"Rheinita" is a 1979 single by

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band

La Düsseldorf La Düsseldorf was a German band formed by the former member of Neu!, multi-instrumentalist Klaus Dinger, his brother Thomas Dinger, and Hans Lampe. La Düsseldorf released a string of successful albums (with sales totaling over a million) durin ...

. It was the band's most successful single. The success of the single in both its 7" and 12" versions led

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to offer the band a 1 million

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advance, should they break their contract with

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Recording & release

Following the success of their debut album, La Düsseldorf decided to dispense with producer

Conny Plank Konrad "Conny" Plank (3 May 1940 – 5 December 1987) was a German record producer and musician. He is known for his innovative work as a sound engineer and producer in Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scene in the 1970s. Plank was involv ...

and buy their own studio in Düsseldorf. ''

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'' evolved over several years in the studio, the band now having unrestricted studio access. The album was released in 1978, and was followed the next year by the "Rheinita" single. Unusually for a hit record it is instrumental (as was ''Silver Cloud'') and over seven minutes long in the full 12" version. Nevertheless it sold well in Germany, some music magazines making it "record of the year". The band were forced to go on tour in support of the single, an enterprise made difficult by the heavily overdubbed nature of their music, and of "Rheinita" in particular. They played a free concert for television, recordings of which are widely available on the internet, in which the band members mimed their parts and danced enthusiastically on stage. The song itself refers to

Klaus Dinger Klaus Dinger (24 March 1946 – 21 March 2008) was a German musician and songwriter most famous for his contributions to the seminal krautrock band Neu!. He was also the guitarist and chief songwriter of New wave music, new wave group La Düsse ...

's two great loves – the

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, which flows through

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, and Anita Heedman, Dinger's girlfriend who had moved to

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in 1971. The B-side – "Viva" – is vocal, unlike "Rheinita", and features lyrics in

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and

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. The single was re-released on CD in 2008 by

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record label Bureau B.

Track listing

All tracks composed by

. 7" Single and CD # "Rheinita" – 4:22 # "Viva" – 2:52 12" Maxi-Single # "Rheinita" – 7:40 # "Viva" – 2:52

Personnel

* Klaus Dinger – guitar, keyboard, percussion, synthesizer, vocals * Thomas Dinger – percussion, vocals * Hans Lampe – drums, percussion {{La Düsseldorf 1979 songs Songs written by Klaus Dinger