Grauzone
Encyclopedia
Grauzone was a band from Berne
, Switzerland
active in the early 80s.
band Glueams, to form together with Martin Eicher (guitar, vocals, synthesizer) a new band called Grauzone. Martin had already supported Glueams on their single mental. They gave their first concert in March 1980 at the club Spex in Berne. Martin's brother Stephan Eicher
(guitar, synthesizer) and Claudine Chirac (saxophone) supplemented the group temporarily in live appearances and recordings.
After ten concerts, four singles and an album the group split up at the end of 1982. GT and Marco Repetto formed together with the former Glueams guitarist Martin Pavlinec and the drummer Dominique Uldry, the band "Missing Link", later "Eigernordwand". GT supplemented the futurism
oriented performance group "Red Catholic Orthodox Jewish Chorus" around performance artist Edy Marconi, in which occasionally Marco Repetto also played. Later the group changed their name to "I Suonatori". Stephan Eicher
started a successful solo career. 1988 published Martin Eicher his solo-EP "Spellbound Lovers". Marco Repetto started in 1989 a new career as Techno
and Ambient
DJ, musician and producer (a.o. mittageisen
v2). The band is most famous for their 1981 hit "Eisbär
" ("Polar Bear"), which was later covered by the French
band Nouvelle Vague
. The single went to #12 in Germany
and #6 in Austria
. Another track that was played a lot in dance clubs in the eighties was the instrumental Film 2.
Berne
The city of Bern or Berne is the Bundesstadt of Switzerland, and, with a population of , the fourth most populous city in Switzerland. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 43 municipalities, has a population of 349,000. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
active in the early 80s.
History
At the end of 1979 Marco Repetto (drums) and GT (bass) left the punkPunk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Glueams, to form together with Martin Eicher (guitar, vocals, synthesizer) a new band called Grauzone. Martin had already supported Glueams on their single mental. They gave their first concert in March 1980 at the club Spex in Berne. Martin's brother Stephan Eicher
Stephan Eicher
Stephan Eicher is a Swiss singer.His songs are sung in a variety of languages, including French, German, English, Italian, Swiss-German, and Romanche and sometimes he even uses different languages in the same piece.His success started in German-speaking countries in the 1980s when as part of the...
(guitar, synthesizer) and Claudine Chirac (saxophone) supplemented the group temporarily in live appearances and recordings.
After ten concerts, four singles and an album the group split up at the end of 1982. GT and Marco Repetto formed together with the former Glueams guitarist Martin Pavlinec and the drummer Dominique Uldry, the band "Missing Link", later "Eigernordwand". GT supplemented the futurism
Futurism
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...
oriented performance group "Red Catholic Orthodox Jewish Chorus" around performance artist Edy Marconi, in which occasionally Marco Repetto also played. Later the group changed their name to "I Suonatori". Stephan Eicher
Stephan Eicher
Stephan Eicher is a Swiss singer.His songs are sung in a variety of languages, including French, German, English, Italian, Swiss-German, and Romanche and sometimes he even uses different languages in the same piece.His success started in German-speaking countries in the 1980s when as part of the...
started a successful solo career. 1988 published Martin Eicher his solo-EP "Spellbound Lovers". Marco Repetto started in 1989 a new career as Techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
and Ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
DJ, musician and producer (a.o. mittageisen
Mittageisen (band)
mittageisen is a Swiss Dark Wave band of the early 1980s.The name refers to "Mittageisen", a single by Siouxsie and the Banshees that makes use of a John Heartfield photomontage on the cover. This picture was originally published on the frontpage of the "Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung / Workers...
v2). The band is most famous for their 1981 hit "Eisbär
Eisbär (song)
"Eisbär" is a 1980 "cult" song composed by the Swiss Neue Deutsche Welle band Grauzone. It first appeared on the 1980 compilation album Swiss Wave - The Album...
" ("Polar Bear"), which was later covered by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
band Nouvelle Vague
Nouvelle Vague (band)
Nouvelle Vague is a French musical collective led by musicians Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux. Their name is a play on words, meaning "new wave" in French, and "bossa nova" in Portuguese...
. The single went to #12 in 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...
and #6 in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. Another track that was played a lot in dance clubs in the eighties was the instrumental Film 2.
Singles
- 1981 - "EisbärEisbär (song)"Eisbär" is a 1980 "cult" song composed by the Swiss Neue Deutsche Welle band Grauzone. It first appeared on the 1980 compilation album Swiss Wave - The Album...
/Ich lieb sie" (D #12, A #6) - 1981 - "Moskau/Ein Tanz mit dem Tod/Ich lieb sie"
- 1982 - "Träume mit mir/Wütendes Glas"
- 1983 - "Moskau/Film 2"
Maxi-singles
- 1981 - "Eisbär/Ich lieb sie/Film 2"
- 1982 - "Träume mit mir/Ich und du/Wütendes Glas"
- 1986 - "Eisbär/Film 2/Ich lieb sie" (MCD)
Albums
- 1981 - Grauzone (D #37)
- 1998 - Die Sunrise Tapes
- 2010 - Grauzone 1980-1982 double albumDouble albumA double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
- remastered