DIE
HAUT
Headless Body in Topless Bar
1988
Die
Haut was a prolific and accomplished instrumental group from Berlin
that featured Bad Seeds drummer Thomas
Wydler. They began collaborating with singers when
Nick Cave appeared on four songs from their 1983 LP Burning
The Ice. On Headless Body in a Topless Bar Cave
sings on the stellar cover of Mickey
Newberry’s “I Just Dropped In (To See
What Condition My Condition Was In)” (bizarrely popularized
in high psychedelic fashion in 1968 by
The First Edition, a band featuring Kenny
Rogers and other ex-members of The
New Christie’s Minstrels). Mick
Harvey and Anita
Lane also
take stabs at a couple of tunes. This album is significant for
Kid Congo Powers because he steps up to the mic for the first
time since The Fur Bible
for “You Seen Angel Jesus?” and “My Gift To
You.” Overall, for a the band known more for Teutonic heavy
brawn and precision, they exhibit a surprising amount of versatility
and soul in working with vocalists.
DIE
HAUT
Head On
XXX, 1992
Head
On celebrates Die Haut’s tenth anniversary with a bang.
Whereas their previous albums were at least half instrumental,
the primary distinction of Head On is that it features
a guest vocalist on each track - and not just any guest vocalists
- Kim
Gordon, Alan
Vega, Christina
Martinez, Debbie
Harry, Jeffrey
Lee Pierce, Blixa
Bargeld, Lydia
Lunch, Anita Lane, and, of course, Kid Congo Powers.
Here you will find Kid on a couple of duets – “Excited”
with Anita Lane and “Parts Unknown” with Lydia Lunch
– transforming him overnight into the Kenny Rogers of the
underground. Kid has included a live bootleg version of the “Parts
Unknown” duet from a gig in Kiev on his Solo
Cholo compilation.
DIE
HAUT
Sweat
XXX. 1993
The
appropriately titled Sweat was recorded live in Berlin in 1992
to celebrate Die Haut’s tenth anniversary and support their
new album Head On. In addition to returning to a format
that includes their blistering instrumentals, they again have
an all-star cast of vocalists sans Kenny Rogers. This time Nick
Cave returns to fold - joining Einsturzende
Neubauten’s Alex
Hacke, Lydia Lunch, Blixa Bargeld, and Kid. Cave
tackles another sixties chestnut, The
Loved Ones’ “Sad Dark Eyes” –
plus a couple of numbers from his 1983 collaboration with Die
Haut, Burning The Ice. Blixa covers Peggy
Lee’s “Johnny Guitar.” Here Kid
sings more songs than on any record up to this point: “In
The Heat Of The Night” from his 1989 solo EP with the same
title, “(You Seen) Angel Jesus?” from 1988’s
Headless Body in Topless Bar, “Golden Gate,”
and his duet with Lydia Lunch from Head On, “Parts
Unknown.” They also filmed a seperate show for a live video
with the same cast - also entitled Sweat.
