| Last
update: Mai .2007 SCHICKE
FÜHRS FRÖHLING Eduard
Schicke (b. 2/14/47), Gerd Führs (b. 11/27/55, d. 11/3/92), and Heinz Fröhling
(b. 5/7/51) met for the first time in 1974. Gerd, who at that time was keyboardist
for the jazz-rock band Samspel, saw a concert of the progressive rock group Spektakel
of which Ede was the drurnmer and Heinz its guitarist. At
that time, Spektakel was one of the most successful bands in Nortern Germany.
The day after the concert, Gerd went to the Spektakel music store and played
a Fender Rhodes. Both Heinz and Ede were fascinated by Gerd's musical ideas and
technical abilities. lt seemed that the chemistry between the three was perfect
from the very beginning and they decided to work as a trio. At that point Spektakel
split and SFF began. On
reflection, Heinz and Ede agree that SFF never would have been successful were
it not for their experiences with Spektakel. The trio built their own studio an
an old farm. where they lived together in order to work day and night to cultivate
their common musical ideas. Success came very soon- six months in fact! The first
SFF gig at the German Rock Festival, Circus Krone, Munich (1975) fascinated not
only the 5,000 people in the audience but also Metronome Records A&R Manager,
Hartwig Biereichel. The record deal was signed that very night. lt was planned
that Frank Zappa was to produce the band. Zappa was very enthusiastic about the
original sounds of the trio with two Mellotrons (Gerd and Heinz), Moog-synthesizer
Paul guitar/Rickenbaker bass combination (Heinz), as weIl as Ede's monster drum
and percussion arsenal with gongs and knives and anything else you could imagine.
SFF had an orchestral sound which was overwhelming and fascinating. Unfortunately,
Zappa had to record his own album at the same time as the SFF project so he dropped
out. The band found an excellent substitute producer in Dierer Dierks (Scorpions).
The first album, "Symphonic Pictures," was released in 1976 and sold about
12,000 copies. Their popularity grew primarily from their unforgettable live concerts-"lt
was a bit like magic and with an overwhelming intensity, which led the audience
and the band together into another world." In this context one should mention
the SFF gigs in Scheeßel (1977) and, of course, the Brain Festival (1978), from
which two songs appear on this collection. In 1977 and 1978 SFF recorded
and released two more records with Dieter Dierks-"Sunburst" and "Ticket To Everywhere".
After the recording of the last album the band developed musical and ideological
differences and the trio dissolved. Ede joined the Wuppertal progressive
band Hölderlin and two years later opened his own club and disco "Ede Wolf" in
Oldenburg. Even today the club is one of Narthern Germany's most successful and
famous for good live concerts. Heinz and Gerd continued working together
as a duo and recorded three albums: "Ammerland" (which was released before "Ticket
To Everywhere")' "Strings," and "Diary". After their split they worked in various
pop, jazz and blues bands in Hamburg and Cologne. In 1991, Heinz opened his
own music school in Oldenburg, where he lives today with his wife and son. Until
his tragic death in November 1992, Gerd lived in Bremen. He worked in Japan, USA,
England, and Germany for Yamaha, who regarded Gerd as one of the premier programmer/keyboard
consultants in the world. This
CD release is dedicated to his memory. |