|
THE THIRSTY-MOON-STORY
Part 4
In 1975 we got together with keyboarder and vocalist Gerd Lueken and bassist Heinz Sander so as to perform live once more as THIRSTY MOON. Both musicians used to play in the Bremen band
“Train”.
Since our album “Blitz” had been published that year, the record company helped again with promotion and had pictures taken from the four band members. This was the formation we played in on May 29th in the “Lila Eule” in Bremen, where we did a live recording with a stereo tape recorder. There were merely two microphones for the recording, no mixing desk in between, and no possibility of “dubbing” whatsoever. At that time I attached great importance to the sound effects, which consisted in part of natural sounds, but also of sounds created by the synthesizer and then added by tape recorder. We installed additional loudspeakers so that the sound effects could be heard in stereo. Today, every band uses a P.A. and a mixing desk, but back then we only had a so called “vocal amplifier system” with a box on each side of the stage, but in mono. The instruments had separate amplifiers and loudspeakers, and in a small hall the drums were loud enough without microphones.
At that time we did not think of publishing the tape, the idea only occurred to us when we discovered the long forgotten recording in summer 2006. The material recorded on tape had survived those 31 years without taking any damage, and the quality was remarkable, given the circumstances. The newly formed band is using older titles, such as “Big City”, in a very specific way, adding improvisations to “Blitz” titles, and presenting the song “Dreaming” that was supposed to have been published in 1976 on the album “A real good time”. In addition, there are titles such as “Volcano” and “Don’t boogie along” that haven’t been published so far. I am not sure what an open-minded listener will think of this sound, I myself find it somewhat rough and unrefined, but full of spontaneous ideas. The lyrics in “Black clouds” are improvised. “Can you hear the lightning” supposedly was meant to read “Can you hear the thunder?” – but that is “live”! A solo of Norbert playing the drums was also recorded. Before it begins, someone (presumably Gert) calls out to me: “Let your brother play a little bit ...”
As an allusion to the title of the second album “You’ll never come back”, we have called this one “I’ll be back – LIVE ‘75”. It is also the only existing recording of the line-up
Lueken/Sander/Drogies/Drogies – no record was ever published with this line-up. Many thanks again to Gert and Heinz for rehearsing our songs in the few months we played together and for putting them on stage with so much commitment and original interpretations.
Jürgen Drogies, October 2006
Thirsty Moon had been founded in 1971 and played well into the early 1980ies, with different line-ups, but always headed by the brothers Jürgen and Norbert Drogies. The last publication, the LP “Starchaser” dates back to 1981.
Timetable
| 1971 |
Thirsty Moon is founded by Jürgen and Norbert Drogies. |
| 1972 |
The album “Thirsty Moon” is published on Brain |
| 1973 |
2nd album, “You’ll never come back”, is published, again on Brain |
1974
|
The line-up of seven men splits up after two LP’s. The 3rd LP “Blitz” is recorded by Jürgen and Norbert Drogies in the studio Boccaccio in Bremen. |
1975
|
“Blitz” is published on Brain in February. Another live formation is formed. On May 29th a concert is recorded live in the scene club “Lila Eule” in Bremen. |
1976
|
The line-up of the band changes again in January. That summer, the band’s fourth LP “A real good time” is published on Brain, produced by Jürgen and Norbert Drogies. All compositions were done by Jürgen Drogies, except for “Sundance”, which was composed by the pianist Serge Weber.
Line-up:
Junior Weerasinghe: drums, gongas, vocals
Serge Weber: Fender-piano, clavinet, synthesizer, string organ
Rainer Neumann: saxophone, clarinet
Norbert Drogies: bass, percussion
Jürgen Drogies: e-guitar, acoustic guitar, synthesizer, string-organ, vocals |
1977
|
The line-up is changed once more, and the live-recorded single “I’ll sing your song/Caught”, with Uli Harmssen, keyboard, and Junior Weerasinghe, drums and vocals, is published on Boccaccio. |
| 1980 |
Re-release of the first album with a different cover under the title “Yellow Sunshine”. |
1981
|
The 5th album “Starchaser” is published on Sky. Apart from the Drogies brothers it features Hans Werner Ranwig, vocals, and Junior Weerasinghe, drums and choir singer, and was produced and composed by Jürgen and Norbert Drogies. |
2006
|
The first three albums as well as the live concert that took place on 29.05.1975 in the “Lila Eule”, plus some bonus material, are published on CD. |
Manfred Steinheuer, October 2006
Translation: Dr. Martina Häusler
For further information we recommend the following websites:
www.thirstymoon.de
www.backtothemoon.de
|
