Jeronimo was a German hard rock band of the early 1970s. They had chart success in Europe with singles "Heya" and "Na Na Hey Hey", and released three studio albums in 1970-1972.

Band history

Jeronimo were founded in 1969 by Rainer Marz (lead guitar, vocals), Gunnar Schäfer (bass guitar, vocals) and Ringo Funk (drums, lead vocals). Their first two singles released in 1969-1970, "Heya" and "Na Na Hey Hey", became hits in several European countries. In 1970 Jeronimo toured successfully through Germany with Steppenwolf. The same they performed at the legendary Progressive Pop Festival in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. Following that, Jeronimo shared the headlines with such groups as Deep Purple and

Golden Earring Golden Earring (originally known as The Tornados) was a Dutch rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as The Golden Earrings. They achieved worldwide fame with their international hit songs " Radar Love" in 1973, which went to number one on ...

at various European open-air festivals. On June 9 and 11, 1970, they represented

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

in the ''Barbarela de Conjuntos 70'' contest held at the Barbarela Discotheque in

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, but were disqualified for running overtime.Billboard - 27 Jun 1970 - Page 60 "Focus, a Dutch group representing Luxembourg, and Jeronimo from Germany, were disqualified for running overtime on the second night." Jeronimo's first studio release was a pink vinyl split with

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, ...

called ''Spirit Orgaszmus'', which was a success throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

. All of the Jeronimo's six tracks made their way onto the band's debut longplay ''Cosmic Blues'' (1970, Bellaphone), its music described as "

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

meets

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

."Jeronimo
at the RockFaces Encyclopedia (Russian) In 1971, Jeronimo's biggest stage-performance in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , , , ) ; it, Losanna; rm, Losanna. is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French speaking canton of Vaud. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and fac ...

for

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid t ...

was televised worldwide. Jeronimo could be seen in numerous European television shows and in Germany they were on ''Hits a Gogo'', ''Beatclub'' and ''Bananas''. In 1971 Marz departed and with Michael Koch the band released their second album, ''Jeronimo'' (1971). The third one, ''Time Ride'' (1972), now on Bacillus Records, proved to be their final one. In 1999-2000, their hits "Heya" and "Na Na Hey Hey" were re-released on numerous hit-compilations. After some negotiations with the record company in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

, Ringo Funk successfully acquired the rights to all of Jeronimo's songs in November 2000. In the spring of 2002, 4 CD's (''Jeronimo'', ''Cosmic Blues'', ''Time Ride'' and ''The Best Of Jeronimo'') were released, digitally remastered from the original recordings, with bonus tracks on each of the CD's.Band history
Official Website The original line-up reunited in 2001 to play live but no new material has been released.

Discography

* ''Spirit Orgaszmus of Jeronimo and Creedence Clearwater Revival'' (split LP, 1970) * ''Cosmic Blues'' (1970) * ''Jeronimo'' (1971) * ''Time Ride'' (1972) * ''Best of Jeronimo'' (2003, CD) * ''Timevision'' (2007, DVD)

References

{{Authority control German musical groups 1969 establishments in Germany Musical groups established in 1969