Spliff – Record-facts…

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Spliff was a Neue Deutsche Welle (New German Wave) rock band, active in the 1980s. Three of the members were already playing together in the band Lokomotive Kreuzberg before they were ‘adopted’ by Nina Hagen when she came to West Germany in 1977. They recorded two albums with her as the Nina Hagen Band before continuing under the name Spliff when Hagen went solo. Their characteristic sound was a mix of electronic music, reggae and punk rock. They recorded “The Spliff Radio Show” in 1980, their only album in English. After parting ways with vocalist Alf Klimek, the remaining members carried on in German sharing vocals between all four of them.

Released the same year as their smash hit 85555, Spliff‘s third album Herzlichen Glückwunsch! doesn’t feature anything approximating their immensely catchy ironic pop single “Carbonara,” but it continues their fusion of rock and electronics and manages to stay interesting throughout its running time. The main forces within the band are still drummer Herwig Mitteregger‘s rock-based songwriting, the booming sound of his Simmons drums, and his punk-influenced singing voice on one end of the spectrum, and Reinhold Heil‘s keyboard textures, his laconic, almost rap-like vocals, and his electronic-oriented songs on the other. The group managed to score another hit with the single “Das Blech” (as in “Da fliegt dir ja das Blech weg,” a colloquialism which could be roughly translated as “This blows your mind”) — a coolly arranged synth funk number for the dancefloor, with an electronic percussion solo in the middle. Elsewhere on the album, there’s Mitteregger‘s energetic title track with an almost atonal bridge, a dreamy funk song written and sung by bassist Manfred Praeker (“Tag für Tag” — “Day by Day”), and the Kraftwerk-ian “Herr Kennedy,” with vocals by all four group members. Even though Heil‘s contributions are more diverse and interesting, the album’s best tracks are written by Mitteregger: the frantic “Wohin? Wohin?” (“Where To? Where To?”), a fast-paced rock number about smuggling in Algeria, and the epic album closer “Glaspalast” (“Glass Palace”), which keeps building its intensity from its slow, moody beginning. While nothing on Herzlichen Glückwunsch! is absolutely essential, the album is an interesting clash of styles that rewards repeated listening.

Many of the musicians subsequently formed a band called Froon. The Other Ones was another offshoot band, which included Alf Klimek, who had appeared on the Spliff Radio Show as Alf Klimax.

Track listing