The Klaus Renft Combo is a veteran

German 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 ...

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

, formed in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

in what was then

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, in 1958. Founded by , the band enjoyed significant success in

until banned by the authorities in 1975. The band was reunited in 1990.

Ban

The group was very successful, but seen by the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

as far too radical. In September 1975, Renft were asked to play for the Ministry of Culture in order to have their license (a document necessary for any working musician or musical group) renewed. Klaus Renft decided to conceal a cassette recorder behind his guitar to preserve their session. However, the woman in charge of their meeting, Comrade Oelschlägel, informed them that they would not be performing because their music was insulting and libelous, and further told them that they " idn'texist anymore." She explained that it was not that they were banned, but that they simply did not exist any longer "as a combo."

Discography

* ''Klaus Renft Combo '' (1973) * ''RENFT'' (1974) * ''Rock aus Leipzig Renft-Combo live'' (1980) * ''Renft - Die frühen Jahre'' (1990) * ''RENFT LIVE 1990'' (1990) * ''Renft - Zwischen Liebe und Zorn'' (1993) * ''Das Erbe Renft - Wer die Rose ehrt'' (1994) * ''RENFT die schönsten Balladen'' (1996) * ''renft - live in concert'' (1996) * ''40 Jahre Klaus Renft Combo'' (1997) * ''Als ob nichts gewesen wär'' (1999) * ''Unbequem woll´n wir sein'' (2003) * ''Abschied und Weitergehen'' (2008) * ''RENFT GOES ON Live 2010'' (2010)

References

External links

* *
article in Italian on Il Sole24 Ore
{{Authority control Klaus Renft Combo Klaus Renft Combo