aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser
#087: S-Chords – ‘Voran! Voran!’ (Smarten-Up! Records ’89)
Hello friends,
and yes, back to Germany we go today, to sunny Düsseldorf! Who does not love it (apart from the people of Cologne, of course), capital of North Rine-Westphalia, home of a million Japanese and of terrible beer!
But Düsseldorf has also always been Germany’s musical capital, I think it’s fair to say. There are so many people I know who love at least one band from Düsseldorf, sometimes they even love a few: I know that Adam from the wonderful and constantly inspirational Bagging Area has a huge faible for all things kosmische: Kraftwerk, La Düsseldorf, Neu! – they all came from Düsseldorf, of course!
Our friend Walter from A Few Good Times In My Life will surely approve of the above as well, but knowing him, he’ll also like Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, Family 5, Fehlfarben, Male, Charley’s Girls/Mittagspause, Der Plan, Rheingold … as I said, this city had a lot to offer!
My neighbour Klaus played bass for Shades Of Dawn in fact, whereas his wife Silke may well be more fond of Liaisons Dangereuses or, probably, Asmodi Bizarr.
My wife totally adores everything Die Toten Hosen ever did – me, I stopped listening to them after their second single from 1982, because as far as I’m concerned after this they became just goddamn awful. Nevertheless they are one of Germany’s biggest bands, partly because of still pretending to be original anti-establishment-punks in 2025 … whilst making squadrillions of Euros by issuing their pretentious rubbish incl. coffee mugs etc. on Warner Records.
Also, I once told their singer to bugger off when he tried to get in front of me at the bar at an early Green Day gig. So this band’s output (and my behaviour) remain a controversial issue within our marriage, believe me, but for 21 years I have stood my ground and I have no plans to change this!
So what about me, my Düsseldorf favourites, you’re asking? Well, I will not say today’s song is by Germany’s best band, that would be unfair. But unless someone comes up with a better 7“ from Germany, this has to be it:
mp3: S-Chords – ‘Voran! Voran!’
Now, The S-Chords have remained fairly unknown alas. Upon the strength of this song alone this is a mystery to me, as usual – but there you are. Then again all the names above are so big, perhaps this was one reason they did not make it at the time. ‘Voran! Voran!’ (‘Forward! Forward!’, should you be wondering) was first released on a cassette in ’85, then on 12“ one year later and finally as a limited promo 7“ with ‘Weg Von Hier’ on the A-Side in ’89.
There isn’t much I can tell you about the band, I’m afraid. The S-Chords were led by the Schiffers-brothers, Peter (g, v) and Thomas (g, bv), and accompanied by Sugar (b) and Enzo (d, v).
Peter played with Stunde X for a while, but apparently has stopped making music altogether, as far as I know. Whatever became of the other three, I have no idea at all …
But anyway, in my humble opinion: if you view this 7“ alone as their legacy in life, they have achived a great deal more than I will ever achieve! A stunning tale of not giving up, not just looking behind/living in the past, of always being aware of the new chances life may offer to you: what more can you ask for in a song?
Enjoy,
Dirk
JC adds
Given how many acts have been listed in this, as ever, wonderful offering, surely I’m not alone in asking Dirk if he’d be able to find time to offer up a Düsseldorf ICA…….
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 