From Das Supertalent, Germany's version of the Got Talent franchise. You just don't see talent like this in the US.
It was on network TV in Germany, but in the US, you might want to consider it NSFW.
https://youtu.be/4I2ogKAQdOs
Who said there was no humor in Germany?
I'm blind now
Yeah, the Germans know what talent is.
Fantastic!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGB59HuKu-I
What is there to get excited about? You all know we're anal at heart, wir finden das lustig!
The man with the Camp David polo shirt - Dieter Bohlen - is by the way the songwriter, producer and brain-half behind Germany's most successful music export:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kHl4FoK1Ys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGYirepZzlg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPnZ-T8j2sc
PS: But in fact it was a sociological/anarchist statement on the whole Super Talent hype. Duckie L'Orange (the artist) is Australian and a counterculture stand-up comedian/cabaret person (you can tell that she does pantomime as a job). She wanted to make a point how Bohlen's show is crap (I wholeheartedly agree) in its entirety and short of taking a dump on stage, this is as close as she could get. Of course, extracting the sausages from her behind might have been an option too.
I saw an interview with Dieter Bohlen a while ago. The interviewer tried - very cautiously- to find out if Bohlen could laugh about the ridiculous eighties crap that Modern Talking was. If he was able to display some kind of self-mockery when looking back.
None whatsoever! Bohlen was immensely proud and dead serious about it. Without the slightest feeling of embarrassment... :mrgreen:
Bohlen really thinks he is an artist. :-X
Modern Talking is divisive to put it mildly. :mrgreen: Most people profess to hate them, yet they sold zillions of albums. I used to hate them too (and never bought a record), nowadays they are a cult guilty pleasure - in small doses I hasten to add (and yes, I meanwhile have a Greatest Hits CD of theirs which Edith won't even allow me to play at home!).
There is only a handful of German bands that have been truly successful on an international level: When you are outside of Germany and you hear a German band on the radio it is either Kraftwerk, Scorpions, Modern Talking, the truly horrendous Scooter or Rammstein. That's about it.
If you want to add a few more bands that - albeit nor really commercial top tier - had at least a lasting artistic influence outside Germany, you can put Can, Tangerine Dream and maybe Accept into the equation as well.
Lucky me, I never heard of Modern Talking. Or of Duckie L'Orange.
Just like in the US and UK, the reactions from the panel are all fake, they know what's coming. Still, they let her perform. Sadly, she didn't advance to the next round. I don't wonder why.
Quote from: uwe on November 11, 2019, 04:32:44 PM
Bohlen really thinks he is an artist. :-X
Modern Talking is divisive to put it mildly. :mrgreen: Most people profess to hate them, yet they sold zillions of albums. I used to hate them too (and never bought a record), nowadays they are a cult guilty pleasure - in small doses I hasten to add (and yes, I meanwhile have a Greatest Hits CD of theirs which Edith won't even allow me to play at home!).
I must admit that I was not as lucky as Dave, Norway was really invaded (again ;D) with this crap. When I was 10 years or so I was a dancer, and my dad bought me all the Modern Talking albums. It was really hip back then, but I had to hide the LP's as my older brother's hard rock records was on regular display if I had friends over. My own collection was thin, a couple of AC/DC albums, some Twisted Sister, Dio, Krokus, a Venom casssette, and the Modern Talking albums :P
As a grown up looking back, I have two questions:
That guy who is a lead singer.. If live singing ever happened to them, how does he know what lyrics to sing?
They had five or six albums with 10 songs all with the same backing track, right?
And the guitar player, what is fuelling his stage act? All the coke in Columbia couldn't help here - looks like
a hefty mix of acid, speed and religion of some sort :-X
Quote from: uwe on November 11, 2019, 04:32:44 PM
There is only a handful of German bands that have been truly successful on an international level: When you are outside of Germany and you hear a German band on the radio it is either Kraftwerk, Scorpions, Modern Talking, the truly horrendous Scooter or Rammstein. That's about it.
I guess The Netherlands are an exception to that rule ;-)
You hear quite a lot German artists/bands on the radio over here.
Quote from: amptech on November 11, 2019, 11:24:45 PM
I must admit that I was not as lucky as Dave, Norway was really invaded (again ;D) with this crap. When I was 10 years or so I was a dancer, and my dad bought me all the Modern Talking albums. It was really hip back then, but I had to hide the LP's as my older brother's hard rock records was on regular display if I had friends over. My own collection was thin, a couple of AC/DC albums, some Twisted Sister, Dio, Krokus, a Venom casssette, and the Modern Talking albums :P
As a grown up looking back, I have two questions:
That guy who is a lead singer.. If live singing ever happened to them, how does he know what lyrics to sing?
They had five or six albums with 10 songs all with the same backing track, right?
And the guitar player, what is fuelling his stage act? All the coke in Columbia couldn't help here - looks like
a hefty mix of acid, speed and religion of some sort :-X
Amptech, console yourself, there is nothing wrong with dancing to Modern Talking albums. As regards the German invasion, you guys took ample revenge on us with the once ubiquitous
a-ha! Did I ever complain about that? :mrgreen:
Thomas Anders (the dark-haired one) is actually a good singer - Bohlen chose him because of the feminine qualities of his voice (no, Anders isn't gay) without sounding screechy. Their trademark became the repetition of each and every chorus in every song with falsetto harmony vocals - kind of Bee Gees in the Saturday Night Fever era minus the musicality.
I have a theory why I do not despise Modern Talking like a lot of people do. I only realized this much later and after they had already split up for the first time, but Anders' singing echoes in some ways that of Russell Mael of the adorable Sparks - minus the intellectual-sarcastic bite and wit and of course dumbed and muzaked down. But when Russell croons the musically less off the wall Sparks songs (lyrically, they are all off the wall), I definitely hear parallels. Since Sparks are often perceived as the godfathers of all synth duos (Yazoo, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure), Bohlen as the brain behind Modern Talking (I know, that sounds like an oxymoron and it is!) might have even been aware of some of their work in their Giorgio Moroder synth-disco phase.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8dqCQ2MHfQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grhS_s7CMIk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKFiOCKhLfg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVTH7OsNbhs&list=RDTVTH7OsNbhs&start_radio=1&t=41
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaXYwdS_V2Q
That is probably the first time that Modern Talking (epitome of dumb and shallow music) and Sparks (epitome of smart music with depth) have been mentioned in one thread and their singers even accused of similarities. Both sides will hate me now. :mrgreen:
Quote from: uwe on November 11, 2019, 04:32:44 PM
There is only a handful of German bands that have been truly successful on an international level: When you are outside of Germany and you hear a German band on the radio it is either Kraftwerk, Scorpions, Modern Talking, the truly horrendous Scooter or Rammstein. That's about it.
What a surprisingly slim list for a country that gave us Bach and Beethoven. I imagined the inate musicianship of the nation would have lent itself to a few more hot bands than that. I guess that explains why we felt bad for you guys and gave you David Hasselhoff, or maybe the fact you like the Hoff is why you have so few popular bands.
And where are the French rock artists? France is great at producing existential philosophers and really cute female pop singers. But I can't name even one French rock band that has had massive international success. I'm not knocking France. I just wonder what happened. At least Germany has the Scorpions and Holland has Golden Earring (which I'm a fan of, by the way.)
"And where are the French rock artists?"
I can think of only a couple myself, none of them superstars:
There's Ange, the French Pink Floyd:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBsNAwjtnPI
Little Bob Story had their 15 minutes of fame during the late 70ies punk/pub rock craze, but they are still going:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfzjaUvg39Q
Around the same time Shakin' Street caught some press attention in the UK. Blondie meets The Dicatators (Ross the Boss played with them for a while):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO5A79lxe6E
I find Magma's idiosynchratic trance prog pretty amazing, their new album Zess is brilliant (they have even invented their own language which to the unaccustomed ear sounds a bit German), their music gives new meaning to the term "hypnotic":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYr0nAAh1Ss
And then there is always Gong (Johnny Rotten was a fan, Steve Hillage and Alan Holdsworth played with them), which are half-Brit, half-French, proggies too, the French do like prog:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_krB4AnvCZI
I almost forgot French punk-metal-garcons Trust, whose drummer Nicko McBrain later joined up with another heavy metal outfit ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DlTBE789Fg
In more recent times, ambience music stars Air are probably the most popular French music export, lovely bass playing here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH5bL_XbO64
Of course there is always the helmet wearers of Daft Punk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5EofwRzit0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_Sf0gi-mGI
"definetly the WURST act I've seen ", couldn't agree more. Even my colleagues have better sense of humor, well most of the time anyway.
Thanks, Uwe. I ordered a French course recently. It is fantastic. I was so pleased, I decided to order a German course from the same company (which hasn't arrived yet.) But the other day I got to thinking of what French rock I could listen to and couldn't think of any.
Most French bands sing French, that has hindered international success somewhat, the language of rock'n'roll is of course English.
Quote from: uwe on November 12, 2019, 01:18:16 PM
Most French bands sing French, that has hindered international success somewhat, the language of rock'n'roll is of course English.
A friend and I used to discuss this issue a lot about English being so suitable for rock. I suspect that English not being her native language made it a little more obvious to her than me. Because the thing is even if you get fluent in English that doesn't mean you'll necessarily get the cadence, inflections, and rhythm perfect while singing (in English.)
Quote from: 4stringer77 on November 12, 2019, 09:10:22 AM
What a surprisingly slim list for a country that gave us Bach and Beethoven. I imagined the inate musicianship of the nation would have lent itself to a few more hot bands than that. I guess that explains why we felt bad for you guys and gave you David Hasselhoff, or maybe the fact you like the Hoff is why you have so few popular bands.
From the same comedy site that had the Jeff Lynne's dog story:
David Hasselhoff Delivers Litter of Kittens While Stool-Softener Shopping in Germany. (https://madhousemagazine.com/david-hasselhoff-delivers-litter-of-kittens-while-stool-softener-shopping-in-germany/)
You're welcome.
Quote from: westen44 on November 12, 2019, 01:42:51 PM
A friend and I used to discuss this issue a lot about English being so suitable for rock. I suspect that English not being her native language made it a little more obvious to her than me. Because the thing is even if you get fluent in English that doesn't mean you'll necessarily get the cadence, inflections, and rhythm perfect while singing (in English.)
Zat hass never held my köuntrymen from ze Scorpions back! No one in Germany thought they would stand a chance on the American market whiff zeir ferry limited Eengleesh, yet you proved us wrong!
Quote from: Dave W on November 12, 2019, 10:45:08 PM
From the same comedy site that had the Jeff Lynne's dog story:
David Hasselhoff Delivers Litter of Kittens While Stool-Softener Shopping in Germany. (https://madhousemagazine.com/david-hasselhoff-delivers-litter-of-kittens-while-stool-softener-shopping-in-germany/)
You're welcome.
Funny but a little mean spirited towards a guy who brought down the Berlin wall with his voice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNpCn0nAlR0
Quote from: uwe on November 13, 2019, 05:55:38 AM
Zat hass never held my köuntrymen from ze Scorpions back! No one in Germany thought they would stand a chance on the American market whiff zeir ferry limited Eengleesh, yet you proved us wrong!
Klaus Meine has quite a voice--a powerhouse. It was the perfect fit for the Scorpions. I immediately noticed it when I heard them for the first time.
The French think the greatest rocker of all time is Johnny Hallyday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdCLDiI3jx4
He once had a black guitarist who was called James Marshall Hendrix. No idea what became of him.
he smoked too much :mrgreen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHRxHGJLbOo
When your band has only been together for a few weeks, opening for someone like that is a pretty good start.
Quote from: Basvarken on November 11, 2019, 09:26:10 AM
The interviewer tried - very cautiously- to find out if Bohlen could laugh
Not with these amounts of Botox and Hyaluronic acid in his face, that's for sure.
Maybe the French haven't had any great rockers but at least Quebec has Men Without Hats. :P
Quebec--a place where native fluency in French may not even be French enough for them.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/11/08/quebec-denies-residency-french-student-not-proficient-french/
Someone say Quebec?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4RLwLJYduY
Très bon!