Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau
Encyclopedia
Ein kleines bißchen Horrorschau ("A little bit of horrorshow") (subtitled: Die Lieder aus Clockwork Orange und andere schmutzige Melodien ["The songs from Clockwork Orange and other dirty melodies"]) is the sixth LP by Die Toten Hosen
, released in 1988. This is considered by the band as the best DTH album as of 1988.
The LP is mainly a concept album
based on the film A Clockwork Orange
by Stanley Kubrick
, which in turn is based on the book of the same name
by Anthony Burgess
, although not all of the songs are about the main theme. The idea of the LP has its origin during a performance of A Clockwork Orange at Theater Bonn
where the band acted as supernumeraries and as supporting band. Songs 1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12 are from the play and these are the ones recorded in Schauspielhaus Bonn
, other songs were recorded in Berlin and Cologne
.
The songs are linked together by snippets of Beethoven's 9th Symphony
(played by a symphony orchestra), whose music plays a prominent role in "A Clockwork Orange" (especially the 9th symphony). The cover features a famous painting of Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler
. The word "Horrorschau" is a play on the Nadsat
word "horrorshow", which comes from the Russian
хорошо (khorosho) and means "good" or "well." A couple of Nadsat words are used in songs too.
The song "Hier kommt Alex
" appears as a bonus track in the game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
. It is also included in the European release of Rock Band, and as a downloadable track on the American version. The song is also be available for download in Guitar Hero World Tour
.
"Bye, bye Alex" is structurally and musically similar to "Hier kommt Alex".
"
1989: "1000 gute Gründe
"
1992: "Mehr davon
" (promo)
Die Toten Hosen
Die Toten Hosen is a German punk band from Düsseldorf. They have enjoyed decades-long mass appeal in Germany.The band's name literally means "The Dead Pants" in English, although the phrase "tote Hose" is a German expression meaning "nothing going on" or "boring"...
, released in 1988. This is considered by the band as the best DTH album as of 1988.
The LP is mainly a concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
based on the film A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange (film)
A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. It was written, directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick...
by Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
, which in turn is based on the book of the same name
A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange is a 1962 dystopian novella by Anthony Burgess. The novel contains an experiment in language: the characters often use an argot called "Nadsat", derived from Russian....
by Anthony Burgess
Anthony Burgess
John Burgess Wilson – who published under the pen name Anthony Burgess – was an English author, poet, playwright, composer, linguist, translator and critic. The dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange is Burgess's most famous novel, though he dismissed it as one of his lesser works...
, although not all of the songs are about the main theme. The idea of the LP has its origin during a performance of A Clockwork Orange at Theater Bonn
Theater Bonn
Theater Bonn is a theatrical organization that produces operas, musicals, ballets, plays, and concerts in Bonn, Germany. The organization operates several performance venues throughout the city.-External links:*...
where the band acted as supernumeraries and as supporting band. Songs 1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12 are from the play and these are the ones recorded in Schauspielhaus Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, other songs were recorded in Berlin and 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...
.
The songs are linked together by snippets of Beethoven's 9th Symphony
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
(played by a symphony orchestra), whose music plays a prominent role in "A Clockwork Orange" (especially the 9th symphony). The cover features a famous painting of Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler
Joseph Karl Stieler
Joseph Karl Stieler was a German painter. Born in Mainz to a family of engravers and die-cutters, Stieler received some artistic training from his father, August Friedrich Stieler...
. The word "Horrorschau" is a play on the Nadsat
Nadsat
Nadsat is a fictional register or argot used by the teenagers in Anthony Burgess' novel A Clockwork Orange. In addition to being a novelist, Burgess was also a linguist and he used this background to depict his characters as speaking a form of Russian-influenced English...
word "horrorshow", which comes from the Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
хорошо (khorosho) and means "good" or "well." A couple of Nadsat words are used in songs too.
The song "Hier kommt Alex
Hier kommt Alex
"Hier kommt Alex" is a song by German punk band Die Toten Hosen. It is the first single and the first track from the album Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau. The song in concept introduces Alex, who is the central character on the concept album...
" appears as a bonus track in the game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a music video game, the third main installment in the Guitar Hero series, and the fourth title overall...
. It is also included in the European release of Rock Band, and as a downloadable track on the American version. The song is also be available for download in Guitar Hero World Tour
Guitar Hero World Tour
Guitar Hero World Tour is a music video game developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane and Activision. It is the fourth main entry in the Guitar Hero series...
.
"Bye, bye Alex" is structurally and musically similar to "Hier kommt Alex".
Track listing
- "Hier kommt AlexHier kommt Alex"Hier kommt Alex" is a song by German punk band Die Toten Hosen. It is the first single and the first track from the album Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau. The song in concept introduces Alex, who is the central character on the concept album...
" ("Here comes Alex") (Meurer, Frege) – 3:53 - "1000 gute Gründe1000 gute Gründe"1000 gute Gründe" is a song by Die Toten Hosen. It is the second single and the second track from the album Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau.It is a sarcastic song about reasons to love Germany...
" ("1000 good reasons") (Breitkopf, Frege) – 3:33 - "Ein Schritt zuviel" ("One step too much") (von Holst, Frege) – 2:22
- "Keine Ahnung" ("No idea") (Frege, Frege) – 2:08
- "Die Farbe Grau" ("The colour greyGreyGrey or gray is an achromatic or neutral color.Complementary colors are defined to mix to grey, either additively or subtractively, and many color models place complements opposite each other in a color wheel. To produce grey in RGB displays, the R, G, and B primary light sources are combined in...
") (Frege, Frege) – 3:52 - "180 Grad" ("180 degreeDegree (angle)A degree , usually denoted by ° , is a measurement of plane angle, representing 1⁄360 of a full rotation; one degree is equivalent to π/180 radians...
s") (Meurer, Frege) – 4:33 - "Mehr davonMehr davon"Mehr davon" is a song by Die Toten Hosen. It's the seventh track on the album Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau. It was also released as a promo single in 1992 with a cover of the Rolling Stones....
" ("More of it") (von Holst, Frege) – 5:10 - "Zahltag" ("Payday") (Breitkopf, Frege) – 2:42
- "35 Jahre" ("35 years") (Rohde, Frege, von Holst) – 2:15
- "Musterbeispiel" ("Prime example") (Frege, von Holst) – 3:55
- "Testbild" ("Test cardTest cardA test card, also known as a test pattern in North America and Australia, is a television test signal, typically broadcast at times when the transmitter is active but no program is being broadcast...
", lit. "Test picture") (Frege, Frege) – 3:17 - "Bye, bye Alex" (Rohde, Frege) – 2:58
2007 remastered anniversary edition bonus tracks
- "Zum Chef (Später Dank)" (To the boss (Later gratitude)) (von Holst, Frege) – 2:10 (from "Hier kommt AlexHier kommt Alex"Hier kommt Alex" is a song by German punk band Die Toten Hosen. It is the first single and the first track from the album Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau. The song in concept introduces Alex, who is the central character on the concept album...
")
- "Jo singt (Das Wort zum Sonntag)" (Jo singt (The word to Sunday)) (von Holst, Frege) – 0:46 (from "Hier kommt Alex"; "Das Wort zum Sonntag" from DamenwahlDamenwahlDamenwahl is the third studio album of the German punk band Die Toten Hosen. The term "Damenwahl" appears in "Verflucht, verdammt, gebrandmarkt" and the intro of "Altbierlied"...
)
- "Liebeslied" (Love song) (Breitkopf, Frege) – 3:50 (from "Hier kommt Alex")
- "Die Farbe Grau" – 3:51 (from the play "A Clockwork Orange" in Schauspielhaus Bonn)
- "Zahltag" – 2:43 (from the play "A Clockwork Orange" in Schauspielhaus Bonn)
- "Musterbeispiel" – 3:51 (from the play "A Clockwork Orange" in Schauspielhaus Bonn)
- "1200 Grad" (Breitkopf, Frege) – 4:35 (Ein kleines bißchen Horrorschau demo)
- "Einmal in vier Jahren" (Once in four years) (Breitkopf, Frege) – 4:49 (Kauf MICH!Kauf MICH! (album)Kauf MICH! is the ninth album by Die Toten Hosen, released in 1993. The LP is mainly a concept album dealing with consumerism and ultraconservatism. Along with the album's art and several songs addressing commerce, satirical advertisements and infomercials are interspersed among the music...
demo)
- "Schwarze Sheriffs" (Black sheriffSheriffA sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
s) (Frege, von Holst) – 3:39 (Kauf MICH! demo)
- "Zigarettenautomat" (CigaretteCigaretteA cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
machine) (Frege, Hanns Christian Müller, Müller, Frege) – 2:04 (UnsterblichUnsterblichUnsterblich is the eighth studio album by the German punk band Die Toten Hosen. The band has stated dissatisfaction with the cover, which is a photo by Johann Zambryski...
demo)
Singles
1988: "Hier kommt AlexHier kommt Alex
"Hier kommt Alex" is a song by German punk band Die Toten Hosen. It is the first single and the first track from the album Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau. The song in concept introduces Alex, who is the central character on the concept album...
"
1989: "1000 gute Gründe
1000 gute Gründe
"1000 gute Gründe" is a song by Die Toten Hosen. It is the second single and the second track from the album Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau.It is a sarcastic song about reasons to love Germany...
"
1992: "Mehr davon
Mehr davon
"Mehr davon" is a song by Die Toten Hosen. It's the seventh track on the album Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau. It was also released as a promo single in 1992 with a cover of the Rolling Stones....
" (promo)
Personnel
- Campino - vocals
- Andreas von Holst - guitarGuitarThe 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...
- Michael Breitkopf - guitarGuitarThe 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...
- Andreas Meurer - bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Wolfgang Rohde - drums
Charts
| Year | Country | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Germany | 7 |
| 1988 | Switzerland | 7 |
| 1989 | Austria | 22 |