Mig Music published the official full stream for legendary Krautrock Guru Guru – “Live At Rockpalast 1976, Cologne, Germany.” Watch the whole performance through the YouTube player below:
Summer of 1976. The young German left found itself in a state of shock: Ulrike Meinhof, co-founder of the Baader-Meinhof Gang, had hanged herself in her cell at Stuttgart-Stammheim Prison on 9 May. A temporary low-point in a political drama which ruled Germany in the 1970s and also left its mark on culture and Rock music. Guru Guru, founded in August 1968, originally saw themselves as part of the student movement, needling the moral concepts of the conservative middle class with public manifestations of philosophies such as “A spliff a day keeps the doctor away” and enjoyed a dubious reputation as marihuana smokers. Or, as guitarist Roland Schaeffer unambiguously put it during a Rockpalast performance on June 06, 1976: “A bit of weed is all you need.”
Guru Guru, introduced by band leader Mani Neumeier as “Germany’s most practical Rock Group” at the beginning of the show at Cologne’s Studio L, was the first German act to be invited by the TV channel, WDR, to play a Rockpalast show. “I want people to throw their shoes and underpants into the air out of sheer fun, to completely lose their inhibitions,” Neumeier explained on the occasion of the release of the Guru Guru’s studio album “Tango Fango” in an interview with Sounds Magazine, adding: “It would be ideal if people really went bananas. I used to want to be a revolutionary or whatever, now my only aim is to be a good entertainer.”
“Tango Fango” was the first Guru Guru album which saw Mani Neumeier no longer rely on his previous trio concept. As early as the end of 1974, he self-critically admitted that Guru Guru had – probably out of habit – stuck too long with their three-piece line-up. Following the release of “Dance Of The Flames” and internal differences, he disbanded the trio in 1974, bringing out initially with a number of musical buddies the solo recording Mani und seine Freunde and putting together a new Guru Guru line-up in May 1975 with former Brainstorm multi-instrumentalist Roland Schaeffer, guitarist Sepp Jandrisits and erstwhile Kollektiv bassist Jogi Karpenkiel. Neumeier’s vision: “The one-sidedness of the trio is a thing of the past; our range now includes anything from calypso to yodelling.” As a result, the Rockpalast recording consists of a colourful mix of Rock, Jazz and Slapstick featuring diverse rhythms such as Bossa Nova, Tango and more.
Get your copy of the CD/DVD boxset here: https://bfan.link/guru-guru-rockpalast
Setlist:
01. Einmarsch
2. Salto Mortadella
03. Banana Flip
4. L. Torro
05. Rattenfänger
06. Ooga Booga Spezial
07. Bossa Nova
08. Night Bear
09. Tomorrow
10. Medley
11. Elektrolurch-Mutation
12. Tango Fango
13. Medley: Woman Drum/All You Want
Lineup:
Roland Schaeffer / Sax, Vocals, Guitars
Josef Jandrisits / Guitrs and Vocals
Jogi Karpenkiel / Bass
Mani Neumeier / Drums, Vocals
Also available “The 1971 Bremen Concert“: https://bfan.link/guru-guru-the-1971-bremen-concert
