Die Toten Hosen

Die Toten Hosen is a German punk band from Düsseldorf. They are one of very few German-language acts who have enjoyed decades-long mass appeal in Germany; Die Ärzte and Herbert Grönemeyer are pretty much the only other contenders in this respect.

The members of Die Toten Hosen ("The Dead Pants" in English; "tote Hose" is a German expression meaning "nothing going on") are Campino (Andreas Frege), Kuddel (Andreas von Holst), Vom (Vom Ritchie), Andi (Andreas Meurer) and Breiti (Michael Breitkopf). Vom replaced Wölli as the drummer a few years ago, who himself had replaced Trini in the 1980s; Trini became the band's manager.

The band has existed for over 20 years, and their songs' focus gradually shifted from funny and nonsensical to serious; the songs from their first LP were mostly about having fun, but by the end of the 1980s they were focussing more on political and social issues such as racism.

The debut single "Wir sind bereit" ("We are ready") was released in 1982, and was followed by their first album, "Opel-Gang", the next year. In 1988, Die Toten Hosen released the LP "Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau", concurrent with the German theatrical production of A Clockwork Orange based on the book by Anthony Burgess.

Die Toten Hosen have collaborated with numerous other musicians; they are also one of the few German punk bands popular outside of Germany, other notable bands being Die Ärzte and WIZO.

As longtime fans of the their local soccer team Fortuna Düsseldorf they have been sponsoring the club for years.

References

Artist Andreas Gursky sold a famous work called "Tote Hosen", a blown up photograph of the crowd from a Die Toten Hosen concert. It features a crowd of German youths, many wearing the red Hosen shirt, excitedly cheering for the band. It is currently on display in the Photography wing of the Museum of Modern Art.

Discography

Opel-Gang – 1983
Unter falscher Flagge ("under false colours") – 1984
The Battle of the Bands – 1985
Damenwahl ("Ladies' choice") – 1986
Never mind the Hosen, Here's die Roten Rosen ("Never mind the Hosen, here's the red roses") – 1987
Bis zum bitteren Ende ("until the bitter end") – live – 1987
Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau ("a little bit of horror show") – 1988
Auf dem Kreuzzug ins Glück ("on the crusade to happiness") – 1990
Learning English, Lesson One – 1991
Kauf mich! ("buy me") – 1993
Reich & Sexy ("rich and sexy") – 1993
Love, Peace & Money – 1994
Musik war ihr Hobby ("music was their hobby") – 1995
Opium fürs Volk ("opium for the people") – 1996
Im Auftrag des Herrn ("on a mission from god") – live – 1996
Wir warten auf's Christkind (Die Roten Rosen) ("We're waiting for the christ child (the red roses)") – 1998
Crash Landing – 1999
Unsterblich ("Immortal") – 1999
Auswärtsspiel ("away game") – 2002
Reich & Sexy II – Die fetten Jahre ("rich and sexy II – the fat years") – 2002
Zurück zum Glück ("back to joy") – 2004

External links

Categories: German musical groups