heavy ‘Krautrock’ bands influenced
Bowie’s late70s lookand feel.His
producerBrianEnocame fresh from
workingwithelectro supergroup
Harmonia,whosemembers included
veterans fromambient outfitCluster
andKraftwerkoffshootNeu!This
scene’s stylised, suit-cladpersonas
wereapedby theBrits:whenBowie
played
SenseofDoubt
from the
album
Heroes
liveonGermanTV
show
MusikladenExtra
, for instance,
hebeganwithanelectro-tinged
intro, then fell intoakeyboard frenzy,
thengrooved robotically likeadigital
doll before thecamera.
“Ihold the sameopinionasGünter
Grass,”Bowie told
Vogue
magazineat
the time. “ThatBerlin isat thecentre
of everything that ishappeningand
will happen inEuropeover thenext
fewyears.”
AsaBrit, Bowiecouldeasily travel
toEastBerlin throughCheckpoint
Charlie, although few recognisedhim
outsidehis stagepersona.ThatZiggy
Stardust face-paintwould surelyhave raisedeyebrows in the
socialist zone.OlderEastBerliners, likeSchmied’sgrandparents,
werepermitted tomakeday trips in theotherdirectionand
someGDRcitizens raisedeyebrows there too. “I sentmygranny
tohipmusic stores toask forNickCave,” remembersSchmied.
“Whatmust theyhave thought?”
So, did rockmusic reallycrack theBerlinWall? Iwalk to the
mostdecorative sectionof the formerdividea fewdays later.
At theEast SideGallery, 118artistshavemadeamockeryof the
formerpolice state,withmuralsofTrabants, thehalf-plastic,
smoke-belchingnational car, bursting through theWall.The
best-knownartwork showsEastGermanbossErichHonecker
snoggingSoviet leaderLeonidBrezhnev. ItwasHoneckerwho
allegedlygavehisborderguards the infamous ‘order tofire’ –
permission to shoot theirfleeingcitizens. Suchdrasticmeasures
worked. Before theWallwaserected, some20%ofEastGermans
deserted theGDR.After theWall, onlya trickleescaped.
Here I discusspopandpoliticswithMartinWollenberg.This
WestBerlinernow runsBerlinonBike
(berlinonbike.de)
tours
of the formerBerlinWall. “Of course, getting ridofpolitical
pressurewasan importantpoint,”he says. By the time theWall
camedown, one inevery63peoplewasaStasi agent; up toone
infivewasan informer.The levelsof recorded intrusion rendered
theirwork the largest surveillanceoperationona state’sown
people in thehistoryof theworld.
“ButWesternyouthculturewasvery important, especially
to theyoungpeople inEastGermany,”Wollenbergcontinues.
“FromWesternTV [whichmostBerliners could tune into], they
“WHENHE STOPPED INA
RECORDSHOP FORKRAFTWERK
OR TANGERINEDREAM,WEST
BERLINERSWOULDDIVE IN
DEMANDING TOBUY THE SAME”
PHOTOS
CORBIS, JEAN GAUMY/MAGNUM PHOTO, GETTY, MEISEL MUSIKVERLAG BERLIN
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