Jun 112021
 

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Liquido – Brown Girl in the Ring (Boney M. cover)

Another one hit wonder who contributed this track to a sampler. Boney M., seeming like a real band, have been the project of producer and songwriter Frank Farian (who also did the backing vocals secretly, and was behind other fake-band Milli Vanilli). Here, they get the crossover treatment…

Die Lokalmatadore – Uli Uli (The Kingsman cover)

This is working class punk rock from the Ruhr region, the former coal belt. The music is straight in the face – the lyrics here paying tribute to a pub owner… It is not supposed to be intellectual all the time!

Loretta – Reel Around the Fountain (The Smiths cover)


Another, not so well-known German band, so I am not able to deliver any facts about them. They sing in English, mostly their own stuff, but seem to manage covers as well – which they prove here. They are giving the song another sad twist.

Lost Lyrics – Devil in Disguise (Elvis Presley cover)

A real catchy tune, possessing the spirit and flow of the original and making it their own. A band from the late ’80s, long gone…

Malaria! – Lay Lady Lay (Bob Dylan cover)

Malaria! have been a Berlin based New Wave band, world famous in (West) Berlin. Their take on a classic Dylan take is courageous, but successful, I think!

Mambo Kurt – Killing in the Name (Rage Against the Machine cover)

You can only hear this cover as tongue-in-cheek. It reminds me of so many 60th or 70th birthdays, wedding jubilees, wine or beer festivals and Sunday afternoon dances in your parish – with an old and odd guy on his cheesy organ with a rhythm machine, lack of melody and not the slightest bit in command of the English language. Mambo Kurt makes fun of all that, and even played the world famous Wacken festival as an opener! Seems that they have a kind of humor up there.

Maria Perzil – Kaa (Trust in Me) (Jungle Book cover)

A band that was not even popular in the ’90s, with a quite eclectic cover. It captures the spirit of the charming snake in the movie. In all these Disney classic movies, the words is always translated into German. So are all the Hollywood movies. No subtitles, just listening.

Mobylettes – Da doo ron ron (The Crystals cover)

Somehow, Germany can be considered a kind of refuge to all strange (youth) subcultures there ever existed… when nobody wanted to hear soul music anymore, it survived as ‚Northern soul‘ in the British clubs up North in Yorkshire and Northumberland. But if you want to go a classic all-nighter nowadays, come to Germany! You will find mods and quiffs, petticoats and Doc Martens along. And retro-music just like this one.
I also got it on a sampler featuring Mod sounds and Northern soul in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, but not on youtube – search for that on Spotify et al.

Nana Mouskouri – I Have a Dream (Abba cover)

Okay, yes, Nana Mouskouri is Greek. But being a kid in the ’70s, there were three TV stations to choose from and at Saturday, 8.15 p.m. there were the big TV shows and quizzes – with the same range of artists, every week. Nana was one of them (like the French Mireille Mathieu!) and sang a lot of songs in German. Here is her contribution to my list. Please note the fake Greek guitar in the background, imitating a bouzouki.

Mr. Ed Jumps the Gun – Wild Thang (The Troggs cover)

It was crossover, slackers, the Generation X – only possible in a few of years in the 90s. Actually, for some music addicts it might be quite a torture to listen to that. That band was great for a few months, but disappeared very quickly as well…

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  2 Responses to “An Exhaustive History of German Cover Songs”

Comments (2)
  1. Looking forward to listening. By the way, the blog Any Major Dude With Half a Heart posted two lists of Schlager covers, at http://halfhearteddude.com/2017/10/any-major-schlager-covers-vol-1/ and http://halfhearteddude.com/2020/03/any-major-schlager-covers-vol-2/. The password is amdwhah. As always, thanks for all your hard work.

    • Dear Joe,
      that looks stunning – but all the links mentioned there (as well as two others, as well looking nice (Curious German and Stars sing German) are down…
      Is there any possibility of getting them elsewhere?
      Greetz, Karsten

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