the Scorpions
Although the Scorpions have proven they can conquer the world with their sting, there were lots of lean years that went into the development of a distinctive style. The band first formed in their native Germany in 1971, with two key members who remain to this day—singer Klaus Meine and guitar Rudolf Schenker.
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the Scorpions
Although the Scorpions have proven they can conquer the world with their sting, there were lots of lean years that went into the development of a distinctive style. The band first formed in their native Germany in 1971, with two key members who remain to this day—singer Klaus Meine and guitar Rudolf Schenker. Their debut LP was Lonesome Crow, (available in the U.S. only on import). Over the next few years, the Scorpions did road shows with just about every other heavy duty rocker in the world. The hard, non-stop work was reflected in their next few albums which seemed to grow progressively stronger: Fly To The Rainbow, In Trance, Virgin Killer, Taken By Fire, Tokyo Tapes and Lovedrive. This highly respectable catalogue of music helped to set the mold for metal in the ’80s.
But first, in the 70s, the band went through some important personnel changes. Rudolf’s brother Michael Schenker left the group in 1974; Herman Rarebell became the band’s drummer in 1977, and Matthias Jabs, guitar, came aboard in 1979. This new fivesome made major inroads to international stardom with their 1980 Animal Magnetism album. It went gold in the U.S., and their follow up, Blackout did even better. However, it was their tenth album, Love At First Sting that brought the band all the way to the top of the charts. A single from the LP, “Rock You Like A Hurricane” went top 10, and spread their influence even further. In 1986, the band released a film/video and live album Scorpions World Wide Live and performed at several huge rock festivals in America and Europe.
