BAP () is a German rock band. With thirteen albums reaching the number one in the

German record charts German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, BAP is one of the most successful rock acts in their home country. Nearly all of BAP's lyrics are written in '' Kölsch'', the dialect of Cologne, or more precisely in a Kölsch-influenced derivation of Eifelplatt, a regional variant of the

Ripuarian language Ripuarian ( ) or Ripuarian Franconian is a German dialect group, part of the West Central German language group. Together with the Moselle Franconian which includes the Luxembourgish language, Ripuarian belongs to the larger Central Franconian ...

spoken in the nearby rural

Eifel The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...

. Niedecken's most prominent musical influences, especially early in his career, were

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

the Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

, the

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and

Wolfgang Ambros Wolfgang Ambros (born 19 March 1952) is an Austrian ''liedermacher'' (singer-songwriter). He is one of the most important contemporary Austrian musicians and is considered to be one of the founders of Austropop. Early life Ambros was born ...

History

The group was founded in 1976 under the name ' in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Wolfgang Niedecken Wolfgang Niedecken (, ; born 30 March 1951) is a German singer and musician. He founded the Kölsch-speaking rock group BAP at the end of the 1970s and soon became famous with BAP all over Germany. He is the lead singer and only remaining found ...

and Hans Heres. In 1981, they released their most famous song "" (''Damn long time ago''), in which Niedecken describes regrets he has about his relationship with his then recently deceased father. The band's name "BAP" derived from "BAPP", both, a play-on-words on the '' Kölsch'' word "" (related to the German word ''dad''), but pronounced differently, and Niedecken's then-nickname. Niedecken translated a collection of

's lyrics to German for his 1995 solo album ''Leopardefell''.

Band members

Current members

(Information valid for 2024) * Wolfgang "Maître" Niedecken – singer (1976–present) * Werner Kopal – bass (1996–present) * Michael Nass – keyboards (1999–present) * – violin, viola, cello, percussion, guitar, trombone (2014–present, as guest 2006–2014) * Ulrich "Uli" Rode – guitar (2014–present) * Sönke Reich – drums (2014–present) * Axel Müller – saxophone, guitar, duduk, flutes (2018–present) * Franz Johannes Goltz – trombone (2018–present) * – trumpet, flügelhorn (2022–present)

Former members

* "Afro" Bauermann – percussion (1976–1977) * Rainer "Saxello" Gulich – saxophone (1976–1977) * Hans "Honçe" Heres – guitar (1976–1980) * Klaus Hogrefe – bass (1976–1978) * Wolfgang "Wolli" Boecker – drums (1976–1983) * Manfred "Schmal" Boecker – percussion (1976–1995) * Wolfgang "Gröön" Klever – bass (1978–1980) * Bernd Odenthal – keyboards (1978–1980) * Fritz Kullmann – saxophone (1980) * "Steve Borg" (Stephan Kriegeskorte) – bass (1980–1995) * Klaus "Major" Heuser – guitar (1980–1999) * Hans "Fonz" Wollrath – sounds (1980–1999) * Alexander (Axel) "Tschaikägo" "Effendi" Büchel – keyboards (1981–1999) *

Jan Dix Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

– drums (1983–1985) * Pete King – drums (1986) * – drums (1987–2014) * – percussion (1996–1997) * – saxophone (1996–2002) * – percussion (1999–2003) * – guitar (1999–2014) * – percussion (2014–2016, as guest 2008–2014) * – trumpet (2018–2022)

Albums

* 1979: ' olfgang Niedecken's BAP rocks different Colognian songs* 1980: ' efrosted* 1981: ' or cutout* 1982: ' rom the inside to the outside* 1983: ' ive – So long...* 1984: ' etween pretzels and beer* 1985: ' rystal night(UK Sampler) * 1986: ' ld slick men* 1988: ' * 1990: ' utting something over on someone* 1991: ' (Live) ..Rocking Out!!* 1993: ' even of Spades* 1995: ' renzy – The hits of 1979–1995* 1996: ' merica* 1999: ' * 1999: ' alking movie* 2001: ' very now and then* 2002: ' (Live) verywhere* 2004: ' ongs* 2005: ' hrice ten years* 2008: ' (plugged + unplugged) * 2009: ' (Live) ive and in color* 2011: ' o big deal; literally: Half as wild* 2011: ' (Live) ull programme* 2014: ' he tale of the unplugged plug* 2016: ' ifelong* 2016: ' he most popular songs 1976–2016* 2016: ' ifelong at * 2018: ' ive and pronounced* 2020: ' verything flows* 2024: ' Sartory">Sartory-Säle.html" ;"title="ime travel / Live at the Sartory-Säle">Sartory

Singles

* 1980: "'" [Chauvinist rock] / "'" [Frenzy] * 1981: "'" [Joe] / "'" [Woman, I'm glad] * 1981: "'" amn long time ago/ "'" [Laundromat café] * 1982: "'" [Kristallnacht] / "'" [Fashion surfer] * 1982: "'" ou can charm; literally: You can do the magic* 1983: "'" ake me with you/ "'" longside a guardrail* 1984: "'" hree wishes free/ "'" ign-off* 1984: "'" lexandra, not only you/ "'" y accident with a little bit of luck* 1985: "'" oloured ruins/ "'" * 1986: "'" lone at last/ "'" lmanya = Germany in Turkish* 1986: "''Time Is Cash, Time Is Money''" / "'" ob stuff, if you want (live)* 1988: "'" o be continued/ "'" * 1988: "'" ontainer season* 1988: "'" his felt good/ "'" aking it on the clown's credit* 1989: "'" / "'" o the right and left of the railway embankment* 1990: "'" verything's alright/ "'" ack then* 1991: "'" ace to face/ "'" n close reach* 1991: "'" he's addictive/ "''Happy End''" * 1991: "'" amn long time ago/ "'" est regards (Live)* 1993: "'" isgusting/ "'" lond Mohikans* 1993: "'" ike the moon's crescent* 1993: "'" few days earlier* 1995: "'" dance with you* 1996: "'" et them talk* 1996: "'" othing as it was before* 1996: "'" hristmas night(This is a German-language version of ''

Fairytale of New York "Fairytale of New York" is a song written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan and recorded by their London-based band the Pogues, featuring English singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl on vocals. The song is an Irish folk-style ballad and was writ ...

'' by

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) * 1998: "'" * 1999: "'" n and of itself* 1999: "'" * 1999: "''Mayday''" * 2000: "'" FC, step on it! (Promotion version)">[FC_Köln.html" ;"title="[FC Köln">FC, step on it! (Promotion version)* 2001: "'" very now and then* 2001: "''Shoeshine''" * 2002: "'" [End, over, okay] * 2003: "'" [FC, step on it! (the third version)] * 2004: "'" [Whenever you don't know what to do] * 2004: "'" [For Maria] * 2005: "'" [Woman, I'm glad] * 2006: "'" [A damn long time ago (The damn long single)] * 2006: "''Time Is Cash, Time Is Money'' (feat.

Culcha Candela Culcha Candela is a dancehall, Hip hop music, hip hop, House music, house and reggae group from Berlin, Germany. Sources say they formed at different times but in the range of 2001–2003. Their lyrics range from political issues, such as "Una Cos ...

)" * 2008: "'" ome tomorrow morning* 2011: "'" o big deal; literally: Half as wild* 2012: "'" ll the moments

Related projects

* 1983: Book ' AP about BAP* 1987: Album ' it times(Wolfgang Niedecken solo-album) * 1989: Book ' (about their Chinese tour) * 1992: Album ' et up and speak out; literally: Ass up, teeth apart(various bands from

, live concert against racism and neo-fascism) * 1995: Album ' eopard's skin(Wolfgang Niedecken solo-album with translated Dylan lyrics) * 2002: Film ' lot has happened(film by

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker and photographer, who is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among the honors he has received are prizes from the Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, Venice International Film ...

about BAP) * 2011: Book ' or a moment(autobiography by Wolfgang Niedecken & Oliver Kobold) * 2022: Album ' ylan travel(Wolfgang Niedecken solo-album)

References

External links

*
"Rockpalast"
concert, Markthalle, Hamburg, 1981-11-28 :27:41
Concert
Festhalle, Frankfurt am Main, 1984-11-23 :13:39
"Clubtour"
concert,

Batschkapp Batschkapp (Hessian dialect for 'flat cap') is a rock and pop concert venue in Frankfurt am Main. It is located in the warehouse district of the neighborhood of Seckbach, on Gwinnerstraße. History Batschkapp was founded in 1976 to establ ...

, Frankfurt am Main, 1991-02-21 :57:00
"ZDF@Bauhaus #61"
unplugged concert,

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

, Dessau, 2014-10-15 :02:22
"Rockpalast"
concert, Sartory, Cologne, 2023-12-09 :31:18