City is a German rock band, formed in East Berlin in 1972, best known for the song "Am Fenster" ("At/By The Window") from its 1978 debut album. The band was founded as the City Band Berlin by Fritz Puppel (guitar), Klaus Selmke (drums), Ingo Doering (bass guitar), Klaus Witte (keyboards), Frank Pfeiffer (vocals) and Andreas Pieper (flute). The lineup changed frequently in the band's early years, but stabilized by 1976, with Puppel and Selmke joined by Bulgarian violinist and bassist Georgi Gogow and vocalist-guitarist Toni Krahl. They changed their name to City Rock Band and eventually to simply City.
The success of "Am Fenster" had made City well-known in West Germany, and on one of their tours
they were asked by American producer Jack Riley if they wanted to do a record for the English-speaking market. The band agreed and released the weak Dreamer (1980), which contained previous songs with English lyrics, arranged by Riley who didn't seem to be on the same wavelength with the band. For the recording of this album, City had furthermore expanded their lineup with the keyboarder Rüdiger Barton and an additional guitar player, Gisbert Piatkowski.
In 1981, City received a golden record for the sales of "Am Fenster" in Greece, but this could not hide the fact that the band was in a crisis: That same year, Georgi Gogow, who with his violin playing had
given their hit "Am Fenster" its unique sound, left City (together with Piatkowski and Barton -- the latter would join Silly) and founded his own band NO 55, which was only to be a footnote in GDR rock music of the '80s. The remaining members (Fritz Puppel, Klaus Selmke and Toni Krahl) decided not to hire a new bass player and violinist but rather a keyboarder, Manfred Hennig (born 1952). This meant a change in style: City's music became dominated by keyboards, the initial mix of folkish hard rock flavor was gone.
The first two albums recorded by the new lineup, Unter der Haut (1983) and Feuer im Eis (1985), did
not offer any exciting material but a mix of pretentious songs coated in thick keyboard layers. Compared to the standard of their first two albums, they were blunt disappointments. Casablanca, released in 1987, was some grades better. The band didn't abandon the keyboard sound but employed it in a much more thoughtful way, and the lyrics were dense and provocative. In the same year, City received a golden record in West Germany for the sales of "Am Fenster."
In 1990, Klaus Selmke left the band. Nevertheless, the album Keine Angst, released the same year, continued the attempt of presenting witty lyrics -- it contained German versions of Randy Newman's "Baltimore" and Jimi Hendrix' "Hey Joe." After the release of this record, Manfred Hennig's departure
made City virtually a torso consisting of guitarist Fritz Puppel and vocalist Toni Krahl. After two years, the two musicians laid the band to rest and founded their own record company K & P Music, which apart from their own music was intended to release albums of young East German artists. 1992 marked a new leg in the band's history: After more than ten years, Georgi Gogow found his way back to City, and drummer Klaus Selmke rejoined too, thus reviving their most successful lineup of the '70s. In 1995, Manfred Hennig rejoined the band.
After five years of various "Best Of" tours presenting old material to the audience, they eventually
released Rauchzeichen (1997), a new album which was a fair comeback effort created with the inspirational involvement of the Silly masterminds Uwe Hassbecker and Rüdiger Barton. The same year, City was awarded a platinum record for the sales of their hit "Am Fenster."
City – Best Of City
Label: K&P Music – 74321103732
Format: CD, Compilation, Remastered, Stereo
Country: Germany
Released: 1992
Genre: Rock
Style: Classic Rock
TRACKS
01. Am Fenster (Edit Version) 3:56
02. Der King Vom Prenzlauer Berg 4:52
03. Meister Aller Klassen 5:31
04. Aus Der Ferne 5:11
05. Something To Tell You 2:56
06. Glastraum 5:04
07. Unter Der Haut 5:22
08. Mir Wird Kalt Dabei 3:51
09. Casablanca 4:28
10. Wand An Wand 3:21
11. Z. B. Susann 4:58
12. Morgenmond 3:18
13. Dünne Luft 3:33
14. Am Fenster (Special Version) 7:23
Thank you Kostas for this obscure band. Never heard before. I'm so glad you bring something like this.
ReplyDeleteI didn't listen to it, but that wil fit because you almost always bring high quality. And you can get the cd for very little money.
Great !!
City were very famous in Greece during the 70s. You have to listen the last track of the CD (Am Fenster). Thank you for your comment.
ReplyDeleteToday i ordered the last remaining Greece bands from your site:
DeleteThe Blue Jeans, Various - Garage Bands of 60's, Common Sense, Enjoy The Greek Vol.1, The Frantic V.
Expect for La Tulipe - much too expensive (45e). I have to patient here until a cheaper example appears.
Kostas, I searched for Am Fenster and immediately recognized the track. It was very popular, even during the 80s, alongside Julia or Moonchild. I didn't know the band though, and was surprised to read that they were from East Berlin, and were even allowed to record in Western Germany or even tour.
DeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteGot the cd today. I like it ! Do you know NATIONALGALERIE ? Also an obscure German band in the first half of the 90's and really good. I have two cds of them Indiana & Mescalin.
ReplyDeleteVery melancholic but beautiful.
DeleteI know a lot of good bands from the 80's and early 90's from Germany.
Josef, I think that Germany always had a very active music scene. I see how successful and with expertise of decades behind them the music stores are, like Thomann or Music Store Koln or Musik Produktiv and so on.
DeleteAnonymous you are right. I only mentioned the 80s because the CITY shota are from around that time. Of course i have a few hundred of them from the 60s and 70s. When i was young "nobody" wanted to hear the German bands. They were bad for us, if you knew them at all, that no one paid attention to them. Even the most German renowned music magazine SOUNDS hardly ever published review, or if it did, it was a verry. It's amazing that things have changed so radically. Today, a cult scene has emerged around German bands and they are very popular. Especially as i heard in Japan.
DeleteHundreds is an exaggeration.
ReplyDeleteBut it should be around a hundred.
I especially love CAROL OF HARVEST !
ReplyDeleteOne of my top favorite German bands.