Under a false flag
| Under a false flag | ||||
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| Studio album by Die Toten Hosen | ||||
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Publication |
1984 |
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| Label (s) | Virgin Records , skull | |||
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Format (s) |
CD, LP, MC |
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Title (number) |
13 |
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running time |
39:56 |
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| occupation |
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Studio (s) |
Mascot, Cologne |
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The band's second studio album, Die Toten Hosen, is under a false flag . It was produced by Jon Caffery and released by Virgin Records in 1984 . Previously, disputes had led to the break with the EMI label .
Cover
Because of the cover, the disputes with EMI continued immediately after the release. In the picture, the band, disguised as pirates, is posing on a ship in front of the Düsseldorf Rhine Tower . A black flag is attached to the bow of the ship. The first version is painted with a graphic by Michael Roman . It shows the skeleton of a dog sitting in front of a gramophone . EMI interpreted this symbol as a denigration of their landmark His Master's Voice . The band was forbidden by a court to further distribute this version of the cover, and the record was initially sold with an almost completely blackened cover and a sticker "censored". Some of the records distributed for promotional purposes were accompanied by a photo of Campino kneeling in front of a gramophone in a dog position. A third version of the cover was created when it was later released on CD. The picture corresponds for the most part to the first version, but the black flag bears a drawn bony eagle. The parody of the German federal eagle is a common emblem of the band together with the grinning skull. The new edition of the album for the 25th anniversary of the band in 2007 shows the original cover picture with a dog's skeleton on the flag.
On the hull of the pirate ship are the words “Fiat Volumtas” in capital letters, which are taken from the Latin Our Father and mean “Thy will be done”.
Track list
- Play me the song of death - 2:19 (based on Ennio Morricone's film music)
- Love player - 2:50 (music: Andreas von Holst , Michael Breitkopf , Campino / text: Campino)
- Last Watch - 3:18 (from Holst, Breitkopf, Campino, Andreas Meurer / Campino)
- The Abbot of Andex - 3:12 ( Trimpop , Campino, von Holst, Breitkopf / Campino, Meurer)
- The murder of Vicky Morgan - 3:32 (Trimpop, Campino, von Holst, Breitkopf, Meurer / Trimpop, Campino, Meurer)
- The terminus in the port is 4:16
- False flag - 4:12 (Trimpop, Campino, von Holst, Breitkopf / Trimpop, Campino, Meurer / speaker: Hans Paetsch )
- Sekt or Selters - 3:56 (Trimpop, Campino, von Holst, Breitkopf, Meurer / Campino)
- The Eyesore - 2:56 (Campino, von Holst, Breitkopf / Campino)
- Drunk on duty - 2:20 (Trimpop, Frege, von Holst, Breitkopf, Meurer / Trimpop, Frege, Meurer)
- Shake Hands - 2:13 (Cover by Drafi Deutscher , music and text: Heino Gaze / Joachim Relin )
- Waiting for you - 3:40 (Trimpop, Campino, von Holst, Breitkopf / Campino)
- In the port is terminus 2 - 1:12
Singles
In July 1984, the band recorded an invitation BBC -Moderators John Peel on to London. There was a John Peel Session , which was released in 1984 as the B-side of the single Liebesspieler . The appearance at Peel marks the beginning of the band's international career.
Title List:
-
Love player - 2:46 (from Holst, Breitkopf, Campino / Campino)
- The John Peel Session on June 30, 1984:
- Play me the song of death - 1:17
- It's over - 2:27 (Campino, von Holst / Campino, Meurer, Trimpop)
- Till to the Bitter End - 2:48 International version of Until the Bitter End
- Seafever - 3:31 International version of Reisefieber (Campino, Meurer, Breitkopf, von Holst / Campino)
- Hofgarten - 1:42 text different from the version in the Opel corridor
Background and meaning of the lyrics
The album begins with the music from the film Play Me the Song of the Death of Ennio Morricone . Indeed, much of the text makes reference to the subject of death.
The song The Last Watch is about the thoughts of a person at his friend's deathbed, whom he could not say goodbye to, although he still had so much to say to him. Drunk on duty is “death” as a person. He loses the drinking contest with one of his clients, who can thereby escape his fate again. In the murder of Vicky Morgan is about the death of a prostitute who her wealthy suitor among friends of Ronald Reagan had. According to the lyrics of the song, the case was never solved because the CIA had removed all evidence.
The titles In the port is terminus , Under a false flag and In the port is terminus 2 belong together dramatically. In between, Hans Paetsch tells the fairy tale of the "Toten Hosen", who set off to sea on the run from thirst and death to look for the schnapps island. The recordings were made one afternoon in Paetsch's house in Hamburg.
Love player is about the experiences of a man who puts everything on a horse on the racecourse to impress a girl. However, the horse with the name "Liebesspieler" is narrowly defeated by the competitors "Speed King" (first) and "Mozartkugel" (second). The accompaniment leaves the narrator disappointed and alone on the track. The Abbot of Andex, on the other hand, has no difficulty in finding sex playmates and is constantly involved with nuns under the motto: “Can love be a sin?”, Even though the Church forbids him to do so. The main character in sparkling wine or seltzer stands in front of the altar with the bride he has impregnated. He mourns the times when he was still free to socialize with many girls and to move around the houses with the boys. He feels like he's on the scaffold and would like to flee. However, the family forces him to marry.
The song Schandfleck is about a mentally ill person whom the family deports to the closed institution so that they no longer have to take care of him. Shake Hands is a fast-played cover of a German hit song that Drafi Deutscher first released in 1964.
Music videos
- Under a false flag : The band can be seen disguised as pirates on a Rhine ferry in Düsseldorf.
- The end of the line is in the harbor : Die Toten Hosen are shown as sailors below the deck of a run-down ship.
tour
The tour for the album took the band from late November 1984 to October 1985 through 80 clubs and smaller halls in Germany. Among other things, she gave three concerts in the Batschkapp in Frankfurt and two concerts in the Alabama in Munich, or played in the overcrowded old waiting room in Cologne and gave four sold-out concerts in a row in Berlin.
New edition 2007
For the 25th anniversary of the band, a false flag was reissued and all tracks were remastered. It also contains some demo tapes from that time, the pieces from the John Peel Session with the original announcements and several songs from The Formula One film from 1985 by Wolfgang Büld .
Additional title
- Play me the song of death - 1:14
- It's over - 2:27 (Campino, von Holst / Campino, Meurer, Trimpop)
- Till to the Bitter End - 2:48 (Campino)
- Seafever - 3:38 (Breitkopf, Campino, von Holst, Meurer, Trimpop / Campino)
- Hofgarten - 1:41 (Breitkopf, von Holst, Meurer / von Holst)
- Hip Hop Bommi Bop - 4:26 (Breitkopf, Campino, von Holst, Meurer, Trimpop / Meurer, Trimpop)
- Faust in the pocket - 3:55 (Campino, von Holst / Campino)
- Head over Heels - 4:05 (Trimpop / Campino)
- La Historia del Pescador Pepe - 3:17 (Breitkopf, Campino, von Holst, Meurer, Trimpop / Campino)
- Nice Christmas presents - 2:23 (Breitkopf, Campino, von Holst, Meurer, Trimpop / Campino)
- From surfing and drinking - 2:49 (Breitkopf / Campino)
- The Eyesore - 2:43 (Breitkopf, Campino, von Holst / Campino)
- Under a false flag - 3:58 (Breitkopf, Campino, von Holst, Trimpop / Campino, Meurer, Trimpop)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bertram Job : Die Toten Hosen tell their story. P. 127.
- ↑ 1984 Virgin Schallplatten GmbH, 256 845-222
- ↑ Jan Weiler : Children, how time flies ... Die Toten Hosen tell - Jan Weiler listens to 1982-2007 . Booklet for the new edition 2007, part 2: Under a false flag .
- ↑ Rolf Niemczyk: The colorful pyranhas . Spex , June 1985 edition.