La Düsseldorf

Krautrock
proto-punk
art rock
electronic

Years active1975–1983
2001–2008LabelsTeldec
Decca Records
Captain Trip Records
Warner Music
Nova Records
Strand Records
Radar Records
Albion RecordsMembersKlaus Dinger
Thomas Dinger
Hans Lampe
Harald Konietzko
Andreas Schell
Nikolaus Van Rhein

La Düsseldorf was a German band, consisting of onetime Kraftwerk drummer and Neu! multi-instrumentalist Klaus Dinger and occasional Neu! collaborators Thomas Dinger and Hans Lampe. La Düsseldorf was formed after Neu! disbanded following the release of their Neu! '75 record. They released a string of successful albums (with sales totaling over a million) during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and were considered highly influential by Brian Eno and David Bowie, with Bowie going so far as calling La Düsseldorf "the soundtrack of the eighties".^[1]

Overview

Core members

Klaus Dinger – vocals, guitars, keyboards
Thomas Dinger – vocals, percussion
Hans Lampe – percussion, electronics^[2]

Other members

Harald Konietzko (1978) – bass
Andreas Schell (1978) – piano
Nikolaus Van Rhein (1976–1981) – keyboards (this is a pseudonym of Klaus Dinger.)^[2]

Discography

Albums

1976 – La Düsseldorf (Teldec Records)
1978 – Viva (Teldec Records)
1980 – Individuellos (Teldec Records)^[2]

The following albums were released by Klaus Dinger without the participation of any other band members. Due to legal disputes, the albums could not be released under the La Düsseldorf name, but were subtitled "La Düsseldorf 4" and "La Düsseldorf 5" respectively.

1985 – Neondian (Teldec Records, released under the name "Klaus Dinger and Rheinita Bella Düsseldorf")
1999 – Blue (Captain Trip Records, recorded between 1985 and 1987, released under the name "La! Neu?")

In 2006 Klaus Dinger sought to revive La Düsseldorf properly, but was again blocked by legal problems. He instead chose to release under the name "La-duesseldorf.de" (also the name of his most recent website) or "Klaus Dinger + Japandorf". This project features only Klaus of the original band.

2006 – Mon Amour (Warner Music, a re-release of Neondian with extra tracks that was only briefly in print)
2013 – Japandorf

Singles

1976 – "Silver Cloud/La Düsseldorf" (Teldec Records)
1978 – "Rheinita/Viva" (Teldec Records)
1980 – "Dampfriemen/Individuellos" (Teldec Records)
1983 – "Ich Liebe Dich (Teil 1)/Ich Liebe Dich (Teil 2)" (Teldec Records)

Maxi-singles

1978 – "Rheinita/Viva" (Teldec Records)
1980 – "Dampfriemen/Individuellos" (Teldec Records)
1983 – "Ich liebe Dich/Koksknödel" (Teldec Records)

Video

2004 – Rheinita 1979 (a live performance of Rheinita that can be viewed for free on Klaus Dinger's website
Romantic Warriors IV: Krautrock (2019)

The booklets of "Neondian" and "Blue" also hint at the existence of videos for "America" (Neondian) and "Ich Liebe Dich" (single) although neither have been released.

References

^ "Klaus Dinger and NEU! and La Düsseldorf and Die Engel des Herrn" Archived 2007-10-07 at the Wayback Machine - Article from "Real Groove" No 2, Aug. 1996, with personal comments / corrections by Klaus Dinger. Retrieved on October 8, 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 1417. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.