Nacht und Nebel (band)
Encyclopedia
Career
Nacht Und Nebel were a BelgianBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band, founded by the late Patrick Marina Nebel (born Patrick Marina Schools, 23 November 1958, Merskem - died 15 March 1986, Ekeren
Ekeren
Ekeren is a northern district of the municipality of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The suburb celebrated its 850th birthday in 2005; the name of the town was first mentioned in 1155, as "Hecerna"....
) that became famous for their 1984 hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
, "Beats of Love".
The name the band chose as a pun made after their leader's alias, echoes the Nacht und Nebel
Nacht und Nebel
Nacht und Nebel was a directive of Adolf Hitler on 7 December 1941 signed and implemented by Armed Forces High Command Chief Wilhelm Keitel, resulting in the kidnapping and forced disappearance of many political activists and resistance 'helpers' throughout Nazi Germany's occupied...
- German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
for 'Night and Fog' - directive designed by Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and resulting in the kidnapping and forced disappearance of most enemies of the Third Reich
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. The French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
translation of it - Nuit et Brouillard - is also the title of a 1955 documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
short film made by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
director Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais is a French film director whose career has extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included Nuit et Brouillard , an influential documentary about the Nazi concentration camps.He began...
about the Nazi concentration camps.
Originally, Nebel debuted as a solo artist with a 4-track single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, in 1981, before finally forming the band and releasing a single with them a year later. Their first album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Casablanca followed right after, along with a series of gigs where Nebel, a very "exuberant figure" - so said Roland Beelen, founder of Antler Records - would "[disguise] himself in a decadent nightlife outfit, sweating like hell and hurrying between the front of the stage and a percussion set".
The next 1983 album, Beats of Love came with the eponymous track that was to become their biggest hit. The single, sold 150,000 copies in Belgium and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and was covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by The Bollock Brothers on their 1989 album, Mythology.
In those days, though, Nebel was a man with a weight condition which forced him into following a treatment in a Swiss sanatorium
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
. He came out of it a slimmer man, self-confident, happy in his love life and the singles "Ready to Dance" and "Victoria 2000" - another single taken from their eponymous album - made it to the local charts
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
, with minor success.
Nebel also got addicted to alcohol and pills
Pill (pharmacy)
A pill is a small, round, solid pharmaceutical oral dosage form that was in use before the advent of tablets and capsules. Pills were made by mixing the active ingredients with an excipient such as glucose syrup in a mortar and pestle to form a paste, then rolling the mass into a long cylindrical...
which caused him to have heart disease
Heart disease
Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...
, which proved fatal in 1986. Therefore, Nacht Und Nebel ceased to exist, although there was one final album, Songs for Ever.
Albums
- Casablanca (1982, Antler)
- Beats of Love (1983, Antler)
- This Is/This Was (1984, Antler)
- Victoria 2000 (1985, Vogue)
- Songs for Ever (1986, Antler/Carrere)
Singles
- "Alcatraz" - "Presidents On Dope" - "Arabian Town" - "Mister Meanie" (Nebel's solo artist single) (1981, Laguna)
- "Movoco Synthaca" - "Strange Desire" (1983, Laguna)
- "Zafari" - "In the Jungle" (1983, Antler)
- "Beats of LoveBeats of Love"Beats of Love" is a single by Belgian band Nacht und Nebel, released in 1983.-Song information:The song was written by the band's founder, Patrick Marina Nebel. It was released as a single from Nacht und Nebel's second album, also titled Beats of Love. It premiered initially in Belgium in 1983,...
" - "Walk On" (1983, Antler) - "Beats of Love" - "Everything is White" (1984, Antler/Vogue)
- "Etoile du Nord" - "Ancient Times" (1984, Antler)
- "Ready to Dance" - "Soul, Body and Mind" (1985, Antler)
- "Victoria 2000" - "Jenny" (1985, Vogue)
Band members
- Patrick Marina Nebel (vocals, drums & percussion, piano)
- Fil IJzerdraad (real name Van der Auwera - bass)
- Albano Bentano (real name Bentein - keyboards).
also :
- Koen Claeys (guitar)
- Herman Celis / Pat Pattijn (drums)