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The members of ''Die Toten Hosen'' (literally "The Dead Trousers" in English ; "tote Hose" is a German expression meaning "lifeless", "boring", or "nothing going on") are Campino (Andreas Frege), Kuddel (Andreas von Holst), Vom (Stephen 'Vom' Ritchie), Andi (Andreas Meurer) and Breiti (Michael Breitkopf). Vom is actually from England and replaced Wölli as the drummer in 1999 (Wölli's untimely departure from the band was due to injuries caused by a car accident), who himself had replaced Trini in 1985 and is still an honorary member of the band; Trini became the band's manager. The band has existed for over 20 years, and their songs' focus gradually shifted from funny and nonsensical to serious; the songs from their first LP were mostly about having fun, but by the end of the 1980s they were focusing more on political and social issues such as Racism . Part of the folklore surrounding the band is the story that in their early days they played for free on private birthday parties or similar events. However only under the conditions that the host provided for unlimited beer supply and payed for all damages caused by the band. The debut single "''Wir sind bereit''" ("We are ready") was released in 1982 , and was followed by their first album, "'' Opel -Gang''", the next year. In 1988 , ''Die Toten Hosen'' released the LP "''Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau''". It refers to the movie A Clockwork Orange based on the Book by Anthony Burgess . In 1993, Frank Castorf produced a German theater version of the book, in which ''Die Toten Hosen'' performed as actors and musicians. Their 1000th concert was on 28th June 1997, in the Düsseldorfer Rheinstadium, and was attended by more than 60,000 fans. A Dutch girl died in the crowd; after various talks with security and police, the band decided to play soft songs until the end, in order not to panic the crowd. Later the band produced the song "Alles ist Eins" in memoriam for the Dutch girl. Die Toten Hosen have collaborated with numerous other musicians (like Bad Religion , AC/DC , U2 , Rolling Stones ); they are also one of the few German punk bands popular outside of Germany (esp. in South America , Australia , Eastern Europe ) other notable bands being Die Ärzte and WIZO . As longtime fans of the their local soccer team Fortuna Düsseldorf they have been sponsoring the club from 2001 to 2003. REFERENCES Artist Andreas Gursky sold a famous work called "Tote Hosen", a blown up photograph of the crowd from a Die Toten Hosen concert. It features a crowd of German youths, many wearing the red Hosen shirt, excitedly cheering for the band. It is in the collection of the Museum Of Modern Art . Faith No More seem to be fans as well, as bassist Billy Gould is seen wearing a ''Ficken, Bumsen, Blasen'' T-shirt on their greatest hits album, ''This Is It: The Best of Faith No More''. In addition, Faith No More have covered the song "Hofgarten" in live shows. DISCOGRAPHY Albums Singles |
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