio 3fach, January
• 2007 «Hösli forever». Homage exhibition in the Kunstpanorama / Kunsthalle Luzern, December 9, 2007 to January 6, 2008.
• 2008 Schüür concert venue, Lucerne, October 25, 2008: “Hösli forever”, homage by Lucerne bands with Hösli songs and CD christening of the album Music For Happy Lovers
• 2009 In August, an oversized portrait was created on the north facade of Hösli's musical location, the Sedel Music Center in Lucerne

swell

• Albert Kuhn: Voralpenbitter. Thomas Hösli, Rock'n'Roller . The magazine. Tages-Anzeiger Zurich, No. 12, March 23, 1996
• [7] , Sedel 1981–2001 , Interest Group Lucerne Musicians ILM / Velvet Edition, Lucerne 2002 ISBN 3-9522411-1-3
• [8] , Bruno Affentranger: Read and shut up. Ladies and gentlemen: Hösli (portrait). Das Kulturmagazin, Lucerne, No. November 11, 2005 (PDF file; 379 kB)
• Urs Hangartner: An entertainer by the grace of God. On the death of Hösli . Neue Luzerner Zeitung, August 25, 2007
• Urs Hangartner, Benji Gross: Even if I'm so good. Thomas Hösli (1965–2007) , obituary, WOZ Die Wochenzeitung, Zurich, August 30, 2007
• Urs Hangartner: City says goodbye to Hösli . Funeral service and 1965 to 2007: That was Hösli's life . Neue Luzerner Zeitung, September 1, 2007
• [9] , Albert Kuhn: Thomas Hösli (1965–2007), obituary . Die Weltwoche, Zurich, No. 35/07, August 29, 2007
• Bruno Affentranger: Obituary, Das Kulturmagazin, Lucerne, No. 9, September 2007
• Vera Kaa: For Hösli . Neue Luzerner Zeitung, September 24, 2007
• Urs Hangartner, Benji Gross: The fright of the philistines . Obituary. Music newspaper Loop, Zurich, No. 100, 10.07
• [10] , Swiss National Sound Archives
• [11] , Central and University Library Lucerne

Web links

• Thomas Hösli in the Internet Movie Database (English)