Uwe Nettelbeck
Encyclopedia
Uwe Nettelbeck was a 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...

 record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 and film critic
Film criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and...

. He was best known as the creator and producer of the German krautrock
Krautrock
Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...

 band, Faust
Faust (band)
Faust are a German krautrock band. Formed in 1971 in Wümme, the group was originally composed of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Rudolf Sosna and Gunther Wüsthoff, working with record producer Uwe Nettelbeck and engineer Kurt Graupner.-History:Faust...

, and changed the face of German rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 in the early 1970s. He was also one of Germany's leading film critics in the 1960s.

Nettelbeck was married to author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

, film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...

 and actress Petra Nettelbeck, and was the father of film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

 Sandra Nettelbeck.

Biography

Uwe Nettelbeck grew up in a middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....

 family at Lake Constance
Lake Constance
Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...

 in south-west Germany. He attended lectures in German literature
German literature
German literature comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German part of Switzerland, and to a lesser extent works of the German diaspora. German literature of the modern period is mostly in Standard German, but there...

 at the Georg-August University of Göttingen
Georg-August University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen , known informally as Georgia Augusta, is a university in the city of Göttingen, Germany.Founded in 1734 by King George II of Great Britain and the Elector of Hanover, it opened for classes in 1737. The University of Göttingen soon grew in size and popularity...

 but did not sit for a degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...

. At the age of 20, Nettelbeck began submitting reviews to Filmkritik, a monthly film magazine, and their quality led to him becoming chief film critic for Die Zeit
Die Zeit
Die Zeit is a German nationwide weekly newspaper that is highly respected for its quality journalism.With a circulation of 488,036 and an estimated readership of slightly above 2 million, it is the most widely read German weekly newspaper...

. In 1962 he met author, film producer and actress, Petra Krause at the Oberhausen film festival
International Short Film Festival Oberhausen
The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, founded in 1954, is one of the oldest short film festivals in the world and one of the major international platforms for the short form...

; they later married and moved to Lüneburg Heath
Lüneburg Heath
The Lüneburg Heath is a large area of heath, geest and woodland in northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover, and Bremen and is named after the town of Lüneburg. Most of the area is a nature reserve...

 near Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

.

Controversy, however, soon began to dog Nettelbeck's career. In 1968, while on the Oberhausen festival jury, he praised a film his wife had produced, Of Particular Merit which starred a talking penis
Penis
The penis is a biological feature of male animals including both vertebrates and invertebrates...

. The film was subsequently banned
Ban (law)
A ban is, generally, any decree that prohibits something.Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some see this as a negative act and others see it as maintaining the "status quo"...

. Nettelbeck's left-wing
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...

 inclination emerged a year later when he published an article in Die Zeit about the trial of Red Army Faction
Red Army Faction
The radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...

 leader Andreas Baader
Andreas Baader
Andreas Bernd Baader was one of the first leaders of the German left-wing militant organization Red Army Faction, also commonly known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang.- Life :...

, which earned him a stern warning from the magazine's editor. Nettelbeck left Die Zeit and became a left-wing journalist with connections to several left-wing factions in Germany. He became editor of the underground
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...

 magazine, konkret
Konkret
konkret has been the name of two German magazines.konkret was originally the name of a magazine established by Klaus Rainer Röhl in 1957, that was an influential magazine on the German political left in the 1960s...

, which became the "revolutionary mouthpiece for the likes of Ulrike Meinhof
Ulrike Meinhof
Ulrike Marie Meinhof was a German left-wing militant. She co-founded the Red Army Faction in 1970 after having previously worked as a journalist for the monthly left-wing magazine Konkret. She was arrested in 1972, and eventually charged with numerous murders and the formation of a criminal...

".

Faust

In 1969 Nettelbeck was approached by a Polydor Germany
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...

 A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...

 man with a request to put together an underground band
Underground music
Underground music comprises a range of different musical genres that operate outside of mainstream culture. Such music can typically share common values, such as the valuing of sincerity and intimacy; an emphasis on freedom of creative expression; an appreciation of artistic creativity...

 that would tap into the then burgeoning "German rock" scene. Nettlebeck found two small rock groups, Nukleus and Campylognatus Citelli which he merged into one, and with funding from Polydor, converted an old school-house near the village of Wümme, between Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

 and Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...

 into a studio. Nettelbeck then started experimenting with the band to try to find "something new". In the end Nettlebeck produced two Faust albums for Polydor, Faust
Faust (album)
-Personnel:*Werner "Zappi" Diermaier – Drums*Hans Joachim Irmler – Organ*Arnulf Meifert – Drums*Jean-Hervé Péron – Bass*Rudolf Sosna – Guitar and keyboards*Gunter Wüsthoff – Synthesiser and sax-Sound and art work:*Kurt Graupner – Engineer...

(1971) and Faust So Far
Faust So Far
Faust So Far is a 1972 album by German krautrock group Faust. This, the band's second studio album, has a more commercially typical structure than its predecessor; it comprises nine separate tracks, each consisting of an individual and distinct musical style or theme...

(1972) , and while they did not sell very well, both were applauded by music critics.

During the same period Nettlebeck also produced two albums for Anthony Moore
Anthony Moore
Anthony Moore is a British experimental music composer, performer and producer. He was a founding member of the band Slapp Happy, worked with Henry Cow and has made a number of solo albums, including Flying Doesn't Help and World Service .As a lyricist, Moore has collaborated with Pink Floyd on...

 on Polydor, which led to the formation, with Peter Blegvad
Peter Blegvad
Peter Blegvad is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and cartoonist. He was a founding member of the avant-pop band Slapp Happy, which later merged briefly with Henry Cow, and has released many solo and collaborative albums...

 and Dagmar Krause
Dagmar Krause
Dagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...

, of Slapp Happy
Slapp Happy
Slapp Happy was a German/English avant-pop group consisting of Anthony Moore , Peter Blegvad and Dagmar Krause . The band formed in Germany in 1972. The band members moved to England in 1974 where they merged with Henry Cow, but the merger ended soon afterwards and Slapp Happy split up. Slapp...

. Faust played on Slapp Happy's first two albums, Sort Of
Sort Of
Sort Of is the debut album of the avant-rock band Slapp Happy. It was recorded in Wümme, West Germany in May and June 1972.-Side 1:#"Just a Conversation" – 4:02#"Paradise Express" – 2:40#"I Got Evil" – 2:30#"Little Girl's World" – 3:25...

(1972) and Casablanca Moon (1973), which Nettlebeck also produced for Polydor. Polydor rejected Casablanca Moon and it was not until 1980 that Recommended Records
Recommended Records
Recommended Records is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected music released on other independent labels.In 1982 Cutler established November...

 released it as Acnalbasac Noom
Acnalbasac Noom
Acnalbasac Noom is an album by German/British avant-pop group Slapp Happy, recorded in Wümme, Germany in 1973 with Faust as their backing band. It had a working title of Casablanca Moon but was never released at the time because it had been rejected by their record label, Polydor...

(Casablanca Moon backwards).

Polydor was also not happy with Faust So Far and demanded more commercial music from the band. Unwilling to compromise, Nettelbeck signed Faust with a fledgling record company in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...

. Part of the deal between Nettelbeck and Virgin was that he would give Virgin his tapes of the music Faust had been working on since So Far "for nothing" and that Virgin would release a record priced as low as possible. The result was The Faust Tapes
The Faust Tapes
The Faust Tapes is a 1973 album by the German krautrock group Faust. The album sold well in the United Kingdom because of a marketing gimmick by Virgin Records that saw it go on sale for the price of a single. This exposure introduced British audiences to Faust.Recommended Records reissued the...

(1973) which cost 49 pence (the price of a 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...

), and sold 100,000 copies in a few weeks, putting the unknown band into the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 album 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....

. The "success" of this album ("90% of the people that bought it hated it!" ) gave Nettelbeck access to Virgin's Manor Studio
The Manor Studio
The Manor Studio was a recording studio in the manor house at the village of Shipton-on-Cherwell in Oxfordshire, England, north of the city of Oxford. It was the first residential recording studio in the UK...

 where Faust recorded Faust IV
Faust IV
Faust IV is a 1973 album by the pioneering German krautrock group Faust.The opener "Krautrock" is a drone-based instrumental where the drums kick in only after seven minutes, whilst later tracks such as "The Sad Skinhead" and "Jennifer" employ more conventional songwriting techniques. The closing...

(1974), which sold moderately well, although not as well as Tapes. But back in Germany, their next effort, Faust 5 was abandoned and the band dispersed across Europe. (In 1979 Recommended Records rekindled interest in Faust by re-issuing the two Polydor albums, which led to the band reforming.)
Nettlebeck was the inspiration and creative force behind Faust in their early years. He designed their striking album cover
Album cover
An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...

s, and convinced Polydor to release the group's first two albums on its distinguished classical label, Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...

. Describing Faust's success, Nettelbeck said in 1973: "The idea was not to copy anything going on in the Anglo-Saxon rock scene – and it worked..."

Later years

Between 1976 and 2006, Nettelbeck and his wife wrote and edited 124 editions of the review magazine, Die Republik. In 1992, "dismayed by the triumphalism and racism of post-unification Germany", they relocated to 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 moved into an isolated farmhouse in the Gironde
Gironde
For the Revolutionary party, see Girondists.Gironde is a common name for the Gironde estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France.-History:...

.

Uwe Nettelbeck died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

 in Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

 on 17 January 2007.

Record production credits

This is a selection of albums Uwe Nettelbeck produced, the dates referring to the year they were produced.
  • Faust
    Faust (band)
    Faust are a German krautrock band. Formed in 1971 in Wümme, the group was originally composed of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Rudolf Sosna and Gunther Wüsthoff, working with record producer Uwe Nettelbeck and engineer Kurt Graupner.-History:Faust...

    : Faust
    Faust (album)
    -Personnel:*Werner "Zappi" Diermaier – Drums*Hans Joachim Irmler – Organ*Arnulf Meifert – Drums*Jean-Hervé Péron – Bass*Rudolf Sosna – Guitar and keyboards*Gunter Wüsthoff – Synthesiser and sax-Sound and art work:*Kurt Graupner – Engineer...

    (1971)
  • Anthony Moore
    Anthony Moore
    Anthony Moore is a British experimental music composer, performer and producer. He was a founding member of the band Slapp Happy, worked with Henry Cow and has made a number of solo albums, including Flying Doesn't Help and World Service .As a lyricist, Moore has collaborated with Pink Floyd on...

    : Pieces From the Cloudland Ballroom (1971)
  • Anthony Moore
    Anthony Moore
    Anthony Moore is a British experimental music composer, performer and producer. He was a founding member of the band Slapp Happy, worked with Henry Cow and has made a number of solo albums, including Flying Doesn't Help and World Service .As a lyricist, Moore has collaborated with Pink Floyd on...

    : Secrets of the Blue Bag (1972)
  • Slapp Happy
    Slapp Happy
    Slapp Happy was a German/English avant-pop group consisting of Anthony Moore , Peter Blegvad and Dagmar Krause . The band formed in Germany in 1972. The band members moved to England in 1974 where they merged with Henry Cow, but the merger ended soon afterwards and Slapp Happy split up. Slapp...

    : Sort Of
    Sort Of
    Sort Of is the debut album of the avant-rock band Slapp Happy. It was recorded in Wümme, West Germany in May and June 1972.-Side 1:#"Just a Conversation" – 4:02#"Paradise Express" – 2:40#"I Got Evil" – 2:30#"Little Girl's World" – 3:25...

    (1972)
  • Faust
    Faust (band)
    Faust are a German krautrock band. Formed in 1971 in Wümme, the group was originally composed of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Rudolf Sosna and Gunther Wüsthoff, working with record producer Uwe Nettelbeck and engineer Kurt Graupner.-History:Faust...

    : Faust So Far
    Faust So Far
    Faust So Far is a 1972 album by German krautrock group Faust. This, the band's second studio album, has a more commercially typical structure than its predecessor; it comprises nine separate tracks, each consisting of an individual and distinct musical style or theme...

    (1972)
  • Slapp Happy
    Slapp Happy
    Slapp Happy was a German/English avant-pop group consisting of Anthony Moore , Peter Blegvad and Dagmar Krause . The band formed in Germany in 1972. The band members moved to England in 1974 where they merged with Henry Cow, but the merger ended soon afterwards and Slapp Happy split up. Slapp...

    : Acnalbasac Noom
    Acnalbasac Noom
    Acnalbasac Noom is an album by German/British avant-pop group Slapp Happy, recorded in Wümme, Germany in 1973 with Faust as their backing band. It had a working title of Casablanca Moon but was never released at the time because it had been rejected by their record label, Polydor...

    (1973)
  • Faust
    Faust (band)
    Faust are a German krautrock band. Formed in 1971 in Wümme, the group was originally composed of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Rudolf Sosna and Gunther Wüsthoff, working with record producer Uwe Nettelbeck and engineer Kurt Graupner.-History:Faust...

    : The Faust Tapes
    The Faust Tapes
    The Faust Tapes is a 1973 album by the German krautrock group Faust. The album sold well in the United Kingdom because of a marketing gimmick by Virgin Records that saw it go on sale for the price of a single. This exposure introduced British audiences to Faust.Recommended Records reissued the...

    (1973)
  • Faust
    Faust (band)
    Faust are a German krautrock band. Formed in 1971 in Wümme, the group was originally composed of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Rudolf Sosna and Gunther Wüsthoff, working with record producer Uwe Nettelbeck and engineer Kurt Graupner.-History:Faust...

    : Faust IV
    Faust IV
    Faust IV is a 1973 album by the pioneering German krautrock group Faust.The opener "Krautrock" is a drone-based instrumental where the drums kick in only after seven minutes, whilst later tracks such as "The Sad Skinhead" and "Jennifer" employ more conventional songwriting techniques. The closing...

    (1973)
  • Faust
    Faust (band)
    Faust are a German krautrock band. Formed in 1971 in Wümme, the group was originally composed of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Rudolf Sosna and Gunther Wüsthoff, working with record producer Uwe Nettelbeck and engineer Kurt Graupner.-History:Faust...

     with Tony Conrad
    Tony Conrad
    Tony Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer...

    : Outside the Dream Syndicate
    Outside the Dream Syndicate
    Outside the Dream Syndicate is a 1973 collaboration album by United States avant-garde filmmaker Tony Conrad and German krautrock group Faust. The album marks Conrad's first and only musical release for many years, and remains his best known musical work. It is considered a classic of minimalist...

    (1973)
  • Faust
    Faust (band)
    Faust are a German krautrock band. Formed in 1971 in Wümme, the group was originally composed of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Rudolf Sosna and Gunther Wüsthoff, working with record producer Uwe Nettelbeck and engineer Kurt Graupner.-History:Faust...

    : Munich and Elsewhere (1986)
  • Tony Conrad
    Tony Conrad
    Tony Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer...

    : Outside the Dream Syndicate (30th Anniversary Edition) (2002)
  • Faust
    Faust (band)
    Faust are a German krautrock band. Formed in 1971 in Wümme, the group was originally composed of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Rudolf Sosna and Gunther Wüsthoff, working with record producer Uwe Nettelbeck and engineer Kurt Graupner.-History:Faust...

    : Faust IV (UK Bonus CD) (2006)

External links

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