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Ripped By: ChrisGoesRock
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Following the trace of The Singing End involves delving deep into the beat scene that dominated Cologne and its surroundings since the beginning of the 1960ies. Naturally, the Rhinelanders had been infected and electrified by the Beatlemania, too. On the left and right sides of the Rhine numerous student bands formed and tried to emulate their British role models. Rainer Pietsch, bass, guitar, piano, organ, vocals, son of a tenor and a music teacher, was playing with the Plack-Fizzles in 1963. Along with him played Peter Schütten and Hartmut Priess, who later became founding members of the Black Fööss (“Naked Feet”, well-known German band which sings in the dialect of Cologne) and are still touring with them. In early 1966 he was poached by the rival band Beat Stones (1964-1966), took along his buddy Hartmut Priess and played there with Erry Stoklasa and Tommy Engel, who also became founding members of the Bläck Fööss later on. Due to his upbringing Pietsch knew a lot about music and notes, and was able to copy the hits of their internatio- nal role models true to original and rehearse them with his friends. The musical quality they achieved was recognized widely, and the Beat Stones were one of the leading bands in the Cologne Beat scene for quite a while. The group did not just perform in Cologne and surroundings, very soon a small tour of Germany as well as concerts in Belgium and Spain followed suit. The first big success of the Beat Stones was a gig in autumn 1966 in the Messehalle 8 in Cologne as a support act for The Who, along with the Lords. Their success was even surpassed the year after, as the support act of The Beach Boys in the Cologne sports hall.

At that time many careers came to an end or were at least interrupted when one or several members of a band were enlisted to the German Federal Armed Forces. This also happened to the Beat Stones, after Erry Stoklasa and bassist Heinz Kunde had been called to defend the fatherland. The next station was the band Stowaways, who set the tone in the Cologne Beat scene from 1968 onwards. Co-players were Peter Schütten and Tommy Engel, as well as Hartmut Priess and Erry Stoklasa. This means that the Stowaways can be considered direct predecessors of the Black Fööss. Above all, the Stowaways made a name for themselves as support band of Graham Bonney, not only in live concerts but also during recordings.
This wasn’t up Rainer Pietsch’s alley, though, who aspired to higher musical values. As a consequence he left the band and joined That’s New, shortly before they were renamed into The End.

Günther “Bömmel” Lückerath, lead-guitar, vocals, had started his musical “career” at the age of 16 with the Rolling Beats (1963-1965). Despite his tender age he had already developed considerable musical skills on the guitar. Hence That’s New could count themselves lucky to have won him as a guitarist, particularly since Bömmel was also an excellent vocalist. That’s New were cherished not only for their outstanding musical skills, but also because they possessed an exceptional vocal sound with singing for several voices. Highlight of the gigs was their presentation of the title “Let’s go to San Francisco” (Flower Pot Men), which was performed true to original. Herbert Ihle, vocals, harmonica and rhythm guitar, had started his musical “career” as a school student. His first band was called I.& Co. (1966-1967), where Erry Stoklasa played as well. He, too, loved the English vocal groups and was, and still is, a big fan of The Beatles, The Hollies and later of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. After the end of I. & Co. he joined That’s New as a vocalist and occasionally played the guitar. That’s New also became famous beyond the region of Cologne and played in the Hamburger Star-club and other venues. Meanwhile the band had written their own songs, had got themselves a manager and were looking for a clever producer. They found him in Gibson Kemp, a record producer from Hamburg. Under his management That’s New recorded three titles. However, his arrival rang the bell of the end of That’s New, since he thought the band needed a new name. After all, they wanted to sell records all over the world, didn’t they. In an ideas competition, the Kölner Stadtanzeiger, who fondly accompanied the bands of Cologne, asked its readers to send in suggestions for names. Eventually the band agreed on the name The End, and the first single of the group was published under this name. Alf Gardener (alias Wolfgang Emperhoff), vocals and percussion, personally and professionally linked to Rainer Pietsch from his school days until his death, had started his career as a pop singer and disc jockey instead of vocalist in a beat band. Before joining The End he had worked with Rainer Pietsch, who was co-composer, songwriter and arranger. Support band of the pop song recordings was The End.

Once Pietsch, Gardener, Ihle and Lückerath had got together The End were complete Apart from the members just mentioned the live band of that time also included drummer Manfred Thomas, called “De Nas”( “The Nose”) and Klaus Weber (organ). However, Peter Geis play-ed the drums during recordings, while Rolf Lammers, who has meanwhile become famous with the Bläck Fööss and LSE, played the keyboards. Their second appearance in their home town Porz – part of the city of Cologne since 1975 – was already a complete success. By now their musical style had matured noticeably. Aside from the usual beat music the band occasionally tread on psychedelic paths, in particular when performing titles by Vanilla Fudge. In early 1970 the Kölnische Rundschau (newspaper) commented on a gig of the band: “Most impressive with The End is the quartet Ihle, Emperhoff, Pietsch and Lückerath, with vocals for four voices. Their repertoire displays versatility, and the title “Hair”, from the musical of the same name, was particularly striking. Commercial pop, soft-beat (Unchain melody) and hard shocking-beat (Vanilla Fudge and Chicago)- the six musicians from Porz present it all in an equally impressive manner.” In spring 1970 the first single “Pennies in the Air”, with the B-side “Someday, Somewhere, Somehow” was recorded in the Rhenus studio Cologne. Even before, and still after these recordings, the band had accompanied the pop stars Adamo, Peter Rubin and Thomas Fritsch as studio band during recordings. This experience proved helpful when they started recording their LP by the end of August 1970, particularly with regard to the technical possibilities of the studio. Rainer Pietsch had composed and written the texts of all nine pieces. The style of the recordings varied between Led Zeppelin and the Bee Gees. In the end of 1970 the LP was published on the label Resono. Another edition of the LP for the Scandinavian market was published on the label Anette. Meanwhile, The End had been changed to The Singing End under the influence of the producer and the financial backer! The musicians were not enthused, but, after all, record producers were not waiting at every corner.
No doubt it would have been more advantageous for the band had their LP been published by the Cologne based internationally minded record company EMI/Electrola. As things were a successful marketing of the LP failed due to the lack of funds for an extensive promotion. Despite the musical quality that was beyond question, LP sales were extremely poor. From today’s point of view one could argue that they were not quite up to date and probably should have appeared one or two years earlier. At that time, however, the band was pleased to be able to make a record at all. After two publications the record company suddenly disappeared and the band had to think about what to do next. By now their outstanding vocal singing had gained them wide recognition in the studio scene of Cologne, and they collaborated with many famous artists as a studio choir. In the ensuing period EMI finally became aware of the band and contracted them for several record productions under the new band name Tanned Leather. Tanned Leather recorded several singles and two LPs (1972 and 1976) on EMI’s Harvest-Label (!). From the original line-up of The End Rainer Pietsch, Herbert Ihle and Alf Gardener alias Wolfgang Emperhoff remained. Rainer Pietsch was drawn in by Munich and its studio scene, and became involved as arranger in many important international productions, such as Vangelis, ELO and Queen. In addition he had been contracted by the Ralph Siegel production company. Band leader Rainer Pietsch, who had been credited with musical genius from many sides, was eventually disappointed at the musical success that was denied him, and particularly that he hadn’t been able to successfully market his own musical ideas. Apart from his musical skills he was a divinely gifted pool player. He died of a heart attack in 1998. This CD is dedicated to him. Herbert Ihle is working as a studio and tour singer. Bömmel Lückerath is vocalist and guitarist with the Black Fööss. Alf Gardener alias Wolfgang Emperhoff lives in Munich and works for Ralph Siegel. He has refined countless Siegel productions as abackground vocalist. (Manfred Steinheuer, August 2005 - http://www.longhairmusic.de/)

01. Listen To The Music
02. I’m On My Way
03. Carpets
04. I Still Donít Know
05. Empty Streets
06. Green Grass
07. Lies
08. Twilight
09. Lost Daddy's Craddle Song
10. Bonus Track Pennies In The Air
11. Bonus Track Someday, Somewhere, Somehow