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The 1st FC started life in the somewhat wild and macabre Kreuzberg district of West Berlin in the early 1980`s. The founding members consisted of: The other main hangout was the hip 'Schwarzes Cafe`in the Kantstrasse. |
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The name "First Futurologischer Congress" is the title of a book by the celebrated science Fiction writer Stanislaw Lem (author of such works as "Solaris") whom the band were lucky enough to meet during his residence in Berlin. | |
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"The title hits the music on the head. The first single brings together three wild, clettering cover versions of late rock legends. Praises werer already beeing sung for this much heralded band....the song is an absolute electronic smash... From "tip" (berlin biggest listings magazine) Having made their mark on the scene and in the pop music press, the band followed it up in the same year with the independent EP "Schatten" (Shadows). This featured four German-language electronic new wave tracks and the single "Heimatlied" (Song for Home), winning entry of a local government-sponsored competition. This all culminated in a live concert with guest musicians from the Latin Quarter, parts of which were broadcast on German television. |
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´... the Combo is dead, long live the Congress´ |
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| Work continued in 1982 on the 1 FC album "Schützt die Verliebten" which, unusually for that time, was taken up and released by Teldec. "...the 1 FC has signed a contract on the Wagner label with Teldec which runs for two years and covers four LP`s. AS many singles can be made as required. The label has sole responsibility for public relations and marketing. Independent record stores and such should be offered discounts and special deals. This all sounds like a modern fairy tale: How can i outsmart the record industry without anyone realeasing? " Sounds Nr.6/´82
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The line-up in 1982 consisted of: Jens T. Tröndle ( Synthis, Programming, Perc.) U.W.A. Heyder ( Vocals, Synthi, Git., Drummachine) Johann Sebastian Wastel ( Bass, Keyboards, Vocals) 'Miko´/Mikolajczak (Vocals) Marion DeuSsing ( Vocals) plus guest musicians: ansi Behrendt / Ideal (Drums) Rainer Konstantin / Prima Klima (E-Gitarre) Hans Schumann-Kosmokiator/Scala 3, Flucht nach Vorn (Drum) Mona & Bernd (Sax., Trompete) Fred Thurley / Scala 3 (Gitarre) Production and technical side: Jens T. Troendle, U.W.A. Heyder u. Eberhardt Bingel Design: C.I.A.-Production, Rudolf Wagner (Managment) Photography: Jürgen Wellhausen |
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| With the help of good public relations, TV and radio coverage and a national tour which extendet to Holland and Sweden, the album "Schützt die Verliebten" made its mark and brought the band further appeal and wider public exposure. Critical reaction covered a wide range of bases. Spex magazine, for example, curiously compared the single "Rote Autos" (Red Cars) with Mc Cartney`s "Ebony and Ivory"; while Bravo magazine declared the 1 st FC`s music to be "a nerve-shattering test for the emotions.". "There are musical parallels with the Human League, Simple Minds, OMD, neo funk and new romanticism with nods to Wire and Pere Ubu from the constant use of electronics. Lyricially the direction lies somewhere between early Fehlfarben, Abwärts and DAF veering towards Ideal...what emerges is outstandingly produced pop music, And not for the 1st FC well travelled road to damnation in the manner of Einstürzende Neubauten," Musikexpress 8/´82 |
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´The Congress goes dancing´ |
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| One highlight of the 1 FC`s live appearances came in August 1982 when the band took part in the TV Rocknight at Berlin's large open-air Waldbühne venue. This event was broadcast on all three main channels. On some numbers the Congress were playing with a 12-man line-up (wind instruments, percussion, drums, guitars, bass, synthesizers, vocals etc.) This led the media to use the term "electronic bigband sound" and the 1 FC were described as the German Talking Heads. |
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´Wer spricht?´(who`s speaking) |
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 Work on the second album"Wer spricht" was finished in spring 1983. The 1 FC sound expanded by including acoustic instruments, interlinked polyrythms and grooving soul riffs. Original members Jens T. Troendle and U.W.A. Heyder were now joined by Marlon Klein, Hanno Rinne and Nikko Weidemann: the vocalists Miko and Marion were no longer performing with the band (Miko made a solo record and later worked in television and film), plus Mac Wasty`s contribution and synthesizer had become sporadic. Furthermore, the principle of using guest musicians both live and in the studio was successfully continued. "The Congress is no closed shop." "...the new album proves the 1 FC still make the most beautiful love songs." Musikszene 7/´83 "...the band obviously strives to be open-minded and relaxed while keeping everything under control of what they do and ease with themselves, and has appropriated for themselves all the finer points of the Heaven 17 school of advanced synth-oriented pop." Musikexpress/´83 All in all, an album with international flair had managed to establish itself, comparable in Germany to the likes of groups like Spliff. Jim Rakete for example (then Spliff and Nena manager and now celebrated photographer) was a 1 FC fan as was Madonna, who in an early interview mentioned that the 1 FC was one of the most interesting German bands.
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| "The 1 FC emphatically dispel the notion that the German language is not suitable for pop music... every one of the song is also a gem live..." Pflasterstrand 11/´83 |  |
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The line up in 1983: Nikko Weidemann(Gesang, Bass, Keyboards) Hanno Rinne(Gitarren, Tasten, Perc. Chor, Drummachine) Jens T. Tröndle(Gesang, Moogbass, Programing) Marlon Klein(Drums, Keyb., Chor, Perc., Sequenzer) U.W.A.Heyder(Gesang, Keyb., Programing, Git., Flöte) Guest musicans: Hans Schumann/ Flucht nach vorn(Drums) J.S.Wastel(Electronics, Synthi) F.M.Einheit/Abwärts, Neubauten(Perc.) Ramesh Shotham/Dissidenten(Maultrommel) Billy Omuto/Prima Klima (Bass, Chor) Jürgen Scheele u. Herby H. Hart( Trompete u. Sax.) Cathrin Vaessen, Jutta Westphal u. Britto ( Vocals, Chor) Production and technical side: Jens T. Troendle Assistenz: Marlon Klein, U. Heyder, E.Bingel Video, photography, logistics: Marcus Herold Design: Peter Gruchot |
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´Pilot Pirx´ |
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 In 1983 the Futurologists made a "special single" with Dieter Meier from Yello. Under the logo Pilot Pirx, Phonogram released the tracks "Bungalow" and "Excess im Bungalow"." ...with African percussion and a nursery-rhime like chorus, the song is like a fresh island Greeze blowing over the slowly dying body that is German new wave..." Trends 8/´83 |
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`...and then there were four.´ |
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In 1984 the Futurologists scaled down their operations to just four members: Jens T. Troendle, Marlon Klein, Nikko Weidemann and U.W.A Heyder. "We now want to work creatively as a classic four-piece outfit!" |
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During work on the third album, creative differences concerning style and content arose both within the band as well as with the commmercial partners (publisher and record company); for example, whether to write songs in English or German. All this took place at a time when it was felt that overwrought German new wave songs were no longer creditable having sold out after running their course. What emerged were more then ten new tracks with mostly German but also English texts. Titles such as "Mach was", "Dezember-Sex", "Die Art von Mann", "Klondike" (with Hans Werner Olm), etc.were later released as bonus tracks or now appear on "Patchwork" (studio tracks `83-`86)`from the internet label Fuego. |
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... Solo activities in the late 1980`s and 1990`s |
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During this period the solo activities of the individual Futurologists meant there was little time or opportunity to work together as the Con  gress. Jens T.Troendle worked extensively at the Spliff studio, later co-producing Nena`s first children`s album; he also worked with Nikko Weidemann and Hans Schumann and their band Mad Romeo (`88/`89) who had a hit with "Paradise" (which exists as a 1 FC rough version from 1984).Nikko subsequently played alongside Nick Cave, Rio Reiser and Einstürzende Neubauten among others as well as studio guru Conny Plank. Hans was much in demand as a live drummer, and since the 1990`s has worked as a sound designer for film and television. |
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Uwe Heyder released English-language pop singles such as "Only A Boy In Love" with Panama Cut (Conny Gökel, Hansi Behrendt), and wrote songs for various bands and projects. |   |
With John F. und die Gropiuslerchen he later had a cult hit with the song "Berlin, Berlin - dein Herz kennt keine Mauern" in 1987 and then in 1989/`90 as the Berlin Wall came down. (Prod. J.T. Troendle/R. Konstantin) |
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 Marlon Klein worked increasingly with the Dissidenten, releasing such internationally successful albums as "Sahara Elektrik", "Live at the Pyramids", the "Jungle Book", etc. and collaborated with Jasper Vant Hof in Pili Pili, and was much in demand on a wide range of projects. |
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 After the occassional session during 1985 it was 1986 before the new 1FC tracks "Alles viel zu spät" and "Laurenz von Arabien" were produced by Jens T. Tröndle, U.W.A Heyder and Rainer Konstantin - This was a promo-single in conjunction with a television report on the SFB magazine programm Fieber 45. |
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 The Futurulogists returned in 1992 with "Feuer" . Next to the original members U.W.A Heyder (as creative director) and Jens T. Troendle(as producer), and from the "Wer Spricht" era, Hanno Rinne (on guitar), a decisive creative role was played by lead singer Stefan Höls/Tesh and co-singers Gundula Ulbrich and Sandra Wirth. Also making a contribution were guest musicans Gerd Holzmölle/Mr. Ed, Florian Dauner/Fanta 4, Ina Korch/Luci Lectric among others.What came out was another pioneering album. Using diverse sounds elements, catchy melodies and swinging grooves, the 1 FC were able to put across profound texctual themes in a accessible way. "The Futurologists make do without brutal techno thunderbolts; subtile sounds and breezy beats call all the shots here. White soul which goes from head to toes and is a joy to listen to ...a state of the art multi-colored pop kaleidoscope..." Prinz 11/93 |
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| The "Feuer" album first came out on the indie label MMS and was later released in 1993 by East West/Warner Brothers in connection with Hit & Run Promotion/Conny Konzack. Some tracks were reworked, remixed or remade into an alternative club version. |
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 The first Maxi-single "Allah, Allah" Caused a small stir because of the then already widespread fear of terrorism. In fact, the song was meant positively, beeing a call for the peaceful co-existence of all religions. In any case,while some radio channels found the songs subject too controversial, others made it a regular part of their playlists.The second single, "Süchtig" (Addicted) - a congenial, swinging love song received much larger radio exposure and ist still played off and on today. |
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| However, the "Feuer" album failed to bring the big commercial breakthrough. The r`n`b-tinged numbers were a little too ahead of their time for the tastes of music editors and the wider general public. |
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The line- up in 1992-´93: Stefan/Tesh Höls (Vocals, Git., Keyb.) U.W.A. Heyder (Keyb., Programming) Jens T. Tröndle (Programming, Keyb., Chor) Hanno Rinne (Git.) Gundula Ulbrich/Axinia (Vocals) Sandra Wirth (Vocals) plus guest musicians: Gerd Holzmölle/Mr. Ed (Drums, Sampling, Violin) Andreas Koch (Keyb., Sounds) Florian Dauner/Fanta 4 (Drums) Connie Göckel/Panama Cut (Keyboards) Frank Heise (Git.) Eberhard Fortmann (Sax.) Ina Korch/Luci Lectric (Voc.) Gabriela la Rosa (Voc.) W.Ibrahim (Arab.Voc.) Production and technical side: Jens T. Troendle/ Assistenz; G. Holzmölle für Spleen-Prod. Design: Stefan & Matthias/C.Höls Photography: Mathias Bothor/ Management: Conny Konzak |
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For the making of the "Feuer" album, the Futurologists Stefan/Tesh and U.W.A. set up the Spleen produkction company, and in 1998 they opened a new Futurologist studio.  In addition to working on diverse commissions, remixes, musical pre-productions etc. and alongside producing pop, rock and trance-dance acts, in 1999/2000 they produced the r'n'b-hiphop act Momang with the vocal group Das Duo. This was followed in 2004 by colleboration with ragga- pop artist Doc Rob. The Futurologist-type sound and style could be felt the whole way through. |
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2006 saw the re-release by Fünfundvierzig/Indigo on CD of the '1st Futurulogischer Congress' albums "Schützt die Verliebten" und "Wer spricht" with bonustracks and video. Furthermore, all 1. FC recordings as well as previously unreleased studio titles from the album "Patchwork" (studio tracks `83-`86) appear worldwide on the online label www.fuego.de. In addition, preparations are being made for a new CD with live appearances planned with a new line-up in 2007. ´In the current spiritual and cultural climate of banality, we think it's about time the 1. FC started making some noise again.´ |
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| 'China is calling' 2008, the futurologists produced the Radio Groove Pop Song: China is calling. inter alia, to the 2008 Olympics in China / Beijng, dedicated, textual statement Olympia 2008 in China/Beijng |
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Crash! 'the jingleling song' / Futurological Congress / 1.FC / Futurologen / - Berlin 2009 .jpg)
The song and video for the financial crash party and the dance on the billions. 'Too big to fail !' Hahaha - the fraud of the century. 'Come together - |
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CRASH! - The album from 1.F C
2016 the futurologists team has completed the step, to bring the tracks, which were created since the CRASH! Video production, in occasional sessions, over several years, about the madness infestation in these days, to a final editing, mixing and publication. The result is a collection of songs in the best pop-rock manner, with booming rock guitar- and grooving funk-riffs, floating, balladesque E- or acoustic guitar licks, piano cords, live drums and expanded with electro sequences, synth sounds, etc. Recorded and produced digitally and now presents on the´CRASH´album.
The content of the texts refer to a position on political and economic machinations and destructive developments and structures in the Bread & Games Mode of these days. 'CRASH! 'An electro-rock album as a soundtrack of this times! In the best congress-tradition, with an illustrious group of guest performers, musicians and artists, brought the futurologists the CRASH! album to his sounding. CRASH! - A Chance for better !
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Production: 1.FC Berlin / Marlon Klein & U.W.A. Heyder / Futurologen-Studio Berlin & Exil Musik Studio Ibiza & Berlin Spleen-prod. – rock & pop factory / www.spleen-prod.com Label & distribution: Fuego / Timezone / C 2011/2015 Futurological Congress, P 2016 Fuego |
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Futurologen auf facebook | ||
´You are leaving the american sector´
The 
The first independent single was released in early 
`Feuer´