Dagmar Krause

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Dagmar Krause was born in Hamburg, Germany on 4 June 1950. She began her professional career at the age of 14 as a singer in Hamburg clubs on the Reeperbahn. In 1968 she was invited to join The City Preachers, a contemporary folk/protest group formed in 1964. Half-jokingly, Krause described them as a German version of The Mamas & the Papas. She contributed vocals to their 1968 album Der Kürbis, das Transportproblem und die Traumtänzer (The Pumpkin, the Problem of Transport and the Dream-dancers), a spin-off from a German TV show. The City Preachers broke up in 1969, but their lead singer Inga Rumpf and Krause reunited in 1970 to record I.D. Company, the name of a studio project where each vocalist sung lead on and determined the direction of one side of the LP (Krause's side indicated her future direction with its avant-garde slant).
Hamburg had a thriving avant-garde scene that attracted numerous European musicians interested in pursuing aesthetic freedom and experimental music. It was here that Krause met Anthony Moore and Peter Blegvad, and in 1972 they formed Slapp Happy, a self-described "naive rock" group which mixed simple pop structures with obfuscatory lyrics drawing equally from semiotic and symbolist traditions. Slapp Happy was the beginning of Krause's international musical career. They recorded two albums in Germany for Polydor with Faust as their backing band, Sort Of (1972) and what subsequently became known as Acnalbasac Noom (not released at the time). Then they moved to London where they recorded a new arrangement of Acnalbasac Noom for Virgin Records, released as Slapp Happy, also known as Casablanca Moon (1974). The original Acnalbasac Noom only saw the light of day in 1980 when it was released by Recommended Records.
In 1974 Slapp Happy merged with Virgin label-mates Henry Cow, a politically-orientated avant-garde rock group, and they made two albums, Desperate Straights (1974) and In Praise of Learning (1975). But differences in approach caused Anthony Moore and Peter Blegvad to withdraw Slapp Happy from the merger. Krause, however, elected to remain with Henry Cow and that spelt the end of Slapp Happy.
Krause's singing added a new dimension to Henry Cow's repertoire and their tricky time signatures enhanced her vocal powers. Henry Cow toured Europe for two years, during which time they released a live album Henry Cow Concerts (1976) which included Krause singing duos with Robert Wyatt. But in May 1976 she was forced to withdraw from Henry Cow's hectic tour schedule due to ill health and returned to Hamburg. In October 1977, still unable to tour she left Henry Cow, but agreed to sing on their next studio album, Hopes and Fears.
Hopes and Fears began in 1978 as a Henry Cow album but differences of opinion in the group about its content resulted in it being credited to Art Bears, a new band consisting of Krause, Chris Cutler and Fred Frith. Art Bears went on to make two more albums of songs, Winter Songs (1979) and The World as it is Today (1981).
In 1983 Krause joined a new band News from Babel, featuring core members Krause, Chris Cutler, Lindsay Cooper and Zeena Parkins. They recorded two albums, Work Resumed on the Tower (1983) and Letters Home (1985).
After News from Babel, Krause was involved in a number of projects and collaborations, including Music for Other Occasions (1986) with Lindsay Cooper, Domestic Stories (1992) with Chris Cutler and Lutz Glandien, Each In Our Own Thoughts (1994) with Tim Hodgkinson, and A Scientific Dream and a French Kiss (1998) with Marie Goyette.
In 1991, Dagmar Krause, Anthony Moore and Peter Blegvad reunited to work on a BBC commissioned television opera "Camera" (Italian for "Room"). It was based on an original idea by Krause, with words by Peter Blegvad and music by Anthony Moore. Krause played the lead character "Melusina" and the opera was broadcast two years later on Channel 4 in the UK. Slapp Happy reformed briefly in 1997 to record Ça Va and they toured Japan in 2000.
Solo work Dagmar Krause’s fascination of the cabaret of Germany's Weimar Republic and her love for the work of playwright Bertolt Brecht and his musical collaborators Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler produced some of her most satisfying work. In 1978 she starred in a London art-theatre production of the Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill play The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahogany, and in 1985 she sang Brecht/Weill's "Surabaya Johnny" on the Hal Willner-produced Lost in the Stars.
In 1986 Krause made two solo albums: Supply and Demand: Songs by Brecht/Weill and Eisler and Tank Battles: The Songs of Hanns Eisler. These albums were also sung in German and released as Angebot und Nachfrage and Panzerschlacht: Die Lieder von Hanns Eisler. Krause's grandiose alto voice was perfectly suited to the emotionally and politically charged music of these German songs. Lyrically they continued the trend of earlier songs of social conscience Krause had performed, for example on Henry Cow's "Living In The Heart Of The Beast."
"Supply and Demand and "Tank Battles" are seen by many as Krause's best work, while Tank Battles is generally considered to be one of the finest interpretations of Eisler's work. She performed selections from these albums live at various venues, most notably the Edinburgh Festival, which was documented on Voiceprint's "Radio Session" (1993).
Discography
Bands/Solo Projects/Guest Appearances
1968 - The City Preachers: Der Kürbis, das Transportproblem und die Traumtänzer (Decca Records)
1970 - I.D. Company: I.D. Company (Hörzu, Electrola)
1972 - Slapp Happy: Sort Of (Polydor)
1973 - Slapp Happy: Acnalbasac Noom (Recommended Records)
1974 - Slapp Happy: Slapp Happy (aka Casablanca Moon) (Virgin Records)
1974 - Slapp Happy/Henry Cow: Desperate Straights (Virgin Records)
1975 - Henry Cow/Slapp Happy: In Praise of Learning (Virgin Records)
1976 - Henry Cow: Concerts (Caroline Records)
1978 - Art Bears: Hopes and Fears (Recommended Records)
1979 - Dagmar Krause and Kevin Coyne: Babble (Virgin Records)
1979 - Art Bears: Winter Songs (Recommended Records)
1979 - Anthony Moore: Flying Doesn't Help
1981 - Art Bears: The World as it is Today (Recommended Records)
1982 - Dagmar Krause/Harold Schellinx/Ronald Heiloo: Commuters (Lacooka Ratcha)
1983 - News from Babel: Work Resumed on the Tower (Recommended Records)
1985 - News from Babel: Letters Home (Recommended Records)
1985 - Michael Nyman: The Kiss and Other Movements
1986 - Dagmar Krause:Supply and Demand: Songs by Brecht/Weill and Eisler (Hannibal Records)
1986 - Dagmar Krause:Tank Battles: The Songs of Hanns Eisler (Island Records)
1986 - Lindsay Cooper: Music for Other Occasions (No Man's Land)
1991 - Dagmar Krause, Anthony Moore and Peter Blegvad: Camera (CD Blueprint Records)
1992 - Chris Cutler and Lutz Glandien: Domestic Stories (Recommended Records)
1993 - Dagmar Krause: Radio Session (Voiceprint Records)
1994 - Tim Hodgkinson: Each In Our Own Thoughts (Woof)
1995 - Heiner Goebbels/Alfred 23 Harth: Goebbel's Heart
1997 - Slapp Happy: Ça Va (V2 Records)
1998 - Dagmar Krause and Marie Goyette: A Scientific Dream and a French Kiss (Resurgence)
2000 - Slapp Happy: Live in Japan (FMN Records)