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Frustrated
by tedious Hip-Hop songs and soulless Techno samples the godfathers
of German beat have come together again.
After a three-years abstinence they are back: the legendary Heartbeats!
Founded in 1983 by four fifteen-year-old teenagers they soon enjoyed
the reputation of being the best Neo-Beatgroup in Germany. It
was no surprise: what else could some poor boys do in this boring
metropolis but to rip the strings of guitars and to smash bass-drums?
Inspired by songs of the Beatles, the vocal harmonies of the Byrds
and the energy of the Who Frank Bergmann (voc, git), Harry Vogel
(git, voc), Steve Dengler (drums) and Sebastian Pfundstein (bass)
set about pursuing the trails of their famous predecessors. And
they soon met with success. The number of fans was growing bigger
and bigger while the band played countless gigs in Italy, Austria
and Germany. Purist vinyl releases intensified the Heartbeats-mania.
Unfortunately, however, at the end of the Eighties the enthusiasm
for guitars dwindled and House took over. School leaving examinations,
university, alternative national service forced the band to put
in a break.
In the 1990s they were back again on record and on stage. The
same guys as in the Eighties, only Sebastian Pfundstein had been
replaced by Christian Höck. Tours through Germany and even
gigs in Italy and Austria as well as at renowned festivals such
as Beat-O-Mania established the Heartbeats once more as one of
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Germany’s
finest 6Ts-inspired combos.
Finally,
however, it turned out that jobs and music couldn’t be taken
care of at the same time, and the band decided to stop rehearsing
and playing live on a regular basis. Instead they spent some time
in the bass player’s own Telstarstudio and recorded what was
intended to be a farewell LP for all the old fans.
When the LP "It’s Happening!" finally came out in
autumn 2001, lots of people discovered the Heartbeats anew and due
to various demands the band decided to get together again for occasional
gigs in interesting venues or at important festivals such as "Purple
Weekend" in Leon/Spain (Dec. 2001).
"It’s Happening!" can be considered the finest hour
of the Heartbeats, containing exciting, haunting self-penned tunes
such as the title track or "Imaginary Girl" plus great cover
versions, such as "Get Yourself Together" (Small Faces).
This LP shows the real strength and talent of The Heartbeats: impeccable
harmonies, both jangling and distorted guitars, swirling organ sounds
and that driving 1960s beat that still makes people all around this
planet come together at festivals and all-nighters to celebrate
the music, feeling and life-style of an era that only ignorants
believe to be long gone by.
You can visit us also on MySpace: http://myspace.com/theheartbeats07 |
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