Bläck Fööss

The Bläck Fööss (Ripuarian De Bläck Fööss) are a music group from Cologne, Germany, started in 1970. From 1973 to 2003 Werner Dies was producer of the music group.

Name of the band
The band's name in Kölsch, a local dialect of Ripuarian, in which the group predominantly sings, means barefoot. It is pronounced. In their early days the group would perform barefoot, which was later given up mainly after several injuries from remains of broken glass on stages.

Repertoire
The band's style of music is a cross between Schlager and pop, but they also perform songs with jazz, blues, rock and reggae styles. The group is famous for its a cappella singing. Many of the band's songs are popular carnival songs, while others are covers of bands such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, (Bütz mich, cover of Hey baby, 1990) Cologne music group De Vier Botze (En d'r Kaygaß Nummere Null!, 1975) Beatles (When I'm Sixty-Four, Penny Lane, 1989), Hollies or Willi Ostermann.

In August 1985 the band got their biggest chart success, with the song "Frankreich, Frankreich" (English: France, France) landing in at number 9 in the German charts, after the band had entered the German charts for the first time with the song "Katrin" in January 1985.

Band members
In their first 4 decades together, the Bläck Fööss only had a few changes in membership. Dieter „Joko“ Jaenisch (1970-1974, 1977–1980; died in 1998), Rolf Lammers (1974-1977) and Willy Schnitzler (1980-2005) played keyboard. In 1994, the band had its biggest split, with frontman Tommy Engel leaving for a solo career after so-called creative differences.


 * Karl Friedrich "Kafi" Biermann (born 1946): guitar, percussion, vocals (from 1995 to 2017)
 * Ralph Gusovius (born March 16, 1950): drums, accordion, vocals (from 1995 to February 2023)
 * Günther "Bömmel" Lückerath (born June 20, 1948): guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, vocals (founding member, active until January 2023)
 * Hartmut Priess (born 19 August 1942 in Berlin ):bass, guitar, mandolin (founding member, active until 2018)
 * Peter Schütten (born 4 August 1943 in Kiel): guitar, singing, percussion (founding member, active until March 2017)
 * Erry Stoklosa (born 25 October 1947 in the former city Porz): guitar, percussion, vocals (founding member, active until January 2023)
 * Andreas Wegener (born 18 July 1956 in the former City Opladen): piano, synthesizer, accordion, vocals (since 2005)
 * Mirko Bäumer (born 30 September 1968 in Hennef): guitar, vocals (since 2017)
 * Pit Hupperten (born 1974): guitar, vocals (since 2017)
 * Hanz Thodam (born in Nippes, city part of Cologne): bass guitar, vocals (since 2019)
 * Christoph „Raudi“ Granderath: singer, guitar, mandoline (since 2021, 2019 and 2020 back-up musician)
 * Alex Vesper (born 27 June 1967 in Cologne): drums (since 2023)

Willy Schnitzler left the band in 2005 after arthritis of the hand rendered him unable to play. He died because of a car accident in 2019. He was succeeded by Andreas Wegener. In January 2017 Singer Kafi Biermann and founding member Peter Schütten left the band and were succeeded by Mirko Bäumer and Pit Hupperten. Hanz Thodam replaced bass player Hartmut Priess after the band's traditional New Year's Eve concert of 2018.

Literature

 * Matthias Becker: Bläck Fööss - schwatz op wiess: 124 Lieder in Wort und Bild; Texte, Hintergründe, Kommentare, Kölsch-Lexikon, Chronik, Diskografie. Gerig-Musikverlage, De Bläck-Fööss-Musikverlag, Bergisch Gladbach Bensberg, 2000, 152 Seiten, kartoniert, ISBN 3-87252-312-0