KEEP ROCKIN' 25-30
Graham (XXV)
Graham Gouldman is a founding member of the band 10cc, but he made a name for himself as a composer at a very young age (he wrote ‘No Milk Today’, for example). For me, 10cc are the satirits among prog rockers. In wonderfully ironic lyrics, they told us in the 70s about the last thoughts of a ticking time bomb, about life being like Italian vegetable soup and asserted in one of the most beautiful love songs in rock history that they weren't in love at all (just as they later sang in one of the most successful reggae songs that they didn't like reggae). I had the pleasure of seeing Graham Gouldman with 10cc, featuring the unique Paul Burgess on percussion, in Erding in November 2021. It was a memorable concert if only because it was the first after lockdown. The colourful element in his hand is the card from the Hipgnosis cover of the ‘Bloody Tourists’ album lying on a face.
Al (XXVI)
Al Stewart straddles the line between singer/songwriter and crisp rock music. But in the 70s, he gave us timeless classic rock songs with ‘On The Border’, ‘Year Of The Cat’ and ‘Time Passages’. If 10cc are the satirists, then Al Stewart is the historian of rock music. Many of his songs and albums deal with historical events. I have been listening to Al Stewart since I was young, and the then newly released ‘Time Passages’ was on my very first self-compiled tape. I had the opportunity to see him in Giessen in 1989 and again in 2006 at the Schlachthof in Munich. In Munich, he sat at the table next to us during dinner before the concert, which of course I remember particularly well. The blur of colour is his usually blue guitar strap.
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Robert (XXVII)
After Al Stewart, here is his guitar teacher (seriously!) Robert Fripp from King Crimson. King Crimson is a kind of prototype of the progressive rock band, playing around in their songs to the point of pain, with many jazz influences. I had the privilege of seeing Robert Fripp with King Crimson – three (!) drum kits in the foreground and the wonderful Tony Levin on bass, whom I had already seen with Peter Gabriel – at the Philharmonie in Munich in 2018. I then encountered a surprisingly humorous Robert Fripp again during Covid, when he and his wife Toyah Willcox recorded wonderfully bizarre cover versions of famous rock songs every Sunday in their kitchen and posted them on YouTube as ‘Toyah & Robert's Sunday Lunch’ (where they can still be found). As a colourful touch, I pinned the logo of the independent music label DGM, which he founded, to his lapel.
Paul (XXVIII)
In June 1982, as a 16-year-old, I saw the film recording of the Simon & Garfunkel concert in Central Park on German television and was impressed. Until then, Simon & Garfunkel had been reliable suppliers of ballads for certain moments in the life of a teenager. In Central Park, I got to know the other R&B side of Paul Simon in particular. Not only that, but with ‘Mother And Child Reunion’ he delivered one of the best reggae songs ever. A few years later, the Graceland album was released, which made me curious about African music. Consequently, I attended two Paul Simon concerts live on the Graceland tour, in Frankfurt in 1987 and in Würzburg in 1989. The blue band on his hat is the blur of colour in this painting.
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Gerd (XXIX)
Asche im Wind’ by the Schroeder Roadshow is one of the best German rock songs. As a teenager, I saw the Schroeder Roadshow with Gerd Koester as singer and the anarchic lyrics of Uli Hundt at a benefit con-cert (when and where has been lost in the fog of my youthful memory due to the lack of a ticket). Gerd Koester later recorded wonderful Cologne-style Tom Waits adaptations with ‘The Piano Has Been Drinking’. The yellow telephone on the green tiled wall as a blur of colour is an excerpt from the comic cover of the album ‘Live in Tokyo’. By the time of the Anti-WAAhnsinns Festival in 1986, they had already split up. First Uli Hundt performed there with the band ‘Wahnsinn’ and immediately afterwards Gerd Koester with ‘Die Firma’. Since both were unknown quantities in the Upper Palatinate, I was able to watch both performances from the front row despite the crowds. The nice side effects of having somewhat unusual musical tastes...
Jeff (XXX)
I like rock bands that use classical elements or instrumentation. Even at a young age, I was enthusiastic about Jon Lord and Deep Purple's ‘Concerto for Group and Orchestra’. Jeff Lynne used classical instruments with his Electric Light Orchestra from the very beginning, creating a special, unmistakable musical style, even if some of the songs were primarily intended to pay the bills. The earlier albums in particular feature wonderful progressive crossover pieces. Personally, I was also able to get into the more commercial albums of the late seventies and early eighties, not least because I was socialised musically during this period and we grew up with these albums. I had the opportunity to see Jeff Lynne and ELO at the Olympiahalle in Munich in 2018. This time, the blur of colour is the ‘ELO spaceship’ that appears on various albums, printed on Jeff Lynne's shirt.
