Fehlfarben - 33 Tage in Ketten (1981)

In 1979 Die Fehlfarben were formed in Düsseldorf from the ashes of Mittagspause, an influential punk band comprised of Peter Hein (vocals), Franz Bielmeier (guitar), and Markus Oehlen (drums). The trio had previously established themselves in 1977 as Germany's first punk band, Charley's Girls, as documented in the 22-minute documentary film Charley's Girls (2005), which chronicles the burgeoning Düsseldorf punk scene surrounding the club Ratinger Hof circa 1977-1979. When Mittagspause split in 1979, Bielmeier -- already a central figure in the Düsseldorf punk scene, with the first German punk fanzine to his credit, The Ostrich -- went on to form an independent record label, Rondo-Label, which he maintained until 1981. Hein and Oehlen, on the other hand, went on to form Die Fehlfarben, a post-punk band, with some fellow musicians from the Düsseldorf punk scene: Thomas Schwebel (guitar), who had played with Mittagspause for a while, as well as the band S.Y.P.H.; Michael Kemner (bass), formerly of the D.A.F. collective; Frank Fenstermacher (saxophone); and Uwe Bauer (drums), who like Schwebel had also played with Mittagspause for a while.

The idea for the band arose during a November 1979 trip to England, where Hein, Schwebel, Bauer, and Oehlen were greatly inspired by the 2 Tone style of ska-punk that was then taking London by storm. They decided to bring this style of music back with them to Germany.

Die Fehlfarben recorded their second album "33 Tage in Ketten" without Peter Hein in the summer of 1981, and saw it enter the album chart as well. By the end of the year, both Monarchie und Alltag and 33 Tage in Ketten had broken into the Top 40.

Sure, the debut of Fehlfahrben was an absolute bomb. Peter Hein is a charismatic singer and he can write fantastic german lyrics. But this LP is worth hearing and continues their funky-punky non-NDW postpunk style.

Tracklist:

A1 Tanz mit dem Herzen 4:21
A2 Hutschläger 3:16
A3 Ich nicht verstehen 3:54
A4 Söhne und Töchter 3:16
A5 Imitation Of Life 2:47
A6 Schlaflos Nachts 4:50
B1 Die wilde Dreizehn 4:45
B2 Katze zur Maus 2:48
B3 Stunde des Glücks 4:41
B4 Wunderbar 4:09
B5 Der Marsch 6:08

Fehlfarben - 33 Tage in Ketten (1981)

(224 kbps, cover art included)