My question yesterday was directed at modern pop bands of the day here in Germany. I wanted to show you that Germany is not all history and classical music. In reality, life is still going on here with new places, new music, and current events. And just like in the USA, there are new actors on TV and new songs on the radio, and they aren't all only from the USA.
So just what do we hear on the radio when we turn it on? What do we see on MTV when they actually show music videos (do they still do that? - ha ha). Of course, we have all the regularly played in America, big-named, currently popular music artists on the radio (from Pink, Britney Spears, Nickelback, AC/DC, and such), but we also have German bands that, to the people here, are just as popular, if not more so. Their songs are actually in German, and they tour Europe just like we think of the bands we like as "going on tour". To me, much of the commonly played German rock music sounds the same. They have a huge liking of the thump thump thump beat and a synthetic sound (not quite synthesizers, but definitely having a feel of the punk of the 80s in the states.) But overall it is not bad. And like in the states, once a song becomes "popular", the radio stations play them almost nonstop. Some of them, we are now so sick of hearing that we just have to change the station in hopes of something different.
Many of these stars come to the BigBox to perform, and not all of them follow the formula for synthetic music. One of the most successful German pop singers this decade has been Sarah Conner. Through her father, she has some American roots, and enjoyed listening to soul music with her New Orleans native grandfather. Her music reminds me a lot of the R&B female singers of the States. Her biggest hit in Europe has been "From Sarah, With Love", and she will be coming to the BigBox in March.
Another popular German performer is also coming in March, Peter Fox. He has some reggae, hip-hop style music, but he also uses a lot of orchestral music mixed in. He is just getting started in his musical career, and his style is rather eclectic; but I have seen him on a music video when flipping through channels.
DieToten Hosen (dead trousers, but whose meaning is a play on words really meaning Deadbeats) has a funny song we like called "Eine Kleiner Jagermeister". They were originally all about goofing off and playing around, but they did dally a little in the literary by doing an album about the book A Clockwork Orange. This band has been around for awhile, though, and their themes have shifted from partying to social issues and politics. They play at the BigBox in June.
Ich+Ich came in November to the BigBox. They have had two songs reach the German Top 10: "Du erinnerst mich an Liebe" (you remind me of love) and "Dienen" (serve).
Another group, polarkreis 18 (it means arctic circle 18) have been played over and over and over. They have their current big hit with the song "Alein, Alien" (which means alone, alone). The story goes that the band takes its name from a friend's father's misadventure to the Arctic Circle where the father had two toes removed due to frostbite, thus leaving 18 digits. I guess it takes all kinds, huh?
I will say overall, it is very interesting to hear these types of music that I normally associate only with the English language but that have a decidedly German language sound to the words. If you are interested in hearing music in another language, look up these artists on Amazon.com to play some snippets of their songs.
The words for today are radio: der Radio (rah dee o, where the o is said like we say it in this word) and concert: das Konzert (cone tsairt).
The question for the day is "So who are the famous actors and actresses with German background?"
Auf Wiedersehen,
Frau Spitzer
