La Düsseldorf was a German band, consisting of onetime Kraftwerk drummer and Neu! multi-instrumentalist Klaus Dinger and occasional Neu! collaborators Thomas Dinger and Hans Lampe. La Düsseldorf was formed after Neu! disbanded following the release of their Neu! '75 record. They released a string of successful albums (with sales totaling over a million) during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and were considered highly influential by Brian Eno and David Bowie, with Bowie going so far as calling La Düsseldorf "the soundtrack of the eighties".[1]
La Düsseldorf | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Düsseldorf, Germany |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1975–1983 2001–2008 |
| Labels | Teldec Decca Records Captain Trip Records Warner Music Nova Records Strand Records Radar Records Albion Records |
| Members | Klaus Dinger Thomas Dinger Hans Lampe Harald Konietzko Andreas Schell Nikolaus Van Rhein |
Overview
editCore members
edit- Klaus Dinger – vocals, guitars, keyboards
- Thomas Dinger – vocals, percussion
- Hans Lampe – percussion, electronics[2]
Other members
edit- Harald Konietzko (1978) – bass
- Andreas Schell (1978) – piano
- Nikolaus Van Rhein (1976–1981) – keyboards (this is a pseudonym of Klaus Dinger.)[2]
Discography
editAlbums
edit- 1976 – La Düsseldorf (Teldec Records)
- 1978 – Viva (Teldec Records)
- 1980 – Individuellos (Teldec Records)[2]
The following albums were released by Klaus Dinger without the participation of any other band members. Due to legal disputes, the albums could not be released under the La Düsseldorf name, but were subtitled "La Düsseldorf 4" and "La Düsseldorf 5" respectively.
- 1985 – Neondian (Teldec Records, released under the name "Klaus Dinger and Rheinita Bella Düsseldorf")
- 1999 – Blue (Captain Trip Records, recorded between 1985 and 1987, released under the name "La! Neu?")
In 2006 Klaus Dinger sought to revive La Düsseldorf properly, but was again blocked by legal problems. He instead chose to release under the name "La-duesseldorf.de" (also the name of his most recent website) or "Klaus Dinger + Japandorf". This project features only Klaus of the original band.
- 2006 – Mon Amour (Warner Music, a re-release of Neondian with extra tracks that was only briefly in print)
- 2013 – Japandorf
Singles
edit- 1976 – "Silver Cloud/La Düsseldorf" (Teldec Records)
- 1978 – "Rheinita/Viva" (Teldec Records)
- 1980 – "Dampfriemen/Individuellos" (Teldec Records)
- 1983 – "Ich Liebe Dich (Teil 1)/Ich Liebe Dich (Teil 2)" (Teldec Records)
Maxi-singles
edit- 1978 – "Rheinita/Viva" (Teldec Records)
- 1980 – "Dampfriemen/Individuellos" (Teldec Records)
- 1983 – "Ich liebe Dich/Koksknödel" (Teldec Records)
Video
edit- 2004 – Rheinita 1979 (a live performance of Rheinita that can be viewed for free on Klaus Dinger's website
- Romantic Warriors IV: Krautrock (2019)
The booklets of "Neondian" and "Blue" also hint at the existence of videos for "America" (Neondian) and "Ich Liebe Dich" (single) although neither have been released.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Klaus Dinger and NEU! and La Düsseldorf and Die Engel des Herrn" Archived 2007-10-07 at the Wayback Machine - Article from "Real Groove" No 2, Aug. 1996, with personal comments / corrections by Klaus Dinger. Retrieved on October 8, 2007.
- ^ a b c Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 1417. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
External links
edit- La Düsseldorf site
- DingerLand "Official" Klaus Dinger site
- Klaus Dinger records
- A Taste of Krautrock by Patrick O'Hearn, Perfect Sound Forever, November 1997
- Article at Prog Archives
- Myspace site