European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 13, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Red army feels the scorpions sting by Steven wine associated press the soviet army s defense scrambled in the face of a onslaught of heavy Metal music by the West German band scorpions. Not Only did Security forces relax restrictions so fans could stand in front of the stage but the red army joined in the applause at the Leningrad concerts billed As the first by a major hard Rock band in the soviet Union. Every face was saying of it s so great " Lead Singer Klaus Meine said. Even the soldiers they threw their Caps onto the Meine who was recently in Miami with the rest of the scorpions for a concert to launch their . Tour smiled As he recalled the band s 10 shows in Leningrad in late april. He said soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev s new policies of glasnost that permit a More open society made the shows possible. Musicians there told us this would t have happened one year ago Meine said. But now you have the feeling that you can talk to everybody about the concerts at the Lenin sports concert Complex confirmed the worldwide popularity of the scorpions who have played in such Distant locales As Brazil and Thailand. Every show Drew a sell out crowd of 15,000. We thought they were crazy to hold 10 shows in one place bassist Francis Buchholz said. I thought by the last show we would have three people. But people flew in from everywhere from Siberia to pop music artists such As Billy Joel have performed in the soviet Union but until recently heavy Metal was an underground genre. We went into a record store and tried to get some Rock music and they did t know what it was Buchholz said. He said the scorpions whose five members grew up within 100 Miles of the Berlin Wall initially had soviet authorities nervous. But the Well mannered band which relies on Catchy melodies rather than bluster to sell records was t interested in inciting a rebellion. Our music is not that aggressive Buchholz said. Our audience does t carry chains and knives and Stab each other. The audience is like the music we have it s positive. Drugs Are out anyway now. Sex is questionable. So we try to put some messages into our for the Leningrad concerts Meine and guitarist Rudolf Schenker composed a new song called living for tomorrow which is about taking a Chance to improve things. Meine who sings in English introduced the tune at each show by Reading the lyrics in the West German heavy Metal band the scorpions currently part of the monsters of Rock tour of the United states have been drawing sell out crowds around the world including in the soviet Union. Russian evil Power won t kill the human race if we give life a human Buchholz said the audience loved the scorpions whose new album Savage amusement is in the top 20 in the United states Are now part of the five band 25-City monsters of Rock tour headlined by Van Halen. We have no problem playing under Van Halen. We respect each other it s a great band Meine said. At the end of the Day we blow each other off the stage with a smile. It s a great Way to come Back to the group s last studio up love a first sting sold More than 4 million copies worldwide. The 1985 double up worldwide live was also a big seller. The scorpions have had one double Platinum two Platinum and two Gold albums in the United states and no other Continental european band has approached that level of sales. Albums Are deemed Gold when they be sold 500,000 copies including cassettes and compact discs Platinum Means 1 million copies have been sold. Composers Meine and Schenker met in Hannover West Germany while practising with separate bands and formed the scorpions in 1972. When they first appeared in a Hannover band contest they were disqualified for being too loud Buchholz joined in 1973, drummer Herman rare Ell in 1977 and guitarist Matthias jabs in 1979. The theme of physical sexuality has dominated the scorpions album titles and cover Art. Their dense sound is built around Meine s soaring voice and Schenker s piercing guitar lines. Sex drugs and heavy Metal on the big screen by Janet Maslin new York times even those who would never without the urging of wild horses dream of attending film about the seamy world of heavy Meta music Are sure to find Penelope Spheeris s the decline of Western civilization part ii the Metal years of unexpected interest. For one thing Spheeris has a Way of asking just the right questions. Although the director does not appear on camera she is very much a presence in the film conveying a genuine interest that wins her subjects Trust and perhaps tacitly goading them to new Heights of outrageousness. But when it s time to ask bluntly about sex drugs ethics or economics Spheeris is ready to speak up. So what do you have to say to people who think your music maybe in t All that original she asks. Where do you see yourself in 10 years what if you Don t make it As a Rock n1 Roll Star would you go out with a girl if she pays for some food if you did t like her in t that prostitution Are you in it for the Money of Paul Stanley of kiss who has smugly arranged himself in a supine position for his interview with three lingerie wearing groupies draped strategically around him she inquires have you Ever said to yourself i could fall in love with this Groupie?1 " Stanley flinches slightly and the girls look up suddenly interested. To say that Ozzy Osbourne functions As one of the film s chief voices of sanity May give some notion of what the other interviewees Are like along with several of the other big name luminaries who appear Here Osbourne conveys the impression that the measure of Success in the heavy Metal world is being Able to budget a stay at the Betty Ford Center. Newly rehabilitated himself Osbourne is interviewed while puttering around a comfortable Kitchen in his Bathrobe extolling his new abstemious Ness yet still having trouble pouring Orange juice into a Glass. Compared with Steven Tyler of Aero Smith who boasts about his musical and sexual talents and also declares i must be snorted up All of Peru Osbourne indeed seems to be a simple soul. On the other end of the spectrum and equally important to the film Are the heavy Metal Wanna be a the kids whose unguarded talk about their aspirations can be so revealing. I Don t want to be like Jim Morrison but i want to go Down in history like that says someone unlikely to do so. Another hopeful observes i want to be extremely wealthy. I want to be remembered for the rest of my life and for my grandchildren s grandchildren s whatever love of music these aspirants May have and the Brief performance excerpts in the film Are mostly loud and interchangeable it is overshadowed by their eagerness for stardom which they All View As inevitable. Uniformly those interviewed display a contempt for holding Ordinary jobs an unwillingness to contemplate anything Between glory and the Gutter and a Blind Faith that Talent will find a Way. Just As everyone Spheeris asks cites sex As his or her favorite Pursuit they All express the same certainty that great Success is just around the Corner. What if it does t happen i Don t believe that it won t because there s nothing in this life you can t do is a typical answer. In Spheeris s earlier hell in a Han Basket documentary the original decline of Western civilization about Punk rockers the brainpower quotient was somewhat higher than it is among heavy Metal fans. That s one reason that the new film is both so funny and so sad. For All the amusingly fatuous remarks heard Here and Spheeris has a great ear for these the overriding dimness of most of the fans and musicians is frightening. The women Are Happy to be exploited the men avid for new forms of self destruction and no one can see an Inch beyond tomorrow. The most startling sequence Here is one in which a Mother witnesses the death of her son. It has t happened yet but from the Way Chris Holmes of . Drifts drunkenly on a swimming Pool float guzzling Vodka out of the bottle telling lurid Groupie stories and marvelling at How much older he looks than his 29 years it s Clear that Holmes is on a severe and deliberate downward spiral. At poolside sits his Mother silently taking All this in until Spheeris asks Holmes if he is an alcoholic. Only when he s awake the Mother says. Spheeris never makes direct moral judgments but she suggests indirectly that Many of those in the film share a craving for just the sort of help Holmes Mother fails to provide. Among the More pathetic scenes Are the i imposes of Young women competing for the attention of a club owner Bill Gazzarri a 60-year-old who claims he s like three 20-year-Olds and works hard at using More obscenities than any of his Young clientele. And behind some of the band members bragging about taking financial advantage of female admirers it s kind of a Rule that Chicks Don t really get in the House unless they have a sack of groceries with pm is a hint of real helplessness which contrasts so markedly with the Power mad lyrics of heavy Metal songs. Wednesday july 13, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 17
