Lassie Singers

Lassie Singers
OriginBerlin, Germany
GenresIndiepop, Hamburger Schule, Neue Deutsche Welle
Years active1988–1998
LabelsColumbia Records, Dragnet Records, Flittchen Records
MembersChristiane Rösinger (vocals, guitar),[1]
Almut Klotz (vocals),[2]
Funny van Dannen (guitar),
Kathrin von Witzleben (vocals),
Heiner Weiß
Past membersBritta Neander (drums)
Herman Herrmann (guitar)

The Lassie Singers are an indie-pop band from Berlin-Kreuzberg that was active from 1988 to 1998. Their musical style was in between the Hamburger Schule and Neue Deutsche Welle.[3] The Lassie Singers have been called the first German girl-band.[4] The band's lyrics often use bitter humor to describe clichéd romantic relationships from a feminist perspective. For example, popular songs of written by the Lassie singers include: Die Pärchenlüge (English translation: the couple-lie), Mein zukünftiger Exfreund (English translation: My future ex-boyfriend), and Liebe wird oft überbewertet (English translation: Love is over valued).

The Lassie Singers’ largest commercial success came with the 1994 single Es ist so schade (English translation: It is too bad), peaking at number 24 in the Austrian Charts.[5] They released four studio albums, the first of which was released on Columbia Records; their final three studio albums were released on Dragnet Records, a sub-label of Sony Music Germany.[citation needed]

History

The founding members of the Lassie Singers were Christiane Rösinger, Almut Klotz, Heiner Weiß, Kathrin Fitzner (aka Kathrin Witzleben), and Funny van Dannen. The band had three front-women, and Rösinger wrote the band's song lyrics. van Dannen was only a member of the Lassie Singers for a short time; Herman Herrmann later joined the band as a guitarist. The band name refers to the American TV series Lassie. Over a period of years the Lassie Singers worked with many different well-known German pop-artists, including Bernd Begemann, King Rocko Schamoni, Die Regierung, Eff Jott Krüger (Ideal), and Jochen Distelmeyer (of Blumfeld).[4]

Their first album Die Lassie Singers helfen Dir (English translation: "The Lassie Singers help you") was released in 1991.[6] This was quickly followed by Sei À Gogo in 1992,[7] and then Stadt, Land, Verbrechen in 1994. In 1996, the Lassie singers released the album Hotel Hotel, which was produced by Thomas Meinecke and recorded by Chris von Rautenkranz.[8]

In 1998 the Lassie Singers broke up.[9] Almut Klotz and Christiane Rösinger opened the record label Flittchen Records. Rösinger founded the band Britta and since 2010 has released two solo albums under her own name.[10][11] Klotz and Sandra Grether founded the riot-grrl band Parole Trixi. Klotz also founded the band Maxi unter Menschen with Maximilian Hecker, and played as a duo with Christian Dabeler called Klotz+Dabeler. In 2013 Klotz died of breast cancer.[2][12] In 2020 Christiane Rösinger won the Rio Reiser Sonderstipendium from the Musicboard Berlin.[13]

Discography

Studio albums

  1. 1991: Die Lassie Singers helfen Dir (Columbia Records (Sony Music Entertainment))
  2. 1992: Sei À Gogo (Dragnet Records (Sony Music Entertainment))[14]
  3. 1994: Stadt, Land, Verbrechen (Dragnet Records)
  4. 1996: Hotel Hotel (Dragnet Records)[15]

Compilation albums

  • 1998: Best of Lassie Singers – Time to say Tschüss (Flittchen Records)
  • 1998: Rest of Lassie Singers – rare & unreleased, 1988–1998 (Flittchen Records)

Singles

  • 1991: Mein Freund hat mit mir Schluß gemacht
  • 1991: Falsche Gedanken
  • 1994: Schade! (Es ist so schade)
  • 1996: Liebe wird oft überbewertet, Regen

References

  1. ^ "LIVE CONCERT WITH BERLIN SINGER SONGWRITER CHRISTIANE RÖSINGER IN THE COURTYARD "THE MOST IMPORTANT CONTEMPORARY GERMAN SONGWRITER"". NYU. 2012-09-13. Archived from the original on 2023-12-02. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  2. ^ a b "Lassie-Singers-Mitbegründerin Almut Klotz ist tot" (in German). Rolling Stone. 2013-08-19. Archived from the original on 2023-12-02. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  3. ^ Jenny Bergner (2007-05-15). "Lassie Singers" (in German). Munzinger-Archiv. Archived from the original on 2021-04-17.
  4. ^ a b "LAUT.DE-BIOGRAPHIE Lassie Singers" (in German). LAUT.DE. Archived from the original on 2023-09-05.
  5. ^ "Lassie Singers" (in German). Austrian Charts. Archived from the original on 2021-04-13. Retrieved 2021-04-13.
  6. ^ Matthias Wagner (2019-03-16). "Reviews: Die Lassie Singers: … helfen Dir" (in German). Kulturnews. Archived from the original on 2021-10-18. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  7. ^ Bayer, Felix (1998-11-18). "Soundcheck: Lassie Singers". Die Tageszeitung: Taz (in German). TAZ. p. 23. Archived from the original on 2023-12-02. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  8. ^ GEORG GÖTZ (1996-09-06). "Musik für junge Erwachsene: Lassie Singers spielten im Waschhaus". Die Tageszeitung: Taz (in German). TAZ. p. 24. Archived from the original on 2023-08-07. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  9. ^ GERRIT BARTELS (1998-11-13). "Dieses Kreuzberg-Gefühl loswerden". Die Tageszeitung: Taz (in German). TAZ. p. 15. Archived from the original on 2023-12-02. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  10. ^ Arno Frank (2011-03-24). "Musikpreis für Christiane Rösinger: Hier gibt es nichts zu hören!". Die Tageszeitung: Taz (in German). TAZ. Archived from the original on 2019-01-06. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  11. ^ "Sängerin über die Waffe der Männer "Die Liebe unterdrückt die Frauen"". Die Tageszeitung: Taz (in German). TAZ. 2010-10-25. Archived from the original on 2023-12-02. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  12. ^ Julian Weber (2013-08-19). "Almut Klotz über neues Album "Sauber ist verlogen"". Die Tageszeitung: Taz (in German). TAZ. Archived from the original on 2022-08-13. Retrieved 2021-08-13.
  13. ^ THOMAS MAUCH (2020-04-02). "Ein Preis im Namen von Rio Reiser: Ist das noch Boheme?". Die Tageszeitung: Taz (in German). TAZ. Archived from the original on 2023-12-02. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  14. ^ Matthias Wagner (2019-03-16). "Reviews: Lassie Singers: Sei á Gogo" (in German). Kulturnews. Archived from the original on 2021-09-18. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
  15. ^ ANKE WESTPHAL (1996-05-31). "Hallo, laute Welt! Poesie der Gefühle, Prosa der Verhältnisse: Die Lassie Singers mit neuer Platte. Alltagstaugliche Message:"Sei dein eigenes Hotel!"". Die Tageszeitung: Taz (in German). TAZ. p. 13. Archived from the original on 2023-12-02. Retrieved 2023-08-07.