Established during 1995 within Münster before later establishing their operations in Cologne, the lighthearted German pop/rock outfit Erdmöbel features Markus Berges on songwriting, vocals, guitar, and trumpet together with Ekimas handling production, guitar, and trombone, Chris deWueb on drums, and Jürgen Diehle on bass. Their recording career opened on NRW Records via the 1996 release Das Ende der Diät, after which the label issued two further albums, Erste Worte Nach Bad mit Delfinen in 1999 and Erdmöbel Versus Ekimas in 2000. The group moved to Tapete Records for the subsequent trio of albums, beginning with Altes Gasthaus Love in 2003, followed by Fotoalbum in 2004 and Für die Nicht Wissen Wie in 2005. Columbia Records welcomed Erdmöbel under a major-label contract in 2006, inaugurated by the standalone single “Weihnachten (Last Christmas),” which marked their initial appearance on the German singles chart at number 84. Columbia next presented the 2007 album No. 1 Hits, a German-language collection of covers that functioned as both homage and parody, among them Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” rendered as “Riecht Wie ein Teen Spirit” and Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” titled “Aus Meinem Kopf”; the project resonated across Germany, becoming the band’s first chart entry and reaching a peak of number 24.
