City

In 1977 the East German rock outfit City attained cult stature inside the GDR after issuing the track “Am Fenster,” a recording that remained on the charts for weeks inside both German states. A 2000 poll conducted by German radio stations later named the piece the finest German rock song of the twentieth century. Such recognition was rare at the time, since Western audiences routinely overlooked groups from the eastern half of the divided nation. City itself had formed in East Berlin in 1971, its original roster consisting of guitarist Fritz Puppel (born November 2, 1944), drummer Klaus Selmke (born 1950), bassist Ingo Döring, vocalist Frank Pfeiffer, keyboardist Klaus Witte, and flutist Andreas Pieper. Like countless other ensembles of the era, the musicians began by covering rock standards from the Rolling Stones, Santana, and Jimi Hendrix.

The departure of keyboardist Klaus Witte in 1973 preceded the decisive shift that arrived the following year, when two Bulgarian players joined and supplied new musical direction. Guitarist and singer Emil Bogdanow entered the lineup while bassist and violinist Georgi Gogow (born July 12, 1948) took Ingo Döring’s place; Andreas Pieper exited, and after a brief stint by vocalist Gudrun Bartels the essential personnel stabilized. It was during this period that Bogdanow developed the concept for “Am Fenster,” drawing on a poem by Hildegard Maria Rauchfuß (born 1918). The resulting song has retained its atmospheric power across the decades. Emil Bogdanow departed in 1975 and was succeeded by vocalist Toni Krahl (born October 3, 1949), who, alongside Fritz Puppel, would anchor subsequent City lineups.

Owing to the GDR’s constrained recording industry, the band required additional time to issue “Am Fenster.” When the single finally appeared in 1977 it became an immediate success on both sides of the border; the accompanying debut album City, released in 1978, featured a sixteen-minute expanded rendition of the hit. An early blockbuster of this magnitude can prove double-edged, and for City it did. With Bogdanow gone, observers questioned whether the group could match its own breakthrough. Their follow-up Der Tätowierte (1979) proved solid yet contained nothing of comparable magnitude.

The visibility gained from “Am Fenster” extended City’s reach into West Germany, where American producer Jack Riley later approached them about recording for English-speaking listeners. The band consented, resulting in the 1980 release Dreamer—an uneven effort comprising earlier material fitted with new English lyrics and shaped by Riley’s production choices, which diverged from the musicians’ own sensibilities. Keyboardist Rüdiger Barton and guitarist Gisbert Piatkowski were added for the sessions. In 1981 City earned a gold record in Greece for “Am Fenster” sales, yet the achievement could not mask internal strain: Georgi Gogow, whose violin had defined the signature sound of the hit, exited alongside Piatkowski and Barton (the latter joining Silly) and formed the short-lived NO 55. The remaining core—Fritz Puppel, Klaus Selmke, and Toni Krahl—opted to replace the departed players with keyboardist Manfred Hennig (born 1952) rather than another bassist and violinist. The stylistic consequence was a pronounced keyboard emphasis that supplanted the earlier folk-tinged hard-rock blend. The first two albums cut by this configuration, Unter der Haut (1983) and Feuer im Eis (1985), offered little compelling material, their songs cloaked in dense keyboard textures that disappointed when measured against the band’s initial output.

Casablanca (1987) marked an improvement; keyboards remained central but were deployed with greater restraint, while the lyrics grew denser and more confrontational. That same year City received a gold record in West Germany for “Am Fenster” sales. Klaus Selmke left in 1990, yet the album Keine Angst, issued the same year, sustained the emphasis on incisive lyrics and included German-language versions of Randy Newman’s “Baltimore” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Hey Joe.” After its release, Manfred Hennig’s exit left the band reduced to guitarist Fritz Puppel and vocalist Toni Krahl. Two years later the pair placed City on hiatus and established the label K & P Music to issue their own work alongside recordings by emerging East German artists.

The year 1992 signaled renewal when Georgi Gogow returned after more than a decade’s absence and drummer Klaus Selmke rejoined, restoring the most successful 1970s lineup. Manfred Hennig came back in 1995. Following five years devoted to “Best Of” tours, the musicians issued the new album Rauchzeichen in 1997, a credible return shaped in part by Silly’s Uwe Hassbecker and Rüdiger Barton. Also in 1997 City was awarded a platinum record for “Am Fenster” sales.