Bläck Fööss

The band's name in Kölsch, a local dialect of Ripuarian, in which the group predominantly sings, means barefoot. It is pronounced [də ˈblɛk ˌføːs] ^ⓘ. In their early days the group would perform barefoot, which was later given up mainly after several injuries from remains of broken glass on stages.[3]

The band's style of music is a cross between Schlager and pop, but they also perform songs with jazz, blues, rock and reggae styles. The group is famous for its a cappella singing. Many of the band's songs are popular carnival songs, while others are covers of bands such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo,[4] (Bütz mich, cover of Hey baby, 1990)[5] Cologne music group De Vier Botze (En d'r Kaygaß Nummere Null!, 1975)[6] Beatles (When I'm Sixty-Four,[7] Penny Lane, 1989),[8] Hollies or Willi Ostermann.[9]

In August 1985 the band got their biggest chart success, with the song "Frankreich, Frankreich" (English: France, France) landing in at number 9 in the German charts,[10] after the band had entered the German charts for the first time with the song "Katrin" in January 1985.[11][12]

In their first 4 decades together, the Bläck Fööss only had a few changes in membership. Dieter „Joko“ Jaenisch (1970-1974, 1977–1980; died in 1998), Rolf Lammers (1974-1977) and Willy Schnitzler (1980-2005) played keyboard.[10] In 1994, the band had its biggest split, with frontman Tommy Engel leaving for a solo career after so-called creative differences.[13]

• Karl Friedrich "Kafi" Biermann (born 1946):[14] guitar, percussion, vocals (from 1995 to 2017)[15][16]
• Ralph Gusovius (born March 16, 1950):[17] drums, accordion, vocals (from 1995 to February 2023)[18]
• Günther "Bömmel" Lückerath (born June 20, 1948):[19] guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, vocals (founding member, active until January 2023)[20][21]
• Hartmut Priess (born 19 August 1942 in Berlin[22]):bass, guitar, mandolin (founding member, active until 2018)[23]
• Peter Schütten (born 4 August 1943 in Kiel):[24] guitar, singing, percussion (founding member, active until March 2017)[25][26]
• Erry Stoklosa (born 25 October 1947[27] in the former city Porz):[28] guitar, percussion, vocals (founding member, active until January 2023)[20][21]
• Andreas Wegener (born 18 July 1956 in the former City Opladen):[29][30] piano, synthesizer, accordion, vocals (since 2005)[31]
• Mirko Bäumer (born 30 September 1968 in Hennef):[32] guitar, vocals (since 2017)[16]
• Pit Hupperten (born 1974):[33] guitar, vocals (since 2017)[34]
• Hanz Thodam (born in Nippes, city part of Cologne):[35] bass guitar, vocals (since 2019)[23]
• Christoph „Raudi“ Granderath: singer, guitar, mandoline (since 2021,[36] 2019 and 2020 back-up musician)[37][38]
• Alex Vesper (born 27 June 1967 in Cologne): drums (since 2023)[39]

Willy Schnitzler left the band in 2005 after arthritis of the hand rendered him unable to play. He died because of a car accident in 2019.[40] He was succeeded by Andreas Wegener.[31] In January 2017 Singer Kafi Biermann and founding member Peter Schütten left the band and were succeeded by Mirko Bäumer and Pit Hupperten.[16][25] Hanz Thodam replaced bass player Hartmut Priess after the band's traditional New Year's Eve concert of 2018.[23]

• 
  Kafi Biermann
• 
  Ralph Gusovius
• 
  Hartmut Priess and Günther Lückerath
• 
  Peter Schütten
• 
  Erry Stoklosa
• 
  Mirko Bäumer

• Matthias Becker: Bläck Fööss - schwatz op wiess: 124 Lieder in Wort und Bild; Texte, Hintergründe, Kommentare, Kölsch-Lexikon, Chronik, Diskografie. Gerig-Musikverlage, De Bläck-Fööss-Musikverlag, Bergisch Gladbach Bensberg, 2000, 152 Seiten, kartoniert, ISBN 3-87252-312-0

• King Size Dick

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bläck Fööss.

• Official website
• Bläck Fööss discography at Discogs
• Bläck-Fööss, laut.de