ELECTRONIC E SCAPES - FLORIAN SIEVERS
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ElEctronic EscapEs
from thE DEutschE DEmokratischE rEpublik 1981 - 1989
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artists who would make up the Eastern electronic
scene were in attendance, fascinated and inspired.
their country wasn’t particularly big – in fact By the time they were finally able to bring out their
at times it felt downright claustrophobic to them, own albums in East Germany between 1981 and
hemmed in by an impenetrable border. how vast 1989, this style of music had already been successful
and wide open outer space seemed by comparison, in the West for almost a decade. the lag time was a
expanding above their heads to infinity. No wonder result of how heavily the socialist state regulated
then that one day some of them began to flee their pop music. there were licenses necessary to play
cramped country into the cosmos. not literally, of live, and only state-sanctioned artists were allowed
course. instead of Energia rockets and soyuz space to put out albums on the one state owned record
capsules, their means of space travel were synthesi- company, the Volkseigener betrieb Deutsche schall-
zers, drum machines, and samplers. out of those platten berlin DDr and its label, amiga. the raw
devices artists in the German Democratic republic materials for manufacturing records were scarce,
– post-war socialist East Germany – created drea- limiting the number of lps being brought out.
my, spacious electronic music that let musician and but at some point in the early 1980s, the East Ger-
listener flee from the everyday realities of East Bloc man government leadership decided microcompu-
life. off into a swirling, nebulous fantasy landscape. ters were the future and gave the green light to the
into strange, faraway galaxies. and sometimes then futuristic sounding music made with them. still,
straight into a pumping discotheque in a space Eastern electronic musicians had the problem of
station orbiting the earth. getting hold of synthesizers and drum machines
tangerine Dream, klaus schulze, Jean michel Jarre, from Japan or the us and smuggling them into the
ash ra temple, manuel Göttsching, and Vangelis GDr. none of them wanted to work with the few
were their conspirators in flight, along with Genesis, available home-produced music machines – they
pink floyd and Emerson lake and palmer. the West were considered too unreliable. in the beginning the
berlin band tangerine Dream played a seminal con- musicians could only hear the bands that inspired
cert on January 31, 1980, in East berlin’s palast der them surreptitiously, listening illegally to Western
Republik (Palace of the Republic) – the first pop radio. cassette tapes of the West berlin radio show
band from the West to play there. many of the “steckdose” (plug), which billed its focus as “com-
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puter music/music computer,” were passed around music when i ran across an old album being used
among members of the Eastern scene. only from as a prop in a display at a well-known swedish fur-
1986 on could they could listen legally via the East niture chain. on the back of the sleeve was a photo
German youth radio station Dt64 and its radio of two men in identical overalls; on the front was a
show “Electronics.” Dt64 also organized several cyclone swirling above a computer-grid-like hori-
festivals for electronic music in the late 1980s. zon. across the top, written in digital alarm clock
from the inception in the 1980s on, East German letters, was written pond – planetenwind. it was,
musicians began to produce their own versions of the liner notes said, electronic music from the
Western electronic music from the 1970s.the ama- GDr! having grown up in West Germany, i didn’t
zing thing: in a land where engineers and cosmo- know such a thing existed. My first thought was to
nauts were held up as heroes, nobody, it turned out, steal the record. instead i asked one of the emplo-
was allowed to release machine-like electronic mu- yees at the furniture warehouse if i could have it. it
sic on the state-owned label. No influence of Kraft- had spent many years molding in the attic of one of
werk, for instance, or industrial music can be found his colleagues, and was now nothing more than
on the albums of the time. instead, it was all about decoration. Which was a real shame, as i would
expansive jams that were so psychedelic it’s hard to discover as soon as i listened to it at home. but
imagine they were not fueled by drugs ( though where that had come from, there must be others.
everyone involved claims they really weren’t ). there I began scouring flea markets in Eastern Germany,
were endless synth epics describing trips to distant slowly assembling a collection. i sought out the
galaxies. there were balearic ambient sounds that original musicians, getting them to tell me their
made you daydream about the nude beaches along stories and to play me their vintage music. for all
the baltic sea. there were disco tracks with guitar of them, the end of the GDr in 1989-1990 marked
solos as heartbreakingly emotional as they were a stark break in their personal histories. What is
cheesy.there were italo-disco odysseys from artists preserved are twelve lps of electronic music issued
who had never been anywhere near lake Garda. it between 1981 and 1989. a forgotten branch on the
was a series of daring ideas, virtuosic rip-offs, seren- evolutionary tree of electronic music, but one on
dipitous screw-ups, and beautiful misunderstandings. which some delightful obscurities blossomed.
I was first intrigued by East German electronic florian sievers
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reinhard lakomy, born in geheime Leben, featuring dark,
magdeburg 1946, was famous in brooding cloudbursts of synth
the GDr for his albums of built atop a complex structure.
children’s music, jazz, and rock. this is like klaus schulze with evil
inspired by tangerine Dream, in premonitions. “Der Traum
1981 he became the first East von Asgard” (asgard’s Dream)
German artist to release an is the title track of lakomy ’s
electronic album: Das geheime 1983 second electronic album:
Leben (the secret life). accor- a melancholic urban elegy, com-
ding to the liner notes, the music plete with bursts of industrial
– made with “electronic instru- noise. could Detroit be in East
ments, band mellotron, piano” – Germany? asgard is the gliste-
speaks about “cosmic longing.” ning paradise of excess that
and that description is spot on. upon closer examination turns
the epic opening track “Es out to be rotten at the core –
wächst das Gras nicht über obviously a commentary on the
alles” (“Grass cannot Grow capitalist West and the way
over Everything”) is taken from many Easterners looked envi-
this album. the song title is an ously at it. in 1985 lakomy
idiom equivalent to “time doesn’t released Zeiten (times) in co-
heal all wounds.” Were there po- operation with rainer oleak.
litical undertones to this? “not 1991 he ended his foray into
at all,” says lakomy, “it ’s just an electronic music with the album
eternal truth.” “Das unend- Aer. today lakomy produces
liche Rätsel” (the Endless records for children together
riddle) is another track from Das with his wife.
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pond was led by Wolfgang many, selling over 100,000 co- track to a tV documentary.
“paule” fuchs. he was born 1948 pies, topping the charts, and from this lp comes “Galaxis”
in the prenzlauer berg borough being used constantly on tV. (Galaxy), in which a space ship
of berlin, and was to become the a shuffling beatbox, a catchy blasts off toward the final fron-
commercially most successful spacey melody, and a grandiose tier, where no cosmonaut has
electronic musician of the GDr. fanfare in the bridge – this is gone before. bombastic, pom-
fuchs founded pond in 1978 as great pop music. While the lp pous, opulent. and all with that
a prog rock band; from 1981 on version of the track is 18 mi- uniquely brittle synth sound.
he and his partner harald Witt- nutes 30 seconds long, this is Galactic disco from the plastic
kowski – both inspired by klaus the more concise radio edit. fantastic East. in 1990 pond
schulze and tangerine Dream – the same lp features “Cassio- released their last album on the
concentrated on instrumental peia,” a soundtrack to an ima- Deutsche schallplatten label, Ma-
electronic music. fuchs and Witt- ginary rave in a communist schinenmensch ( machine man).
kowski wore matching overalls in youth camp with an almost after the fall of the wall, fuchs
concert and presented them- whipping snare, chugging bass produced Eurodance and com-
selves as music engineers from layers, and a bubbling synth mercial techno music for a while.
another planet. “Planeten- melody that together make for today he has returned to more
wind ” ( planetary Winds) is a track which still kills on the abstract electronic music and
the title track of pond’s 1984 dance floor today. in 1986 pond has just released the soundtrack
debut album. it was the biggest released Auf der Seidenstraße to an exhibition of the famous
electronic music hit in East Ger- (on the silk road), the sound- GDr painter Willi sitte.
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Julius krebs was born in lation, showcases pumping disco
stalinstadt, today Eisenhütten- funk, and in the breaks sirens
stadt, in 1954. the trained engi- sing from the cliffs of the oder
neer was a big fan of Emerson, river. moving. according to
lake and palmer and Genesis Krebs, he was the first East Ger-
and started his solo project man artist to play live on stage
JsE (‘Julius krebs – sinfonische with a c64 and a 303. after the
Elektronik’) in 1981. but “SE ” wall came down, he ran his own
from 1985’s compilation Klee- studio until 2001 and worked as a
blatt No. 14 – Electronic-Pop is product tester for a synthesizer
not symphonic electronics, as company. today he writes books
the abbreviated title suggests, about synths, translates manuals,
but rather bass synths and still runs a small home studio
an orgiastic guitar solo – think and recently recorded a compi-
“ miami Vice” on rostock’s be- lation in cuba. and, not to be
ach, with the glowing lights of over-looked, he also produces
the harbor in the background. music for a trashy 1980s disco
“Intro,” from the same compi- pop project.
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hans -hasso stamer was about electronic music and
born in a small village in bran- “Datenbank” about computer
denburg’s brown coal mining technology. according to arti-
area in 1950. he started to play cles written about him at the
piano as a child, and was also time, his apartment was littered
fascinated by circuitry. later he with hot soldering materials and
studied information technology music composition notebooks.
and became an electrical engi- “Sonnenregen” (solar rain)
neer. he built his own synthesi- appeared on the 1985 compila-
zers from parts he took home tion Kleeblatt No. 14 – Electro-
from work and modified units nic-Pop. This track is a sun-filled
he was able to get from the deep breath. his solo album
West. from 1980 on, he perfor- with the visionary title Digital
med live with his English titled Life, featuring great old school
solo program live Electronics. computer graphics, and was only
in addition to this he parlayed released as the GDr was collap-
his two obsessions – circuitry sing – lost in the vortex after
and music – into a pair of radio the fall of the wall. today stamer
shows he co-hosted: “kontakt” works as a piano teacher.
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key was founded by andre- did them by hand. and then his
as fregin and frank fehse in synth even starts to make turn-
1984. they were the most pop of table-scratching sounds. fehse,
the GDr electronic musicians the main man behind key, was
and played everything “ from bach born in a small village near cott-
to break ”, as their slogan went. bus in 1953. he studied music in
key even performed live with leipzig in the university’s then
break dancers in the palast der new department for “dance and
republik ( palace of the republic) entertainment music,” and wor-
in berlin in the late 1980s. their ked as a session musician for
1988 album Key included cover orchestras and tV studios. after
versions of Jan hammer’s the fall of the wall, he earned his
“crockett’s theme ” and harold living as a piano player on cruise
faltermeyer’s “axel f.” on “So- ships, making up for the long
laris,” from that album, key play years behind the iron curtain by
a captain future version of disco traveling the world. today the
funk, culminating in a rousing fina- excellent musician showcases
le. “Ketchup,” from the compi- new pianos, keyboards, synthesi-
lation Kleeblatt No. 14 – Electro- zers, and even digital accordions
nic-Pop (1985), showcases key at music tradeshows. his key
playing a tight bit of synth funk. partner andreas fregin has re-
the hammering chords weren’t turned to his old job as a con-
created on a sequencer – fehse struction engineer.
v
PERMVAC0482_Booklet.indd 19 30.11.2009 16:59:20 Uhrservi was founded 1975 in from this album, is named for
bautzen as servi pacis (servants giants and cannibals from homer’s
of peace) by Jan bilk (born in Odyssey, but at heart it’s a song
1958) and tomaš nawka (born about homesickness and longing
in 1957).the band played church for another place – like all the
services and religious youth con- songs assembled here. in 1988 a
ferences – activities associated second, more pop oriented ser-
with opposition in the strictly vi album followed, called Pas
secular GDr. nevertheless, in De Deux In H. after the fall
1986 the renamed servi were of the wall, bilk and nawka star-
allowed to officially bring out ted a publishing company and
their debut album, Rückkehr aus wrote music for theatre and mu-
Ithaka (return from ithaca). the sic productions. 1995 the band
sanctuary of the church, coupled began occasionally to perform
with a captive audience, allowed live again. today nawka runs his
the two musicians to experi- own graphic design company
ment extensively with electronic while bilk operates a studio in
music, the results of which found the basement of his house and
its way onto their debut lp. manages his daughter, a well
the track “Laistrygonen,” known theremin player.
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Wolfgang paulke, born in
berlin in 1952, made an early
career in sports as a member of
the national ice speed-skating
team. later he worked as a sound
engineer at a pantomime groupe.
When his grandmother from
West berlin sent him some mo-
ney in the mid-1980s, he used it to
buy synths and sequencers. this,
combined with influences from
ash ra temple, resulted in the
beautiful combination of guitars
and machines that can be heard
on “Zeitmaschine” (time
machine) from 1987’s compilation
Zeitklänge – Electronics. his
“Frau in Blau” (the Woman
in blue) from the 1985 compilati-
on Kleeblatt No. 14 – Electronic-
Pop is a cosmic GDr tune with
stuttering marching drums, whi-
ning synths, and an over-the-top
plastic guitar solo. like windsur-
fing on the lakes of Mecklenburg.
today paulke runs a small studio
and produces meditative music.
PERMVAC0482_Booklet.indd 22 30.11.2009 16:59:22 Uhrrainer oleak was born in
1953 and studied piano, compo-
sition, and music theory at the
renowned berlin music college,
hochschule für musik hanns
Eisler. he played keyboards in
various pop and rock bands be-
fore being asked by reinhard
lakomy to record an album to-
gether. the two started to jam
and out came Zeiten (times,
1985), a concept album about
time. “Raumzeit” (spacetime)
is taken from that album. the
first part of the track is woozy
and ethereal, then it breaks into
a frenetic rave fanfare. it all fini-
shes with a tense Blade Runner
style denouement. today oleak
writes movie soundtracks and his
name can often be found in the
end credits of German tVmovies.
he produces the successful “East
rock in classical music” shows
for nostalgic former-GDr citi-
zens and runs a substantial studio
out of his home.
PERMVAC0482_Booklet.indd 23 30.11.2009 16:59:23 Uhr1. reinhard lakomy 6. Julius krebs
Es wächst das Gras nicht über alles sE
Band-Nr. B10379, DEC739800573,
Kompositionen, Arrangements und Tonregie: Reinhard Lakomy, (Composer: Krebs), Performer: Julius Krebs, ℗ 1985, BMG Berlin
Produktionsjahr: 1981, Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der Sony Musik GmbH/Amiga, Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der Sony
Music Entertainment Germany GmbH Music Entertainment Germany GmbH
2. pond 7. reinhard lakomy
planetenwind Der traum von asgard
DEC739800566, DEC730800001,
(Composer:Wolfgang Paule Fuchs), Performer : Pond, ℗1983, BMG (Composer: Reinhard Lakomy, Lyricist: Reinhard Lakomy),
Berlin Musik GmbH/Amiga Germany, Published by: Copyright Performer: Reinhard Lakomy, ℗1982, Amiga Germany, Published
Control, Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der Sony Music by: Copyright Control, Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der Sony
Entertainment Germany GmbH Music Entertainment Germany GmbH
3. reinhard lakomy 8. hans-hasso stamer
Das unendliche rätsel sonnenregen
Band-Nr. B10379, Band-Nr. 50-569,
Kompositionen, Arrangements und Tonregie: Reinhard Lakomy, Kompositionen und Arrangements: Hans-Hasso Stamer,
Produktionsjahr: 1981, Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der Sony Produktionsjahr: 1985, Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der
Music Entertainment Germany GmbH Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH
4. Wolfgang paulke 9. Wolfgang paulke
Zeitmaschine frau in blau
Band-Nr. 50-653, DEC739800569,
Kompositionen und Arrangements: Wolfgang Paulke, (Composer: Paulke), Performer:Wolfgang Paulke, ℗1985,
Produktionsjahr: 1987, Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der BMG Berlin Musik GmbH /Amiga, Mit freundlicher Genehmigung
Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH der Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH
5. reinhard lakomy / rainer oleak 10. key
raumzeit solaris
Band-Nr. B11141, Band-Nr. B11896,
Kompositionen, Arrangements und Produktion: Reinhard Lakomy / Kompositionen und Arrangements: Frank Fehse,
Rainer Oleak, Produktionsjahr: 1985, Mit freundlicher Produktionsjahr: 1988, Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der
Genehmigung der Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH
PERMVAC0482_Booklet.indd 24 30.11.2009 16:59:24 Uhr11. key 14. pond
ketchup cassiopeia
Band-Nr. 50-569, Band-Nr. B10944 DEC730800128,
Kompositionen und Arrangements: Frank Fehse, (Composer:Wolfgang Paule Fuchs), Arranger:Wolfgang Paule Fuchs,
Produktionsjahr: 1985, Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der Performer: Pond, ℗ 1984, BMG Berlin Musik GmbH / Amiga,
Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH Published by: Copyright Control, Mit freundlicher Genehmigung
der Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH
12. pond
Galaxis 15. servi
DEC730800130, laistrygonen
(Composer: Wolfgang Paule Fuchs), Arranger: Wolfgang Paule Band-Nr. B11390,
Fuchs, Performer: Pond , ℗ 1986, BMG Berlin Musik GmbH / Kompositionen und Arrangements: Jan Bilk/Tomaš Nawka,
Amiga, Published by: Copyright Control, Mit freundlicher Produktionsjahr: 1985, Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der
Genehmigung der Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH
13. Julius krebs
intro
K+A: Julius Krebs, ℗ 1985, BMG Berlin Musik GmbH /Amiga,
Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der Sony Music Entertainment
Germany GmbH
℗ & © 2010, permanent Vacation. all rights reserved.
mastered by andreas kauffelt at schnittstelle. mastered from vinyl. artwork by mathias schuckert.
permanent Vacation would like to thank Jörg stempel and marco John for their cooperation.
translation: Virginie Varlet / tim mohr
compiled by: florian sievers
florian sievers thanks:
annika for everything, heiko for the idea,Virginie Varlet and tim mohr for translation, robert csik for records,
Olaf Zimmermann for first hand information and support, and all the artists involved for their music.
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