SCORPIONS SHOCK HORROR

Trembling to the tips of my innermost feelings, I looked into the eyes of my table companions. The unasked question hovered on my lip like a battery operated helicopter. Would I find the courage to dive into this deadly pool? Would I come out alive? Would I come out awake? “Many people say you’re different from other heavy metal bands...” I began timidly. “What’s the difference?” one of the exotic strangers asked. “That’s what makes us different,” explained his tall companion. “Well, what does make you different?” I moaned. The room whirled and my other personality threatened to make the scene in my mind. “You should answer that. We don’t know,” the tall one chuckled with a roguish wave of the eyebrow. “I know,” confessed the other, knowingly. “We do really,” continued the tall guy. “We are just joking! I think the songs are different. We still have the heavy background and power, but we have melodies, which most of them don’t have. But I will not say any names! No names are mentioned!”

That’s when I understood. The amnesia which had clouded my life since the Count’s desertion fled in confusion with my other personality close on it’s heels, leaving me alone and unprotected.

I was at the mercy of Klaus Meine, Herman Rarebell and a new double album, Scorpions World Wide Live. From that day on, I live with a secret shame... I LIKED IT! I LIKED IT! AND I’D DO IT AGAIN!

Kraut Confessions

Of The Klaus Kind!

What’s the strangest thing anyone’s ever said about your music?

Klaus: In the beginning they called it “Krautrock.” It was like, the rock of the Krauts. Maybe it was Sauerkraut, I don’t know.

Herman: On the other hand, we have many people saying in letters, “As soon as we heard your guys’ music it changed our lives. We’re very happy now.”

Terror Dog Eats Own Foot In Bizarre Suicide Bid! Demands Kibbles*n>Bits! Klaus: The bad part of the Heavy Metal Image is all this blood and shit, and all this violence and stuff. The thing I don’t like with some heavy metal bands is the image taking over; it’s not the music that people are talking about, it’s just the bloody image. It’s the same thing again and again...here’s some blood and here’s some chains and the bloody riff and that’s it. It’s not a lot.

Man Drinks 99 Bottles Of Beer...ON THE WALL!

Do folks over here ever expect you to behave like cartoon Germans?

Herman: I’m sure there are still some people who think all Germans should be in shorts...with beer steins. They think about Munich and the beer and the October Beer Festivals.

Klaus: I never went to the Octoberfest...the first time was when I was invited for a California radio station. They were broadcasting live from the Octoberfest in Munich to L.A.

Five-Year-Old Feline In Quad Birth Medical Miracle! Herman: ’79...we came to America and we couldn’t even get a record contract. Everybody told us, “Heavy metal is dated, that’s over, you guys forget it.” Klaus: In ’79 they all had short haircuts and punk stuff. Everybody was going, “Hard rock is over,” but I think hard rock’s got everything. It’s got the balls, it’s got the power, it’s got the melodies, the rhythm, the feel. Especially over here in America. When you hear a heavy metal song in America, it sounds much different than when you hear it in Europe. When you hear Led Zeppelin, they sound good everywhere, but sound even better in California. It fits perfect.

Herman: In Europe, it is tense and closed. Here it is open and big.

Klaus: The song, “The Zoo,” it’s very American. Very open and very heavy.

Return Of The Son Of The Night Of The Living Dead! Teenage Zombies Invade Home! Herman: Our documentary shows the band backstage, it shows the band onstage, private scenes, scenes at, home, philosophies. It shows really everybody how he is. We had a 100 hours of film to look at, and out of a 100 hours, there’s one hour of film, which is the final thing.

Klaus: In America it will be shown in rock clubs. It will be a home video tape, which will of course be shown all over the world. Herman: It is something our fans should know, what we^re really like.

Klaus: Our idea about this year was not to play many shows; we want to start writing for the new studio album. In the meantime, there is World Wide Live. We like it prettymuch more than the studio stuff, ’cause we’re a live band. We don’t like it so much in the studio. Songs are growing up when you play live, and they really grow!

It has a very big sound...

Klaus: It was a big tour, and we played all the big places, so it sounds very big! Most of the tracks are taken from shows in California, Paris, Koln and so on. There’s a lot of atmosphere on the album because people especially over here in America, they are really screaming like hell. They are so much into it. We were listening to the audience track...it blew us away! They are screaming like hell! For this live album we are not looking for perfection, we are looking for the best live atmosphere.

Alaskan Adventures... Teen’s Weekend Love Awakening In The Frozen North!

Alaska, huh?

Herman: Oooohhhh.

Klaus: It was great, it was like being on a health farm.

Herman: They’re freaked out. There was this one huge big guy who jumped on stage...

Klaus: He jumped on me...I missed two verses of the song ’cause this guy is jumping on me and three roadies tried to get him off of me. It was crazy, he was like a bear coming out of the woods.

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31

When we got there we saw a daily paper, the Anchorage, Alaska City Health Department is saying if you go to the Scorpions’ show tonight, you must be informed that you maybe will have hearing problems after the show...“We don’t say don’t go to the show, but you better get some earplugs tonight.” On the front page! Definitely we go back there, because this place rocks. It was sold out weeks before...8,000 people, some flying in from Fairbanks and other cities.

Writer Abandons Own Idea! Gives Stupid Headlines Up For Adoption!

Klaus: Once in St. Louis, I was dancing onstage and suddenly there was a glass in front of me. There were three scorpions, big ones, alive. I was going, “AAAAHHHH!!” So I took them out and throw into the audience. “Having a good time?” I asked...no, no, I didn’t.

Herman: Francis has played once with a scorpion. I didn’t even know they were deadly then. Klaus: In Las Vegas I remember the deejay came in and said, “WOW, you should come to the next room, there is real scorpion.” And Francis is going with his room key, boop boop boop.

Herman: I got a dead one once in the mail. At home I got one glass thing where there is one in there, the same way you put a boat in a bottle.

Klaus: I got a letter from Taiwan, outside was a girl writing something like, “In our country, if a horse gets stung by a scorpion it will be killed in one minute.” I could feel something inside, then when I opened it, there was something jumping out with a very special noise. For a moment, I thought it was a scorpion, and I went, “AAAHHH!”

I notice you’re taking good care of yourselves. Klaus: The next dressing room is two weeks away. We are saving up. It is a lot of asparagus and having oysters every night.

Herman: We all live very healthy except on the road; then we go crazy, party.

Klaus: The girls over here are very crazy, but Herman doesn’t know about it anymore because he just got married. You hear so much about this rock ’n’ roll image; sex and drugs and rock ’n’ roll, and for the girls, that’s the way it is. Unbelievable! Even in ’85.

Well, there’s a lot of girls in the world and they have to do something.

Klaus: It’s not the same thing in Europe. This lifestyle over here is rock ’n’ roll. It’s on the radio in the morning, it’s on the TV at night.

We are happy that we have so many girls in our audience, not only in dressing room. Makes big difference. They come for “Holiday” and “Still Loving You” and all the ballads, but they’re rocking hard. The audience sounds better that way. When it was only boys, it was, “RRRRAHHHHRRUUUHH,” and in Japan a few years ago it was only girls, so very high screams. Now it’s mixed perfectly.

Herman: Sometimes when we play “Still Loving You” there’s couples in front kissing. Very emotional.

Klaus: I got a letter from a girl and she said, “The lyrics of ‘Still Loving You’ are exactly the situation I was in. I sent the record to my boyfriend, and since then we are back together.” That’s nice, isn’t it?

Herman: Next time we should open up an agency for split-up couples!

In a sold-out arena, nobody can hear you scream. |§