Ton Steine Scherben - Live in Bremen, Aladin Music Hall, 23.02.1982

Wether a genuine brand of (West) German rock music began with "Polit Rock" is open to debate but certainly the political events of 1967 - 1968 did provoke and support, for the first time, German rock groups like Checkpoint Charlie, Floh de Cologne and Ihre Kinder, who created songs with German lyrics. This was an absolute novelty, because previously only the "Schlager" had used German or an Anglo-German mix. The "Polit-Rockgruppen" soon distanced themselves from the "Schlager" singers because of the serious (often strident) political content of their lyrics and the intellectualism which liked them with the "Liedermacher". 

This intellectual basis was also strengthened by the universitiy origins of many of the groups who began as student cabaret/left-wing theatre ensembles. Floh de Cologne became the best know example of these with their combination of rock, Brecht-Weill "Kabarett" and "Straßentheater"; they are credited with the creation of the first German-language rock opera. Their themes ranged from national concerns, such as the on-going presence of ex-Nazis in West German life, to international ones like Allende´s overthrow and the murder of Victor Jara.

Their songs, accompanied by home-made posters and revolutionary instructions, are best appreciated by listening to the available recordings of "Fließbandbabys Beat-Show" and "Geyer-Symphony". 

Other groups also adopted this style of agitprop/steet-theatre rock - for example, Lokomitive Kreuzberg and Ton Steine Scherben whose frontman Rio Reiser began his performance work in youth theatre groups in West Berlin.

Ton Steine Scherben was one of the first and most influential German language rock bands of the 1970s and early 1980s. Well known for the highly political and emotional lyrics of vocalist Rio Reiser, they became a musical mouthpiece of new left movements, such as the squatting movement, during that time in Germany and their hometown of West Berlin in particular. 

Here´s another version of the Ton Steine Scherben bootleg from their 1982 tour (better sound quality, different art work).

Tracklist:

CD 1

01 intro (removed, cause maybe official material)
02 jenseits von eden
03 ich will nicht werden was mein alter ist
04 durch die wüste
05 warum geht es mir so dreckig
06 raus aus dem ghetto
07 heut nacht
08 halt dich an deiner liebe fest
09 ich hab nix
10 kleine freuden
11 der traum ist aus
12 ebbe und flut

CD 2

01 heimweh
02 mein name ist mensch
03 wir müssen hier raus
04 rauch haus song
05 allein machen sie dich ein
06 keine macht für niemand
07 der turm stürzt ein
08 sklavenhändler
09 irrenanstalt
10 wenn die nacht am tiefsten
11 morgenlicht
12 wiedersehn

Ton Steine Scherben - Live in Bremen, Aladin Music Hall, 23.02.1982

(flac, cover art included)