Die Unbekannten (The Unknown) - Don't Tell Me Stories

A few months following an unconventional performance as the impromptu formation Le Sang Froid, together with Kristof Hahn (The Swans) Mark Reeder was asked if he would like to perform at the upcoming Konzert zur Einheit der Nation on the 17 June 1981 in SO36. In a stupor, he said he would. The next day, he realised he had no band, no songs and no idea why he had actually agreed. He called his friend Alistair Gray, another Brit washed up on the shores of the island of West-Berlin and asked him if he could sing. Al gave Mark a bathroom rendition of Strangers in the Night and Mark said, that's great, come round to my flat and I will show you how to play bass, we have a gig next Wednesday! At this point, the twosome had no band name and no intention of taking this folly any further than the one-off appearance.

The gig itself was a complete shambles from the onset. While waiting for a sound-check that never happened, the duo sat in the Franken pub across the road, drinking liquid courage whilst finishing the lyrics to Radio War. Hours later, drunk and drugged they stumbled on stage, to perform their three-song set. In a panic, Mark accidentally flipped the wrong drum pattern on their MFB drum machine and an unknown bossa-nova rhythm suddenly caused complete confusion between the two of them. Alistair had also cleverly taped the lyrics of Radio War to his Mic stand, but now couldn't read anything due to the bright stage lights.

He had to bend down to read each line. Much to their surprize, their unscripted Avant-Garde performance went down very well. A least they didn't get canned off stage like some of the previous artists. That at least, was something positive. Coming off stage and vowing never to do that again, they were overwhelmed by praise and offers of a recording contract from Elisabeth Recker, who ran the Monogam Record Label.

This first ever performance of Radio War presented here, was initially released on the vinyl compilation album Licht & Schatten in 1981.

First though, before they could release a record, they needed a band name. A glowing review of their concert by Andre Schwerdt in the local Zitty Magazine, inadvertently came up with the solution. He praised the Two Unknown Englishmen's performance and from then on, the duo were known as Die Unbekannten (The Unknown). Mark and Alistair went into Harris John's Musiclab studio and were joined by Thomas Wydler on drums and percussion. Monogam released Die Unbekannten on 12” (inch) in 1981 to critical acclaim.

Its destiny to be a smash hit was cut short however, when the photographer of the artworks iconic photo, withdrew his permission after seeing the poster plastered all over the city and the pressing had to be halted and copies withdrawn from the shelves.

As Die Unbekannten, they performed at The Festival Genialer Diletanten and eventually all over Europe, mainly as the support act for Malaria! (who Reeder co-managed together with Jochen Hulder of Totenkopf Schallplatten and manager of Die Toten Hosen). They were also the first band to perform secret and highly illegal gigs in Communist Eastern Europe.

Their second Monogam release, Dangerous Moonlight, was conceived after Adrian Wright (Human League) gifted Die Unbekannten a Prototype Roland TR606 Drum computer to test.

They immediately ran home, and wrote two tracks, Don't Tell Me Stories and Perfect Love and then went into Harris Johns' Musiclab studio the following week. Danny Briottet (of Renagade Soundwave) was visiting Mark at the time, and he performed the cooking-pot solo on DTMS. Consequently, it became the first record to feature a Roland 606 Drum Computer.

Thomas Wydler left Die Unbekannten shortly after performing on Against the Wall to play with Die Haut and later, Nick Cave's Bad Seeds. The longest track on the Dangerous Moonlight EP is The Game, a song about how jaded journalists lived off the misery of suffering refugees in war torn cities like Beirut or Gaza and the psychological effects war has on them. Their Egyptian friend Abu Hamil recited a moving poem, which provided the authentic Arabian ambience. A few years later, they revisited the song for a video Mark Reeder made for the film Let’s Go West - Berlin Undercover.

These 4 tracks formed the basis for their second EP.

Both of these Monogam releases have meanwhile become some of the most sought-after Darkwave-Goth classics and Die Unbekannten have meanwhile, become referred to as the Godfathers of Goth.

This album is a collection of both Die Unbekannten Monogam EPs (which were initially featured as a limited edition release on Vinyl-on-Demand in 2005). This expanded digital release features both Remastered EPs, more demos, live tracks and specially revamped and restored versions, which were initially created for the documentary film, B-Movie (Lust & Sound in West Berlin).

Released June 2023 and available at Mark Reeder’s BandCamp page and MP3 < here

1. Radio War (Original Monogam 12 inch version Remastered)
2. Casualties (Original Monogam 12 inch version Remastered)
3. Poseidon (Original Monogam 12 inch version Remastered)
4. Against The Wall (Original Monogam 12 inch version Remastered)
5. The Game (Original Monogam 12 inch version Remastered)
6. Perfect Love (Original Monogam 12 inch version Remastered)
7. Don't Tell Me Stories (Original Monogam 12 inch version Remastered)
8. The Game (Video Version)
9. Alone (Live in Salle Ex, Brussels 1981)
10. Casualties (Live in Salle Ex, Brussels 1981)
11. Radio War (Live again in Salle Ex, Brussels 1981)
12. Perfect Love (Reperfected)
13. Don't Tell Me Stories (Retold)
14. Against The Wall (Reconstructed)
15. Casualties (Recounted)
16. Radio War (Retuned)
17. You Hurt Me For The Last Time
18. Radio War (Live at SO36, Berlin 17.6.81)
19. Don't Tell Me Stories