This is page 5, and here story continue...Die Toten Hosen in action...
After CJ Ramone were playing spanish ska punk band called SKA-P. Jan, I or Italian fans Maurizio "Nodus" Nodari, Martino Pasina and Simona Saverino weren't so interested of Ska-P. Simona, Martino and Nodus had also got crew passes to the backstage. Half hour later Daniel Rey was walking to the backstage van and we had a chat of the show. Daniel was satisfied to it. Soon Die Toten Hosen guys were walking close of the stage and we were speaking then with a singer Campino (Andreas Frege), guitarist Breiti (Michael Breitkopf) and drummer Vom (Stephen Ritchie) a while. They were really friendly again and we changed positive comments of CJ's, Daniel's and Brant's shows.
I found out Campino hadn't got copy of my second book Rock In Peace: Dee Dee And Joey Ramone. I had sent books to him, Vom and Breiti through their managers in 2004. Vom and Breiti had got their copies. All three has interviews in a book and Campino's different text also in Heaven Needed A Lead Singer: Fans Remember Joey Ramone. Campino and I spoke around ten minutes of Rock In Peace: Dee Dee And Joey Ramone.
45 minutes later started Blitzkrieg Bop as a intro song to the Die Toten Hosen show and audience was singing along and shouting. So Die Toten Hosen is founded in 1982 and group is one of the most famous German rock bands. Die Toten Hosen recorded this Waldbuhne's show and of it was released lot of material in December, 2009.
There is out now DVD and blu-ray (Machmalauter: Die Toten Hosen Live! [Blu-ray] [2009] [US Import]
). Release titled Machmalauter: Die Toten Hosen Live!
is available as a
double CD and double vinyl. Jan Beddies wrote me 2LP is limited to 3000
copies and he ordered it with DTH's signatures. There is also limited edition release with a photo book, doubleDVD and doubleCD.
I got copies of Machmalauter: Die Toten Hosen - Live In Berlin! DVD and Machmalauter: Die Toten Hosen - Live! doubleCD. They both also has mini book. DoubleCD's booklet has 28 pages and DVD's 20 pages. They has lot great black and white photos, message from band, tour schedules from November 2008 to December 2009 etc. Texts are in German.
You can notice from booklet's back page how Die Toten Hosen has dedicated releases to the Manfred Meyer (2.4.1954-6.1.2009) and Uwe Faust (11.2.1956-29.10.2009). Manfred Meyer was one main security chief to the Ramones on their many European tours in 1989-1996. Manfred Meyer passed away because of cancer.
Sun was shining when CJ, Daniel and Brant played. Sun was down when DTH punkrocked their show, so lightning crew's work comes out really nicely on DVD with all beautiful colors. In addition to Campino, Breiti and Vom, Die Toten Hosen has guitarist Kuddel (Andreas von Holst) and bassist Andi (Andreas Meurer).
Die Toten Hosen's show was 2 hours long in Waldbuhne. Performance is cool to experience again with watching Machmalauter: Die Toten Hosen - Live In Berlin! DVD. DTH's live power is still really strong, if not even stronger than before. You can follow how DTH's energy level and moshpit in audience is really wide in songs like Opel-Gang, Cokane In My Brain, Liebeslied and Hier Kommt Alex. Opel-Gang was second song in a set and it is released in 1983 in their debut album. Song was rocked in Waldbuhne in two minutes. Hier Kommt Alex/ Here Comes Alex is one of my favourite DTH song. So DTH has recorded version of the song in both languages - German and English. It grows from beautiful and touching beginning to many different levels and has wide scale of feelings. Audience really sing-a-long loud on Hier Kommt Alex in Waldbuhne.
Machmalauter: Die Toten Hosen - Live In Berlin! DVD has 19 minutes long bonus material. On it Vom for example explains in English how show was recorded with 14 cameras. In one moment you can see audience far away from the top of the hill, then close shots of wild audience going crazy, soon guys kicking air together, next close shot of Vom in action etc.
I didn't liked of it how songs in English were dropped to the set. After intro was played seven songs in German before comes cover song Cokane In My Brain. Cokane In My Brain is written by Jamaican reggae artist Dillinger (Lester Bullock) in 1979. After Cokane In My Brain comes one song in German (Wunsch Dir Was) and then again cover in English (Hang On Sloopy). The McCoys released Hang On Sloopy in 60's. After Hang On Sloopy was again played many songs in German etc.
Campino run a lot and was active all the time in stage, not seemed to get tired. Singing was going on without any problems. When he started pump his hands in Schönen Gruss, Auf Wiederseh'n, audience followed and sang. It became like some kind of national anthem.
After a little break Die Toten Hosen had acoustic part of the show. They performed first Der Letzte Kuss together with cellist and keyboardist. A while later I was wondering who is guest singer in song called Hand In Hand. Jan Beddies explained him being Beatsteaks' singer Arnim.
Last three songs in that show (also in DVD and CD) were Bayern, Zehn Kleine Jägermeister and You'll Never Walk Alone. DTH's favourite team is their local football team Fortuna Dusseldorf, they published Bayern as a support song to the team and against FC Bayern Munich. DTH sponsored Fortuna Dusseldorf from 2001 to 2003. You'll Never Walk Alone is especially known as a Liverpool FC's (UK) anthem.
Jan Beddies later wrote me this information: - "DTH have a special relationship to the Liverpool FC and that's why You'll Never Walk Alone is on setlist. Campino's mother came from England and Campino spent as a child many holidays in Liverpool. Campino became big fan of the Liverpool FC. 2 years ago when Liverpool lost semifinal in UEFA Champions League, he was so angry, he he kicked against a garbage can and broke his leg."
Btw, as you know, there are some football players in Germany and UK, who are close as goods than Finnish players Jari Litmanen, Sami Hyypiä and Antti Niemi. So continue having practises German and UK players.
Jan was thinking differently, he looked from some archive how Finland has won Germany only once: August 12, 1923. (five games were tie. And I won't tell how many times Finland has lost to Germany...)
I Fought The Law
DVD has in all 32 songs and CD 29 songs. Only from CD you can find The Clash cover I Fought The Law.
After DTH's show Jan and I forwarded to backstage room of CJ and guys. Gene told CJ had already left. Jan and I had chance to tell many thanks anyway to Gene Frawley, Daniel Rey, Brant Bjork, and Beano Skint and other crew members. Days were really perfect and I am sure you can see it also from this story. Memories never dies, and I got treated so excellent way. Thanks also to you Joey, Dee Dee and Johnny of taking care of all of us.
Trips like this gives me strength to go on also with this my site founded in 1995.
We all got invited to after party. Some of us decided to go there. Die Toten Hosen had rented villa house and we had great time there.
Brant, I and Brant's friends had a small group. Some guy had Ramones logo shirt, but in a circle were words: "Fuck. Drunk. Fight." I was thinking in how many different T-shirts has Ramones logo used?
One Brant's friend had children with her, around 8-10 years old. Girl had Ramones shirt and she was dancing Ramones songs so enthusiastic way. I wanted to take a photo of Campino, she and I.
After 4 hours I had find my way somehow back to the hostel boat?
Die Toten Hosen's quotes from my two first books...
"I've never seen anything like the Ramones show on that night, and I'm afraid it will stay an unreached moment for the rest of my life."
I wanna write a bit of my earlier meetings and interviews with Die Toten Hosen. First we met at the Nummirock festival, Kauhajoki in Finland, 1997. Ramones played in my home city in that festival in 1992 and 1994.
As I did mention, my first book Heaven Needed A Lead Singer: Fans Remember Joey Ramone, has text written by DTH's singer Campino. One month after book was released in 2002, their managers Danielle Brillen and Patrick Orth organized a meeting with them for me at Himos festival in Finland. Apprecited, great and famous Finnish book writer and Ramones fan Leena Lehtolainen experienced then also cool meeting with DTH. At Himos DTH played Ramones song The KKK Took My Baby Away and dedicated it to Joey, Dee Dee and me. Dee Dee had passed only some weeks earlier...
That day at Himos festival I did interviews with Campino, guitarist Breiti and drummer Vom to my second book Rock In Peace: Dee Dee And Joey Ramone. Vom joined band in early 1990's. You can read from my book of recordings Vom (Stephen Ritchie) did with Stiv Bator, Johnny Thunders and Dee Dee Ramone. Those songs were released as Stiv Bator: Last Race CD.
Blitzkrieg Bop appeared on the Die Toten Hosen's
Learning
English, Lesson One (Amazon.co.uk)
album as well in their Nightmare Continues
EP. See tracklistings here.
On the Die Toten
Hosen version of Blitzkrieg Bop, the lead vocals were sung by Joey
Ramone. Here are few things what Campino, Vom and Breiti tells in my
books: Campino: "When I gave the Learning English - Lesson One gold record to Joey, I think it was his first golden record. They got (first Ramones gold record) it of Ramones Mania later."
Campino: "The most incredible night I ever shared with Joey and the Ramones happened in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We were supporting their "Goodbye to South-America" show in 1996 and the whole River Plate Stadium was filled with 50 000 kids of the "Ramones army", all dressed in black. I swear to God, there was not one of them who wasn't wearing a Ramones T-shirt. I've never seen anything like the Ramones show on that night, and I'm afraid it will stay an unreached moment for the rest of my life."
Vom: "Early nineties, that was when I first met him. With Joey I was just really nervous, but he came in and he was there, so I started speaking to him. I said: "I used to be in Doctor And The Medics.", he just went "cool cool." Cos I mean, Joey's two of me and it was a really funny situation. To see Joey bent in half talking to me like that and I'm like this, you know?"
Vom: "I did a lot of talking on the phone with Dee Dee, four or five times, before I met him. We did The Stiv Bator album in Paris. He was always trying to put up a tough front, but underneath you knew he was a nice guy."
Breiti: "Ramones set new standards, especially at this time, when in the seventies the songs got longer and longer and guitar solos got longer and longer and the distance between the fans and the bands got bigger and bigger. They brought it back to zero and just what is most important in music, playing good songs one after the other. What was amazing to see or hear how they could squeeze 30 songs as a whole set in such a short amount of time. From other bands took three hours for that."
GO TO PAGE 6.