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 J.B.O.:Loosely translated from their bio page:J.B.O. formed in 1989, a few weeks after the two "front men", Hannes "G. Laber" Holzmann and Vito C. had met, under the name "James Blast Orchestra". Their first appearance was in October 1989 at the annual Erlanger Newcomerfestival. It was a musical disaster though it didn't dimish the entertainment value of the performance. The program first and foremost was comprised of re-written cover versions, derisively conveyed and garnished with farcical interludes. The colors of their stage clothes were from the beginning black-pink-gold. The orchestra line-up was: Hannes "G. Laber" Holzmann, guitar/wild singing + Vito C., guitar, beautiful singing + Schmitti, bass + Holmer "a Bier" Graap, drums. For 5 years J.B.O. was just a fun project. All the members tried to become rich and famous with other bands. These other bands were, mind you, successful enough to make a living off of. J.B.O. was every few months, as a pure prank, called off the stage. In 1994 "Ein guter Tag zum sterben", one of the few original J.B.O pieces at the time, was played up & down on the local radio station. After this, although there was only a 4 track demo tape, people continuously called asking to buy a non-existant CD of the band. J.B.O. decided to rectify this situation. In one day and 2 nights they recorded the EP, "Eine gute CD zum kaufen" which various local record shops offered for sale. The second EP, "Blastphemie" was created as a funny Christmas present for their already countless Franconian fans. The Pink-Metaller really struck in 1995. In September of this year they released their first LP with the title, "Explizite Lyrik". This CD was packed with brain farts of the first 6 years - 20 tracks, 74 minutes. Appearing on the independent label, "Musical Tragedies", there was basically no marketing for this CD. Nevertheless it sold "by mistake" 10,000 copies in the first 3 months, something that still conjures up a smile on the baffled faces of the band now and then. As the CD broke into the German LP charts in the summer of 1996 the smile grew into a wide grin. It also didn't wear off when the lawyers of James Last (?*) wanted to forbid the band the use of this name. They just abbreviated it and grinned further. They remained, devotedly, on the charts for quite a few weeks. Naturally, in the meantime the big record labels had taken a notice of the wild, pink fun makers. Despite whole hearted offers, J.B.O. decided to team up with the small label, "Lawine" on BMG. The first *major realease*, "Laut" climbed the charts to #13. Besides their CD's, J.B.O. had always been well known for their spectacular live performances. Thank god during the years they had finally learned to play their instruments. In 1996 they played 100 concerts before a collective of 100,000 people. In 1998 the LP, "Meister der Musik", which was produced in Italy, appeared and held a spot for 2 weeks in the German Top Ten. After this it was clear that J.B.O.'s own songs didn't take a second place to their cover versions at all. In 1999, right on mark, "10 Jahre Blödsinn" came out. J.B.O. celebrated their 10th birthday with a big festival and many bands they'd befriended in their Franconian home. The turn of the century changed everything: Schmitti and Holmer "a Bier" Graap explained in the beginning of 2000 why they had to leave the band. Neither one wanted to dedicate their entire lives to a rock and roll existance - unlike Hannes and Vito, who couldn't imagine anything else. After all lyrics, ideas and songs were written, the two decided to carry forth and find two new members who, in musical aspects, were mutually minded. This expansion took place during the production of their 4th album, "SexSexSex" which was recorded with the old members but presented with the new members live. The new drummer, Wolfram Kellner, was an old school friend of Vito's. Previously he'd played with Fiddler's Green, a band that J.B.O. is friends with. With their new bassist, the band streched their achieving, imperialistic arms all the way to Nuremberg. Both new entries gave the pink quartet a decisive kick in the backside and a new dimension to their live performances. Fans in 2001 could not only hear it but see it as well. In September of this year the band also proudly presented this in their first live piece, "Live-Sex". In February, 2002 the band boarded up in the Balkans to work on their 5th album, "Rosa Armee Faktion". The single, "Ich will Lärm", was released in July of 2002. The album was released in September. This is where the bio ends but further releases now include:
2004:
2005: More at: *Bio says James Last. I believe this is a typo but am assuming nothing ;) |
