Rainbirds

The Rainbirds are a German pop rock band established in 1986 around singer Katharina Franck. Their greatest hit is the song "Blueprint".

Rainbirds
From left to right: Haage, Franck, Lorenz
Background information
OriginBerlin, Germany
GenresPop rock
Years active
  • 1986 (1986)–1999
  • 2013 (2013)–present
LabelsMercury
Members
Past members
Websiterainbirds.com

History

The band formed in 1986 and named themselves after an instrumental track by Tom Waits. When they won the Rock competition of the Senate of Berlin, they were contracted by Mercury Records. Their first album Rainbirds was produced in the Audio Studios of Berlin and became a success, the single "Blueprint" enjoyed attention across Europe in 1988. The band's first line-up included Katharina Franck (guitar, vocals), Michael Beckmann (bass), and Wolfgang Glum (drums). Due to a concert tour, guitarist Rodrigo González became a member of the Rainbirds. Later he joined Die Ärzte and Abwärts.

In the spring of 1989, the second album Call Me Easy, Say I'm Strong, Love Me My Way, It Ain't Wrong was released, with a video clip by director and photographer Anton Corbijn. Corbijn who was known for his photographs of bands like Depeche Mode and U2 became the Rainbird's favourite photographer in the following years.

After this album, the band separated and Katharina Franck reformed the Rainbirds as a duo with piano player Ulrike Haage. They released two albums in this line-up: Two Faces (1991) and In a Different Light (1993). Drummer Tim Lorenz joined them in 1994 as a third member. In the following years the band published two studio albums, Making Memory (1996) and Forever (1997), as well as a live album rainbirds3000.live (1999), their last release.

Solo careers

Katharina Franck continued a solo career that had already begun in 1997 with a spoken word album Hunger and published a second solo album Zeitlupenkino (lit. slow motion cinema) on Mute Records in 2002.

Also Ulrike Haage, after recording numerous audio plays and composing theatre music, presented a solo album Sélavy in 2004. Drummer Tim Lorenz operates a recording studio in Berlin.

Reformation

In 2013, the Rainbirds reformed with a new line-up. Prior to the re-release of their remastered debut album Rainbirds, it was announced in September 2013 that a new album had been recorded with Katharina Franck as singer, drummer Bela Brauckmann, and electronic musician Gunter Papperitz.[1] This new album, Yonder, was released in May 2014.[2]

Discography

Albums
Year Title Peak positions
AUT GER SWI
1987 Rainbirds – 2 21[3]
1989 Call Me Easy, Say I'm Strong, Love Me My Way, It Ain't Wrong 28[4] 4 18[4]
1991 Two Faces – – –
1993 In a Different Light – 89[5] –
1995 The Mercury Years – – –
1996 Making Memory – – –
1997 Forever – – –
1999 rainbirds3000.live – – –
2014 Yonder – – –

Singles
Year Title Peak positions Album
AUS[6] GER[7] SWI
1987 "Blueprint" 149 7 – Rainbirds
1988 "Boy on the Beach" – 57 – Rainbirds
1989 "Sea of Time" – 39 – Call Me Easy, Say I'm Strong, Love Me My Way, It Ain't Wrong
"Not Exactly" – 58 –
"Love Is a Better Word (White City of Light)" – – –
1991 "Two Faces" – – – Two Faces
1993 "Devil's Dance" – – – In a Different Light
"Jamais Jamais" – – –
1995 "Blueprint" (new mix) – – – The Mercury Years
1996 "Absolutely Free" – – – Making Memory
"Give Me a Kiss" – – –
1997 "Don't Cry a River for Me (Be Cool)" – – – Forever
"Shoot from the Hip" – – –

References
  1. von Stürmer, Mario (1 September 2013). "Rainbirds reformiert/ Debütalbum erscheint am 25.10.13 als Deluxe Edition" [Rainbirds reformed / Debut Album to be released as Deluxe Edition on 25 October 2013]. Stagement (in German). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  2. "Rainbirds: Yonder". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  3. "Rainbirds - Rainbirds (album)". swisscharts.com (in German). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  4. "Rainbirds - Call Me Easy, Say I'm Strong, Love Me My Way, It Ain't Wrong (album)". swisscharts.com (in German). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  5. "Chartverfolgung / RAINBIRDS / Longplay". musicline.de (in German). Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  6. "Week commencing 27 March 1989". www.bubblingdownunder.com. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  7. "Chartverfolgung / RAINBIRDS / Single". musicline.de (in German). PHONONET GmbH. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
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