Genre Pop | Record labels Tau, 333 | |
Albums First Feelings, Waterproof, Best of John Zekar | ||
The Commander Proof Band is an Austrian rock band from Vienna which arose out of the group Lord Proof & The Proof Cats (formed in 1970 by John "The Professional" Zekar & Hansi Lang) in 1974. The core members at that time beside Zekar and Lang were Fredl Petz on bass and Harry "El" Fisher on drums as also as sister Irene Fisher and Traude Sapek on backing vocals.
Contents
In 1975 Fisher left when he switched to guitar and was replaced by exceptional drummer Peter Kolbert who died untimely in 2000 by a drug overdose. The band played extended tours in Austria, Jugoslavia and Scandinavia followed by a growing unsteady lineup. For the time being they disbanded in 1976.
Over decades this band then was revived a few times with different lineups up to summer 2010 when the only remaining original member John Zekar (guitars, MIDI-guitars, vocals, composer) reformed the group with German native Lissy Fo (lead vocals), Joe Schirl (fretted & fretless basses & vocals) and Herbert "Heavy Hand" Musil (drums, vocals).
This lineup recorded the album Waterproof during summer 2011 at Penzing Records Studio in Vienna (owned by bassplayer Hans Schön) and subsequently reached a contract with German label Amber Music which released the CD officially early 2012 entitled Don´t Believe, taken from the single A-side). In Velten, a city in Germany where the label is resident, a video using a shortened album version of "Don´t Believe" was produced in March 2012 too.
Instead of shorten the original LP version to a suitable length for a radio edit, this song was re-recorded for the German release with slightly different vocal parts, however, the drums were laid down new completely and in difference to the album version here the track fades out.
The Austrian edition "Waterproof" (distributed by Penzing Records with a different cover) contains 12 tracks incl. the full length album version of the original tune "Don´t Believe", the single edit of this song and a cover of Unchain My Heart which due copyright complaints of GEMA (a performance rights organisation in Germany) was banned from the German release.
The year 2013 brought the next lineup changes when Fo and Schirl were replaced by vocalist Doris Krsko and bassplayer Robert "Gigl" Schmidt, furthermore Josef Gröller (guitar) was added to the lineup. Krsko already left March 2013 and Schmidt quit in July. Rainer Bonelli joined on bass and vocals in August. Unable finding a suitable singer the band continued as a four-piece while the members sharing all the vocals. During live shows the band time by time is supported by Peter Mayrhofer (percussion, vocals).
Since July 2013 the band is without any contract and followed by a frequent stage presence Commander Proof will probably enter the studio in the near future recording a new album.
John Zekar "The Professional"
Born 1948 he began making music aged 10 and even though he had a growing interest in sports, mainly football but he decided to develop his skills in playing guitar very seriously. Beside his apprenticeship he formed his first band and played at several band contests. At the age of 14 he was introduced to a very good teacher who gave him regular guitar lessons. After his time at school he joined the army and afterwards he left Austria for few years and went to Germany and Switzerland where he earned money for living by making music.
When he returned to his hometown Vienna end of the Sixties his nickname "The Professional" got stuck. Back home again he met players like Karl Ratzer, Harri Stojka, Peter Wolf and Kurt Hauenstein with those he often played at the legendary Camera Club in Vienna in the early 70s.
Together with singer Hansi Lang he formed Lord Proof & The Proof Cats in 1970 which later emerged to the Commander Proof Band in 1974.
In 1972 he graduated in jazz guitar at the Viennese conservatoire in all subjects.
In 1975 he joined Acid as the replacement for guitarist Peter Koller who went on to the band of Austro Pop legend Wolfgang Ambros.
In 1977 Zekar formed Speedy Arrow, a short lived band feat. Hans Hölzel on bass (he became later on well known as Falco, † 1998), Robert Zidek on keyboards († 2009) and Mark King on drums before he turned to the bass and continued in Level 42. He was replaced by Austrian drummer Peter Kolbert († 2000).
During the 80's he has composed some tunes which became successful by other artists like Peter Kent & Luisa Fernandez who performed the song "Solo Por Ti".
With his own band Vienna he entered the charts with the song "Love Games" (in Austria) and "Key Of Magic" (in Germany) in 1986.
The song The Sound Of Vienna was performed by José Feliciano in 1987 and entered the Austrian charts in 1988 reaching Nr. 1 and remained there for 18 weeks.
"Hold On", an original song written by John Zekar entered the charts in 1988 and remained for 8 weeks.
In 1994 with his own band JJR they released the album "First Feelings" from which a maxi-single called "One Way Ticket" was uncoupled.
Furthermore earlier in 1993, Zekar prosecuted action against David Hasselhoff´s manager Jack White because of a serious suspicion concerning copyright infringement. Hasselhoff released the album Looking For Freedom in 1989 which included the song Je T'Aime Means I Love You and the structures of chords and harmonies were more than identical to Zekar´s composition "Come With Me" which years ago already was rightfully registered by himself at AKM (a performance rights organisation in Austria).
For the reason that Jack White repeatedly denied all these accusations after several months of costly trials the law suit ended up in a settlement in 1994.
Je T'Aime Means I Love You was sold over 4,5 million times and reached in Germany double platin status.
Discography (excerpt)
with Commander Proof Band
with Acid
with Speedy Arrow
with Chris & Band
with Vienna
Jose Feliciano & Vienna Project
with JJR
Current lineup
Past members
Note
Since 2010 the group uses only the initials of the band name - CPB.
Songs
Hey Heya Hey HeyFirst Feelings · 2014
Music Is My WayBest of John Zekar · 2014
Reset to Your HeartFirst Feelings · 2014