Achim Reichel (born 28 January 1944) is a

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who w ...

, producer, and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

from

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, Germany. He is known for his 1991 hit single ''Aloha Heja He'', and serving as the

frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

for the 1960s

beat group Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a British popular music genre that developed, particularly in and around Liverpool, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The genre melded influences from American rock and roll, rhythm and blues, skiffl ...

The Rattles The Rattles are a German rock band, formed in Hamburg in 1960, best known for their 1970 psychedelic hit single, "The Witch". Career The Rattles performed in Hamburg, and played at the same venues as The Beatles on several occasions in 1962. In ...

, who, among other achievements, were selected to open for

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

on their last tour of Europe in 1966. In 1968, he co-founded the

psychedelic pop Psychedelic pop (or acid pop) is pop music that contains musical characteristics associated with psychedelic music. Developing in the late 1960s, elements included "trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, backwards recording, ...

group Wonderland, which also included English ex-patriate

Les Humphries The Les Humphries Singers was a 1970s pop group formed in Hamburg, Germany in 1969 by the English-born Les Humphries. The group had several chart hits in Germany and in other European countries. The Les Humphries Singers dissolved at the end ...

who would soon start his own

Les Humphries Singers The Les Humphries Singers was a 1970s pop group formed in Hamburg, Germany in 1969 by the English-born Les Humphries. The group had several chart hits in Germany and in other European countries. The Les Humphries Singers dissolved at the end ...

. In 1971, Reichel left the group for his own progressive

Krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in West Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electronic music, a ...

solo project, ''A. R. & Machines'', of which the first album '' Die grüne Reise (The green journey)'' was critically acclaimed and likened to bands such as

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize t ...

and

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineu ...

. Since 1975, Reichel has taken a keen interest in recording traditional German songs and classic poetry as modern-style music, which includes such albums as ''Dat Shanty Alb'm'' (1975), ''Klabautermann'' (1977), ''Regenballade'' (1977), ''Fledermaus'' (1988), ''Wilder Wassermann'' (2002), and ''Volxlieder'' (2006). In 2021, the 30 year old song ''Aloha Heja He'' became a great success in China.

Discography

* ''Dat Shanty Alb’m'' (1976) * ''Klabautermann'' (1977) * ''Regenballade'' (1977) * ''Heiße Scheibe'' (1979) * ''Ungeschminkt'' (1980) * ''Blues in Blond'' (1981) * ''Nachtexpress'' (1983) * ''Eine Ewigkeit unterwegs'' (1986) * ''Fledermaus'' (1988) * ''Was Echtes'' (1989) * ''Melancholie und Sturmflut'' (1991) * ''Wahre Liebe'' (1993) * ''Nachtexpress'' (1994) * ''Große Freiheit'' (1994) * ''Oh ha!'' (1996) * ''Herz ist Trumpf – Das Beste von Achim Reichel'' (1997, best-of) * ''Entspann dich'' (1999) * ''Wilder Wassermann – Balladen & Mythen'' (2002) * ''100 % Leben'' (2004, live album) * ''Volxlieder'' (2006) * ''Michels Gold'' (2008) * ''Solo mit euch – Mein Leben, meine Musik, gesungen und erzählt'' (2010, live album) * ''Raureif'' (2015) * ''Das Beste'' (2019)

With A.R. & Machines

* ''Die grüne Reise'' (1971) * ''Echo'' (1972) * ''AR3'' (1972) * ''AR IV'' (1973) * ''AR5 Autovision'' (1974) * ''Erholung (A.R. & Machines Live)'' (1973)

References

External links

* * 1944 births Living people German singer-songwriters German male singers Musicians from Hamburg Brain Records artists {{Germany-singer-stub