Der Plan
Der Plan | |
---|---|
Origin | Düsseldorf, Germany |
Genres | Neue Deutsche Welle |
Years active | 1979–1992 2003–2007 (as Der Plan v4.0) |
Labels | Ata Tak |
Members | Moritz Reichelt Frank Fenstermacher Kurt Dahlke |
Past members | Chrislo Haas Achim Treu JJ Jones Kai Horn |
Website | Official Website |
Der Plan is a German electronic music group from Düsseldorf, formed in the earlier months of 1979 by Moritz Reichelt (A.K.A. Moritz R®), Kai Horn, and Frank Fenstermacher, originally under the name of Weltaufstandsplan ("World Rebellion Plan"). This group is considered the pioneer of Neue Deutsche Welle.
History
The beginning
Kai Horn, one of the founder members, left the group suddenly before their first recording. The first single was recorded with the support of Chrislo Haas and Robert Görl (both DAF members at the time). The recording of a jam session was carried out in an underground shelter using a
1980s
Kurt Dahlke aka Pyrolator (ex DAF) joined Der Plan a short time later. The group became more musical, clearly reducing the noisy elements of their songs. Their 1980 debut album Geri Reig still showed their experimental side. On this album, they strongly displayed their musical influences, which included The Residents and Throbbing Gristle. Some titles were kept deliberately "inaudible" by the members in order to explore the boundary of music.
At the end of the year, they released the single Da Vorne Steht 'Ne Ampel which had a plausible melody. Der Plan thereby began to seek out a musical framework which would lead to their later style of "Electronic
In 1982, Rainer Kirberg, the film director, made a film Die letzte Rache (The Last Revenge), for which Der Plan composed the soundtrack. The group not only provided the film music: Moritz R was partly responsible for the film's
In 1984, Der Plan released two singles. Gummitwist did not achieve the expected high chart position, although it was released by a major label (WEA) and enabled the group to appear on ARD's music program Formel Eins . Soon after that, the double single Golden Cheapos was released. It featured three instrumental tunes. The group subsequently released the video Japlan, after which they did a successful Japan tour. The LP entitled Japlan was quite successful in the Japanese market, but was never released in Germany. This
In 1985, the compilation album LP Fette Jahre (Fat years) was released in Germany. It contained well-known single tracks, outtakes, and remixes of previous works. The record sleeve shows an ironic picture of the band members disguised in
A new album was released in 1987, entitled Es Ist Eine Fremde Und Seltsame Welt (It is a strange world). The title was taken from a famous quote of Blue Velvet by the cult director David Lynch. The sleeve is very eye-catching, as the wording and the main monochrome image are almost entirely in black. One song from this album 1 Mann, 1 Ball was later covered by Der wahre Heino.
As CDs swept across the market, Der Plan decided to release their best album in CD. It was released in 1988 under the title of Perlen.
Breakup
Working for the label and record distribution activities over-shadowed the focusing on the band's music. Differences within the group about career priorities began in 1983, resulting in Moritz R leaving the label Ata Tak and moving to Hamburg. Since then Der Plan had changed from a full-time project to an occasional side-project of its members.
Nevertheless, they released yet another album, entitled Die Peitsche Des Lebens in 1989, which was much less successful than their previous works.
In 1992 Der Plan eventually split up.
In 1993 the fake live album "Live At The Tiki Ballroom ...", which is confirmed as a studio album on their official website, was released. Its first edition was accompanied by a mini CD, which contained "techno versions" of well known Der Plan titles.
Moritz R® dedicated himself to painting after the group's break up. He chronicled his experiences as part of Der Plan in the book Der Plan - Glanz und Elend der Neuen Deutschen Welle (Der Plan - the Splendor and Misery of the New German Wave).
Pyrolator and Frank Fenstermacher formed a trance project A Certain Frank later. They joined another German group, Fehlfarben in 2002.
Meanwhile Kurt Dahlke and Moritz Reichelt live in Berlin. Reichelt opened his own gallery called chakchakart shop in Potsdam and Berlin in 2020 and released his first solo album Nach Herzenslust in 2021.[2]
In 2021 the band releases the Album Save your Software.[3]
Der Plan v4.0
Der Plan was formed again as Der Plan v4.0 in Berlin by Moritz R®, Achim Treu and JJ Jones in 2003. The album Die Verschwörung (The Conspiracy) was released in 2004.[4]
Der Plan v5.0
In 2008 Der Plan was formed as Der Plan v5.0 within the online virtual world Second Life. The entirely virtual band played two gigs using scans of stage designs and masks from their real life in the early 1980s and was represented by the avatars Mo Eriksen, Moni Duettmann and Popeye235 Baxter.
Musical style
Der Plan's musical style is a thing of much, and often heated debate. It has been referred to (in almost equal measures[5]) as "a work of Genius", and "the demented results of a kindergarten music project gone terribly wrong".
Discography
- 1979: Der Plan (Single)
- 1980: Geri Reig (LP/CD)
- 1980: Da Vorne Steht Ne Ampel (Single)
- 1981: Normalette Surprise (LP/CD)
- 1982: Arbeit Liebe Brot Einfachheit Tod (Single, Supplement material of a sampler "Fix Planet")
- 1982: Die Letzte Rache (LP/CD)
- 1984: Gummitwist (Single/Maxi)
- 1984: Golden Cheapos (Double Single)
- 1984: Japlan (LP/CD Japan Release)
- 1985: Fette Jahre (LP)
- 1987: Es Ist Eine Fremde Und Seltsame Welt (LP)
- 1988: Perlen (CD)
- 1989: Die Peitsche Des Lebens (LP/CD)
- 1993: Live At The Tiki Ballroom Of The Senior Maoris Recreation Center In Maketu, Bay Of Plenty, New Zealand (CD)
- 1993: Pocket (MiniCD, Beilage zur Live CD)
- 2004: Die Verschwörung (LP/CD)
- 2017: Unkapitulierbar (LP/CD)
- 2021: Save your Software (Fanuks) (LP/CD)
References
- ISBN 9780199832583.
- ^ Moritz R (2021-02-25). "Moritz R® - Nach Herzenslust モーリッツ・R®". chakchak blog (in German). Archived from the original on 2021-03-06. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
- ^ Chakchak Art Blog (2021-03-06). "Der Plan "Save your Software" - The History of the Fanuks". chakchak blog (in German). Archived from the original on 2021-04-13. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
- ^ chakchak art shop. "Moritz Reichelt aka Moritz R® Artist Information". chakchak.de. Archived from the original on 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
- ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 2023-07-16.