The Lassie Singers are an indie-pop band from Berlin-Kreuzberg that was active from 1988 to 1998. Their musical style was in between the Hamburger Schule and Neue Deutsche Welle.[3] The Lassie Singers have been called the first German girl-band.[4] The band's lyrics often use bitter humor to describe clichéd romantic relationships from a feminist perspective. For example, popular songs of written by the Lassie singers include: Die Pärchenlüge (English translation: the couple-lie), Mein zukünftiger Exfreund (English translation: My future ex-boyfriend), and Liebe wird oft überbewertet (English translation: Love is over valued).
Lassie Singers | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Berlin, Germany |
| Genres | Indiepop, Hamburger Schule, Neue Deutsche Welle |
| Years active | 1988–1998 |
| Labels | Columbia Records, Dragnet Records, Flittchen Records |
| Members | Christiane Rösinger (vocals, guitar),[1] Almut Klotz (vocals),[2] Funny van Dannen (guitar), Kathrin von Witzleben (vocals), Heiner Weiß |
| Past members | Britta Neander (drums)
Herman Herrmann (guitar) |
The Lassie Singers’ largest commercial success came with the 1994 single Es ist so schade (English translation: It is too bad), peaking at number 24 in the Austrian Charts.[5] They released four studio albums, the first of which was released on Columbia Records; their final three studio albums were released on Dragnet Records, a sub-label of Sony Music Germany.[citation needed]
History edit
The founding members of the Lassie Singers were Christiane Rösinger, Almut Klotz, Heiner Weiß, Kathrin Fitzner (aka Kathrin Witzleben), and Funny van Dannen. The band had three front-women, and Rösinger wrote the band's song lyrics. van Dannen was only a member of the Lassie Singers for a short time; Herman Herrmann later joined the band as a guitarist. The band name refers to the American TV series Lassie. Over a period of years the Lassie Singers worked with many different well-known German pop-artists, including Bernd Begemann, King Rocko Schamoni, Die Regierung, Eff Jott Krüger (Ideal), and Jochen Distelmeyer (of Blumfeld).[4]
Their first album Die Lassie Singers helfen Dir (English translation: "The Lassie Singers help you") was released in 1991.[6] This was quickly followed by Sei À Gogo in 1992,[7] and then Stadt, Land, Verbrechen in 1994. In 1996, the Lassie singers released the album Hotel Hotel, which was produced by Thomas Meinecke and recorded by Chris von Rautenkranz.[8]
In 1998 the Lassie Singers broke up.[9] Almut Klotz and Christiane Rösinger opened the record label Flittchen Records. Rösinger founded the band Britta and since 2010 has released two solo albums under her own name.[10][11] Klotz and Sandra Grether founded the riot-grrl band Parole Trixi. Klotz also founded the band Maxi unter Menschen with Maximilian Hecker, and played as a duo with Christian Dabeler called Klotz+Dabeler. In 2013 Klotz died of breast cancer.[2][12] In 2020 Christiane Rösinger won the Rio Reiser Sonderstipendium from the Musicboard Berlin.[13]
Discography edit
Studio albums edit
- 1991: Die Lassie Singers helfen Dir (Columbia Records (Sony Music Entertainment))
- 1992: Sei À Gogo (Dragnet Records (Sony Music Entertainment))[14]
- 1994: Stadt, Land, Verbrechen (Dragnet Records)
- 1996: Hotel Hotel (Dragnet Records)[15]
Compilation albums edit
- 1998: Best of Lassie Singers – Time to say Tschüss (Flittchen Records)
- 1998: Rest of Lassie Singers – rare & unreleased, 1988–1998 (Flittchen Records)
Singles edit
- 1991: Mein Freund hat mit mir Schluß gemacht
- 1991: Falsche Gedanken
- 1994: Schade! (Es ist so schade)
- 1996: Liebe wird oft überbewertet, Regen
References edit
- ^ "LIVE CONCERT WITH BERLIN SINGER SONGWRITER CHRISTIANE RÖSINGER IN THE COURTYARD "THE MOST IMPORTANT CONTEMPORARY GERMAN SONGWRITER"". NYU. 2012-09-13. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
- ^ a b "Lassie-Singers-Mitbegründerin Almut Klotz ist tot" (in German). Rolling Stone. 2013-08-19. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
- ^ Jenny Bergner (2007-05-15). "Lassie Singers" (in German). Munzinger-Archiv. Archived from the original on 2021-04-17.
- ^ a b "LAUT.DE-BIOGRAPHIE Lassie Singers" (in German). LAUT.DE. Archived from the original on 2023-09-05.
- ^ "Lassie Singers" (in German). Austrian Charts. Retrieved 2021-04-13.
- ^ Matthias Wagner (2019-03-16). "Reviews: Die Lassie Singers: … helfen Dir" (in German). Kulturnews. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
- ^ "Soundcheck: Lassie Singers" (in German). TAZ. 1998-11-18. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
- ^ GEORG GÖTZ (1996-09-06). "Musik für junge Erwachsene: Lassie Singers spielten im Waschhaus" (in German). TAZ. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
- ^ GERRIT BARTELS (1998-11-13). "Dieses Kreuzberg-Gefühl loswerden" (in German). TAZ. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
- ^ Arno Frank (2011-03-24). "Musikpreis für Christiane Rösinger: Hier gibt es nichts zu hören!" (in German). TAZ. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
- ^ "Sängerin über die Waffe der Männer "Die Liebe unterdrückt die Frauen"" (in German). TAZ. 2010-10-25. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
- ^ Julian Weber (2013-08-19). "Almut Klotz über neues Album "Sauber ist verlogen"" (in German). TAZ. Retrieved 2021-08-13.
- ^ THOMAS MAUCH (2020-04-02). "Ein Preis im Namen von Rio Reiser: Ist das noch Boheme?" (in German). TAZ. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
- ^ Matthias Wagner (2019-03-16). "Reviews: Lassie Singers: Sei á Gogo" (in German). Kulturnews. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
- ^ ANKE WESTPHAL (1996-05-31). "Hallo, laute Welt! Poesie der Gefühle, Prosa der Verhältnisse: Die Lassie Singers mit neuer Platte. Alltagstaugliche Message:"Sei dein eigenes Hotel!"" (in German). TAZ. Retrieved 2023-08-07.