Ever since WW||, A german band that wished to gain success in Europe had to sing in English. The band "Tokio Hotel" has changed the rules. The four members - none of them older than 20 - are starring in the singles charts with songs in their mother tongue and nominated for the title "Band of the year" on MTV. The revolution will soon take over Israel too, with a concert in front of thousands of teenagers who know the German lyrics off by heart. Everything has happened thanks to a couple of fans from a Moshav in the plain part of Israel that organized a petition in order to bring Tokio Hotel to Israel.
This is a story about Israeli courage which won't achieve any prizes or a citation by the country. This story also won't get into the formal history books, although it was conducted like a complicated and successful military operation and its results, some may say, could have an historical aspect.
This is a story that connects two girls from a little Moshav in the plain part of Israel to one of the successful bands in Europe - The German Pop/Rock band Tokio Hotel, that thanks to them, will soon come and give a concert in Israel. The band's biggest hit, "Monsoon", is being aired non-stop on the radio waves of Israel.
In a little more than two years Tokio Hotel became a historical success. The Four members of the band perform all around Europe in front of sold-out halls, where first-aid crews stand ready to take care of young girls who faint in the vision of the young men, that the oldest of them is hardly 20 years old. The tickets for Tokio Hotel concerts are sold out in 24 hours after the distribution has started. People from the music industry say, that it has been a long while since a band caused such huge waves of admiration in Europe. Also the president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy heard about the amazing phenomenon and invited Tokio Hotel over to perform under the Tour Eiffel in the last Independence Day of his country in front of half million of people.
The new four stars are Bill Kaulitz - vocalist (and don't you let you eyes fool you: it is a guy), His twin brother Tom - the guitarist, Georg Listing - the bassist and Gustav Schaefer - the drummer. All the four of them were born and raised in where used to be the communist East Germany and became a part of united Germany. Bill and Tom the 18th year old have started performing already at the age of 7 under the influence of their father-in-law. In one of their shows, six years ago, they have met Georg (20) and Gustav (19) and the four of them founded a band named "Devilish". The well-known german impresario Peter Hoffman discovered them after Bill was participated in a TV program singing contest for kids in Germany.
"Devilish" became "Tokio Hotel" - mainly because of the inspiration of J-Rock, Japanese rock that inspire the band members in their looks.
The band was signed by Sony for a contract, which was cancelled right before the first album came out on 2005. Universal Music decided to bet on Tokio Hotel until the end, and since then - Tokio Hotel became a history. To be exact - a hystery. Both their albums "Schrei!" and "Zimmer 483" were sold in such a dizzying speed and gained a gold status and prestigious awards. Also the first album in English, "Scream", is in the album charts and nominated for the Best Album Award in the EMA event which will take place in a month in Munich. Tokio Hotel are nominated for the Best Band of the Year, too.
German for Beginners
Tokio Hotel style is a mixture of soft pop and heavy rock. Their songs talk about love, disappointment, protest, rebellion, escape, an aspiration for a total freedom - Mainly just adolescence. "Leave everything behind you now, the last wall falls down, we are what really counts, nothing can stop us" promises the latest hit "Ready, Set, Go!" "everybody tells you what to do, thanks it was another bloody Monday, no one asks you what you want" complains the song "Scream" and recommends "Beware and stay aware, they are lurking for you, taking over you and in the end you will beg for more"
Are you frightened of this apocalyptic prophecy? Because the albums obtainers aren't, the opposite is true: every single piece of information, quotation and rumor are followed by a huge resonance in the Eurpean press and on the Internet, where you can find loads of active fansites. On the beginning of September the twins, Bill & Tom have celebrated their 18th birthday. A few says after some serious newspapers in Europe claimed "Bill is gay". According to these articles, the singer of the band - who beatify himself with an abounding mane of hair styled like an Indian feather hat with an addition of black nailpolish on his nails - Sat in front of the computer in the middle of the celebration, and officially announced to the hundreds thousands of his fans that he actually prefers guys. Bill hurried to deny it.
Tokio Hotel's success is quite impressive because of the fact it is all about a German band that conquered Europe with hits on the German language. Since the end of World War || a tiny group of german singers and bands succeded on "exporting" abroad hits in their mother tongue. The Nazis made the German language an unpleasant, irritating, terrible, frightening thing that stimulates horrible associations. Most of the attempts to make a change in that in a musical aspect failed. Just Nina Hagen, The Scorpions, Uta Lamper and Gingous Khan from the eurovision - crossed their country's borders while they sing in German.
By far, a German singer who wanted an international career had to sing in English. Tokio Hotel changed the rules: they broke into the top of the singles and album charts in a non-german-speaking countries, which are known for their basic bitterness for the German - Like France and the Netherlands in Europe - with hits in German. From the schools in the continent are coming reports about increasing demand to learn German as a second foreign language. Students grab Tokio Hotel's texts and wan to understand the words. In france a 25% more students sing up to learn German, just the Anglo-Saxon music stronghold such as the UK and USA, are still objecting the German. Yet Tokio Hotel plan to conquer this markets too, with the album "Scream!" that includes English translation to the best hits.
source: Yediot Aharonot 28/9