..The Name
die Ärzte (formerly known as "Die rzte") literally translates as "the physicians", "the doctors" is a rather colloquial translation. The band chose the name because it sounded good. They did not seek any affiliation with medicinal issues whatsoever - a fact that was, until now, all too often forgotten by journalists and bootleg manufacturers, who included wordplays and allusions to hospitals, medicine, surgery etc. in article headers and record titles.
The Band
They are a German rock/punk rock band from Berlin. die rzte (German for The Doctors) are self-proclaimed as "Die beste Band der Welt" ("The best band in the world") and, along with Dsseldorf outfit Die Toten Hosen are among the best-known German pop punk-rock bands.
die Ärzte were formed in 1982 by Jan Vetter (aka Farin Urlaub, which is similar to the expression "Fahr' in Urlaub", that can be translated as "Going to Holyday"), Dirk Felsenheimer (aka Bela B.) and Hans Runge (aka Sahnie).
Sahnie left the band in 1986 and Hagen Liebing (aka The Incredible Hagen) filled in as bassist until the band broke up in 1988. In 1993 the band reunited with Rodrigo Gonzlez (aka Rod) playing bass.
die Ärzte have shown no fear of controversy and have faced off with the German Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons (Bundesprfstelle fr jugendgefhrdende Medien) over their tongue-in-cheek lyrics to Geschwisterliebe (Sibling love) over claims that it promoted incest, Claudia hat 'nen Schferhund (Claudia has a German shepherd) over claims that it promoted zoophilia, and Schlaflied (Lullaby) over references to excessive violence. The group has leveraged these controversies to their advantage and gained popularity by making fun of their censors.
On their most recent album "Geräusch" ("Noise"), they spell their name with three dots over the a in Ärzte, a sort of "triaresis" mark that does not correspond to any real language constructa play on the heavy metal umlaut. (Please note that "Die Ärzte", with two dots, is correct German orthography and not related to the heavy metal umlaut.)
Since November 2004 the album Debil with the songs Claudia hat 'nen Schferhund and Schlaflied is not on the index anymore.
The band has been immensely popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, while also enjoying some success in other Northern European countires. Much of the band's popularity can be attributed to their humourous lyrics, which are lost on non-German speakers. Die Ärzte are virtually unknown outside of Europe, aside from members of the German diaspora.
Ironically, despite being considered controversial in Germany, rzte songs have been used in German classes in high schools and universities outside of Germany as a teaching aid to teach German as a foreign language.Bela B. is an avid supporter of the F.C. St. Pauli football team.
(Credit http://www.wikipedia.com)
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Websites (Webseite):- Official Website
- Fan Club
- Last.fm biography
- Die beste Band der Welt
- BelaFarinRod
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