Gaby Book 27 Smell of the Crowd by Maddy Bell Copyright© 2022 Madeline Bell Life has some certainties, birth and death of course, but the rest is a mix of Minestrone and Spaghetti, some of which we have no direct influence over. We can however decide whether we want Parmesan or other seasoning, we can give Gnochi a try, doesn't mean we'll like it but at least we'll know. Gaby has reached just such a point in her life, she knows she likes Pizza, she's not averse to Spaghetti or Lasagne but is Gnochi for her? The Gnochi in this case is doing the singing with BlauHase on a more serious level, as a 'hobby' its fine but could this be a change of career? Well you don't find out without trying so that's just what our heroine is about to find out in this, the 27th book of the Gaby saga.

 
Frankfurt, what can I say? Germany's fifth largest city, a huge banking and commercial centre, a conurbation second only to the NRW, saying Frankfurt is like saying Paris or London. As you drop off the edge of the Taunus you can see out to the airport and for a short distance you can see the skyscrapers of the cities financial district close to the city centre. Of course Herr Silsman had booked a rehearsal room nowhere near the Stadtmitte or even the HR studios in Dornbusch, no we found ourselves in the grubby industrial district between the Hauptbahnhof and the river.

We had dropped Misty and Anna Louise outside the railway station, they were off to 'do' the shops then they'd meet us at the HR building later. I wouldn't've minded a look myself but this 'practice' has put paid to my chance of a bit of sightseeing cum retail therapy.

It seemed a lot of effort for such a short session but the rest of the band didn't seem phased at adding a third set up to the day. Of course, for yours truly there isn't really any setting up, plug in my mic and I'm ready but Animal has a full drum kit to put up. At least we didn't have to get all the speakers and stuff out as both the the rehearsal room and later the radio studio would have their own systems.

We were almost set up before Silsman put in an appearance.

“Morning everyone!”

“Was this really neccesary?” Marcus asked without looking up from whatever he was fiddling with.
“We need to make the most of this opportunity Marcus, its not everyday you get a session with Britta Bursche.”
“I still don't know how you pulled it off,” Stefan mentioned.
“Its not what you know but who,” Silsman smarmed.

I know he's our 'manager' but it doesn't mean I have to like him.

“So lets hear what you are going to do then?”

Stefan counted the guys in and the first notes of Die Rhenish Mädchen filled the room. Its very much in the classic story telling genre, in this instance the infamous siren, Lorelei, okay you'd have to really know your Märchen to fully appreciate the lyrics. But its got quite a catchy beat and a simple chorus that Stefan, LJ and Marcus do and I quite enjoy singing it.

Robert clapped enthusiastically when we concluded, “a good choice, so what's this you want to do for the cover?”
“Its Erd's idea,” Stefan noted.
Silsman turned to me, “which is?”

Nothing like being put on the spot.

“I know its supposed to be one original and one cover.”
“Thats the format,” he confirmed.
“Doesn't give much of a sample of us.”
“I don't make the rules.”
“Well I was thinking, what if we gave a bit more of the BlauHase gig experience?” I told him.
“I'm listening.”
“Guys?”
“Ready when you are Erd,” Stefan replied with a grin.

Of course, we weren't doing it completely blind, so okay we hadn't actually done it with instruments but we'd tried the vocals sort of a cappella on the way down this morning – maybe a chance to practice with everything is a good idea afterall. It had been tempting to go for Luftballons as the main cover but when I tried it in the shower this morning it didn't really work, no instead the guys struck the opening bars of Thunder in the Mountains. 

There was a moment of silence in the studio before the clapping started, phew, they liked it.

“And that my friends was BlauHase with their talented young singer Erdbeer,” Britta enthused, “i'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more from them in the coming months, if you want to catch them live they'll be at Amphitheater Hanau on the seventeenth, then its Darmstadt Centralstation, Das Rind in Russelheim, Colos Saal Aschaffenburg, Mulheim Kulturhalle Schalnz, Mainz Frankfurter Hof before finishing on the twenty third at The Bed here in Frankfurt. So guys have you got something to play us out with?”

This was a bit unexpected, like no one got to play an encore on Britta Bursche's show. Time for some on the feet thinking.

“Thank you Britta, thank you for having us. This one's not in the gig set this time around but I think you'll like it, its an oldie from way back in the sixties, from the debut album of Tyranosaurus Rex., this ones for you Daddy.”

The guys often play it as a warm up and although its from way before my time and even his, its one of Dad's favourites so I know the words if not by heart, well enough, you can always slip a few extra di-di's in. BJ went into the bass intro and the rest, as they say, is history!

'Deboree-deb n' deboree-de-bree-deb
Deboree-deb n' deboree-de-bree-deb
Deboree-deb n' deboree-de-bree-deb
Deboree-deb n' deboree-de-bree-deb
Oh Debora, always look like a zebra
Your sunken face is like a galleon
Clawed with mysteries of the Spanish Main, oh Debora
Deboree-deb n' deboree-de-bree-deb
Li-di-di-di-di-di-di
Deboree-deb n' deboree-deboree-deb
Li-di-di-di-di-di-di
Ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni
Deboree-deb n' deboree-de-bree-deb
Deboree-deb n' deboree-de-bree

Oh Deborah, you look like a stallion
Oh Deborah, you look like a stallion
Your sunken face is like a galleon
Clawed with mysteries of the Spanish Main, oh Deborah
Da da da da da da da
Deboree-deb n' deboree-de-bree-deb
Da da da da da da da
Deboree-deb n' deboree-de-bree-deb
Deboree-deb n' deboree-de-bree-deb
Na na na na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na na na
Oh Debora, oh Debora
Da da da da da da da
Deboree-deb n' deboree-de-bree-deb
Da da da da da da da
Na na na na na na na na na na
Shh'

But I'm getting ahead of myself, lets go back a couple of hours.

'Where the mountains meet the sea
And lights spit stains on the scenery
And the air is heavy with a sticky unease
I wish for my world of make believe
And the rebel in my soul says go
And the rebel in my soul says go
Can you hear it breaking through?
Can you hear it breaking through?
Thunder and lightning
Thundering thundering in the mountains

Edelweiss, edelweiss
Bless my homeland forever
Edelweiss, edelweiss
Every morning you greet me
Small and white, clean and bright
You look happy to meet me
Blossom of snow, may you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever
Edelweiss, edelweiss
Bless my homeland forever'

“Well I wasn't expecting that,” Robert told us.
“So what do you think?” Stefan queried.
“It'll certainly get their attention.”
“That is the idea,” BJ observed.
“I must admit I might have suggested a safer approach but there's one thing for sure, they won't forget it quickly.”
 
We did another couple of passes, tweaking things a little to make it flow better, the sudden change in tempo takes a bit of practice to avoid carrying the faster flow through to the second part. After that we packed the gear back into the van, I found myself in Silsman's big Audi along with Stefan for the journey across the city to the HR studios while the others followed in the Tour 'bus' with the instruments. It was a bit of an awkward atmosphere, it felt like the time Woody drove some of us back to school after one of the Foresters cheer competitions.

Anyhow, we arrived at the office block that is the Hesse Rundfunk radio studios, not just HR3 of course but all the stations in the stable. Misty and AL were waiting in the lobby complete with a selection of carrier bags, clearly they'd found stuff to buy.

“This is so amazing, I never expected to be in an actual radio station,” Misty gushed.
“Me either,” I offered, “so what've you been buying?”
“Just some stuff, I'll show you later.”

I gave a shrug, there was other stuff on my mind.
 

“If you want to come through guys,” the floor manager requested, “Britta will come down in a few minutes.”

I'm not sure quite what I expected but the room we were ushered into wasn't it, it wasn't the biggest area, with all the mic stands and baffles taking up a good part of the space, with the drum kit and keyboards installed there was only a small bit of floor left for the rest of us. Okay, we're not doing the full gig thing, we only need to stand to play and sing after all, but its just as well AL and Mist were sitting in with the techs and Robert behind the glass. The guys got busy with tuning up again, a couple of technicians checking sound levels, it was actually about twenty minutes after our arrival when Britta Bursche arrived.

Britta, like the room wasn't anything like i'd imagined. She was older for a start, probably closer to Gran than my parents age, thats not to say she wasn't good looking, she was but in a very non showy way. I sort of imagined some sort of rock chick but like her age, her choice of clothes was more housewife than glamour personality, I felt a bit overdressed in a reprise of last nights dinner outfit all the way to my heels. Britta clearly dressed for comfort, jeans, T and moccasins.

“Excited guys?” she enquired after cursory introductions were made.
“Bit nervous,” I admitted.
“Just pretend you are playing one of your gigs,” she suggested.
“And forget the millions out there listening,” Marcus joked.
“You played Moselfest last year right, this is a lot more intimate. “so what we do is this, I'll be up in the main studio, when its time I'll do a short intro, you play the first number then I'll do the interview. After that you do your second piece, I'll come down at the end of the show for a chat off air. Okay?”
“How long before we start?” Stefan asked.

Britta checked her watch then looked through the glass at the techs. There was some sort of mimed exchange before she replied.

“About thirty minutes, I need to get upstairs or I'll miss the start!”
 

I used several of those minutes to use the facilities, well maybe that last coffee hadn't been such a great idea. Several more went into a run through of Mädchen before the 'live' light came on and we could hear Britta several floors above us.

“So today we've got a group from Bonn, BlauHase. They''ve got a loyal following at home, some of you might have caught them at Moselfest last year, they're in Hesse doing a short tour so lets go straight over to them, BlauHase, welcome to Hesse.”
“Thanks for such a great introduction Britta.”
“So Stefan, you've been playing together a while?”
“Just a few local gigs around the Rheintal for fun, we only got serious when Erd joined us last year.”
“Erd?”
“Our delightful and talented singer, Erdbeer Britta.”
“Thats an unusual name?”
Looks like I'm up, “when we first met my hair was strawberry pink, the name sort of stuck.”
“Well the listeners can't see you but I'm sure they're keen to hear you, what are you starting with?”
Stefan took over again, “Die Rhenish Mädchen, its a new song for the Tour, it's getting a good reception at the gigs, we hope
the listeners enjoy it too.”
“So listeners, lets hear from Erdbeer and BlauHase,” Britta concluded.

The technician counted us in and we got stuck into our first live radio performance.
 

“So Stefan, where did the inspiration for that come from?”
“I've always been fascinated by folklore, the old German heroes, there was a programme on RTF about the Lorelei and, well you just heard the result.”
“So you've used Germanic culture for a lot of inspiration?”
“Not exclusively but yeah, I can connect with that stuff.”
“I'd like to bring in Erdbeer here, what do you feel about that?”
“Well some of his lyrics take a bit of mastering but yeah, I like that the songs tell stories.”
“So just how did you become a member of BlauHase?”
“Well my sister, Juliette, she and her boyfriend were fans so when Max, thats my boyfriend suggested going to a gig I thought why not.”
Stefan interrupted, “she was singing along even in the pit.”
“So you spotted her right away?”
“Well she is a bit difficult to miss.”
“She joined you then?”
“No, she came to more gigs but eventually we convinced her to join us on stage.”
“Had you sung on stage before Erdbeer?”
“Not really, in church, Weihnachts carols, otherwise it was in the shower!”
“Ah, but unlike most shower singers you can actually sing. This is the band's first Tour?”
“Yeah,” Stefan replied, “we got a slot as a support at Moselfest then we did a showcase at the Rheinhall in Bonn, we thought we'd give it a go so we booked time from work, Erd arranged time from college and here we are.”
“Would you like to introduce the rest of the band for us?”
“So we have Animal on the drums.”
“Yo!” our drummer did a quick bang on his kit, the others did similar as the two Jo's and Marcus were name checked.
“And of course that just leaves our song bird Erdbeer and myself Britta.”
“So what have you got in the way of a cover to finish off for us?”
“We do a couple of covers in our set, this was a bit of a punk anthem back in the eighties, one of Erd's favourites, Thunder in the mountains by the English, Toyah.”
“Okay then, thanks for joining us this afternoon, I give you BlauHase with their version of the Toyah classic, Thunder in the mountains!”

Once again the tech counted us in, three, two, one.

'Where the mountains meet the sea...'

Maddy Bell © 10.01.2022