Die ?rzte

by Jason Ankeny
 
Die Ärzte spearheaded the German punk rock revolution. While never achieving the international renown of rivals Die Toten Hosen, their impact on Central European music and culture is profound, and their satirical and often political songs are even taught in German schools. Die Ärzte (German for the Physicians) formed in Berlin in 1982. Singer/guitarist Farin Urlaub (born Jan Vetter, the alias a play on the German expression Fahr in urlaub! or Go on vacation!) and drummer Bela B. (born Dirk Felsenheimer) previously teamed in the short-lived Soilent Grün. After adding bassist Hans Runge, the trio adopted the name Die Ärzte for the simple reason that no other bands moniker started with the letter Ä. Quickly emerging as a staple of the Berlin club circuit, the group soon appeared on the 20 Überschäumende Stimmungshits compilation, and after winning an amateur showcase spent their winnings on their 1983 debut EP, Uns Gehts Prima. The record brought Die Ärzte to the attention of Columbia Records, which issued the bands debut LP, Debil, in 1984. Im Schatten der Ärzte followed a year later. Creative differences forced Runges exit prior to the release of Die Ärztes 1986 breakthrough self-titled effort, recorded with producer Miccey Meuser on bass. The album introduced the distorted guitar sound that would emerge as the trios signature in the years to come, while Urlaubs melodies embraced the classic rock & roll influences of his youth, in particular the Beatles. Die Ärzte made headlines in 1987 when the German Federal Center for Media Harmful to Young Persons blacklisted a number of their most popular songs, including the incest ditty Sibling Love and the zoophilia ode Claudia Hat Nen Schäferhund. The ban forced the trio to remove the offending songs from their live shows, and record stores selling their albums were subject to criminal charges. With no product at retail, Die Ärztes career sputtered, although the adults-only compilation Ab 18, a collection of their most tasteless songs past and present, attracted critical raves, especially from media outlets troubled by the bands run-ins with censors. With 1988s Das Is Nicht die Ganze Warhheit, Die Ärzte even cracked the German Top Ten for the first time in their career. However, at the peak of their fame they announced plans to dissolve, with a farewell tour yielding the chart-topping live LP Nach Uns die Sintflut. Both Urlaub and Bela B. soon formed new bands — the former King Køng, and the latter Depp Jones — but neither enjoyed the same commercial or critical success as Die Ärzte, so in 1993 they agreed to reunite, recruiting former Depp Jones bassist Rodrigo Gonzales to join the revitalized lineup. Their comeback single, Schrei Nach Liebe, was also their most explicitly political effort to date, a polemic against the growing rise of right-wing extremism and racially motivated violence. With the Berlin Wall and its Cold War resonance now resigned to history, Die Ärzte were now upheld as champions of independent thoughts and ideals, and in years to follow Urlaubs lyrics were taught in high school and university classrooms. After the 1993 LP Die Bestie in Menschengestalt proved a bestseller in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, Die Ärzte mounted a successful reunion tour before returning to the studio for 1995s Planet Punk. Originally conceived as a concept EP on the subject of hair, 1996s Le Frisur soon took on a life of its own and arrived in stores as full-length release. That same year, Die Ärzte also opened for Urlaub and Belas longtime favorite band, Kiss. With 1998s 13, the trio reached its commercial apex. The lead single Männer Sind Schwein proved their first number one German single, and its success launched the album to the top of the LP charts as well. If anything, the record was too successful. Die Ärzte vowed never to play Männer Sind Schwein again, troubled by its mainstream saturation, and the trio spent the remainder of the decade in seclusion, finally resurfacing in 2000 with Runter mit den Spendierhosen, Unsichtbarer! and entering the Guinness Book of World Records via Yoko Ono, at 30 seconds the shortest single ever commercially released. Another hiatus followed, with Urlaub releasing a solo disc, Endlich Urlaub!, and Bela moonlighting as an actor. After a brief tour of Japan, Die Ärzte issued the double album Geräusch in 2003, returning to number one on the singles chart with Unrockbar.