The Lords (band)

The Lords were the most long-living and successful beat band of West Germany. The band's main headquarter was Düsseldorf/North Rhine-Westphalia. No other German band was so active during more than 40 years.

Classic line-up

In 1964 their bassist Knud Kuntze ("Lord Knud") (*18 March 1944) had to leave the band due to an accident. He then started a career as a prominent German radio DJ. In 1965, the classic line-up of The Lords consisted of Ulli Günther (vocals), Bernd Zamulo (bass), Leo Lietz (guitar), Rainer Petry (guitar) and Max Donath (drums). This classic line-up existed until 1971, which marks the end of the classic and most successful period of the band.

History

In 1959, The Lords started out as a skiffle band in Berlin using partly custom-made instruments. In 1964 when Beatlemania and the British Invasion swept across the world, they turned into "Germany's First Beat Music Act" and developed their classic style for which they are still known in Germany today. In the period from 1965 until 1969 they had 11 hits in West German pop charts. Their first hit single from 1964 was "Shakin' All Over" (originally recorded by Johnny Kidd & The Pirates in 1960). Their other hits included the blues traditional "Poor Boy" in 1965, "Poison Ivy" in 1965 (originally by The Coasters, 1959), the Baptist traditional "Gloryland" in 1967, and "Rockin' pneumonia" in 1967 (probably originally by Larry Williams). They also appeared as supporting act of The Kinks and The Who on German tours of the two English bands, and performed on the contemporary TV music program "Beat-Club" several times. These "Beat-Club" performances are still repeated on German TV well into the 2000s, being largely responsible for today's classic image of The Lords back then. Their 1960s cover versions of "Shakin' all over", "Poison Ivy", and "Gloryland" still get much more airtime on German radio today compared to the original, earlier, or later recordings of these songs by English and American performers whose versions are therefore comparably unknown in Germany.

In 1971 the original formation of The Lords disbanded. The original recordings of their singles, later often re-recorded by the band, were issued on CD as the double CD box "The Original Singles-Collection/The A & B-Sides" in 1999, beside which the CD version of their 1972 best-of album "The LORDS 1964-1971" remains a decent seller, while "Shakin' all over '70" (1970) and "The Lords - The Very Best" (1992) like most of their albums after 1971 are more recent, technologically updated re-recordings of their classic songs instead.

From 1976 onwards, The Lords re-formed to play together until far into the 1990s with different line-ups, mostly as a nostalgia live band playing their old hits on 60s festivals and TV shows, every few years re-recording technologically updated versions of their songs. Especially "Lord Leo" Lietz has become sort of a bandleader since they have become mostly a 1960s nostalgia act, representing them and still giving the most interviews of all current band members.

Singer of The Lords, Lord Ulli died on 10 October 1999 in Potsdam, after having a breakdown while performing on stage during a concert of their 40 years anniversary tour.

Since 2000 The Lords have re-united once again, and in 2002 they even released a new album.

Style & reputation

Rather than a serious music band, The Lords were more of a slapstick and comedy troupe especially on stage, probably akin to bands like The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band in England at the time (and indeed novelty act Johnny Kidd & The Pirates whose "Shakin' all over" The Lords covered and which became their first hit single), overdoing the contemporary moptop hairstyle by making it look like a stereotypical Medieval haircut as portrayed in the modern comic Prince Valiant, taking the formal suit fashion introduced by The Beatles and turning them into waiters' clothing, and dancing like a girl group such as the 1920s Tiller Girls on stage.

This rather lighthearted attitude led to a rivalry with Hamburg-based band The Rattles and especially their bandleader and producer Achim Reichel who took the contemporary British Invasion-influenced music played by both bands more seriously, obviously holding The Lords not in very high regard for their silly antics.

Beside their clownesqueries looked down upon by more ambitious proto-Krautrock artists such as Reichel, there was a notorious rumor that singer of The Lords, Ulli Günther ("Lord Ulli") spoke not a single word of English even though it was the language he sang in, and that therefore his German accent was much thicker than was usual in the German-produced but English-sung music scene at the time.

Towards the end of the 1960s, the band was increasingly influenced by psychedelia and brought more social commentary, serious or satirical, into their lyrics, effectually turning from a British Invasion-influenced pop band into a progressive "Krautrock" group. However, nothing of this development remained after the breakup of their classic line-up in 1971, nor did the 1976 re-formation go back to suits and slapstick. Instead, since their re-formation they foster more of a rough rocker and teddy boy image both in their instrumentation, arrangements, and their clothing, now appearing in jeans clothing and sunglasses, comparable to the new style 1970s glam rock band Slade took on during the 1980s, even though today The Lords often perform to playbacks of their old singles when on TV while dressed up in their new style.

Discography (albums)

*1965 "In Black and White - In Beat and Sweet"
*1966 "The Lords II - Shakin' All Over"
*1967 "Some Folks by the Lords"
*1968 "Good side of June"
*1969 "Ulleogamaxbe"
*1970 "Shakin' all over '70"
*1971 "Inside out"
*1972 "The LORDS 1964-1971"
*1979 "Birthday Album - 15 years"
*1984 "20 Jahre Lords"
*1988 "The LORDS ‘88"
*1989 "Stormy"
*1992 "The Lords - The Very Best"
*1999 "The Original Singles-Collection/The A & B-Sides"
*1999 "LIVE 1999"
*2002 "Spitfire Lace"

External links

* http://www.thelords.de/ Official Site