For those unaware, in 1974, the Puhdys were able to play a concert in a non-socialist economic area for the first time - at a brewery festival in Belgium. Harry Jeske, bass guitarist and then-manager of the Puhdys, followed in the footsteps of a Dutch music manager who had brought several Western bands to East German television.

Jeske was certain that it would also work the other way around, and he was right. A year later, they went to Holland for the first time, where the Puhdys played in discotheques. In 1976, the band made a guest appearance at a festival in Turku, Finland, where they met Chuck Berry, and played for the first time in West Germany at the Fest der Jugend (Festival of Youth) in Dortmund, together with Frumpy, Inga Rumpf’s band.

From 1977 onwards, the Puhdys released their albums not only on the former GDR label Amiga, but also on West Berlin’s Hansa, distributed by Ariola, and from 1980 on Rocktopus, the rock label of Hansa/Ariola. In February 1977, Mike Leckebusch signed the Puhdys for a concert recording of the show Musikladen Extra.

Dieter Maschine Birr still fondly remembers the performance at the Bremen television studios: On Musikladen, we were supposed to play and move as if there were no cameras there, so very spontaneously and relaxed. We weren’t used to that; on GDR television, it was usually a bit stiff and we usually rehearsed for a long time. Mike invited us to his home afterwards to celebrate our performance in style.

The history of the Puhdys continued into 2016: the band, which was awarded the ECHO for their life’s work, can look back on 47 years together, over 22 million records sold, and more than 4,000 concerts. The Puhdys are firmly anchored in the annals of German rock music - and, of course, unforgotten.

One of the most popular GDR groups, with numerous chart hits since the 1970’s, who remained popular in reunited Germany until their (final) dissolution in 2016, the Puhdys - whose band name was made up of the first letters of the initial members’ first names, which at the start featured Peter Meyer on keyboards, Udo Jacob on drums, Harry Jeske on bass, and Dieter Herttrampf on vocals and guitar - featured tracks with a progressive rock feel that drew heavy inspiration from British hard rock groups like Deep Purple.

Admittedly, in the mid-’80s they added some new wave and synth touches to the mix in an attempt to stay timely, but by the end of the decade the group disbanded (for that period). They did reunite for a one-off concert at the Brandenburg Gate in 1991, and, received enthusiastically, decided to continue; the situation in East Germany had changed, and there were signs of both Ostalgie — nostalgia for the GDR — and an emergent regional identity as Ossis. The band released the album Wie ein Engel (Like An Angel) the following year. (But an incredible 32 more albums - including greatest hits - have since, to date, been released!)

1. Sturmvogel 2. Lebenszeit 3. poem ’Rehlein’ 4. I Need Your Love Tonight 5. Steine 6. Wie ein Pfeil 7. Reise zum Mittelpunkt der Erde 8. Wenn ein Mensch lebt 9. Lied für Generationen 10. Geh’ zu ihr 11. Rock’n Roll Medley: Long Tall Sally Party Rock’n’Roll Music

Official Purchase Link

www.puhdys.com