Monopol

Though the Neu Deutsche Welle scene produced acts that reached wider audiences, the trio Monopol captured its playful elegance more precisely than most. The group came together in 1982 after Czech singer and keyboardist Nick Mono linked up with synthesizer specialist Clemens Fobianke and singer/model Elke Steinberg. Mono handled production, Fobianke supplied an array of analog instruments from Moog, Roland, and Korg plus custom-built machines, and Steinberg delivered expressive vocals that steered the band’s take on Kraftwerk, YMO, and Klaus Schulze into bright, whimsical territory. Apart from a few television spots, Monopol avoided concerts and concentrated on studio recordings. They laid down album demos at a 16-track facility belonging to acquaintances of Fobianke; at that moment the Neu Deutsche Welle wave reached its height, prompting several labels to pursue the group. EMI secured the deal and issued the single “Gib Liebe Her” together with the album Weltweit on the Welt-Rekord imprint run by Fehlfarben’s Peter Hein. By the time Weltweit appeared, however, the movement had already begun to fade, and weak sales prompted the band’s breakup in 1983. Steinberg later launched a solo career, Mono kept working in the studio, and Fobianke turned to computer animation and virtual reality. In early 2017 Medical Records and Anna Logue jointly released a remastered edition of Weltweit.