Perspectives on German Popular Music

In this book, native popular musicologists focus on their own popular music cultures from Germany, Austria and Switzerland for the first time: from subcultural to mainstream phenomena; from the 1950s to contemporary acts. Starting with an introduction and two chapters on the histories of German popular music and its study, the volume then concentrates on focused, detailed and yet concise close readings from different perspectives (including particular historical East and West German perspectives), mostly focusing on the music and its protagonists. The book, as a consequence, will show close connections between global and local popular music cultures and diverse traditions of study.

Michael Ahlers has studied music education, German, and musicology. He worked as an editor and ran a company for music production. His PhD was on human-machine interfaces in music production software. He is Professor of Music Education and Popular Music at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany. His main research is on empirical music pedagogy, creativity and improvisation, as well as popular music studies. Christoph Jacke has studied communication and media, politics, and English. He has worked as a music journalist. He is Professor of Theory, Aesthetics and History of Popular Music, and Director of the BA and MA programme in Popular Music and Media at the Department of Music at the University of Paderborn, Germany. His research focus is on media, culture and communications theory, cultural studies, celebrity studies and popular music studies.

Part 1: Histories and Foundations 1. A Fragile Kaleidoscope: Institutions, Methodologies, and Outlooks on German Popular Music (Studies) Michael Ahlers and Christoph Jacke 2. Popular Music Studies in Germany: from the Origins to the 1990s Helmut Rösing 3. Looking East: Popular Music Studies between Theory and Practice Peter Wicke Part 2: Arts and Experiments 4. Kosmische Musik: On Krautrock's Take Off Jens Gerrit Papenburg 5. Kraftwerk: The History and Aesthetics of a Pop-Cultural Concept Dirk Matejovski 6. Pophörspiel: Popular music in radio art Holger Schulze Part 3: Mainstreams and Masses 7. Hit Men: Giorgio Moroder, Frank Farian and the Eurodisco-Sound of the 1970/80s Thomas Krettenauer 8. A Re-encounter with the Scorpions' 'Wind Of Change': Why I couldn't Stand it Then - What I Learn from Analysing it Now Ralf von Appen 9. Modern Talking, Musicology and I: Analysing and Interpreting Forbidden Fruit André Doehring 10. Rocking granny's living room: The new voices of the German Schlager Julio Mendívil Part 4: Niches and Subcultures 11. The Popularisation of Electronic Dance Music: German Artists/Producers and the Eurodance Phenomenon Nico Thom 12. Restless and Wild: Early West German Heavy Metal Dietmar Elflein 13. No Escape from Noise: Geräuschmusik Made in Germany Till Kniola 14. German Gothic: From Neue Deutsche Todeskunst to Neo-Victorian Steampunk Birgit Richard 15. 'The Interesting Ones': Hamburger Schule and the 'Secondariness' of German Pop Till Huber 16. Music, Line Dance and Country and Western-Themed Events: Insights into German Country Music Culture Stefanie Jäger and Nils Kirschlager Part 5: Politics and Gender 17. Music of the Right-Wing Scene: Text Content, Distribution and Effects Georg Brunner 18. Rammstein Under Observation Susanne Binas-Preisendörfer and Arne Wachtmann 19. Rap Music in Germany Ayla Güler Saied 20. 'Heulsusen-Pop': New Male Sensitivity in German Independent Music Maren Volkmann 21. From 'Frauenfest' to 'Bitchsm': Feminist Strategies in German Language Popular Music from the 1970s until Today Sonja Eismann Part 6: Germanness and Otherness 22. 'White Punks On Dope' in Germany: Nina Hagen's Punk Covers Moritz Baßler 23. Singing in German: Pop Music and the Question of Language Diedrich Diederichsen 24. Neue Deutsche Welle/NDW: From Punk to Mainstream Barbara Hornberger 25. Integrated Music Media Analysis: An Application to Trio Christofer Jost 26. Punk in Germany Philipp Meinert and Martin Seeliger 27. Popular Music from Austria Rosa Reitsamer 28. From Soundtrack of the Reunification to the Celebration of Germanness: Paul van Dyk and Peter Heppner's 'Wir sind Wir' as National Trance Anthem Melanie Schiller Part 7: Electronic Sounds and Cities 29. Concepts of Cologne Hans Nieswandt 30. Who Said It's Got to be 'Clean'? Stereotypes, Presets and Discontent in German Electronic Sound Studios Johannes Ismaiel-Wendt 31. The Berlin Sound of Techno Daniel Mateo and Sandra Passaro Part 8: Media and Industries 32. The History of the German Popular Music Industry in the Twentieth Century Klaus Nathaus 33. Pop on TV: The National and International Success of Radio Bremen's Beat Club Detlef Siegfried 34. German Music Talent Shows Nick Ruth and Holger Schramm. Bibliography Index