The Baseballs

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The Baseballs
Warner Music
MembersSam (Sven Budja)
Basti (Sebastian Raetzel)
Back-up band
Lars Vegas (guitar)
Klaas Wendling (upright bass)
Jan Miserre (piano)
Tomas Svensson (drums)
Past membersDigger (Rüdiger Brans)
Websitethebaseballs.com

The Baseballs are a German rock and roll band founded in Berlin in 2007. They became popular with 1950s and 1960s style rock cover versions of modern hits such as "Umbrella" by Rihanna, "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé, "Hot n Cold" by Katy Perry and "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen.[1] The band members are only credited by their nicknames (Sam, Digger and Basti).[2] Their version of "Umbrella" was a hit in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway.[3][4][5][6][7]

Musical career

Their debut album, Strike!, was produced by JMC Music[8] and released in May 2009 in Germany, Switzerland and Austria,[9] in October 2009 in Finland,[10] in December 2009 in Sweden,[11] in February in Norway[12] and in March 2010 in The Netherlands. It reached No. 15 in Austria, No. 6 in Germany, No. 2 in Switzerland and the Netherlands, No. 1 in Finland, No. 1 in Sweden and No. 1 in the Norwegian album charts. In the UK it was released on Rhino Records UK on 17 May 2010.[3][4][13][14][15]

The band re-released the album in 2010 as Strike! Back! The lead single is a rockabilly version of Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars." The video features the band rocking a 1950s prom.[16]

In the UK, The Baseballs have appeared on ITV1's The David Dickinson Show, Magic Numbers and

Good Morning[19]

In 2010 the band supported guitarist Jeff Beck on his "Emotion and Commotion" tour as his opening act.[20]

On 6 June 2011, the Baseballs released their second album titled

]

On 1 August 2011, the Baseballs released together with General Mills – the producer of the ice cream Häagen-Dazs – within an advertising campaign with Cosma Shiva Hagen a free download of the song "Wha Wha" – which was written especially for the campaign. The track is freely available and can be downloaded from the German site of the brand Häagen-Dazs.[21]

On 25 May 2012, The Baseballs released their first live CD/DVD, "Strings 'n' Stripes Live".

On 17 July 2023, The Baseballs announced that Digger had left the band.[22]

Discography

Studio albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions
Certifications
GER
[23]
AUT
[24]
BEL (FL)
[25]
DEN
[26]
ESP
[27]
FIN
[28]
NOR
[30]
SWE
[31]
SWI
[32]
UK
[33]
Strike! 6 5 1 5 29 1 2 1 1 2 4
Strings 'n' Stripes
  • Released: 15 April 2011
  • Label: Warner
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download
5 3 10 29 2 4 4 1 74
Good Ol' Christmas
  • Released: 11 February 2012
  • Label: Warner
  • Formats: CD, digital download
25 22 36 10
Game Day
  • Released: 7 March 2014
  • Label: Warner
  • Formats: CD, digital download
22 17 88 5
Hit Me Baby...
  • Released: 9 September 2016
  • Label: Warner
  • Formats: CD, digital download
9 8 54 62 4
The Sun Sessions
  • Released: 20 October 2017
  • Label: Warner
  • Formats: CD, digital download
43 38 36
Hot Shots
  • Released: 28 May 2021
  • Label: Electrola
  • Formats: CD, digital download
13 151 7
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions
sales thresholds
)
Album
GER
[41]
AUT
[42]
ESP
[43]
FIN
[28]
ICE
[44]
NL
[29]
NOR
[45]
SWE
[31]
SWI
[46]
UK
[47]
2009
"Umbrella" 43 58 38 1 22 3 6 19 9 124 FIN: Platinum[48] Strike!
"Hot n Cold" 68 65 7 99 52
2010 "Last in Line" 13 Strike! Back!
"Chasing Cars"
2011 "Candy Shop" 69 Strings 'N' Stripes
"
Hello
"
100 41 68
"
This is a Night (Het is een Nacht)" (feat. Guus Meeuwis
)
69
Various releases

Awards

Year Ceremony Award Result
2010 EMMA Awards Best selling Album Won
ECHO Awards
Best National Newcomer[51]
Won
2011
EBBA Awards
European Border Breakers Award Won
EBBA Awards
Public Choice Award Won
ECHO Awards
Most successful Act on foreign country, national[52] Won

References

  1. ^ "The Baseballs by Uncovering the Cover • A podcast on Anchor". Anchor. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  2. ^ Official biography
  3. ^ a b The Baseballs in the German charts
  4. ^ a b The Baseballs in the Swiss charts
  5. ^ The Baseballs in the Austrian charts
  6. ^ The Baseballs in the Finnish single chart[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "Umbrella" in the Swedish charts
  8. ^ Switzerland charts
  9. ^ Official discography (German)
  10. ^ Warner Music News Archived 20 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine (Finnish, retrieved 17 November 2009)
  11. ^ Swedish release.
  12. ^ Norwegian release.
  13. ^ Strike! on the Finnish album chart
  14. ^ "Strike!" on the Swedish album chart
  15. ^ "Strike!" on the Dutch album chart
  16. ^ "The Baseballs Invite You to Rock and Roll Prom with Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars"". 12 August 2010.
  17. ^ "Hector to join Tubridy on Late Late Show". RTÉ News. 15 October 2010.
  18. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E45n-JTnZHw The Baseballs - Umbrella "Hey Hey It's Saturday"
  19. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EarOOyF6-jU The Baseballs interview - TVNZ's "Good Morning"
  20. ^ "On Tour with guitar legend Jeff Beck in October | The Baseballs". thebaseballs.com. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  21. ^ a b Häagen-Dazs.de Häagen-Dazs-Song Archived 10 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ https://www.facebook.com/thebaseballs/posts/pfbid0ANBNZiJr7Yjpe4vcH2Q9QtF6C13y85HLCZKrf2CdDtuCrvppjgsN67uDYtHpphXbl
  23. ^ "Discographie The Baseballs". offiziellecharts.de (in German). Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  24. ^ "austriancharts.at - Austria Top 40 - Hitparade Österreich". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  25. ^ "ultratop.be - ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS". ultratop.be. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  26. ^ "danishcharts.dk". Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  27. ^ "spanishcharts.com". spanishchars.com. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  28. ^ a b "Musiikkituottajat - Tilastot - Suomen virallinen lista - Artistit". ifpi.fi. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  29. ^ a b "dutchcharts.nl - Discografie The Baseballs". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  30. ^ "norwegiancharts.com - VG-LISTA". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  31. ^ a b "swedishcharts.com - Discography The Baseballs". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
  32. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  33. ^ "Artist: Baseballs". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  34. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (The Baseballs; 'Strike')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  35. ^ "British album certifications – The Baseballs – Strike". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Type Strike in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  36. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2010" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011.
  37. Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland
    .
  38. ^ "Norwegian album certifications – The Baseballs – Strike" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway.
  39. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Strike!')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  40. ^ "Warner Music Germany - News - The Baseballs". warnermusic.de. 12 December 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
  41. ^ "Chartverfolgung / Baseballs,The". musicline.de. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  42. ^ "austriancharts.at - Austria Top 40 - Hitparade Österreich". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  43. ^ "spanishcharts.com - Spanish charts portal". spanishcharts.com. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  44. ^ Icelandic Singles Chart Archived 6 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  45. ^ "norwegiancharts.com - Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  46. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  47. ^ Chart Log UK 2010 Weekly Updates (scroll down to Baseballs - artists in alphabetical order)
  48. Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland
    .
  49. ^ "The Baseballs: Das neue Album "Hot Shots" nimmt sich die 80er Jahre vor". rtl.de (in German). Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  50. ^ "The Baseballs bringen den Kultsong "Rock Me Amadeus" in einer Rockabilly-Version neu heraus". rtl.de (in German). Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  51. ECHO Awards. Archived from the original
    on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  52. ECHO Awards. Archived from the original
    on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2011.

External links