Böhse Onkelz

The Böhse Onkelz were one of Germany's most successful and most controversial rock acts. Despite a series of best-selling LPs, the group was dogged throughout its career by charges of racism and extremist sympathies, and many retailers refused even to stock their recordings. The Böhse Onkelz (i.e., "the Evil Uncles") formed in Hösbach in late 1980. Singer Kevin Russell, guitarist Stephan Weidner, and drummer Peter Schorowsky drew their formative influences from the Sex Pistols and the Ramones, with all the limited technical acumen such inspirations would imply. With the addition of guitarist Matthias "Gonzo" Röhr, Weidner moved to bass and the Böhse Onkelz quickly evolved into one of the most popular bands on the Frankfurt punk circuit. In 1981, they made their recorded debut on the compilation Soundtrack zum Untergang 2, but as German punk began embracing the political leanings of the left, their music turned in the opposite direction, instead championing the emerging skinhead subculture. The Böhse Onkelz's 1984 debut LP, Der Nette Mann, is widely considered the first German LP to explicitly celebrate skinhead values. Issued on the right-wing label Rock-O-Rama, anthems like "Stolz," "Vereint," and "Deutschland" were cited in the German government's decision to ban the album in September 1986. With the follow-up, Böse Menschen -- Böse Lieder, the Böhse Onkelz shifted away from politics to explore themes of substance abuse and violence, but found it impossible to shed its skinhead ties. Most damning were bootlegged demo sessions documenting early Weidner compositions like "Türken Raus" ("Turks Out"), "Deutschland den Deutschen" ("Germany to the Germans"), and "SS-Staat" ("SS State"), songs the group repeatedly denounced in the years to follow. Across the span of LPs...