Wolfgang Michels

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Wolfgang Michels (1985)

Wolfgang Michels (born July 15, 1951 in Delmenhorst ; † September 14, 2017 in Hamburg ) was a German musician, singer, guitarist, composer, lyricist, producer and singer-songwriter .

Musical career

Wolfgang Michels first appeared in 1966 with his own songs in the opening act for "German Bonds" and was discovered in 1967 by Alexis Korner . Michels had recorded a tape with English-language songs under the pseudonym "One Plus None" and sent it to the BBC . The song Desert Walker , presented there in a radio broadcast, was heard by Alexis Korner (quote: “That was a strange sound - I like it”), and he invited Wolfgang Michels to London . In 1969 Korner wrote the liner notes for the first LP of the band Percewood's Onagram, founded by Wolfgang Michels .

After a total of four albums and the end of Percewood's Onagram in 1974, which the Record Collector (UK) described in 1984 as a “German band who enjoys a cult reputation”, Michels, as he called himself from then on, began a solo career. In 1975 he first went to England, where he appeared in the Marquee Club , and in 1976 to the United States . There he recorded "as the first German musician an album - Full Moon California Sunset - in the USA", which was influenced by the participation of sound engineers and musicians from the environment of the Doobie Brothers and Neil Young of West Coast Rock. It was recorded at Pacific Recording Studios, San Mateo , California , in October 1976. Michels received the German Record Award for the album Full Moon California Sunset .

A second album, Crazy Enough , recorded in the Music Annex Recording Studios, California in October 1978, was released in 1979. Michels presented the title track on the ZDF music show "Rockpop" hosted by Christian Simon . Former Percewood's Onagram guitarist Peter Conant Schaffer took part in both albums. Michels turned down an offer to stay in the USA and produce recordings for the market there, as he had private obligations in Germany.

In addition to his music career, Michels also worked for various record companies as a freelance producer, A&R manager and consultant, among others with the American artists John Hartford , Jack Hardy and the German artists Ton Steine ​​Scherben , Short Romans and Das third Ohr . In this role he established the “Nature” label, which was reserved for acoustic music and anticipated the unplugged wave of the 1990s. Artists whom he signed for the label, among others, were John Hartford (Gentle on my mind) , Steve Young (7 Bridges Road) and Mario Hené .

In the early 1980s he turned to the German language and collaborated on three albums with Rio Reiser , who at that time was still the singer of the band Ton Steine ​​Scherben. He was supported by RPS Lanrue (Ton Steine ​​Scherben), the Danish guitarist Nils Tuxen (formerly Savage Rose), Adrian Askew (formerly Lucifer's Friend ), and the studio musicians Curt Cress and Peter Weihe on these recordings. The albums were called Something Not Right Here (1981), No Problems (1983) and By Moonlight… (1985). Various singles such as Please Very , Little Dreamer or Future of the Past , which he presented in the television program "Lieder und Menschen", among others, as well as a consistently good press consolidated Michels' reputation as a demanding artist who was "far ahead of his time" and texts such as Ranked music equally in his compositions.

The friendship between Michels and Ton Steine ​​Sch towards the beginning of the 1980s resulted in a Ton Steine ​​Scherben sampler and various singles being released for the first time by the major record company Teldec . A planned new studio album of the shards, which should be called Alles Läge , and for which Teldec had already placed advertisements in the trade press, failed for internal reasons.

In 1990 Michels recorded the single Dancin 'on the edge of life under the pseudonym "Percewood" , which was produced by Armand Volker and made it into the top 40 of the German charts. In 1993 Michels was invited by Joan Baez to a joint concert at the Philharmonie in Munich. In 1995 new and old material was released on the Orange Kindergarden album . For the Westcoast single Bring me water , Michels shot a video in the California desert, directed by Jim Rakete .

1997 Michels or his former group Percewood's Onagram was named by the New Folk movement around Pat Thomas, musician, journalist, Heyday Records label boss, from San Francisco as an influence, which are "one of Germany's best kept secrets". Thomas compared Michels' album Full Moon California Sunset to Bob Dylan's album Blood on the Tracks and Neil Young's work Harvest . Michels also appeared in the opening act for Pat Thomas & Band in Knust, Hamburg, as a special guest.

In 2003 the complete musical oeuvre of Wolfgang Michels and Percewood's Onagram was published again in the form of eleven remastered CDs, some of which were supplemented with many unpublished titles. 2003 undertook Michels a tour of Germany, supported by Nils Tuxen (guitar, dobro , pedal steel) (ex-Savage Rose) and (bass percussion), the Benjamin Hüllenkremer with a concert in Bonn's "harmony" for the TV series Rockpalast documented has been.

Michels was involved in the Rio Reiser Tribute family album in 2003 , for which he produced, among other things, the Michels Reiser piece Herzverloren from the LP Bei Mondschein with vocals by Rio Reiser and an unpublished Michels Reiser ballad Soon at home (in the original " Lonely Places ”from Percewood's Onagram). Herzverloren appeared in 1974 in the original English version of Percewood's Onagram as Since I Met You My Darling on the album Ameurope .

Also included in the family album were Fettes Brot with their cover version of I'm tired , a song that had appeared on Michels' album No Problems 20 years earlier . Rio Reiser wrote the text, Michels the music for a song, the title of which was taken from a dialogue from the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest .

On December 10, 2007 Michels performed with his band at the “Hamburg Sounds” event of the NDR in Schmidts Tivoli and played five new songs: Soon at home (text: Rio Reiser / music: Michels), Lover Lover , Sehnsucht , Wenn ich mich so feel like today and the desert .

On April 11, 2008, Wolfgang Michels new album came home , that of Franz Plasa produces and in Hamburg and San Francisco was taken. In addition to Michels - vocals, acoustic and electric guitars played in his accompanying band Marc Awounou - lead guitar, Alex Grube - bass, Philipp Schwär - keyboards, Tobias Neumann - piano and Rainer Kallas Hubert - drums.

The album is available in a standard version with twelve songs and a limited edition with two bonus tracks. The first single was Sehnsucht , which he presented with a band on the ZDF television garden on May 12, 2008. On April 9, 2008, he played with a band in the Hamburg Prinzenbar, the recording of which was broadcast on NDR2 Radio on May 19, 2008, and headphones on May 24, 2008 at the SWR1 radio concert , the recording of which will be broadcast on June 27, 2008. In addition, on April 14th he was seen on Sat.1 breakfast television with Torgen Schneider in the Torgen am Morgen program , on April 19, 2008, he was sitting on the red sofa of the NDR program DAS! MAGAZIN and appeared on May 30, 2008 in the NDR talk show Die Aktuell Schaubude .

In May / June 2008 Michels played in the opening act of the American rock singer Beth Hart , on July 31, 2008 as support for Joan Armatrading in Essen and on August 13, 2008 he appeared for the first time with Neil Young in Hamburg's Stadtpark. In June 2009 he played all Neil Young concerts in Germany as a guest musician. On March 17, 2010, Wolfgang Michels and his band opened the Crossroads Festival organized by the WDR Rockpalast in the Harmonie in Bonn. Timo Blum wrote in the Bonner General-Anzeiger on March 19, 2010, “After that, Wolfgang Michels will have the chance to do everything better. He uses it, but takes his time. Maybe the break is too hard, at least it takes time for the audience to warm up to Michels' relaxed, bluesy German rock. Maybe it's also because the north German singer and guitarist keeps his best songs until the end. But then Michels can look forward to long applause and encore calls from the entire audience thanks to a highly motivated, technically excellent band. The weak start ends well. "

In 2011, Wolfgang Michels appeared at two NDR 90.3 Hamburg Sounds events in the Fliegende Bauten : On October 10, 2011, he played the songs I Threw It All Away and Tonight I'll be Staying Here With You at the Bob Dylan Evening by Bob Dylan and on November 14, 2011 he played his own songs on the Big City Blues . Both programs were recorded for the radio, the Bob Dylan evening also for television.

On November 16, 2011, Wolfgang Michels sang their song Wir muss raus hier together with the band Ton Steine ​​Scherben in the Hamburg factory .

The German metal singer Doro Pesch covered Michels' song Lover Lover on her album Raise Your Fist from 2012. She translated the song into English and gave it a different title in addition to her own style.

In the following years Wolfgang Michels worked continuously on new songs and recorded various high quality demos (in English and German). He was planning a purely acoustic album in two languages.

The musician died on September 14, 2017 after a long illness in Hamburg. He left a wife and two grown daughters.

On September 14, 2018, the German-language studio album harvest time will be released posthumously on Glitterhouse Records . In addition to new songs, the album contains new recordings of When I Feel That Way , Sehnsucht and Soon at Home .

criticism

Wolfgang Michels is, according to the music journalist Siegfried Schmidt-Joos, author of the Rock-Lexikon issue 7/1996, “the first German who presented mature folk-rock compositions with a sensitivity for musical trends. This can be seen as a creative historical contribution to the pop music history of our country ”. The magazine Musikexpress certified Michels in its 8/1996 issue to be a “pioneer with cult figure status”. The Frankfurter Rundschau called him a “cult figure of the acoustic groove” while the German Rolling Stone called him “master of handmade rock music” in the 11/1994 issue.

According to Welt am Sonntag on Sept. 7, 2008 Michels is "one of the great strangers of the German rock music scene, but has long enjoyed cult status with fans and music journalists" and the Musikexpress of Aug. 14, 2008 certified the singer / songwriter "a surprising comeback - a dozen songs for eternity. ”The same source also states:“ If the term 'cult figure', which is used over and over again, applies to a German musician, then to Wolfgang Michels. [...] Michels delivers an album from a single source, with a timeless singer / songwriter touch that takes up all the stylistic trends that he tried out over the course of his four-decade career. [...] The arrangements are simple but effective between blues, rock, folk, soul, Brit-Pop and Latin-Jazz. Above all, Michels' voice, matured through fate, knows how to fascinate with a roughened soul timbre. ”In the Frankfurter Rundschau on May 19, 2008, a journalist wrote that Wolfgang Michels was not without influence:“ Michel's name sometimes comes up when the going gets tough the godparents of the New Acoustic Movement. "

The criticism was also positive in the online media. The Teleschau media service reported: “[…] Michels still has a young voice and youthful energy, but on the other hand also full of age wisdom and sadness. He oscillates somewhere between singer / songwriter, rock orientation, nonchalance and the ability to suffer. […] Conclusion: convincing. ”At Laut.de it says:“ In a side street of Deutschrock you will find Wolfgang Michel's somewhat hidden shop. No new-fangled neon tubes dazzle the eyes, the interior is classic and clearly handmade. Accordingly, its range of goods is not carelessly industrial, but has an authentic, individual touch. [...] Wolfgang Michels is not a cold-hearted, cheeky flail, but a dreaming, hopeful and absolutely true romantic rocker. And by the way, an extraordinary musician, singer, songwriter and storyteller. "

Discography

LPs

  • 1975 Kunstkopf live - Hamburg Folk-Rock Session
  • 1976 New Wave Dropouts , Pastels
  • 1977 Full Moon California Sunset , Telefunken
  • 1979 Crazy Enough , Pastels, Bellaphon
  • 1981 Something's wrong here , metronomes
  • 1983 No problems , Teldec
  • 1985 By moonlight ... , Teldec

Vinyl sampler

  • 1981 Rock in Germany Vol. 8 - Strand , Teldec
  • 1982 Rock in Germany Vol. 3 - New German popular music , Teldec

Singles (7 ″) as One Plus None

  • 1968 Virgin

A: You're Looking So Good / Please Be Faithful B: Drive Me Somewhere (1st Version) / Religion And Love / Death Of Mr.G.

Singles (7 ″) as Michels

  • 1978 Telefunken

A: Do You Still Dig It / B: Ramona From Roma

  • 1979 Bellaphon

A: Now I Know You / B: Crazy Enough

  • 1981 Metronome / Nature

A: There you go (when the dark clouds ...) / B: Down in the basement

  • 1981 Metronome / Nature

A: Dance on the volcano / B: Something is wrong here

  • 1983 Teldec

A: Little dreamer / B: Future of the past

  • 1984 Teldec

A: This could be our home / B: No problems

  • 1985 Teldec

A: In the moonlight ... / B: You can never break me

  • 1986 Teldec

A: Love Letters To The Moon / B: Heartbroken

Singles (7 ″) as Percewood

  • 1990 Mercury

A: Dancin 'On The Edge Of Life / B: Lover And Friend

(Hit parade: # 45 D - Source: Media Control)

Maxi CDs as Michels

  • 1994 BMG (Do-CD Promo Digipack)

Lifelong Travel / Bring Me Water / Bring Me Water (Acoustic Version)

  • 1995 BMG 1995

Bring Me Water / Take Me Back Into Your Arms / 100 Beats Per Minute / Bring Me Water (Acoustic Version)

  • 2003 Warner Music (Promo)

Deal Together

CDs as Michels

  • 1990 Full Moon California Sunset , Castle Communications & BMG 1994 & 2003 Warner Music
  • 1994 + 2003 Crazy Enough , BMG & Warner Music
  • 2003 Something is wrong here , Warner Music
  • 1994 + 2003 No problems , BMG & Warner
  • 1994 + 2003 By moonlight… , BMG & Warner Music
  • 1994 Orange Kindergarden , BMG
  • 2003 The Best - Future of the Past , Warner Music
  • 2003 The Essential Collection - Pictures Of The Past , Warner Music
  • 2008 at home , ferryhouse, Warner Music
  • 2013 Original Album Series , Warner Music (includes five albums Crazy Enough , Something's Wrong Here , No Problems , By Moonlight ... , At Home )
  • 2018 harvest time , glitterhouse

As a producer

literature

  • Michels, Wolfgang: Home? . In: Thomas Böhm & Jürgen Stark (Eds.): Rock Calendar'86 . Elefanten Press, 1985, ISBN 3-88520-159-3 , pp. 76-77.
  • Michels, Wolfgang: The eternal philistine lives . In: Jürgen Stark (Hrsg.): Renaissance of the philistines. A settlement with 15 years of turning point . Die Werkstatt, 1995, ISBN 3-89533-123-6 , pp. 151-154.
  • Michels, Wolfgang: Not without my lawyer . In: Jürgen Stark (Hrsg.): Survival art. Tips and tricks for musicians . Zebulon, 1997, ISBN 3-928679-53-8 , pp. 100-104.

Web links

Commons : Wolfgang Michels  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Günter Ehnert: Rock in Germany. Lexicon of German rock groups and performers . Taurus-Press, Hamburg 1984, ISBN 3-922542-16-6 .
  2. a b c Interview with Wolfgang Michels conducted by Tom Sobilo, Hartbeat! Magazine, I / 1994.
  3. ^ A b Christian Graf: Rock Lexicon Germany . Verlag Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-89602-273-3 .
  4. Nature Records, Teldec press release .
  5. Die Zeit , 12 / 1994. Original quote: "Michels has always made absolutely individual music that was sometimes far ahead of its time."
  6. Percewood: Dancin 'on the Edge of Life , MCD 1990, Mercury 876 740-7.
  7. ^ Günter Ehnert: Hit balance sheet. German chart singles 1956-2001 . Taurus Press, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-922542-60-3
  8. Michels: Bring Me Water , MCD 1995, BMG Ariola 74321 29014 2 .
  9. ^ "Percewood's Onagram released a couple of very interesting albums that are as good as the best English folk rock of the time." "Notes" Indigo-Zeitschrift 1997.
  10. ^ Spex 1997
  11. Report on Rockpalast.de
  12. Safety Records, Edel press release.
  13. ^ Article and interview by Sören Ingwersen, Hamburger Morgenpost, August 13, 2008
  14. Page of the tour operator (see archive)
  15. Video from the Crossroads Festival 2010 in the Rockpalast
  16. Hamburg Sounds: Homage to Bob Dylan. NDR, May 19, 2012, archived from the original on May 17, 2012 ; accessed on December 22, 2015 .
  17. Ton Steine ​​Schorben & Wolfgang Michels on November 16, 2011 in the Hamburg factory (YouTube)
  18. ^ Band homepage
  19. ^ Band homepage
  20. biography at laut.de