* I wouldn’t exactly call myself a Herbert Grönemeyer fan, but he’s released some cool songs and when so many people claim he can’t sing, you get the sneaking feeling that they’re probably wrong. As indeed they are. Exhibit A: “The Fall of the House of Usher”. This is a sort of “rock opera” by renowned British prog rocker Peter Hammill. Grönemeyer sings the part of the “Herbalist” here, and you’d never guess it’s him, because he sings in a classical style! Seriously! I’ve listened to it myself. Check it out, you won’t believe it.

* Rammstein are cool, especially their early stuff. I won’t deny that their music is simple and pretty monotonous (which they admit to themselves - they say “we just can’t do anything else”), and not normally my cup of tea, but their lyrics are remarkable and cunning, and they’ve got a great sense of humour. I like their way of stirring up controversy.

* OK, I was 11 when “I’ve been looking for freedom” was released, but I still enjoy the song and don’t see what’s supposed to be so horrible about it. It’s a pop rock song quite typical for the 80s and damn fine for what it is if you ask me. And Hasselhoff sounds seriously good here - can’t vow for his live singing abilities, though, but from what I read, especially lately he’s become quite a good singer. How many current pop stars can sing so well? (Yes, I’ve seen the horrible music video for “Hooked on a Feeling”, but it was so bad it was really funny again.)

* As for the Scorpions, I’ve got a hell of respect for the guys’ achievements. Not their biggest fan but they’re a great band and many people forget that they didn’t always play the stadium rock they’re known for now - their first album especially contains music that is quite different in style, more psychedelic and atmospheric. Also, their stadium rock isn’t something to sneeze at at all, and “Wind of Change” is a seriously good song. To tag them with the label “Unterschichtenphänomen” is truly insulting and outrageously ignorant.

Never believe the hype, whether positive or negative. (Have I said that I like “Never Gonna Give You Up”, in a non-ironic way, too?)

Ralf: Pulling our collective leg here, eh? Springsteen isn’t even of German, but of Dutch descent. And Denver’s birth name is Henry John Deutschendorf jr., not Johannes Deutschendorfer, and while his father was of German ancestry indeed, doesn’t mean that Denver was German, or even born in Germany. He was German-American.

musiclover: Ah ja, Techno. Und was noch? Die Scorpions hingegen haben den ROCK und METAL beeinflußt wie wenige andere Bands.

Es gibt ja wohl eine Band, die - zugegeben: nach JS Bach - die Welt musikalisch am eindrücklichsten beeinflußt hat, und das ist TANGERINE DREAM. Die Pioniere der eletronischen Musik, ohne die z.B. Techno und andere Richtungen zeitgenössischer Musik nicht möglich gewesen wären.

An dieser Stelle überhaupt musikalische Unterschichts-Phänomene wie Hasselhoff, Scorpions, Bohlen etc. zu erwähnen, gehört sich einfach nicht! Ganz zu schweigen vom Knarzlschreihals Grönemeyer, dessen Erfolg einzig der bekannten deutschen Neigung zur Selbstquälerei zu verdanken ist.

Anspieltipp TD:
Origin Of Supernatural Probabilities, Track 3 von ZEIT (1972)

the person who initially wrote this just named of a bunch of american stereotypes about germans.

the person that wrote this, prolly only knows these three german artists.
actually, german pop radio is a lot more diverse than american radio, since we have both american and european artists.

and has it never occured to you why “the Hoff’ mentions his supposed popularity in germany every chance he gets? maybe that’s because that stereotype helps to keep his “career” going.
noone asked him to show up at the berlin wall with a ligh-up leather jacket.

practically no one i know has heard of hasselhoff.

grönemeyer is not the biggest thing.

most of you have never left your own state let alone your country.
those that have, have made european tours in 30 or sixty days.
i’m sure anyone that visits the usa for that amount of time now knows everything about american tastes etc. (sarcasm)

and guess what, look at a globe.
america is very small compared to the rest of the world.
do you think american tastes are important to the rest of the world?
there ARE other cultures on this planet, even if you have not informed yourself about them correctly.

please come out of your ego driven soap bubbles and enjoy what the whole world has to offer.