Bap is a German rock group. With ten albums reaching the number one in the German record charts

Media Control Charts

The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...

, Bap is one of the most successful rock acts (2.) in their home country.

Nearly all of Bap's lyrics are written in Kölsch, the dialect of Cologne. Niedecken's most prominent musical influences, especially early in his career, were Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and the Rolling Stones.

History

The group was founded in 1976 under the name Wolfgang Niedecken's Bap in Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 by Wolfgang Niedecken

Wolfgang Niedecken

Wolfgang Niedecken is a German singer, musician and visual artist. He founded the Kölsch speaking rock group BAP at the end of the 1970s. He soon became famous with BAP all over Germany. He is the lead singer and only remaining founding member of BAP.- Life :Niedecken attended boarding school in...

 and Hans Heres.
In 1981 they released their most famous song Verdamp lang her (in English: 'damn long ago'), in which Niedecken describes regrets he has about his relationship with his then recently deceased father ("Bap" is Kölsch for dad, derived from Papa).

Albums

• 1979 : ... rockt andere kölsche Leeder (... Rocks Other Cologne Songs)
• 1980 : Affjetaut (Thawed out)
• 1981 : Für Usszeschnigge (For cutout)
• 1982 : Vun Drinne noh Drusse (From the inside to the outside)
• 1983 : Live - Bess demnähx (See you later)
• 1984 : Zwesche Salzjebäck un Bier (Between pretzels and beer)
• 1986 : Ahl Männer, aalglatt (Old men slippery as eels)
• 1988 : Da Capo (Once more from the beginning)
• 1990 : X für'e U (A con)
• 1991 : Affrocke (Live) (Rocking)
• 1993 : Pik Sibbe (Seven of Spades)
• 1995 : Wahnsinn - Die Hits von 79-95 (Madness or an exclamation as Wowie Zowie)
• 1996 : Amerika
• 1999 : Comics & Pin-Ups
• 1999 : Tonfilm (Talking movie)
• 2001 : Aff un Zo (From time to time)
• 2002 : Övverall (Live) (Everywhere)
• 2004 : Sonx (Songs)
• 2005 : Dreimal zehn Jahre (Three times ten years)
• 2008 : Radio Pandora (plugged + unplugged)
• 2009 : Live und in Farbe (Live) (Live and in color)
• 2011 : Halv su wild (Half so wild)

Singles

• 1981: Jupp [Joe]
• 1981: Verdamp lang her [A damn long time ago]
• 1982: Kristallnaach [Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass, November 9/10th,1938]
• 1983: Nemm mich met [Take me with you]
• 1984: Drei Wünsch frei [Three wishes]
• 1984: Alexandra, nit nur do [Alexandra, not just you]
• 1985: Bunte Trümmer [Coloured ruins]
• 1986: Endlich allein [Alone at last]
• 1986: Time Is Cash, Time Is Money
• 1988: Fortsetzung folgt [To be continued]
• 1988: Saison der Container [Season of the containers]
• 1988: Dat däät joot [That would feel good]
• 1989: Shanghai
• 1990: Alles em Lot [Everything's allright]
• 1991: Vis á Vis [Face to Face]
• 1991: Sie määt süchtig [She's addictive]
• 1991: Verdamp lang her (Live) [A damn long time ago]
• 1993: Widderlich [Disgusting]
• 1993: Wie die Sichel vum Mohnd [Like the moon's crescent]
• 1993: Paar Daach fröher [A few days earlier]
• 1995: Ich danz met dir [I dance with you]
• 1996: Lass se doch reden [Let them talk]
• 1996: Nix wie bessher [Nothing as it was before]
• 1996: Weihnachtnaach (feat. Nina Hagen) [Christmas night](This is a German language version of Fairytale of New York
  Fairytale of New York
  "Fairytale of New York" is a song by the Irish rock group The Pogues, released in 1987 and featuring the British singer Kirsty MacColl. The song is an Irish folk style ballad, written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan, and featured on The Pogues' album If I Should Fall from Grace with God...
  
  by The Pogues
  The Pogues
  The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
  
  
• 1998: Lena
• 1999: Ahnunfürsich [In and for itself ]
• 1999: Rita
• 1999: Mayday
• 2000: FC, jeff Jas! (Aufstiegsversion) [FC, step on it! (Promotion version)]
• 2001: Aff un zo [From time to time]
• 2001: Shoeshine
• 2002: Schluss, aus, okay [end, over, okay]
• 2003: FC, jeff Jas! (Die dritte Version) [FC, step on it! (the 3rd version)]
• 2004: Wann immer du nit wiggerweiss [Whenever you don't know what to do]
• 2004: Für Maria [For Maria]
• 2005: Frau ich freu mich [Woman, I'm glad]
• 2006: Verdamp lang her (Die verdammt lange Single) [A damn long time ago (The damn long single)]
• 2008: Morje fröh doheim [Home tomorrow morning]

Former members

• Manfred Boecker - percussion (1979–1996)
• Wolfgang Boecker - drums (1979–1982)
• Hans Heres - guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
   (1979)
• Wolfgang Klever - bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
   (1979)
• Bernd Odenthal - keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
   (1979)
• Steve Borg - bass (1980–1996)
• Klaus Heuser
  Klaus Heuser
  Klaus „Major“ Heuser is a German musician and producer. He found fame as member of the German rock band from Cologne BAP....
  
   - guitar (1980–1999)
• Hans Wollrath - sounds (1980–1999)
• Alexander Büchel - keyboards (1981–1999)
• Jan Dix - drums (1983–1986)
• Pete King - drums (1986–1987)
• Mario Argandona - percussion (1996)
• Jens Streifling - saxophone
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
   (1996–2003)
• Sheryl Hackett - percussion (1999–2003)

Current members

(Information valid for 2011)

• Wolfgang Niedecken
  Wolfgang Niedecken
  Wolfgang Niedecken is a German singer, musician and visual artist. He founded the Kölsch speaking rock group BAP at the end of the 1970s. He soon became famous with BAP all over Germany. He is the lead singer and only remaining founding member of BAP.- Life :Niedecken attended boarding school in...
  
   - singer (1979–present)
• Jürgen Zöller - drums (1988–present)
• Werner Kopal - bass (1996–present)
• Helmut Krumminga - guitar (1999–present)
• Michael Nass - keyboards (1999–present)

Related projects

• 1983 : Book Bap övver Bap ( Bap about Bap )
• 1987 : Album Schlagzeiten ( 'Hit Times' W. Niedecken solo-album )
• 1989 : Book Bap övver China ( about their Chinese tour )
• 1992 : Album Arsch huh - Zäng ussenander ( 'Keep the arse high and the teeth open' distinct bands from Cologne
  Cologne
  Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
  
  , live concert against racism and neo-fascism )
• 1995 : Album Leopardefell ( 'Leopard's Skin' W. Niedecken solo-album with translated Dylan
  Bob Dylan
  Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
  
   lyrics )
• 2002 : Film Vill passiert ( 'Lots has happened' film by Wim Wenders
  Wim Wenders
  Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...
  
  about Bap )
• 2011 : Book Für 'ne Moment ( For one moment autobiography by W. Niedecken & Oliver Kobold )

External links

• http://www.bap.de/
• http://www.bap-fan.de/ German Fansite