Slime:

Their first single, "Bullenschweine", was released in 1980 and Christian joined the band as second guitarrist. This was followed by shows at school functions, demonstrations and political events.

Their first LP appeared in 1981 and, without a distributor or label, copies were hand sold by the band after gigs. Their first big popularity ensued, with songs such as "A.C.A.B.", "Bullenschweine", "Deutschland muß sterben", etc being played at militant demonstrations all over the country. Shortly after this Ball left the band and Stephan M., a friend of the band who had also worked on the first album with them, joined as their new drummer. This was followed by various shows accompanied by street battles, above all being in Berlin SO 36.

In 1982, their second album, "Yankees raus", came out. They also contributed some songs to the sampler, "Soundtrack zum Untergang" on the Berlin label, AGR. This led to a place on the "Untergangs-Tour" on which they borrowed a VW Beetle in order to play with Betoncombo, Aheads and Middle Class Fantasies. This resulted in greater popularity but there was also some hostility from people in their "own ranks", such as the radical lefts & the punk scene in general, who reproached the band for "selling out". In fact, based on this, there were fights with the audience in both München and Hannover.

This was followed by some legal problems. Reports of insulting an official and, I believe, destruction of government property led to the government taking a closer view of the band. This began with a house search of the Hamburg record store, "Rip Off", where the band's first album was confiscated from there and then from all over the country. AGR's label boss, Karl Walterbach began legal proceedings where the band attempted to claim "artistic freedom" but AGR ended paying a penalty and that still was not the end... "Deutschland", "Bullenschweine" and "Polizei SA/SS" on the "Soundtrack zum Untergang" sampler were censored with bleeps & the band was forbidden to play those songs live ever again.

In 1983, Slime played a legendary concert in Hamburg-Harburg with the Dead Kennedys & MDC. A group of 100 cops waited under the stage in case of expected riots but also to make sure the "Bullenschweine"/"Polizei SA/SS" prohibition was maintained. Things remained calm, however. The cops, though, must have become a bit nervous when Dirk dropped an insinuated announcement for "SA/SS" because apparently after that night 26 officers quit their jobs because they'd suffered anguish while performing their duties...

The third album, "Alle gegen Alle", came out in 1983 and the band played show after show, most just for gas money. They also played with the Bad Brains in Osnabrück and with Ton Steine Scherben in Neumünster.

In 1984, shortly after their fourth album, "Live in Berlin", the band decided to split up. One reason for this was that the reproaches against them becoming too "commercial" were really getting on the band's nerves. On the other hand, there were many people who viewed the band as "heroes", which was also something the band didn't care for, feeling that when one calls for "keine Führer" and then becomes one themselves things aren't quite right. The only solution was to quit.

From 1985-89, despite their official dissolution, the band played various shows in Hamburg. Despite the fact that the band had officially broken up and no new albums had appeared, their fame had continued to grow. They were, to many, a musical symbol of resistance against the government, fascism, police terror and injustice. They were the carriers of hope for a utopia where one could live without oppression by the state.

In 1990 the band played some shows in Essen, Berlin and Hamburg. The last was important because after a mass of cops had to forcibly break up a party that had gone awry, the band started thinking of getting back together and in 1991 they released the LP, "Die Letzten" which was a collection of old live recordings and some covers. It was this year also that they played the "Viva St. Pauli" gig in Hamburg's St. Pauli Stadium before 10,000 people. It was the conclusive moment for the band's decision to reunite.

"Viva la Muerte" came out in 1992 but was considered a bit too moderate even by the band. After so long of a pause they had had some difficulties even knowing what it was they wanted to express. That changed, however, after the tour, the band becoming once again in tune with one another. This could also be heard & felt on the following single, "Der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland".

For 1993's highly acclaimed album, "Schweineherbst", the band founded their own label, feeling it was important to release it independently and as their sole responsibility. The corresponding tour, although extremely successful, again had the band looking at themselves critically. After much consideration, they decided that they had said what they wanted to say and had done what they'd wanted to do. To keep saying and doing the same things would be repetitive and boring and thus, in 1994, the band decided to break up, this time for good. In parting, the band put out a live album in the spring of 1994 from the Großen Freiheit 36 in Hamburg on the "Schweineherbst-Tour".

In 2000, an official website was created to deliver the documented information about the band, so everyone knows who they were but they are quite adamant on one point- there will be NO Slime reunion, no more concerts, no more new albums... never and nowhere so don't ask! ;)

Well, ok, maybe, no new albums or concerts or a reunion... but I just noticed that a DVD is being released this month called, "Wenn der Himmel brennt", which appears to be a sort of visual & musical documentation of the band as they were... created, I guess, for the same reason the site was created.

Additionally, Slime members, Dirk and Elf, have joined forces with Minne and Dynamike from the Rubbermaids and John who played with Dirk and Elf in C.I.A. This new band is called Rubberslime. A live CD should be out soon followed hopefully next year by a regular studio album. -Mikki 10/03

More at:

• Official
• Rubberslime- Official