Grobschnitt

1970s

Grobschnitt formed in 1970 from the ashes of The Crew, a psychedelic rock band led by drummer Eroc (Joachim Ehrig). Their new name meant "rough cut", in reference to the style of tobacco.

Originally an eight-piece band, Grobschnitt released their self-titled album on Brain Records in 1972 before paring down into their standard five-piece unit. Their first record is stylistically very different from the symphonic sound that became their hallmark.

Ballermann, released in 1974, featured new classically trained keyboardist Mist (Volker Kahrs). Released as a double-album, Ballermann featured humor and silly songs which followed from their entertaining live shows. The second record contains the first released version of "Solar Music", an extended instrumental suite with origins in a piece by The Crew in the late 1960s. "Solar Music" would see frequent performances throughout the band's career as well as being released in two more versions during the band's existence.

By 1975, Wolfgang "Popo" Jäger joined Grobschnitt as a bassist and the group released Jumbo. Jumbo fully realized the symphonic style the band had developed, featuring lush keyboard usage. 1977 saw the release of Rockpommel's Land after a German lyric release of Jumbo in 1976. Rockpommel's Land would prove to be Grobschnitt's first commercial success, despite the waning appeal of progressive rock.

Solar Music Live, released in 1978, consists of a longer version of the "Solar Music" suite first revealed on Ballermann. Solar Music Live was a commercial success.

By 1979 Grobschnitt moved towards shorter song-oriented releases. Merry-Go-Round would be Grobschnitt's last release in the 1970s. Its songs made humorous digs at the disco music trend, commercialism and America.

1980s

Grobschnitt released another live album, Volle Molle, in 1980, documenting the recent Merry-Go-Round tour. Popo was soon replaced by Milla Kapolke, before recording the Illegal album in 1980. The subsequent Illegal tour was highly successful.

Keyboardist Mist left Grobschnitt before the 1982 recording of Razzia, a NDW-influenced album. Toni Moff Mollo, a friend of Eroc and long-time performer in live shows, was promoted to full member. Grobschnitt's single from Razzia, "Wir wollen leben" ("We Want to Live"), remains a minor footnote in NDW history and proved to be the band's last success.

Eroc left Grobschnitt by June 1983, leaving Lupo as band leader. In 1984 Grobschnitt released Kinder und Narren, sporting a distinctly 80s sound with the help of the DX7 synthesizer. Grobschnitt, having abandoned "Solar Music" for several years released a new live version in 1985, Sonnentanz: Live. Another rock-pop album named Fantasten followed in 1987.

After Eroc's departure members of Grobschnitt became more transient, many of whom came from the NDW band Extrabreit. Eventually, with the release of Last Party Live in 1989 Grobschnitt disbanded.

Next Party

Interest in Grobschnitt led to a partial band reunion from May 2007 with Wildschwein, Milla Kapolke and Toni Moff Mollo. Their repertoire consists of classic Grobschnitt songs throughout their career. Dubbed "Next Party", they performed several concerts in 2007 and 2008. Hopes of a full reunion were dashed with the death of Wolfgang Jäger on May 3, 2007. In 2008, Grobschnitt, after 17 years of "silence", released their CD: Grobschnitt Live 2008.

Deaths

Former band member Mist (Volker Kahrs) died on July 20, 2008 at age 57. Circumstances were unknown or not released to the public.

Personnel