Читать книгу Anecdotes from Backstage - Peter O. Bischoff - Страница 5

Foreword Jer Hogan

The infamous Reeperbahn and the vibrant music scene around it were the lure that drew me to Germany in the winter of 1985. It was twenty degrees minus when I got off the ferry down at the dock of Hamburg. With only a duffel bag and a guitar in my possession I was looking for adventure. Fate led me to Hamburg’s legendary live music club the Markthalle where I found work as a roadie. The manager of the Markthalle at that time was no lesser mortal than Peter Bischoff. This is where we met and our paths have crossed many times since then. When Peter left the Markthalle and moved on to become independent and to diversify he was unknowingly sowing the seeds for this book.

Through his vast engagement in the music scene, be it as a musician, roadie, DJ, concert agent, tour promoter, artist manager, music publisher, record label owner or now as an author, Peter Bischoff has been there and has captured moving moments as an eyewitness and through the lens of his camera. The best of both offerings are here for the grabs. This is a fast motion journey through the musical decades. Leaping back and forth from backstage scenes to practice room parties to personal encounters with the stars. Use the decade symbols at the top of each page as a guide or scan through the index to search for known names. Throughout this musical diary you will discover rare and yet unpublished photos from Peter’s personal archive. There is so much waiting here to be unveiled …

The Next Day (David Bowie)

Bowie asked me if Edgar was coming. It didn’t quite click with me back then in 1977 - my English was not much better than what I’d learned at school - but eventually it dawned on me that the English superstar was asking whether Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream would be coming to the room. And why not, it was his rehearsal room - Adolf Hitler’s former film screening room in Berlin Tempelhof, part of the former UFA film studios near the airport. I would later rent the room next door (very cheaply, from the German Post Office) as storage and rehearsal space for my drumkit.

If someone had told me in the early 70s that I would visit Bowie at home, the door where opened by Iggy Pop, give german superstar Udo Lindenberg a ride in my Mercedes 200/8, publish a CD by Inga Rumpf, or have a delicious piece of cake brought to my desk by none other than Sarah Brightman, I would have told them they were crazy.

But, first things first…

Berlin (Lou Reed)

The main sources of my early musical education were 1950s radio and television programmes and my parents’ record collection. Dad liked Elvis while Mum preferred Perry Como - not to mention German hits by Bill Ramsey, Chris Howland and Billy Mo, and the German television dancers the Kessler Twins, Alice and Ellen. My favourite band at the time was Hazy Osterwald’s crazy combo, especially their English drummer. I eventually saw Hazy perform live many years later as a special guest with German pianist Joja Wendt. Unfortunately, he could no longer play trumpet - but was still very entertaining on the vibraphone

La Paloma (Hans Albers)

My parents took me to my first live performance at the Berlin Sportpalast in 1959. It was one of those kitsch affairs featuring a whole host of acts including chanteuse Brigitte Mira. The main attraction - of course - was actor Hans Albers. He sang one song, then another, before being presented with a bottle of wine - which he subsequently left behind for the orchestra. By this stage, his doctors had advised him to stay away from alcohol. Not that it did him much good, since it turned out to be one of his last performances. He died in 1960. La Paloma, farewell!