The Singing End
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1970) - Alf Gardner (aka Wolfgang Emperhoff) -- vocals, percussion - Herbert Ihle -- vocals, harmonica, rhythm guitar - Gunther Luckenrath -- vocals, lead guitar - Rainer Pietsch (RIP 1998) -- vocals, keyboards, bass, guitar
supporting musicians - Manfred Thomas -- drums, percussion - Klause Weber -- keyboards
line up 2 (1970-71) - Alf Gardner (aka Wolfgang Emperhoff) -- vocals, percussion - Herbert Ihle -- vocals, harmonica, rhythm guitar - Gunther Luckenrath -- vocals, lead guitar - Rainer Pietsch (RIP 1998) -- vocals, keyboards, bass, guitar
supporting musicians NEW - Deiter Geis -- drums, percussion (replaced Manfred Thomas) NEW - Rolf Lammers -- keyboards (replaced Klause Weber)
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- Beat Stones (Rainer Pietsch) - Bläck Fööss (Rolf Lammers) - LSE (Rolf Lammers) - Plack-Fizzles (Rainer Pietsch) - The Rolling Beats (Gunther Luckenrath) - The Stowaways (Rainer Pietsch) - Tanned Leather (Wolfgang Emperhoff, Herbert Ihle, and Rainer Pietsch)
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Genre: pop Rating: 3 stars *** Title: The Romantic Vocal Sound of The Singing End Company: Resono Catalog: SLR
15006 Country/State: Cologne, West Germany Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: German pressing; minor ring wear Available: 1 Catalog ID: 5690 Price: $150.00
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There's obscure and then there's HOPELESSLY OBSCURE ... To most Americans vinyl hounds (and a sizable slice of their German counterparts), this one's easily categorized under the latter category ...
Born
into a musical family, singer/multi-instrumentalist Rainer Pietsch started
his rock and roll career in 1963 with the Cologne-based Plack-Fizzles.
Like their British counterparts, Pietsch and company were inspired by
Beatlemania and quickly attracted a local following with their beat
repertoire. In 1966 Pietsch was asked to join The Beat Stones who
attracted national attention touring Germany and opening for name bands like
The Beach Boys and The Who. 19
The band (now showcasing Gardner, drummer Deiter Geis, Ihle, keyboardist Rolf Lammers, Luckenrath and Pietsch), made their recording debut with the 1970 single:
- 'Pennies In the Air' b/w 'Someday, Somewhere, Somehow' (Resono catalog number R 570 16).
While the single did little commercially Resono agreed to finance an album (the Anette label acquired Scandinavian distribution rights). Facing potential legal issues, it was time for another name change - hence "The Singing End". Based strictly on the album title, 1971's "The Romantic Vocals Sound of The Singing End" promised a throwaway collection of middle of the road covers. Luckily the album didn't actually sound like that. Co-produced by Gunther Tigert and Pietsch, the album featured a series of nine highly commercial Pietsch originals. Propelled by Gardner's lightly accented English vocals, musically the material bounced all over the spectrum. The band had clearly been listening to lots of English and American pop and rock which made the record one of those releases where it was fun to play 'spot-the-influence'. The single 'Carpets' and 'Green Grass' (the latter sporting a great Luckenrath fuzz guitar solo) sounded like the band had been listening to more than their share of British pop-psych bands. The harmony-rich 'I Still Don't Know' and 'Empty Street' both recalled something out of The Hollies catalog, while 'Lies' recalled something out of The Bee Gees library. 'Listen To the Music' sounded like early Chicago horn-rock (before they became pretentious), and there was even a touch of The Association and The Beach Boys on the smooth ballad 'Empty Streets'. In the interests of fair advertising, let me warn you that the album was far from perfect. The harmonies occasionally outwore their welcome and on tracks like 'Lost Daddy's Cradle Song' and the first section of 'Twilight' the album approached plodding, MOR territory. Still, at least to my ears the album was full of enjoyable surprises and was as good, if not better than much of the British and American competition. In fact the only real problem with this one was the fact it had been released about two years too late - popular tastes having already moved on to heavier rock moves by the time this saw the light of day. Shame ...
"The
Romantic Vocals Sound of" track listing:
1.) I'm On My Way (Rainer Pietsch) - 3:01 rating: **** stars 'I'm On My Way' was a nice pop tune; something that wouldn't have sounded out of place on a Glenn Campell album. The track had a catchy melody and Alf Gardner's growling vocals were interesting . His accent was heavier than usual, but that may have had something to do with the fact it sounded like he'd mistakenly swallowed the microphone. 2.) Listen To the Music (Rainer Pietsch) - 3:14 rating: **** stars 'Listen To the Music' has always reminded me of the orchestrated pop released by bands like The Spiral Staircase, or perhaps late inning Paul Revere and the Raiders. It's certainly not Krautrock; it's not really rock ... It's highly commercial, radio-friendly pop and if you know what you're getting into, it's quite enjoyable. Nice melody, great harmony vocals. Shoot, Gunther Luckenrath even turned in a respectable guitar solo. 3.) I Still Don't Know (Rainer Pietsch) - 4:25 rating: **** stars The harmony rich 'I Still Don't Know' left me thinking these guys had a major crush on The Hollies. Nice tune with considerable commercial potential. 4.) Carpets (Rainer Pietsch) - 3:24 rating: **** stars Complete with tasty horn charts, 'Carpets' was the album's most commercial offering,. The track had a radio-friendly melody that sounded like a strong Nederpop tune. Nice choice as the single and it's surprising it wasn't a massive English hit. Blame the goofy 45 picture sleeve.
- 1971's 'Carpets' b/w 'I Still Don't Know) (Reono catalog number R 570 23
5.) Empty Streets (Rainer Pietsch) - 3:37 rating: *** stars 'Empty Streets' offered up another catchy slice of Hollies-styled harmony pop. The silky-smooth melody wouldn't have sounded out of place on an Association album though the orchestration and flute solo may have pushed this one a bit too close to MOR territory.
(side
2) Normally heavy orchestration is a major turnoff to my ears, but it seemed to fit and even bolster the dramatic 'Lies.' Imagine the Richard Harris backed by The Bee Gees (had they been born and raised in West Germany). 2.) Lost Daddy's Cradle Song (Rainer Pietsch) - 2:17 3.) Green Grass (Rainer Pietsch) - 4;22 rating: *** stars Opening with some rollicking Luckenrath fuzz guitar, quickly faded into pop territory though the cracking falsetto vocals were an acquired taste. The second half of the song jettisoned the vocals in favor of the album's toughest rock song. Luckenrath's soloing was the best thing he did on the album. Unfortunately the falsetto vocals came back to close out the performance. Docked a star for the falsettos. 4.) Twilight (Rainer Pietsch) - 5:55 rating: *** stars 'Twilight' started out as a touchy-feely ballad before Satan seemingly took over Gardner's voice and Luckenrath's guitar kicked in. With no warning the song suddenly went down a heavy metal path. ANd then there was the third section. More cowbell !!! Sporting the albums' funkiest rhythms and another set of tight horn charts, it was one of the weirdest transitions I've ever heard. Needless to say, the heavy metal second section and funky closing were far better than the opening.
One of the risks to signing with a small label is they normally have limited promotional budgets. That was certainly the case here. Resono did little to support the album and understandably the collection did little commercially. The company promptly went bankrupt, leaving the band to pay their bills as sessions players and backup singers.
Band members Gardener, Ihle, and Pietsch continued their musical collaboration as Tanned Leather releasing a handful of singles and a pair of mid-1970s LPs on the EMI/Harvest label.
Pitesch remained active in music as an arranger, working with the likes of Electric Light Orchestra, Queen, and Vangelis. Unfortunately he suffered a fatal heart attack in 1998.
Gardener/Emperhoff also remains active in the business working as a backup singer.
You have to wonder why anyone would bother to go to the time and effort required to do a CD reissue, but in 2005 the German Long Hair Music label did. Dedicated to the late Pietsch, "Listen To the Music" (catalog number LHC 00041), compiled all nine songs from the original LP (though in a different running order), along with the 'A' and 'B' sides from their debut non-LP single:
"Listen To the Music" track listing: 1.) Listen To the Music (Rainer Pietsch) - 3:14 2.) I'm On My Way (Rainer Pietsch) - 3:01 3.) Carpets (Rainer Pietsch) - 3:24 4.) I Still Don't Know (Rainer Pietsch) - 4:25 5.) Empty Streets (Rainer Pietsch) - 3:27 6.) Green Grass (Rainer Pietsch) - 4:22 7.) Lies (Rainer Pietsch) - 4:50 8.) Twilight (Rainer Pietsch) - 5:55 9.) Lost Daddy's Craddle Song (Rainer Pietsch) - 2:17
Bonus tracks 10.) Pennies In The Air (Rainer Pietsch) - 11.) Someday, Somewhere, Somehow (Rainer Pietsch) -
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68 saw several Beat Stones members drafted
into the German military and the band called it quits. Pietsch moved
on to The Stowaways before jumping ship to join singer/percussionist Alf
Gardener (alias Wolfgang
Emperhoff), rhythm
guitarist Herbert Ihle
and former Rolling Beats lead
guitar/singer Gunther
Luckenrath in the band That's New. Over the next two years the group
expanding their touring line-up to
include drummer Manfred Thomas and keyboardist Klause Weber. They also
hired a manager in the
form of Gibson Kemp and began playing throughout Germany
with a repertoire that featured an eclectic mix of beat tunes and more rock
oriented numbers. In addition to attracting a local following, they
also garnered studio experience supporting \German pop stars like the
Italian-born Adamo
and Thomas Fritsch. Manager Kemp recommended they consider a new name and after a Cologne paper ran a
competition to come up with ideas, they settled on The End.
In 1970 they were signed by the small German Resono label. Pressured
by their label and manager Gibson, the band reluctantly agreed to use the middle-of-the-road sounding The End.
Great idea, except for the fact Decca had already signed and released an
album by a British band using the same name.
