INFO

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TRACKLIST

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EINFÜHRUNG
GOOD FRIENDS
NO MORE
BEAUTIFUL NOISE
WHO’S THAT GIRL
QUESTIONMARK
IT’S MY PARTY
DER EINSAME
I WANT YOU BACK AGAIN
KILL THAT GIRL
YESTERDAY
RUNAWAY
STUFF
SONG FOR MICHAEL
EAGLE MAN
WITCHES
I DON`T CARE
BRING IT ON HOME TO ME
THE LIPS OF JAYNE MANSFIELD
PAUL IST TOT

WATCH & LISTEN

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Shop

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Story

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In the nineties, the Bates were the most successful punk band in Germany after Toten Hosen and Die Ärzte – if you want to count them among them. Over a million records sold, certainly many times that number of viewers at thousands of concerts. Among other things, they sold out the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle in Stuttgart and at least 15,000 people go in there. The Bates have toured half of Europe, played to sold-out houses in Japan, made the English (and German) concert halls unsafe together with the Toy Dolls, graced the cover of the Bravo, stormed the charts in Thailand and with “Billie Jean” certainly that to this day final Michael Jackson covers recorded.

It all started in the mid-1980s in the north Hessian province, in the border zone area (that’s what it was officially called at the time) in Eschwege. Four guys who had fun with punk rock, a good amount of talent and diligence and in Zimbl a very charismatic frontman and songwriter, in personal union singer and bass player. And it wasn’t just the Bates themselves who enjoyed what they were doing. Through the classic ox tour through youth centers, small clubs and dive bars, regional festivals, they earned the reputation of being the hottest thing between Werra, Fulda and Weser that you could experience live. It didn’t take long before they gained the same reputation in the rest of the country.

As it happens, at some point a major label will be at the door (or how it happened at the time) and try its luck. And the Virgin (also long gone and after all the label that dared to release “Never Mind The Bollocks”) landed a real hit with this signing. Sure, today the Bates are remembered by most for their cover versions and at the time they had an image problem in the “upscale” music press from Rolling Stone to Musikexpress, as well as with the Berlin or Hamburg indie nobility. “Sell-Out”, “cast pseudo-punks” were the common accusations.

Or more correctly: prejudices. Because the Bates were always real, the “real thing”, they couldn’t be bent. Sure, they took part in MTV and Viva parties, where Bravo took place, even with a (of course fake) photo love story serial between Zimbl and teen techno starlet Blümchen. And yes, it is also true that the proportion of political rock in Bates’ oeuvre was rather marginal. The Bates theme has always been boy stuff, love, abandonment, longing, drugs, fun. And above all, give the people in front of the stage a great time. And they could do that like hardly any other band back then. On the ’92 live album, “Unfucked“, now available for the first time on vinyl and digital, you can listen to it. Hardly any other band developed such murder pressure with their two guitars, bass and drums. The Bates were the ultimate machine and Zimbl had an attitude that was simply sensational. In addition, the song material was of outstanding quality. The Bates always had well-chosen cover versions in their sets from the very beginning, but their own songs were in no way inferior to them. For example, “The Lips of Jayne Mansfield” is a -sorry- fucking hit. And the Bates were anything but a “One Trick Pony”, of course their profession was the one and a half to two minute track (an art in itself, by the way) and you will search in vain for sprawling instrumental parts. But in the area in which their songs moved, they were incredibly varied. From classic Buddy Holly songwriting to Californian pre-HC, L7 memory riffs, psychobilly impact, fat mosh parts to ska elements. And it always worked.

There is and never was any real reason to disrespect or disparage this band other than your own conceit. In England it was common practice for punk bands to have commercial success and everyone gave them credit for it.

Unfucked – Live was originally released by Snoop in 1993, their last before moving to Virgin and the only one never to be re-released. No idea why, because it is an impressive testimony to the power this band has just developed live. The recordings themselves are from 1992, from the Outpost in Göttingen and the Weinberghalle in Eschwege. They were mastered at Pauler Acoustics, which is already a seal of quality, and are now specially processed again for vinyl at Master & Servant.

The story of the band continues until 2001 and ultimately ends tragically. After years of binge drinking and drug abuse, Zimbl sag found the band unable to live up to their own standards (and those of their audience) and decided to take a break. From which they never reported back. Zimbl (Markus Zimmer) died as a result of his illness in 2006 at the age of 41, Armin (Beck) is a pastor today, Klube (Frank Klubescheid) works with mentally handicapped children and young people, Reb (Michael Rebbig) is a teacher and Pogo (Thomas Möller) has been involved in the organization of his heart club FC St.Pauli since he left in 1998.

The Bates on „Unfucked – Live“ are:
Zimbl (Base, Vocals)
Klube (drums)
Reb (Guitar, Backing Vocals)
Pogo (Guitar)