Plattenbau
PLATTENBAU
A German-German Krautrock Fairy Tale
The year is 1975.
In the slipstream of the X. Weltfestspiele of the GDR 1973 in East
Berlin, a group of beat and rock enthusiasts, consisting of members of
the FDJ youth organization "Tanz- und Unterhaltungsmusik" (Dance and
Light Music) and people from the environment of the GDR music magazine
"Melodie & Rhytmus" (Melody & Rhythm), succeeded in convincing
leading functionaries of the Committee for Entertainment Arts of the
Ministry of Culture of the GDR of the idea of inviting West German rock
musicians to the GDR for a joint music project.
The official (or maybe pretended) goal of the project was to create "a new socialist soundtrack for the new decade."
Under the slogan "offensive through cooperation," the project could also
be made palatable to the cadres of the various cultural institutions.
The GDR leadership and its cultural functionaries hoped that the
ambitious project would enhance their image and add a touch of
internationality.
The aim was to "promote the friendly legacy of youth dance music of both
German states" and, at the same time, to polish up the restrictive
image regarding the handling of youth music culture in the GDR.
In the spring of 1975, the time had come: in the course of the "FDJ
Werkstattwochen '75“, several minibuses with twenty-three musicians from
the West German Krautrock scene on board crossed the GDR border
fortifications toward the East.
The forward-looking project, christened "Deutschlandtreffen 75 - East meets West," began enthusiastically.
But the joy did not last long.
The West German musician colleagues had not only brought their
instruments in their luggage, but also "unsocialist" ideas, a rather
loose view of morals and authority, as well as a not inconsiderable
amount of suspicious herbs.
Therefore, the relationship between the state institutions and the
German-German bands quickly cooled down to Baltic Sea temperatures. In
the fall of the same year, the long-haired guests were clandestinely
disposed of back across the inner-German border.
So what remained of the short summer of herbaceous international understanding?
A few blurred black-and-white photos, a few newspaper clippings, and a
tape with a dozen pieces of music - which was soon buried in the
archives of the State Security.
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Labels: 1975, DDR, Kraut, Krautrock, Plattenbau
posted by künstler treu at 3:02 AM
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