Transit (Swiss band)
| transit | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Hard rock , melodic rock |
| founding | 1982 |
| resolution | 2001 |
| Last occupation | |
| Oliver Fehr (1982-2001) | |
| Louis Kasper (1982-2001) | |
| Fredy Koller (1989-2001) | |
| Urs Rothenbühler (1996-2001) | |
guitar |
Guido Mander (1992-2001) |
| former members | |
Lead guitar |
René Baiker (1983-1992) |
Keyboard, vocals |
Marcel Gisel (1982-1989) |
Drums |
Herbert Dreeger (1991-1996) |
Drums |
Hansi Bühler (1982–1991) |
guitar |
Theo Sager (1982–1985) |
Transit was a Swiss hard rock band. It enjoyed great success in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
history
Transit was formed in 1982 from the eastern Swiss school band HUSH . In the line-up with Oliver Fehr (vocals, guitar), Louis Kasper (bass), René Baiker (lead guitar, backing vocals), Marcel Gisel (keyboard, backing vocals), Theo Sager (guitar, backing vocals) and Hansi Bühler (drums, backing vocals ) they recorded their debut album Break Away in 1985 at Powerplay Studios Maur . The album is a low budget production and was recorded in a week. Due to the album and the video for the song Break Away , the band was able to sign a record deal with K-TEL. The video is the first rock video by a Swiss band on the then still young TV broadcaster MTV .
In 1988 the band recorded the album Dirty Pleasures . The album was produced by the German Kalle Trapp and was released in Europe and Japan . With this long player the band made their breakthrough. The first single Take your Love reached number 8, the second You Can't Stop The Fire still number 22 in the Swiss charts, and the album made it to number 16. This makes Transit the first Swiss rock band with two single chart hits in the same year. These two songs are still among the most famous of the band and can be found again and again on various samplers.
Extensive concert tours through Europe followed, including with Smokie , Wishbone Ash , Mammas Boys, Girlschool , Nazareth and Krokus .
The following album, Heartcore , was released in Europe and throughout Asia in 1991 . The album made it to number 21 on the Swiss charts. The location for the video for the song Need my Number is a brothel , which caused a lot of media interest at the time. At the same time, the album Dirty Pleasures will be released in the rest of Asia.
Transit's fourth and final album, Catchfire , was released on various labels in Europe in 1994 and reached a top ten placement in Japan. Two singles have been released - Everlasting Fire in Switzerland and Deadly Burnout in Japan . The release of the record, however, fell at a time when hard rock «out» and new musical styles such as grunge are the order of the day. The record was not a great commercial success.
The band officially broke up in 2001 after around 20 years. In 2002 a DVD containing ten music videos and other rare material was released. The rumor keeps popping up that the band wants to regroup for concerts.
Founding member, lead guitarist and songwriter René Baiker founded the band Motorbaiks in 2002 and released the CD Sold Your Soul, which is available internationally on cdbaby.com, in 2007 .
The longtime guitarist and keyboardist Fredy Koller founded the rock cover band "Trash Deluxe" in 2003, which gave its final concert on March 20, 2010. He is now touring Switzerland with his Status Quo cover band “Station Quo”.
Transit teamed up for three exclusive reunion concerts at the end of 2010. On October 16, 2010 they played at the NEAT Festival in Genoa , on January 29, 2011 they were on stage with other rock greats such as Bonfire , China or Fox at the rock @ swil rock festival in Volketswil . And the final final gig took place on March 26, 2011 where it all began: in the Pentorama in Amriswil .
Awards
- 1990: The British rock magazine Kerrang selects Transit as "Best Swiss Rock Band"
- 1991: Transit is voted one of the 10 best Swiss music acts in a TV program.
Discography
Albums
- 1985: Break Away
- 1988: Dirty Pleasures
- 1991: Heartcore
- 1994: Catchfire
Singles
- 1988: Take Your Love
- 1988: You Can't Stop the Fire
- 1994: Everlasting Fire
- 1994: Deadly Burnout (Japan only)
DVDs
- 2002: Greatest Hits
Music videos
- 1985: Break Away
- 1988: I Don't Love You
- 1988: Take Your Love
- 1989: You Can't Stop the Fire
- 1989: Heartbreaker
- 1989: Good Emotions
- 1989: Alright
- 1991: New Generation
- 1991: Need My Number
- 1994: TV Never Lies
- 1994: Everlasting Fire