III
Joachim Witt

About:

22 February 1949

Born in Hamburg Witt started his musical career in at the start of the seventies as member of coverbands. In 1973 he plays in the theatreplay ‘Gorilla Queen’. A year later, in 1974, he records under the pseudonyme "Julian" the single ‘Ich bin ein Mann und Ich weiß, ich komm zurück’ without any commercial succes. In 1976 he forms the band Duesenberg with Harry Gutowski and Wolfgang Schleiter. The three albums recorded between 76 en 79 became a minor succes and the band created a small cult following before Witt pulls the plug.

He starts working under his own name (together with some old  Duesenberg  bandmembers) on the album ‘Silberblick’ to be released in December 1980. Two singles get released ‘Kosmetik’ and ‘Der Goldener Reiter’ without much initial succes. But when Witt performs that last single at the popular TV-show Musikladen sales explode. The single and album sell near 300.000 copies and enables Witt to rapidly start working in hsi second album ‘Edelweiß’. He also picks up his acting career in the TV-film ‘Inflation im Paradies’. But as quick as his fame came it also starts deteriating. Single ‘Tri Tra Trullala (Herbergsvater)’, an open complaint against the governement, just reaches the hitparade and albums ‘Märchenblau’ (1983) and ‘Mit Rucksack und Harpune’ (1985) become less and less succesfull. The 1985 album was originally recorded and released in English (as 'Moonlight Nights') but sounded better in German. It was one of the first German albums released in CD but sold so poorly it has become a collectors item by now. In 1988 he hops on the house-craze and has a small Club-Hit with ‘Pet Shop Boy’. He starts producing undergroundbands of which Metallic Traffic is the best known. By the end of the Eighties he moves to Portugal.

In 1991 he tries to have a comeback with a coverversion of Dr. Alban's ‘Hello Africa’ called ‘Hallo Deutschland’ to celebrate the unison of the two German countries. Later he admits himself that by his seventh album ‘Kapitän der Träume’ (92) he hit an artistic and commercial lowpoint. Besides an audiobook ‘Felidae’ in 1994 Witt stays silence untill 1996 when he comes in contact with the label ‘Strangeways’. Together with Peter Spilles (frontman of Project Pitchfork) he records the single ‘Das geht tief’ which is regarded by many as the start of the genre Neuen Deutschen Härte. A second single ‘Die Flut’, a duet with Peter Heppner, the singer of popular German synth pop group Wolfsheim, becomes a huge hit. In 1998 he starts the album cycle ‘Bayreuth 1" (1998) which brings him back as the nestor of electronic rock. He collaborates with artists such as Apocalyptica, Oomph!, Angelzoom, Tilo Wolff of Lacrimosa and Purwien. In 2006 he contributes the song ‘Vandemar’ to album ‘Where's Neil When You Need Him?’, a compilation of songs based on the works of author Neil Gaiman. His 2007 compilation ‘Auf Ewig’ sells over two million copies.  In 2009, Witt announced on his official MySpace that the Bayreuth Trilogy had ended  with the third part. In 2012 he choses a more introvert and pop orientated path with his music.

On the web:

- Joachim's official website: http://www.joachimwitt.de/

If you like this, you probably like.. / european counterparts:

Mario Landa (Czech republic)

Laibach (Slovenia)

What do we think:

DB: Joachim's musical trail has been a long one before he reached a sound that fitted him best. His Eighties work is coloured by de NDW and holds many references to popular counterparts DAF. Contrary to that duo Witt was able to start up a second career at the end of the Nineties when he placed himself as the godfather of the Neuen Deutschen Härte. Acts like Rammstein and Unheilig should show their gratitude for his early work. With his Bayreuth-cycle Joachim forms the dark section of Europop..

Recommendations:

♪♪♪♪ - Silberblick - 1980

♪♪♪ - Edelweiß - 1982

- Märchenblau - 1983

- Mit Rucksack und Harpune - 1985

- 10 Millionen Partys - 1988

- Kapitän der Träume - 1992

♪♪♪♪ - Bayreuth 1 - 1998

♪♪♪ - Bayreuth 2 - 2000

- Eisenherz - 2002

♪♪♪ - Pop - 2004

- Bayreuth 3 - 2006

♪♪♪ - Dom - 2012

♪♪♪ - Neumond - 2014

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided