The BossHoss is a German band from

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, founded in 2004. They originally started with country and western style cover versions of famous pop, rock and hip hop songs, for example " Hot in Herre" by

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and embarked on his musical career in 1993 as a member of the Midwest hip hop g ...

, "

Toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

" by

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

and " Hey Ya!" by

Outkast Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin, formerly known as Dré). Widely regarded as one of the greatest an ...

. They incorporate stereotypical American

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

behavior into their act; they wear Stetson hats, tank tops and large sunglasses, and display whiskey bottles. The band refers to their music style as "Country Trash Punk Rock."

Band history

The band was formed in 2004 in Berlin by Alec "Boss" Völkel, Sascha "Hoss" Vollmer and Michael Frick, and named after the song "The Real BossHoss" by

The Sonics The Sonics are an American garage rock band from Tacoma, Washington, that formed in 1960. Their aggressive, hard-edged sound has been a major influence on Punk rock, punk and Garage rock, garage music worldwide, and they have been named inspir ...

. They were featured in the trendsetting music show ''Tracks'' (on French/German TV channel

ARTE Arte (, , ; ' ('), sometimes stylised in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European Union, European public service Television channel, channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based Europea ...

) and played live during the Kiel Week. In late 2004, they signed a record deal with ''

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

Domestic Division''. In 2005, they released their debut album ''Internashville Urban Hymns'' and signed a promotional contract with ice cream producer Langnese, for which they covered " Like Ice in the Sunshine", the theme song from a Langnese's TV spot. The band played about 180 concerts that year. In 2005, they adapted "Ca plane pour moi" from Belgian artist Plastic Bertrand. In 2006, BossHoss provided the soundtrack for the football film '. Release of the first single "I Say a Little Prayer" on April 28 and the second album "Rodeo Radio" on May 19. Half of that second album were their own songs, the other half cover versions. After they had released the second album, their first album rose into the charts again, sold 100,000 copies by the end of May 2006, and became a

gold record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

in Germany.

Band members

The BossHoss - Oberhausen - Leonhard Kreissig - 14

* ''Boss Burns'' (Alec Völkel) - vocals, washboard * ''Hoss Power'' (Sascha Vollmer) - acoustic and

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

guitars, vocals * ''Sir Frank Doe'' (Ansgar Freyberg) -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* ''Hank Williamson'' (Malcolm Arison) - mandoline, washboard, stylophone,

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

* ''Guss Brooks'' (André Neumann) - acoustic and

basses * ''Russ T. Rocket'' (Stefan Buehler) - electric guitar * ''Ernesto Escobar de Tijuana'' (Tobias Fischer) -

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

keytar A keytar (a portmanteau of ''keyboard'' and ''guitar'') is a keyboard instrument similar to a synthesizer or MIDI controller that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is held. Overview Though the ...

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usu ...

Past members

* Michael Frick -

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

* ''Russ'' (Boris Kontorkowski) - electric guitar * ''Russ T. Nail'' (Dean Micetech) - electric guitar * ''Hank Doodle'' (Mathias Fauvet) - mandolin, washboard, harp

Discography

Studio albums

;Others *''Stallion Battalion live from Cologne'' (Released March 7, 2008) (Double-CD plus DVD)

Singles

Notes *"Hey Ya!" is a cover of

OutKast Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin, formerly known as Dré). Widely regarded as one of the greatest an ...

*"Hot in Herre / Like Ice in the Sunshine" is a double A side single with covers of

and the Langnese theme *"Heroes/helden" is a remake of David Bowie's "Heroes" *''Christmas-CD'' contains a cover of " Last Christmas" by

Wham! Wham! were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to ...

and "Riding Home for Christmas" *" I Say a Little Prayer" is a Bacharach-David composition; side B is "

You'll Never Walk Alone "You'll Never Walk Alone" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical '' Carousel''. In the second act of the musical, Nettie Fowler, the cousin of the protagonist Julie Jordan, sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" to comfort and e ...

", a Rodgers-Hammerstein composition *"Ring, Ring, Ring" is a cover of

De La Soul De La Soul ( ) is an American hip hop music, hip hop group formed in the village of Amityville on Long Island, New York (state), New York in 1988. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, eccentric lyrics, and contributions to the evoluti ...

DVDs

*''Internashville Urban Hymns, die DVDs'' (2005; available only in Germany)

References

External links

Biography at Motor Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:BossHoss, The German parodists Musical groups established in 2004 German country rock groups German comedy musical groups Comedy rock musical groups Musical groups from Berlin Parody musicians