NDW - P1/E

The Neue Deutsche Welle of the early 1980s didn't travel very well. The aftermath of punk saw a massive explosion of bands in Germany, but few of them were heard much in Britain. Einsturzende Neubauten and X-Mal Deutschland, of course, and to a lesser extent die Krupps and DAF. And then there was Trio with wonderful 'Da Da Da'. Not much more than that, though.

Nonetheless, I liked a lot of this. So I thought I'd revisit some of the great tracks of my youth.

And I wanted to start with '49 Second Romance', the 1980 debut single by P1/E, a band fronted by Alexander Hacke, later to join Einsturzende Neubauten. They played at the first NDW gig I went to and were the best of the six acts on that day, so I bought their record and got Hacke to sign it (not pictured). It's a fantastic piece of deadpan electronica that's rooted in trashy 1960s pop - in live performances, Hacke had a tendency to slip in the chorus from Bobby Freeman's 'Do You Want to Dance', and it fitted perfectly.

Hacke returned to this song later in his career, and there was a 2004 remix, but the original version is still the best.

More NDW to come...