Wise Guys

German a cappella group Smart Men were a most unlikely achievement story. Not merely certainly are a cappella groupings an authentic rarity in the 21st hundred years, however the barbershop-style quintet were able to achieve remarkable industrial achievement in the German-language globe, offering out concerts and launching ever more popular albums. It helped, obviously, the fact that group sang amusing, frequently humorous pop music that appropriated areas of concurrently well-known music, from rap and reggae to rock and roll and techno — even while performing entirely free from musical equipment. The popularity from the Smart Guys appeared to reach an apex with Radio (2006), an idea recording fashioned in the way of the radio broadcast, including jingles and information bulletins (a good horoscope). Radio peaked at number 3 within the German recording charts, held back again from the main spot only from the Crimson Sizzling Chili Peppers and Silbermond; it continued to be in the very best 100 for 15 weeks — pretty good for an a cappella launch. The Smart Guys started in Cologne, Germany, where users Daniel Dickopf, Edzard Hüneke, Marc Sahr, Clemens Tewinkel, and Christoph Tettinger had been enrolled as college students from 1981 to 1990 at Hildegard von Bingen Gymnasium. Upon graduation, they started pursuing a specialist music profession and produced their documenting debut with Dut-Dut-Duah! (1994), that was mainly in British and included some addresses (e.g., “Eight Times weekly”). Tettinger remaining the group in 1995 and was changed by Ferenc Husta, who produced his debut on another Smart Guys launch, Haarige Zeiten (1996), which exhibited a change toward unique German-language materials. Thereafter the people were provided a recording agreement with EMI, plus they proceeded to record their 1st recording in a specialist studio with an authentic manufacturer, Uwe Baltrusch, who continue to use the Smart Men on successive albums. The effect, Alles im Grünen Bereich (1997), was nearly entirely compiled by Dickopf and sung in German, apart from a Billy Joel cover (“Lullabye [Goodnight, My Angel]”), therefore was another Smart Guys record, Skandal (1999), including another Joel cover (“Main Beverage Rag”), a cover of Extreme’s “A LOT MORE THAN Words,” & most amusingly, among the concurrent Adam Bond theme melody, “Goldeneye.” The Smart Guys had began to gain industrial traction for this period. They transferred to Pavement Information and released Live (2000), a concert display featuring the majority of their best music to date. It had been their initial to split the German Best 100 record chart, reaching amount 93. Their following, Ganz Weit Vorne (2001), do more than split the very best 100; it finished up breaking the very best 50, partly due to the group’s initial bona fide strike one, “Jetzt Ist Sommer.” The Smart Guys’ strike streak continuing with Klartext (2003) and Wo der Pfeffer Wächst (2004), plus they offered their swelling group of fans several non-album produces, including a set of EPs (Früher, 2004; Weltmeister, 2005) and Dvd disks (Smart Guys, 2003; Smart Men Spezialnacht Philipshalle Düsseldorf, 6. November 2004, 2005), furthermore to stable concert appearances through the entire German-language world. All this activity arranged the stage for Radio (2006), probably the most effective Smart Guys launch to date. Designed in the way of the radio broadcast, the idea recording peaked at number 3 on the recording chart and continued to be in the very best 100 for an extraordinary 15 weeks, affirming the impressive popularity from the Smart Guys. An individual, “Klinsi, Warum Hast Du das Getan?,” was also released in 2006. The Smart Guys’ popularity continuing with the launch of 2008’s Frei! which peaked at number 2 within the German record charts. By the end of 2008, Clemens Tewinkel made a decision to keep the group, getting changed by Nils Olfert. 2010 noticed the discharge of their 11th recording, Klassenfahrt, once again peaking at number 2 around the German recording graphs. In 2012, the recording Zwei Welten premiered. Split into two parts — the 1st a cappella, the next with instrumental support — the recording was originally released as individual discs, eventually becoming packaged collectively as Zwei Welten Komplet.