Stephan Remmler

Stephan Remmler, a German pop singer, earned his chief recognition as the frontman of the Neue Deutsche Welle outfit Trio. Several of his compositions, above all the austere “Da da da,” scored major hits, and although his fame dipped toward the close of the 1980s he never withdrew from the scene and kept issuing new material.

Born October 26, 1946, in Witten, Germany, Remmler spent his childhood in Bremerhaven. His father worked as an American diplomat, and the youngster soon developed a passion for rock & roll, joining a Stones-influenced beat group called Macbeats—later renamed Just Us—during the 1960s. Remmler handled vocals while Kalle Krawinkel played guitar; the band performed multiple times at Hamburg’s celebrated Star Club. Repeated personnel shifts ultimately led to the group’s dissolution in December 1969. Beginning in 1968, Remmler pursued studies in sociology, psychology, and musicology; both he and Krawinkel subsequently entered the teaching profession. Remmler instructed students in English, geography, and music, yet not before issuing two unsuccessful 7-inch schlager singles under the alias Rex Carter.

A full-time teaching post made it appear that Remmler’s musical path had ended before it truly started. Nevertheless, at the close of the 1970s, following a one-off Just Us reunion show, he and Krawinkel resigned their posts to chase their musical goals once more. They assembled a band named Wind and cut a demo, but the project collapsed quickly; in early 1980 the pair, joined by drummer Peter Behrens, launched the spare punk-tinged Neue Deutsche Welle trio Trio. Success arrived swiftly in Germany, and the 1981 self-titled album together with the 1982 single “Da da da Ich Lieb Dich Nicht Du Liebst Mich Nicht” propelled the group onto the international stage. A follow-up LP, Bye Bye, appeared in 1983.

While Trio enjoyed its peak years, Remmler undertook two isolated solo ventures. In 1984 he issued the duet single “Feuerwerk,” credited to Stephan and Nina and recorded with a young singer whose real name was Angela Smecca. That same year he supplied the narration for a recording of Peter und der Wolf conducted by John Williams. He also dubbed the German voice of Edgar the computer in Steve Barron’s 1984 film Electric Dreams, originally spoken by Bud Cort.

Following the release of Trio’s third album, What’s the Password, and the band’s subsequent split, Remmler retreated to the Swiss Alps to develop fresh material without a fixed artistic direction. The songs gradually took shape, and after several sessions involving longtime associates—including Trio’s producer Klaus Voormann, drummer Curt Cress, singer Annette Humpe and her sister Inga, plus Männerquartett Weilerswist—his debut solo album surfaced in 1986. The self-titled record diverged sharply from Trio’s austere guitar-and-drums aesthetic even while retaining Remmler’s deadpan delivery and straightforward song forms. It mingled schlager, children’s songs, and volksmusik, yielding two charting singles: the sardonic pop track “Keine Sterne in Athen,” which remained on the German charts for 17 weeks, and the unexpected novelty “Alles Hat ein Ende (Nur die Wurst Hat Zwei),” issued after Gottlieb Wendehals’s cover version had thrived at German carnival celebrations. An English-language adaptation titled “I Don’t Go to U.S.A.” topped the Filipino charts.

Remmler next prepared his second solo effort, Lotto (1987), which retained a comparable sonic palette and many of the same musicians while also featuring Spliff keyboardist Reinhold Heil, Austrian pop singer Rainhard Fendrich, and the group Status Quo. Portions of the album were tracked in Rio de Janeiro, evident in the samba-inflected rhythms of “Dass das Nicht die Große Liebe War Klar.” Lead single “Keine Angst Hat der Papa Mir Gesagt” achieved only modest sales, and the album itself moved fewer units than its predecessor. Plans for an extensive promotional tour were largely scrapped after advance ticket sales proved disappointing. Remmler nevertheless appeared on numerous television programs, including a joint performance of “Drei Weiße Birrrken” with Status Quo.

After Lotto’s release, Remmler stepped back from the industry to focus on family life, dividing his time between Basel, Switzerland, and Brazil. A 1990 compilation, 10 Jahre bei der Stange, gathered selected hits from both his solo career and Trio tenure.

In 1991 he resurfaced with Projekt F—Auf der Suche Nach dem Schatz der Verlorenen Gefühle, an album of covers drawn from Austrian schlager vocalist Freddy Quinn’s catalog; neither critics nor buyers responded favorably. The 1993 album Vamos fared modestly better: recorded with Udo Lindenberg’s Panikorchester and markedly more rock-oriented than earlier solo work, it featured guest appearances by German punk band Die Toten Hosen and included a studio version of the Trio live staple “Du Ich Wär So Gern bei Dir.” On tour, Trio guitarist Kralle Krawinkel opened the shows in support of his own debut solo record. 1994 brought the first live album, HÜH!, which incorporated several Trio compositions. After contributing vocals to Peter Maffay’s rock musical Tabaluga & Lili, Remmler issued the more somber rock album Amnesia in 1996.

For several subsequent years Remmler kept a lower profile. He lent his voice to the Soul-O cover of “Da da da” and produced an album for his three sons, Cecil Jonni Lauro, though the project remained unreleased after its advance single failed to chart. In 2006 he returned with the single “Frauen Sind Böse” and the electronica-tinged album 1,2,3,4 .... The following year he scored the German film Vollidiot and released the accompanying single “Ich Kann Nix Dafür,” recorded with Nena and comedian Oliver Pocher.