About Me
In the spring of 1995 the Böhse Onkelz decided to go public with their history and to publish it in the form of a biography. The hostilities in the daily press from 1990 to1994, the sloppy research done by journalists, and not least of all, the whole muddled situation inside and outside the band inspired them to take this step. No other band in Germany was ever so used as a means for simple-minded political agitation, wrote Edmund Hartsch, the author of this biography in his foreword.
Hartsch met the Onkelz in June 1987 when they dropped into his skateboard and snowboard shop Cadillac Ranch on Bockenheimer Landstrasse. Since then he has remained close to the band. When the decision was made in 1995 to pursue the biography project, it was Hartsch who spoke the loudest and said here, Ill do it. He then threw himself into an intense two-and-a-half year period of research and writing. He conducted over 100 hours of interviews with the band, relatives, friends, fans and critics, studied, revised and reorganized the enormous B.O. archive and let his own personal impressions flow into the book as well. Hartsch was definitely closer to the band than a journalist could ever have been and thus had more access to intimate information. He finally worked his account of Onkelz history into a book with 274 pages and over 400 photos. The book, titled Danke für nichts (Thanks for nothing), was published in 1997, and to date more than 75,000 copies have been sold. It was highly praised by the trade press and today is considered the standard reference for anyone wanting to know more about the Onkelz. For example, Sven Reinfrank from Break Out magazine wrote: Seldom has such an extensive biography, so full of background information, photos, dates and facts, appeared in a bookstore, and Götz Kühnemund, editor-in-chief of the magazine Rock Hard: In any case, Danke für nichts is one of the best reads that have come my way in months. In terms of structure as well as with his extremely lively writing style, Edmund Hartsch has done a very fine job.
