aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser
‘GIGS FROM YESTERYEAR, WHEN I WAS YOUNG + PRETTY AS A PICTURE’
# 07 Zeltinger Band, Rockfabrik Übach-Palenberg (1992)
Dear friends,
I’ll try to make this one sweet and simple, because trying to bring Zeltinger to your attention would be forlorn hope all over.
Why?
Well, a) he’s from Cologne and sings in this town’s own accent, so even those of you with O-levels in German will probably not understand one word. And b) he is – and always has been – somewhat special, an interesting figure for sure – but when you’re special you’re certainly not loved by everyone and/or are not easily accessible.
Let’s say this is for Walter and – alas unbeknownst – Anni from Düsseldorf, who recently commented JC’s Paul Haig-post. She’ll have loads of fun, because we all know that Düsseldorf and Cologne are best friends forever … (JC adds……just like Glasgow and Edinburgh)
So, as brief as possible: born in 1949, Jürgen Zeltinger formed his Zeltinger Band in the late 70s and came to wider attention with the release of the debut album, recorded live in two clubs in Cologne. To me, this album is a masterpiece, always has been. But, to be fair, the music is a mix between punk, rock and hard rock even, a difficult combination sometimes. Still it’s absolutely enjoyable, although perhaps not pretty much innovative. The album lives from Zeltinger’s lyrics, I think it’s fair to say, and this is true for many of the albums which came later. The lyrics and his connection with the audience, which has to be seen to be believed.
He is such a nice guy, always honest and his shows have always been spectacular: in the 80s/90s they were spectacular because of him performing just in a tiger slip most of the time, which, let’s face facts, was not a pretty sight: at the time Zeltinger had 150 kilograms and drank way too much (oh, I could tell you a pre-show-tale or two). In recent years they were spectacular because he lost much weight and moved towards a more acoustic approach, often just him and a guitarist – which meant he would tell even more interesting stories and talk with the audience.
Probably the most important thing about Jürgen Zeltinger („de Plaat“, as he’s known around Cologne, because of his bald head) is that from the beginning, he openly lived being gay. And for him being gay and showing this was such a very natural thing that he implemented this into his music. Now, we are talking 1979 here and quite frankly you needed some big balls back then to openly tell your hard rock-orientated audience (and, even more important, your hard rock record-buying public) that you are homosexual.
A dozen or so albums followed the debut, but it is unexcelled as far as I’m concerned. The first four albums were great, especially the fourth one, because it was a live album again. Within the years I lost interest a bit until two years ago, when Zeltinger announced to play in a small town very close to my village. I would have attended the gig of course – it would have been the fifth or sixth time to have seen him – but it got cancelled because Zeltinger was diagnosed with cancer!
I must say, being 75 then, I would not have bet all too much on him coming back on his feet again, but a few weeks ago I was waiting to be served in a kiosk and I was looking at the newspapers at the counter. Cologne’s ‘Express’ is an equivalent of ‘The Sun’, I would think, but no matter: on the front (!) page, bold and fat it read: „De Plaat: I’m back – and I’m playing Wacken Open Air: an unfulfilled dream comes true!“
Now, Wacken is the biggest heavy metal/hard rock festival since the dinosaurs, mind you – and although I certainly won’t be there, I am so very glad for Zeltinger that he finally was given the chance to play there: I am sure it will be absolutely ace!
So here’s some music, loads of covers in fact – who of you can name the originals?
Zeltinger Band – ‘Mein Vater War Ein Wandersmann’ / ‘Müngersdorfer Stadion’ (live im Bunker, Köln ’79)
Zeltinger Band – ‘Sozialamt’ (live Roxy, Köln, ’79)
Zeltinger Band – ‘Dauerwellen’ (live Roxy, Köln ’79)
Zeltinger Band – ‘Holder Friedbert’ (’17)
Zeltinger Band – ‘Wärst Du Doch In Düsseldorf Geblieben’ (’03)
Zeltinger Band – ‘Candy’ (’92)
Zeltinger Band – ‘Er War Gerade 18 Jahr’ (live Köln, Luxor 29.10.’86)
Enjoy,
Dirk
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 