Biography
Birth Control is a German rock band that has been associated with progressive and hard rock styles.
The band was formed in 1966 in West Berlin through the merger of two earlier bands, the Earls and the Gents. The original lineup consisted of Bernd Koschmidder (bass), Reinhold Sobotta (organ), Rolf Gurra (saxophone, vocals), Fritz Gröger (vocals), Reiner Borchert (guitar), Hugo Egon Balder (drums), and Klaus Orso (guitar). Within five years of the formation, all of these original members had left the group. The band continued under the leadership of drummer Bernd Noske, who joined in 1968 and later became lead vocalist, and guitarist Bruno Frenzel, who replaced Reiner Borchert in 1969.
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Following the death of Bruno Frenzel in 1983, the group initially disbanded. It was reformed in 1993 with Bernd Noske as the only member from earlier lineups. Other members of the reformed group included bassist and vocalist Horst Stachelhaus, guitarist Rocco Zodiak, and keyboardist Xaver Fischer.
Despite the death of Horst Stachelhaus in 1999, the band continued under Noske's leadership, performing in Germany and releasing albums intermittently after 2000. In later years, former members Peter Föller (bass, vocals) and Zeus B. Held (keyboards) occasionally appeared as guest musicians during concerts. The band ceased activity following the death of Bernd Noske on 18 February 2014. The final lineup before this point consisted of Noske, bassist Hannes Vesper, keyboardist Sascha Kuhn, and guitarist Martin Ettrich.
In 2016, the band was reactivated and resumed performing. The new lineup included several musicians who had previously been associated with the group: Peter Föller (vocals), Martin Ettrich (guitar, talkbox), Sascha Kühn (keyboards), Hannes Vesper (bass), and Manni von Bohr (drums). In the same year, they released the studio album "Here and Now", their first in 13 years.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_Control_(band)
Studio albums
Birth Control (1970)
Operation (1971)
Hoodoo Man (1972)
Rebirth (1973)
Plastic People (1975)
Backdoor Possibilities (1976)
Increase (1977)
Titanic (1978)
Count on Dracula (1980)
Deal Done at Night (1981)
Bäng (1982)
Two Worlds (1995)
Jungle Life (1996)
Getting There (1999)
Alsatian (2003)
Here and Now (2016)
Open Up (2022)
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.