Die Toten Hosen singer Campino's book about the history behind his song lyrics is out now!
Andreas Frege (stage name Campino) was born in Düsseldorf in Germany in 1962. His father was German, his mother English; so, he has two passports. In 1978, he became the singer of punk band ZK (with whom my band played at a 15 November 1980 Berlin festival).
His stage name came from a sweets brand. In 1982 he co-founded Die Toten Hosen. He became their singer and lyrics writer. The band name means literally ‘dead trousers’, but it is a synonym for a boring situation.
Die Toten Hosen became commercially very successful, especially in Germany and Argentina.
Campino’s first book, Hope Street: How I Became an English Master was published in October 2000. 24th October this year saw the release of his second book, this one is about the literary and other influences upon his lyrics.
Its German title is ‘Kästner, Kraftwerk, Cock Sparrer. Eine Liebeserklärung an die Gebrauchslyrik’; in which Kraftwerk is the krautrock band of that name, founded in 1970 in Campino’s Düsseldorf. Cock Sparrer is the London punk band, founded in 1972.
Kästner is Erich Kästner, German author, 1899-1974. In the 1920s, he attacked militarism. So, the Hitler regime burned his books in 1933. After the Second World War, Kästner criticized the Adenauer administration, which rearmed Germany with Hitler’s generals. Kästner is best known as a children’s book author, but also wrote poetry.
That brings us to the second part of the title of Campino’s new book. ‘Eine Liebeserklärung an die Gebrauchslyrik‘ means: ‘Declaration of love for usable lyrics’.
Gebrauchslyrik poetry arose in 1920s Germany. Bertolt Brecht first used the name, then Kästner as well. Gebrauchslyrik poets aim at accessible poetry about contemporary social issues. Kästner wrote that these poems were intended for all people who had to deal with present problems.
The new book is based on lectures by Campino at Heinrich Heine University, where he put his lyrics and their influences in a context of personal and German history. According to Campino, “Concerning the punk movement, that was according to me nothing but Gebrauchslyrik”.
I have to respectfully disagree with that statement. Punk is more than song lyrics. Also, 1970s punk and 2020s punk are products from very different societies than the 1960s when hippiedom arose. There are even more differences with the still earlier 1920s, when Gebrauchslyrik, Dadaism and Surrealism arose. There are similarities and connections, but I would never say “nothing but”.
The book does not limit itself to the three influences named in the title. Billy Bragg is also mentioned as an influence on forty years of Toten Hosen lyrics. Campino gets political and personal, talks about Düsseldorf and art, the influence of English punk, Germany’s Nazi past and his own aging. The volume contains all of the songs and poems performed and is supplemented by exclusive new texts and passages.
Order your copy from HERE
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