Der Moderne Man formed in 1979 and operated mainly in the vicinity of Hanover's No Fun label. Inspired by visits to concerts and record stores in London and New York and bands such as the Ramones, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Iggy Pop and the Clash, the group developed an explosive sound that led to the first album “80 Tage auf See” ("80 days at sea") in 1980: German-language post-punk that stood out from Hanover's underground sound and also gained support from BBC's John Peel.
Tapete Records is re-issuing the first two studio albums in March 2025. This is accompanied by "Jugend Forscht", a compilation of demos, EPs and singles with some unreleased tracks. All three releases are complemented by detailed liner notes and previously unreleased images.
“80 Tage auf See” captures a historic moment. When the record was released in 1980, the so-called ‘Neue Deutsche Welle’ (German New Wave) was no more than a rumour. It was still far from clear what (post-)punk on West German terms might entail. “80 Tage auf See” was recorded over a short time span and hurled onto the market just as swiftly. The 80 days of the album title most likely do not refer to time spent in the studio. This release occupies one of the top spots in the race for the very first German punk album. It is perhaps the first ‘first German punk LP’ that managed to reproduce the force and urgency of the English original, albeit in a way so deferred and strange that the term ‘Krautpunk’ comes to mind. Der Moderne Man was to Damned and Wire what Amon Düül II was to Hawkwind and Vanilla Fudge. No wonder John Peel kept the record in his show’s heavy rotation.
Shortly after the release of “80 Tage auf See”, the basically postnatal New German Wave disbanded into fractions whose initial hostility towards each other gradually turned into indifference. The remains were something like ‘Deutschpunk’ (not ‘Krautpunk’) here, avant-garde neo-tonality there and in between some more or less successful attempts to establish contemporary German pop music. On “80 Tage auf See”, all of this is still on equal footing: (power) pop, the catchy wave punk which would become the signature sound of Hannover‘s No Fun label and the rather idiosyncratic idea of experimental music which Michael Jarick (aka Ziggy XY) brought in as a singer (file under: music as challenging noise).
“80 Tage auf See” accurately reflects the restlessness that affected certain parts of German youth around 1979. Orientations and preferences could change overnight. The album reconciles the simultaneity of the non-simultaneous in a daring parallel montage. Frank Apunkt Schneider
