Cliff Barnes & The Fear of Winning
File under: Alt. Country
Back in the days - the world was good. East and West were seperated. There were concepts of the enemy all over the place and right in the middle: Cliff Barnes! Two weeks after the Cliff Barnes LP was released in the DDR the Berlin Wall collapsed. Bobby says: "I knew that our politicial influence reached from the Kremlin-Juke-Box to the White House, but I did not see that coming. Actually Cliff Barnes has ever been a band that just wanted to sing a couple of love songs. But with the collapse of the Berlin Wall everything changed."
"Nevertheless we did not want to be the county alternative to stealth bombers", established Bobby and 'Big Dog' Doug LaTrine their decision to plunge and form a new band called ILLEGAL ARTISTS to do small time in the american Honky-Tonk-Scene. The legendary record "Songs for weddings & funerals" that was recorded in Austin, TX, prooves that this was the right decision. "The bustle of Europe was miles away, we had time to write new songs, play gigs and make records with friends. It was great, but after a little while we got bored of it - you know, it's kind of difficult to motivate yourself when you collapsed the Berlin Wall." The band fall apart like a cardhouse in a nuclear explosion - but once again Bobby and Big Dog had their lead briefs on!
From now on Bobby and Big Dog took different roads. Bobby designed bicycles, Big Dog played Jazz in New Orleans and learned about the soul of guitars. But every now and then Bobby and Big Dog met to do some projects together. In 1999 - the time was ready to put the band back together again! When Bobby bought an old whorehouse it was a milestone in the history of bringing the guys back together. "You need some security when you grow old!". The message was: "I don't know if we can change the world another time. But I know that it is impossible to be happy without our music. Germany, Europe, the whole word needs us."
Diskographie
- The Record That Took 300 Million Years To Make (1987)
- Spike! (1988)
- Heave You Up Momma (Maxi, 1988)
- Whole Lotta Love (Maxi, 1989)
- Guns, Love & a Cactus in You Heart (1989)
- Cliff Barnes & The Fear Of Winning (nur DDR, 1989)
- Live at the World (1991)
- Songs For Weddings & Funerals (als ILLEGAL ARTISTS, 1992/93)
- Merry X-Mas - I´m dressed in black (CD-Single, 2000)
- Gods at Work (2001)
