Even though Ton Steine Scherben never received the international recognition of some of their German
contemporaries, the group, founded in Berlin in the late 60ies, remains one of the most influential groups
from the German counter-culture.
In times of Krautrock, Kraftwerk and Kosmic Music, they combined more traditional guitar-based rock
sounds with German protest lyrics that covered a whole range of topics – often radical and political in
the beginning, and quite lyrical and tender in later times.
Their singer Rio Reiser also managed a successful German solo career before his untimely death in
1996.
The songs and lyrics of Rio and Ton Steine Scherben remain to this day a source of inspiration for fans
and current artists here in our country.
And their own record label, David Volksmund Productions, remains one of the earliest and still active
German independent record labels.
The story how “Ton Steine Scherben In Dub” came into existence goes back about 20 years.
Back then, the young Echo Beach label became known for its (still-running) “King Size Dub” compilation
series, which combined Dub music from myriads of international collaborators and was sold for a nice
and inexpensive price, essentially keeping the interest in all things Dub alive.
The third volume of that series concentrated on the German Dub scene and contained Dub- and
Reggae-related songs by some of Germany’s biggest artists, such as Die Toten Hosen and Nina Hagen.
Another highlight of that sampler was the song “Mole Hill Rocker”, a collaboration between Ton Steine
Scherben founders Rio Reiser and R.P.S. Lanrue.
Ever since then, Echo Beach kept thinking about further collaborations with Ton Steine Scherben.
Finally, Echo Beach CEO Nicolai Beverungen and two of his established Dub collaborators, Fe Wolter
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