# Radio Irrtum! 2025/08B - The NDW that wasn't (Directors Cut) ## Special Einspieler *1979 Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Während im Radio Boney M, Pink Floyd und deutsche Schlager laufen, hat sich eine neue Generation von Musiker:innen bereits an Punk satt gehört. Sie wollen all das nicht mehr – außerdem finden sie Gitarren doof. Da trifft es sich gut, dass die ersten Drumcomputer wie der Roland CR78 für Normalsterbliche erschwinglich geworden sind, auch wenn sie sehr sehr komisch klingen. Dasselbe gilt für Synthesizer wie den Korg MS20 und die ersten 4 Spur Kassettenrekorder wie das Tascam 144. Genug, um auf geringster Budget-Basis, richtig kreativ zu werden und Sachen zu machen, die es in der Tat noch nie vorher gegeben hat. Dies ist das Radio Irrtum! Special zu den Wurzeln der NDW. Ohne NDW. Mostly in English!* *1979, Federal Republic of Germany. The radio plays Boney M, Pink Floyd, and German Schlager, while a new generation of musicians has already grown tired of punk. They don't want any of that - also they think guitars are stupid. But happily this is the first time drum machines, such as the Roland CR78, have become affordable for ordinary mortals, even if they sound very, very strange. The same goes for synthesizers like the Korg MS20 and the first 4-track cassette recorders like the Tascam 144. Enough to get really creative on a shoestring budget and make music that had never been done before. This is the Radio Irrtum! Special on the roots of NDW - the Neue Deutsche Welle that wasn’t.* ## Sendung [Alex] [Intro] Und damit willkommen in den frühen 80ern, willkommen zu einem Radio Irrtum! Special - mein Name ist Herr Irrtum! - und dieses Special wird… weird! Es geht um die Wurzeln der NDW ab 1979, der neuen Deutschen Welle. Wurzeln, die wesentlich weniger damit zu tun haben, als Ihr vielleicht denkt. Dazu fangen wir erstmal mit der Single an, die vermutlich unfreiwillig das ganze Musik-Industrie Verramschen dieser ursprünglichen Antimusik-Idee in Gang gebracht hat. Gleich mehr dazu und darüber, was Euch noch erwartet - hier erstmal der 16 jährige Schüler Andreas Dorau aus Hamburg mit seinen Marinas und deren Schulprojekt-Lied: Fred vom Jupiter aus dem Jahre 1981: **01. Andreas Dorau und die Marinas: Fred vom Jupiter (1981) | Blumen und Narzissen [A]** ↑↑↑ - Wie gesagt - das war ein Schulprojekt und irgendwie ist das Ganze nach wenigen Monaten bei der Plattenfirma Telefunken gelandet, die das Lied dann natürlich ins Fernsehn drücken wollte, was wiederum zu wahnsinnigen Ärger führte, weil die jüngste der Sängerinnen erst 11 Jahre alt war und niemand, außer Andreas Dorau selbst, das 16. Lebensjahr bereits erreicht hatte. Als nämlich Dorau mit den Marinas auf Tour gehen wollte, haben die Eltern fast aller Marinas das strikt untersagt – nur eine blieb übrig - eine weitere Seiteneinsteiger-Sängerin, die damals 15 Jahrige Hagar, fand er auf anderen Wegen - und so gab es damals *live* nur 2 von den eigentlich 5 Marinas, die auf der Aufnahme - nun gut - mehr oder weniger - zu hören sind. Jedenfalls - dieses Lied (und wahrscheinlich die Berliner Band Ideal mit Annette Humpe am Mikrofon) haben ohne das zu wollen den Sprung von dieser seltsamen Untergrund Bewegung hin zur Musikindustrie vollziehen können. Und das war der Dammbruch: denn dann kamen sie alle: Hubert Kah, Nena, Fräulein Menke, Peter Schilling, Markus (der übrigens damals Mitglied der Jungen Union war), und Co. Und führten das, was die eigentlichen Ideen der Untergrund Bewegung vorher waren, komplett ad absurdum zugunsten eines gefälligeren breiten etwas infantilen Massengeschmacks; der sehr schnell völlig übersättigt war, so dass spätestens 1984, also 3, 4 Jahre später niemand mehr Bock auf NDW hatte. Und damit Willkommen bei [Tellerrand] aber, weil wir ja in etwa ins Jahr 1980 zurückgehen und damals sehr viel auf verrauschte Kassetten gemastert wurde, kommt meine Stimme ab JETZT [knack] auch von Tape. Und hier ist in wahnsinniger Kürze, um was es heute geht: [Einspieler in Deutsch] Ja, in englisch, weil ich von meinen Feedbacks zur Sendung weiß, dass diese Sendung z.B. auch in den USA und Kanada gehört wird, und ich sicher bin, dass dieses Thema für die ganze Welt von Interesse ist. Und mein simples Englisch versteht Ihr sowieso. At this note let's just take a look into what's coming up this hour: There will be: - dusty Effect chains - shimmering cyber electronics - Pre 1997 electronic beats from 1981 - pioneer EBM - post Kraut - pop that isn't pop - industrial - so called rubber mind music - spoken words - punk of various flavors - pre NDW Goth - surreal electronics Some of this is so bizarre, you won't find it on [Spotify] And then again, this can't be enough, can it? So let's play the album - Din A Testbild - Programm 1 in the background meanwhile. More a community than a band this project features always changing people like Bettina Köster, Frieder Butzmann, Gudrun Gut, or even Klaus Schulze, yes someone totally alien to this scene some might say - the guy from Tangerine Dream Well, let's just listen to it at least for some seconds: - Din A Testbild - Programm 1 Oh yes, Pre NDW doesn’t necessarily have to have German lyrics. Ok, next up is a truly super influential project… Let's listen to… **02. Der Plan: Was ich von mir denke (1980) | Geri Reig [A]** ↑↑↑ Whatever I eat of you – it will grow back eventually. That's what this is about. This comes from the first full Der Plan Album which even now sounds very fresh – futuristic even in some parts. One track in particular sounds like coming from the Detroit electro scene from 1990. But for what it's worth: Der Plan comes from Düsseldorf, the same city Kraftwerk originated from… and while Der Plan probably would never admit it, both - Detroit electro a full decade later as well as Der Plan - were in fact influenced by Kraftwerk. Which however has nothing to do with the track we just listened to - Der Plan was heading into different directions all at once. As mentioned, they came from Düsseldorf and are part of, let's call it… primeval soup of a large portion of the pre NDW Scene, the thing that led to the Neue Deutsche Welle which very soon wasn't anything like this anymore. Among the founding members of their Plan are for example Robert Görl, Chrislo Haas and not to forget Kurt Dahlke which all at one point played in DAF, Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, the super influential Electric Body Pioneers, active at the very same time. Especially Kurt Dahlke, also called the Pyrolator, was someone who pulled the strings in the back with his own record label Ata Tak which covered a major part of the West German scene, the other important record label would be Zick Zack by Alfred Hilsberg from Hamburg.. Let’s stay mainly in Düsseldorf, this is ↓↓↓ **03. Träneninvasion: Sentimental (1980) | Träneninvasion [S]** ↑↑↑ There is not much left about Träneninvasion, as this is the only Single *they* ever released. But who are “they”? Again: Influential primeval soup ingredients! Peter Hain from Mittagspause and later Fehlfarben from Düsseldorf [Es geht voran], Michael Klemmer from the early DAF [Ein bisschen Krieg] and Holger Hiller of Palais Schaumburg [Wir bauen eine neue Stadt] Together they are Träneninvasion which sounds nothing like DAF or Palais Schaumburg or Fehlfarben. But being unpredictable is part of the Game, part of the concept of this Pre NDW underground in Germany. Enough of Düsseldorf - also because today is THE day to hit the good clubs - today is: [Saturday] And in this spirit - well - more or less - here comes Westberlin with a 15 year old Alexander Hacke, better known as ↓↓↓ **04. Borsigwerke: Tote Kammer (1981) | Sentimentale Jugend [EP]** ↑↑↑ And I‘d like to mention: This isn‘t on [Sportify]. And yes that’s Alexander Hacke, the back then 15 year old who was behind BorsigWerke. The very same Alex Hacke, who later became part of the Einstürzende Neubauten but also Crime and the City Solution, Miranda Sex Garden, Terranova or the Gianna Nanini live backing band. As I said: Being unpredictable is key. Even decades later - at least for some people coming from this particular art direction. Pre NDW. [Alex Berlin] [Special English] One more thing about Borsig Werke (which is still playing in the back). Alexander Hacke belongs to the other huge primeval petri dish of highly influential Pre NDW scene people - from West Berlin this time - and in particular from the so called Geniale Dilletanten - lead by some Genius which is Frieder Butzmann, and around that – some more some less - artists like the girls from ManiaD, later Malaria and Einstürzende Neubauten or the Tödliche Doris are oscillating - some of them will appear later here in this show: Radio Irrtum! My name is Herr Irrtum! and the name of the next act is: ↓↓↓ **05. Tommi Stumpff: Contergan Punk (1983) | Mich Kriegt Ihr Nicht / Contergan Punk [S]** ↑↑↑ You wont find this on… [Spotify] – just saying. Why - 1983 - isn’t that too late for being pre Neue Deutsche Welle? Yes it is at one hand and at the other it isn’t. As this kind of sound wasn’t invented by Tommi Stumpff, but 3 years earlier by DAF and in particular by Chrislo Haas, their Korg MS20 synthesizer mastermind, who later was with “LIESONDOhNGERÖS” Liaisons Dangereuses. Interesting enough DAFs blast through success Album “Alles ist gut” was produced by Conny Plank, the legendary producer, who produced Eurythmics, Kraftwerk, Neu! and others. So maybe Conny Plank had more to do with the well known DAF sound, than Robert Görl would ever admit. Because what we heard right now, Tommy Stumpff, was also produced by… Conny Plank. And it sounds almost exactly like DAF. However, that’s just my tiny theory. Because on the other Hand, Stumpff is also coming from the Düsseldorf Petri dish - he was the singer of the Punk Band KFC - Kriminalitäts Förerungsclub before, famous for beating their audience during their gigs brutally with their guitars if they had a bad day, which was often enough the case. And surprise: Because of this ultra violent behaviour, they where quite isolated and not really respected let alone taken seriously, especially from the Düsseldorf Possie. Well I was talking so much about DAF, let's play something by them which came out before they got really famous, but already produced by Conny Plank. Enjoy a very open and relaxed non machine worshipping DAF from 1980: ↓↓↓ **06. DAF: Nacht Arbeit (1980) | Die Kleinen und die Bösen [A]** ↑↑↑ Yeah - this is the band on the perfect middle ground between their early free jazz / Krautrock experiments - yes, I said free jazz: Listen to their first album “Ein Produkt der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Freundschaft” to understand what I mean. Well - a perfect middle ground between that and their later Hits like Der Mussolini. The synthie groove is already therem but a very out of control singer and very human sounding percussion. They are one more integral part of the Düsseldorf Pre NDW scene - sharing the same stage - the Rattinger Hof, with bands like Mittagspause, later Fehlfarben, ZK, der Plan, or art projects like Minus Delta t in the early days. The early days - that would be 1978 and 79. But of course Düsseldorf was not the only town in Germany where strange developments happened in the underground. Hamburg was another epicenter - and from there comes **07. Palais Schaumburg: Macht mich glücklich wie nie (1980) | ~ [S]** ↑↑↑ They had the image of an intellectual project - Palais Schaumburg - and yes, they had, as you have heard, a very own style with references to Dadaism, the weird anti art movement from the 20s of the last century. On a personal level, they had FM Einheit with them, a guy famous for using rigged FM radios in live performances, who was also and at more or less the same time part of the Hamburg Band Abwärts (later more about them), and the Einstürzende Neubauten. And guess who is next? Yes, the Einstürzende Neubauten from their first album: ↓↓↓ **08. Einstürzende Neubauten: Draußen ist Feindlich (1981) | Kollaps [A]** [Alex Chip] ↑↑↑ No samplers, almost no convential instruments, just stuff from the junkyard, machines they robbed from construction workers, and some tape loopes. Yes, they stole their stuff from construction zones - their mantra was: “Sei schlau - klau vom Bau!”. “Be smart, steal from construction!”. With Blixa Bargeld, FM Einheit and Alexander Hacke the summit of some of the best spirits among the Pre NDW scene, while some of the founding members Gudrun Gut and Beate Bartel (both well known from Mania D - at least) were already kicked out and being active in other projects. [Einspieler deutsch] Ja, in englisch, weil ich denke, dass *die Welt* mehr von dieser Scene wissen sollte. We are already at the second half of [microphone] and still so much to do. In terms of - weird distorted experimental electronics - so called rubbermind music - spoken words - punk of various flavors - pre NDW Goth - surreal electronics We’ve had Einstürzende Neubauten before, and they are considered part of the Geniale Dilletanten Movement back then. But the master mind of this Movement was without a doubt ↓↓↓ **09. Frieder Butzmann: Bunte Flügel (1980) | Bunte Flügel [A]** ↑↑↑ Btw. You wont find _this_ on... [Spotify]. Frieder B. is an iconic figure in the world wide industrial movement, believe it or not. He worked already in the end of the 60s with modular electronic set ups - so he was quite old in comparison - and eventually did projects with legends like Genesis P-Orridge from Throbbing Gristle, one of the most influential pioneers of Industrial music, in the very early 80s. He is still active, and if you have the chance to visit one of his performances, definitely do - or you might miss his talking coffee machine and other obscure sound sources on stage. Someone who was a bit of an outsider of the scene, but then again is a very typical example of the totally open to all directions but being anti to anything pre NDW culture is Max Goldt, who at the same time started Foyer des Arts - but this is his solo project. Listen to ↓↓↓ **10. Max Goldt: Die Kati (1981) | Blumenmarathon [A]** Surpirse – believe it or not – you wont find this on… [Spotify]! ↑↑↑ Max Goldt, who at the same time started Foyer des Arts which ironically had one hit that you may find on any NDW Compilations nowadays - “Wissenswertes über Erlangen” - but was so much more than that and was for example one of the favorite German bands of John Peel, the BBC legend. But what we heard here, has nothing to do with all of that. This is very typical “Pre Neue Deutsche Welle” material instead – music that wasn’t played on German Radio Stations at all, besides the SFB, the Sender Freies Berlin from Westberlin… Aaaaannd John Peel over in the UK - he was very interested in this new development from Germany. Max Goldt, born in Göttingen, lived in West Berlin in 1981, and so did Die tödliche Doris. For our German spealking listeners: Wenn Ihr empfindlich reagiert auf nüchterne sprachliche Schilderungen von *drastischen* Unfällen im Haushalt - so richtig mit Blut und Gehirnmasse - dann solltet Ihr bitte die nächsten 3 min 30 weg hören. This is ↓↓↓ **11. Die tödliche Doris: Sieben tödliche Unfälle im Haushalt (1981) Ohne Titel [E]** ↑↑↑ Something that can‘t be found on… [Spotify]. Die tödliche Doris was more an Art project than a band - however, the Müller brothers especially Max Müller, who I believe is a time traveler because he now looks exactly like his brother Wolfgang Müller back then - are even active in music projects Today. Wolfgang Müller still with the Tödliche Doris, selling their Music as music cassette assembly construction sets, and Max Müller as mastermind behind the positively unpredictable Band Mutter. This is one of the most talked about West Berlin Art projects of the time and simply can not be taken out of a radio session like this about Pre Neue Deutsche Welle. [Alex] Thats the station - the show is Radio Irrtum! and My name is Herr Irrtum! [Einspieler engl] While this is all fine and dandy, we had someone calling in because he seems to be fed up with all this so let's see what he suggests instead. [Dieter] **12. Rotzkotz: Müslibrei (1981) | Lebensfroh + Farbeinfroh [A]** ↑↑↑ And isn’t that funpunk? It is, and I’d say Rotzkotz single handed invented “Funpunk” - a very German kind of punk - a style Bands like Abstürzende Brieftauben or at least in parts Die Toten Hosen happily picked up later. But Rotzkotz did Funpunk because they wanted commercial success. They were among the first German Punk acts that signed for a major music label - at their live performances they played wave influenced “serious” so to say punk. Punk is of course part of Pre Neue Deutsche Welle, however a lot of musicians weren’t interested any more so Rotzkotz are more traditional then others here. Andreas Dorau even said once, “Punk is nothing else than the last stage of Rock music”, and Rock music is something none of the Pre NDW crowd wanted to be associated with at all. But yes, there were Punk Bands, and one of the best among them were Abwärts from Hamburg. Listen to ↓↓↓ **13. Abwärts: Computerstaat (single von 1980) | Amok Koma [A]** ↑↑↑ Abwärts from Hamburg - an absolute force with people like FM Einheit in it, who would ultimately join the Westberlin Einstürzende Neubauten later. But in 1980, this was the prime Hamburg sound - maybe the start of the so called Hamburger Schule even, that one decade later became dominant, with bands like Der Schwarze Kanal, Blumfeld and later Tocotronic. For now let’s take a look at Hannover, which some people consider the most boring town in Germany - but it actually doesn’t have to come out like this. There are exceptions to the cliche. One is definitely Hans-A-Plast, and once more some advice for my German listeners: Wenn Ihr Kinder unter 12 Jahren hier zuhören habt - sperrt sie vielleicht dann für die nächsten 3 Minuten weg, wenn Ihr verlegen werdet, falls Ihr ihnen heikle Begriffe aus dem Bereich der Aufklärung erläutern sollt. Right, here is ↓↓↓ **14. Hans-A-Plast: Es brennt (1979) | Hans-A-Plast [A]** ↑↑↑ From Hannover, believe it or not - and on top of this with more than 50 Percent Women in the band. 3 Girls, only 2 Boys - something that wasn’t so common in West Germany at the time - something I definitely appreciate. But there was one band, again totally ignored by the German Media at the time, but not by John Peel from the BBC in London, that was even better in this regard. Not one man in sight - Women only - this is ↓↓↓ **15. Xmal Deutschland: Schwarze Welt (1981) | Schwarze Welt (single)** ↑↑↑ Besides the West Berlin Based Mania D, Malaria and Ausserhalb one of the few Girls only Bands. And that’s not the only thing worth mentioning (and It would be so much better if this girls-only-thing wouldn’t be worth mentioning at all - it should have been a normal thing even back then - but that’s West Germany for you) . What I want to add: The UK had Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Germany (although, as mentioned, totally not recognised in the early 80s) Germany had Xmal Deutschland. Pioneers in very well made Gothic music. And that’s it - we are at the end of this session. Thank you for listening and let's switch to German Language once more. [OMG] Jaja- Mein Name ist Herr Irrtum! und Ihr findet mich, die Playlist und das Manuskript zu dieser Sendung im freien Netzwerk Fediverse unter… @herr_irrtum@s.basspistol.org Aber wir haben noch einen Song - der ist von 1982, also dem Jahr, in dem die formale Neue Deutsche Welle sich mit Nena und Trio und so weiter so richtig breit machte. Ihr fragt Euch vielleicht? Was wurde aus den ganzen innovativen Ansätzen? Wie ging es weiter? So richtig ging es nicht weiter damit. Es gab Bands, die einfach weiter gemacht haben, aber sie wurden dann einfach auch unter den Mantel “NDW” gesteckt und der war bereits 1983 schäbig geworden, das interessierte niemanden mehr. Und damit ging auch das alles unter. So wie dieses Projekt. Hier sind ↓↓↓ Schade. Machts gut, gehabt Euch wohl und bis zum nächsten Mal in einem Monat, Euer Herr Irrtum! **16. Vono: Der Zauberer (1982) | Dinner Für 2 [A]**