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Heino - Because We Need Him Now More Than Ever


Teasing the Korean

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12 minutes ago, Brad said:

:rofl:

I do believe that it is important for us, as adults, to listen to what today's generation is saying.

However, some of us find their messages to be delivered in an uncouth and unrefined manner; and we prefer to hear those messages rendered more tastefully and professionally. 

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57 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:

I had a (possibly mistaken) belief that Rammstein were outspokenly liberal.

without being an expert on the topic, I'd agree with that - at least, they embrace the sexual dimension of things like walking through fire wearing nothing but a leather coat to an extent that you cannot reduce it to nazi esthetics any more... even though that dimension is certainly in there, too... They played together with Heino after he covered their song at a time when other bands were offended... but I would just read that as an act of provocation without active support of his political views. They like to provoke...

In Heino's case, I am not so sure I would place the rolled R's in that right wing tradition... it could also, e.g., be a reference to operatic singing or some forgotten dialect... what I find pretty clear is that something like that cover with the uniformed girl scouts on an album where he sings folk songs that used to be sung by Hitler Youth must have brought back memories of those days in his fans... happy memories, probably, kids enjoy sitting around a bonfire and singing songs... and of course, most of those songs are fairly harmless if you look at the lyrics and forget where they come from... they are kid songs... but still... Campino in that article cited up there says something like "Heino has been the face of Germany's ugly side for over 30 years"... guess that fits pretty well

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3 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:

What is the significance of rolled ‘r’s? Is that a right wing signifier in Germany?

 
The significance is that Heino spent some time in einer bar in Mexico, and began to pick up on the pronunciations of the locals.
 

 

Edited by Teasing the Korean
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I like my fair shares of oddball music and have been guilty of buying some, but not in my wildest nightmares would I want to find myself actually spending money on ANY of his records ...
.. and I still feel sort of ashamed of that day in, I think, 1970 or so (when I was about 10) when I urged my pa to step on it on the autobahn to make it back from our uncle's place to our home in time for the start of the TV "Hitparade" where Heino was scheduled to appear on that particular Saturday evening ... :unsure::D (But things abated fast after that, though there still must be a 45 from that era somewhere around in a hidden corner - actually one with a picture sleeve dating back to BEFORE the doctor ordered him to wear "sunshades after dark" (and before ... :D).

Heino was the epitome of square - maybe actually square enough to make him cool again in some circles. I guess ....

His way of singing (including the allegedly rolling "r" which in fact was just part of a somewhat TOO clear diction by contemporary trends if you DO speak German and get the lyrics) may be reminiscent of some regions (I know a region way north of Frankfurt where they roll their "r"s like crazy) but is not something specifically Teutonic per se but rather a singing STYLE of "popular" baritones from way, way back (be it in "volksmusik" or elsewhere) that for some reason came natural to him. Including the "marching rhythm".Yet I think I was not the only one who at the time wondered if the way he sang was that he MEANT it that way or that it was a put-on to try to see how far he'd get with that ... and get away with it (very far, it seems ... :g)

His South African tours and Schlesierland singing came at a time when nobody in their "right" mind in the music-LISTENING world at large took him seriously anymore so that did not do lasting damage to his reputation with the general public or media. At any rate, next to Red River Dave he was virtually nowhere  ... ;)
FWIW, I have seen one or two interviews with him from his (more recent) rock days where on general topics he showed a relatively liberal and commonsensical attitude. Getting wise as he aged?

As for his more recent "rock" period, this of course came up for discussion in some rock listening circles and apart from the fact that most did not take it very eriously, teh consensus most often was that he did it on the premise of "I have gone that far and am that far beyond good or bad or whatever  that I can do whatever I please and get away with it because I am beyond categorization ..." And he wasn't far off the mark, I think ...

As for that "oompah" music - don't get those styles wrong ... What Heino did often was not just "Schlager" in the stricter meaning of the term but more often words put to "Volksmusik" (that often is perforemd as instrumentals), and this was and is no strictly German affair. It's not limited to Bavaria but you are just as likely to find that "oompah" in Austria, some regions of Switzerland, the Alsace region of France, Czechoslovakia, and all this come not just from  those of German descent but Bohemians too, for example. (I'd bet some of the U.S. ethno-music heritage, e.g. whatever the Polka bands play if it is not strict polkas they play, takes its inspiration from that kind of "Volksmusik" too).

Anyway ... this a truly funny thread. Amazing to see how someone like Heino can be given that much shrift here - of all places ... :lol:

P.S  Karel Gott was Czech (and proud of it), not German.

 

Edited by Big Beat Steve
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1 hour ago, Rabshakeh said:

What is the significance of rolled ‘r’s? Is that a right wing signifier in Germany?

taken by itself, it's just a feature of some Southern dialects (including Austrian ones)... you can sing those Rs and still sound like Leonard Cohen rather than Hitler or Heino

 

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3 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

I do believe that it is important for us, as adults, to listen to what today's generation is saying.

However, some of us find their messages to be delivered in an uncouth and unrefined manner; and we prefer to hear those messages rendered more tastefully and professionally. 

And this applies to a song he recorded in 1969?

I think I hear the 1950s calling you :lol:

Edited by Brad
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11 minutes ago, Big Beat Steve said:

P.S  Karel Gott was Czech (and proud of it), not German.

Didn't he work in Germany??? Every LP I've seen is from Germany.  Granted, not many Czech LPs make their way over here. 

4 minutes ago, Brad said:

And this applies to a song he recorded in 1969?

Precisely.  I prefer his more refined, professional reading of the song, as opposed to the uncouth delivery by the pop group who wrote it.

Edited by Teasing the Korean
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He was HUGELY successful in Germany and toured everywhere all of the time but he was Czech, that's a fact. And as far as I know he never made his permanent residence outside Czechosolvakia.
BTW, as I just saw now on reading his bio on Wiki (FWIW) he was one of those who signed the Communist-party initiated "anti-charter" AGAINST the liberal-freedom-minded "Charta 77" - which some held against him. Another one with more facets to his personality than some would imagine ...

BTW, for you who appreciates music off the beaten tracks of the obvious, try to get your hands on his early single that has his (English-sung) cover version of "Be Bop a Lula". :lol: Which will explain to you where many younger European singers of the (late) 50s and 60s came from. Overruling post-war U.S. influences all the way.

Edited by Big Beat Steve
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3 minutes ago, Big Beat Steve said:

He was HUGELY successful in Germany and toured everywhere all of the time but he was Czech, that's a fact. And as far as I know he never made his permanent residence outside Czechosolvakia.
BTW, as I just saw now on reading his bio on Wiki (FWIW) he was one of those who signed the Communist-party initiated "anti-charter" AGAINST the liberal-freedom-minded "Charta 77" - which some held against him. Another one with more facets to his personality than some would imagine ...

BTW, for you who appreciates music off the beaten tracks of the obvious, try to get your hands on his early single that has his (English-sung) cover version of "Be Bop a Lula". :lol: Which will explain to you where many younger European singers of the (late) 50s and 60s came from. Overruling post-war U.S. influences all the way.

Oh, I'm not doubting you, and I appreciate the clarification.  I assumed he was German, because of the records I've found by him are on German labels.  

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24 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Precisely.  I prefer his more refined, professional reading of the song, as opposed to the uncouth delivery by the pop group who wrote it.

If this is so then I have another one for you: :g

 

One to be heard to be believed too.
Eat your heart out, not just you Yardbirds but John Lee too. :D

Edited by Big Beat Steve
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2 hours ago, Big Beat Steve said:

If this is so then I have another one for you: :g

 

One to be heard to be believed too.
Eat your heart out, not just you Yardbirds but John Lee too. :D

I actually enjoyed this one. Not bad, although it could use a touch of uncouthness :P

Edited by Brad
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On 5/20/2021 at 5:04 AM, Teasing the Korean said:

I believe that Heino also sued a German heavy Metal band who modeled their look after him.  Supposedly,  in the courtroom, a bunch of the band's fans appeared dressed as Heino!

Didn't know that about Letterman!  Was that part of "Dave's Record Collection?"

It may have been, but I can't remember. I do remember it was a running gag that Letterman played out for a long time.

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17 minutes ago, B. Clugston said:

It may have been, but I can't remember. I do remember it was a running gag that Letterman played out for a long time.

I remember Dave playing tracks from industrial musicals for "Dave's Record Collection," but I don't remember Heino.  

But I vividly remember the visual impression that those album covers made the first time that I saw them in the store with the international section.

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