1965 – Absolut Beginners

My first real encounter with rock music – then called "beat music" – was at the Christ König youth scout camp in Trier-West. Friends like Leo Lauter, Damian Knoop, and I met there with our old guitars. We struggled with "Wipe Out" and "Peter Gunn," while Leo imitated the rhythm of the German Bonds on chairs and cardboard boxes. Damian was the first to get an electric guitar and, lacking an amplifier, experimented with an old radio whose fabric covering vibrated. Leo soon followed with a drum kit. I, however, couldn't convince my parents to let me have a guitar – it wasn't until later that my father bought me a used one for five marks.

When I saw my friends again in the Christ König rehearsal room, they were now fully equipped, and Leo's brother "Fatz" had joined them. The sound impressed me – at the same time, I was sad that I couldn't play along. Soon after, the boys made a name for themselves in Trier as "The Kinks": Leo was celebrated in the Trierischer Volksfreund newspaper as "Germany's smallest drummer" when the band performed at the Apollo Cinema in Trier as the opening act for "The Lords" and later "The Rattles."

At 14, in my first year of apprenticeship, I founded my first band with Karli (Karl Weber), whom I knew from school and the Scouts. Karli, with his black Elvis-style pompadour, introduced me to Pitt (Peter Stefanovic) and Uwe (Kesselheim), and that's how "The Lonely Ones" came about.

The first was in 1968 at the first big rock festival at the Trier Civic Association, where we came in 7th place. There I met many future fellow musicians for the first time – among them Rainer Benedum, who made a huge impression on me with his drum kit and a black leather vest with huge buttons.

Our second gig took us to Saarland. Since our repertoire consisted of only seven songs, we played them several times that evening. In between, a local band was also brought on stage – that's just how things were done back then. There was no money; the landlord cited alleged GEMA fees.