Scorpions (band)
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- For other uses, see Scorpion
Scorpions_The_Millennium_Collection.jpg
Scorpions is a melodic metal band, originally from Hannover, Germany.
Founded in 1965, by rhythm guitarist Rudolf Schenker, though the official founding year is 1969 when Schenker’s little brother and Klaus Meine joined the band. The Scorpions spent their first fifteen years as a largely unheralded German hard rock band, popular in Europe and Japan but unable to crack the large American market. Still, the band made significant progress in that regard between 1979 and 1983 on the strength of the albums Lovedrive and Blackout. However, it was the 1984 release of Love at First Sting which finally secured the band massive commercial visibility with American audiences. Powered by the success of the single "Rock You Like A Hurricane" the Scorpions assumed a premier role in heavy metal. The band enjoyed a high degree of success through the early 1990s thanks to the release of the Crazy World album in 1990 and the single "Wind of Change." The song muses on the socio-political changes occurring in Eastern Europe and in the other parts of the world in the end of the Cold War. They were the first western group to play in the former Soviet Union, and on July 21, 1990 they joined many other guests for Roger Waters' massive performance of The Wall in Berlin. The Scorpions performed both versions of "In The Flesh" from The Wall.
In 1992 Bassist Francis Buchholz was fired from the band for Theft of 10 million dollars (the band is censuring his name on the official forum) just before “Face the Heat”. The album opened with the heavy metal song “Alien Nation”, that many headbangers consider to be Scorpions best work.
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Current band members
- Klaus Meine (vocals)
- Matthias Jabs (guitars)
- Rudolf Schenker (guitars)
- James Kottak (drums)
- Pawel Maciwoda (bass)
Line ups
1966-1972
- Klaus Meine (vocals)
- Rudolph Schenker (guitar)
- Michael Schenker (guitar)
- Lothar Heimberg (bass)
- Wolfgang Dziony (drums)
1973-1977
- Klaus Meine (vocals)
- Rudolph Schenker (guitar)
- Ulrich Roth (guitar)
- Lothar Heimberg (bass)
- Wolfgang Dziony (drums)
- Francis Buchholz (bass)
- Jürgen Rosentahl (drums)
- Rudy Lenners (drums)
1978-1981
- Klaus Meine (vocals)
- Rudolph Schenker (guitar)
- Ulrich Roth (guitar)
- Francis Buchholz (bass)
- Herman Rarebell (drums)
- Matthias Jabs (guitar)
- Michael Schenker (guitar)
- Billy Rankin (guitar)
1982-1987
- Klaus Meine (vocals)
- Rudolph Schenker (guitar)
- Matthias Jabs (guitar)
- Francis Buchholz (bass)
- Herman Rarebell (drums)
- Jimmy Bain (bass)
- Bobby Rondinelli (drums)
1988-1992
- Klaus Meine (vocals)
- Rudolph Schenker (guitar)
- Matthias Jabs (guitar)
- Francis Buchholz (bass)
- Herman Rarebell (drums)
1993-2005
- Klaus Meine (vocals)
- Rudolph Schenker (guitar)
- Matthias Jabs (guitar)
- Ralph Reckermann (bass)
- Herman Rarebell (drums)
- Curt Cress (Drums)
- Ken Taylor (bass)
- James Kottak (drums)
- Pawel Maciwoda (bass)
Discography
- Lonesome Crow (1972)
- Fly to the Rainbow (1974)
- In Trance (1975)
- Virgin Killer (1976)
- Taken by Force (1977)
- Tokyo Tapes (live recording, 1978)
- Lovedrive (1979)
- Animal Magnetism (1980)
- Blackout (1982)
- Love at First Sting (1984)
- Still Loving You (1 EP : 1 Single) (1984)
- World Wide Live (live recording, 1985)
- Savage Amusement (1988)
- Best of Rockers 'n' Ballads (1989, compilation)
- Crazy World (1990)
- Face the Heat (1993)
- Live Bites (live recording, 1995)
- Pure Instinct (1996)
- Eye II Eye (1999)
- Moment of Glory (With the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, 2000)
- Acoustica (Unplugged, 2001)
- Unbreakable (2004)
The Scorpions have also released singles and videos, plus many Best Of compilations.
External links
- Official website (http://www.the-scorpions.com/)
- The Raaj's Ultimate Scorpions tribute website (http://www.geocities.com/scorpions_ultimatefanpage/)
- Ukrainian fan page about Scorpions by Vladimir Verenchuk aka ScorpfanUkraine (http://www.scorpions-ukraine.cjb.net/)
- Web page dedicated to Michael Schenker and The Scorpions (http://www.bolwin.com/musik/)da:scorpions
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