Wolfgang Michels
Encyclopedia
Wolfgang Michels is a German singer-songwriter
.
invited Michels to London and took him under his wing.
, caused a sensation in the early 1970s as the first German indie band; he produced four albums, with lyrics and music all by Michels. After the band split up, Michels returned to London where he appeared at the Marquee Club
, among others.
/USA, recorded two solo albums in collaboration with Neil Young
and producer and engineer John Nowland. For the album "Full Moon California Sunset" Michels was awarded the "Deutscher Schallplattenpreis
", the "German Record Price", the predecessor of the Echo (music award), in 1978.
. Various singles followed, including the 1990 hit "Dancing On The Edge Of Life". The song held a position in the German charts for weeks in the nineties. Several albums by Michels and Percewood's Onagram appeared as CDs.
band Fettes Brot
(Fat Bread) scored a chart hit with the Michels–Reiser track ich bin müde ("I'm tired"). The national daily newspaper the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
praised it as one of the best songs of the year.
tipped his hat, commenting: "World class", Musikexpress claimed the release to be a surprise comeback for Michels: "A dozen songs for eternity". He performed as a Special Guest for the Neil Young
concert in Hamburg in August 2008. He also played with the American musicians Beth Hart
and Joan Armatrading
. In 2009 his many concert and television activities continued, touring with Neil Young
in June all over Germany.
A: You're Looking So Good / Please Be Faithful
B: Drive Me Somewhere (1st Version) / Religion And Love / Death Of Mr.G.
A: Do You Still Dig It / B: Ramona From Roma
A: Now I Know You / B: Crazy Enough
A: Bitte Sehr (Wenn die dunklen Wolken…) / B: Unten im Keller
A: Tanz auf dem Vulkan / B: Irgendwas stimmt hier nicht
A: Kleiner Träumer / B: Zukunft der Vergangenheit
A: Dies könnte unsre Heimat sein / B: Keine Probleme
A: Bei Mondschein… / B: Brechen kannst Du mich nie
A: Love Letters To The Moon / B: Herzverloren
A: Dancin’ On The Edge Of Life / B: Lover And Friend
(Charts: #45 D – Media Control)
Lebenslange Reisen / Bring Me Water / Bring Me Water (Acoustic Version)
Bring Me Water / Take Me Back Into Your Arms / 100 Beats Per Minute / Bring Me Water (Acoustic Version)
Deal Together
+ Digital remastered, with unreleased bonus-tracks and alternativ-versions
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
.
Discovered
In May 1968 a very young musician named Wolfgang Michels with the pseudonym "One Plus None" landed a No 2 hit with "Desert Walker", a song produced by himself, topped only by the Rolling Stones at No 1. The blues musician Alexis KornerAlexis Korner
Alexis Korner was a blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a Founding Father of British Blues"...
invited Michels to London and took him under his wing.
Percewood's Onagram
Michels, as singer and guitarist and a part of the psychedelic rock band Percewood's OnagramPercewood's Onagram
Percewood's Onagram was a German-American band founded by Wolfgang Michels based in Bremen, Germany. The music can be described as psychedelic rock and progressive rock with folk music elements, some call it Krautrock.-Biography:...
, caused a sensation in the early 1970s as the first German indie band; he produced four albums, with lyrics and music all by Michels. After the band split up, Michels returned to London where he appeared at the Marquee Club
Marquee Club
The Marquee was a music club first located at 165 Oxford Street, London, England when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts.It was also the location of the first ever live performance by The Rolling Stones on 12 July 1962....
, among others.
Award
He moved to San Francisco, where he, as the first German musician in CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
/USA, recorded two solo albums in collaboration with Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
and producer and engineer John Nowland. For the album "Full Moon California Sunset" Michels was awarded the "Deutscher Schallplattenpreis
Deutscher Schallplattenpreis
The Deutscher Schallplattenpreis was a prize that the Deutsche Phono-Akademie awarded from 1963 through 1992. Its successor is the ECHO prize....
", the "German Record Price", the predecessor of the Echo (music award), in 1978.
German Chart Hit
In the mid-eighties Michels released three solo albums with German lyrics, produced in collaboration with the German artist Rio ReiserRio Reiser
Rio Reiser , was a German rock musician and singer of the famous rock group Ton Steine Scherben. He was born Ralph Christian Möbius in Berlin and died at the age of 46 in the little German town of Fresenhagen. Rio Reiser was politically active during his whole life...
. Various singles followed, including the 1990 hit "Dancing On The Edge Of Life". The song held a position in the German charts for weeks in the nineties. Several albums by Michels and Percewood's Onagram appeared as CDs.
Covered
In 2003 Warner Strategic Marketing/Warner Music Germany released the complete Michels/Percewood's Onagram album collection as digitally remastered CDs, with previously unreleased bonus tracks. Two 'Best Of' albums were also released. In the same year the German hip hopGerman hip hop
German Hip Hop refers to hip hop music produced in Germany. Elements of American hip hop culture, such as graffiti art and breakdancing, diffused into Western Europe in the early 1980s.-1980–1990:...
band Fettes Brot
Fettes Brot
Fettes Brot is a German hip hop group founded in 1992.Fettes Brot is German for fat bread. "Fett" is a German slang term for "excellent" and brot is slang for "hash". The band took the name from a fan who called them "Fettes Brot" after an early gig, which was probably meant as a compliment, but...
(Fat Bread) scored a chart hit with the Michels–Reiser track ich bin müde ("I'm tired"). The national daily newspaper the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...
praised it as one of the best songs of the year.
Comeback
The studio album Zuhause (At Home) was released in April 2008. 14 new songs were recorded at the Hamburg Home Studio of Franz Plasa. Udo LindenbergUdo Lindenberg
Udo Lindenberg is a German rock musician and composer.-Career:Lindenberg started his musical career as a drummer. In 1969 Lindenberg founded his first band Free Orbit and also appeared as a studio and guest musician . In 1970 he collaborated as a drummer with jazz-saxophonist Klaus Doldinger in...
tipped his hat, commenting: "World class", Musikexpress claimed the release to be a surprise comeback for Michels: "A dozen songs for eternity". He performed as a Special Guest for the Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
concert in Hamburg in August 2008. He also played with the American musicians Beth Hart
Beth Hart
Beth Hart is an American singer who became famous with the hit , which aired during Episode 17 of the 10th and final season of Beverly Hills, 90210.Her musical influences include rock, blues and gospel.-Musical career:...
and Joan Armatrading
Joan Armatrading
Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, MBE is a British singer, songwriter and guitarist. Armatrading is a three-time Grammy Award-nominee and has been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist...
. In 2009 his many concert and television activities continued, touring with Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
in June all over Germany.
LPs
- 1975 Kunstkopf live – Hamburger Folk-Rock Session
- 1976 New Wave Dropouts, Pastels
- 1977 Full Moon California Sunset, Telefunken
- 1979 Crazy Enough, Pastels, Bellaphon
- 1981 Irgendwas stimmt hier nicht, Metronome
- 1983 Keine Probleme, Teldec
- 1985 Bei Mondschein..., Teldec
Vinyl Sampler
- 1981 Rock in Deutschland Vol. 8 – Strand, Teldec
- 1982 Rock in Deutschland Vol. 3 – Neue deutsche Unterhaltungsmusik, Teldec
Singles (7") as One Plus None
- 1968 Virgin
A: You're Looking So Good / Please Be Faithful
B: Drive Me Somewhere (1st Version) / Religion And Love / Death Of Mr.G.
Singles (7") as Michels
- 1978 Telefunken
A: Do You Still Dig It / B: Ramona From Roma
- 1979 Bellaphon
A: Now I Know You / B: Crazy Enough
- 1981 Metronome / Nature
A: Bitte Sehr (Wenn die dunklen Wolken…) / B: Unten im Keller
- 1981 Metronome / Nature
A: Tanz auf dem Vulkan / B: Irgendwas stimmt hier nicht
- 1983 Teldec
A: Kleiner Träumer / B: Zukunft der Vergangenheit
- 1984 Teldec
A: Dies könnte unsre Heimat sein / B: Keine Probleme
- 1985 Teldec
A: Bei Mondschein… / B: Brechen kannst Du mich nie
- 1986 Teldec
A: Love Letters To The Moon / B: Herzverloren
Singles (7") as Percewood
- 1990 Mercury
A: Dancin’ On The Edge Of Life / B: Lover And Friend
(Charts: #45 D – Media Control)
Maxi-CDs as Michels
- 1994 BMG (Do-CD Promo Digipack)
Lebenslange Reisen / Bring Me Water / Bring Me Water (Acoustic Version)
- 1995 BMG 1995
Bring Me Water / Take Me Back Into Your Arms / 100 Beats Per Minute / Bring Me Water (Acoustic Version)
- 2003 Warner Music (Promo)
Deal Together
CDs as Michels
- 1990 Full Moon California Sunset, Castle Communications & BMG 1994 & 2003 Warner Music+
- 1994 + 2003 Crazy Enough, BMG & Warner Music +
- 2003 Irgendwas stimmt hier nicht, Warner Music +
- 1994 + 2003 Keine Probleme, BMG & Warner +
- 1994 + 2003 Bei Mondschein…, BMG & Warner Music +
- 1994 Orange Kindergarten, BMG
- 2003 Das Beste – Zukunft der Vergangenheit, Warner Music +
- 2003 The Essential Collection – Pictures Of The Past, Warner Music +
- 2008 Zuhause, ferryhouse, Warner Music
+ Digital remastered, with unreleased bonus-tracks and alternativ-versions
As producer
- Percewood's Onagram
- John HartfordJohn HartfordJohn Cowan Hartford was an American folk, country and bluegrass composer and musician known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive knowledge of Mississippi River lore...
- 1980 Das dritte Ohr Zahltag, Teldec
- 1987 Short Romans Short Romans, Upfront / Teldec