Lokomotive Kreuzberg – James Blond (1973) (16/44 Vinyl Rip)

I got this rip on CD from a neighbor, I don't know how it was produced, and I don't have Flac files or scans. This is a neglected milestone in German rock history. The band called this effort Polit-Rock-Kabarett and it's rather a stage show with rock music. If you think of Bert Brecht's 3 Penny Opera you get the idea, although this show didn't have a similar impact at all. Kreuzberg is a district of West-Berlin, where they formed the underground scene together with Morgenrot and the more successful Ton Steine Scherben. All of them were opposing the cold-war strategy of the Allied Forces and the exploitation of factory workers by Wirtschaftswunder capitalism. After some personal changes Lokomotive Kreuzberg became the backing band of Nina Hagen when she was expulsed from communist Eastern Germany in 1978 and relocated to the political island of West-Berlin with the wall around it. Together they released 2 ground-shaking records at the peak of the punk movement. Next the band was renamed to Spliff, now diving into new wave, redefining german rock once again by releasing another 3 records. In 1984 they separated and everybody took his own road in music business leaving many more traces. But this is where it started.

Info from The Crack in the Cosmic Egg:
An inventive Berlin polit-rock band, who were launched onto the scene in early 1972 with enthusiastic help from Floh De Cologne, to whom Lokomotive Kreuzberg were comparable in many ways. Amazingly creative, even on their debut, Lokomotive Kreuzberg blended hard-rock and blues together with more progressive sounds, with socio-political lyric and elements of satirical theatre. 'Kollege Klatt' was remarkable for its invention, accomplishing a sound that pre-dated Floh De Cologne's 'Tilt!', witty and creative, with original use of synthesizer and theatrics.
Later albums varied the mix somewhat, with 'James Blond' losing us completely with its very vocal theatrics in German. Their third album 'Fette Jahre' was much more tongue-in-cheek, being a parody of various musical styles from doo-wop through to psychedelic and experimental, feeling very much like a German Mothers Of Invention. 'Mountain Town' is the most Zappa cum Floh De Cologne mixture of all, and makes use of some luminary jazz guests for a wide ranging and engaging palette of styles, all with that wry tongue-in-cheek edge of political theatre, yet I'm not so sure about the reggae track!
Latterly the nucleus of Lokomotive Kreuzberg (without Andreas Brauer, who went on to release a couple of solo albums) ended up as being the backing musicians for Nina Hagen, and eventually transmuted into the pop-satire group Spliff.

Tracks
1. Criminalis 04:29
2. J.B. Superman 07:40
3. Guten Morgen, Herr Blond 03:12
4. Arbeitsunfall (aus der Sicht des Unternehmers) 06:27
5. Streiklied 04:00
6. Wohlfundierte Thesen 03:51
7. Burdas Ball 05:10
8. Speed 00:34
9. King & Co. 07:51
Total time: 43:09

Musicians
Kalle Scherfling: Vocals
Volker Hiemann: Vocals, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Andi Brauer: Vocals, Electric Piano, Violin, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Percussion
Manfred Praeker: Vocals, Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Percussion
Uwe Holz: Vocals, Drums, Harmonica, Percussion