Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
      • Playlists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Music»Artists - L to Z»Artists - M
    Artists - M Music - 1960s 3 Mins Read

    Monks, The

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    In 1965, Ulm School Of Design graduates Karl Remy and Walther Niemann happened across a five-piece band playing in a bar in Stuttgart (Germany), called The 5 Torquays. The group members were all Americans – ex-GIs who had been stationed from 1961 to 1964 at a US Army post in Gelnhausen, close to the East German border.

    Discharged in 1964, the five decided to stay in Germany, playing in the clubs and taverns of Frankfurt, Munich and Nuremberg, practising in the afternoon, performing at night, partying until morning and sleeping until the afternoon . . .

    Remy and Niemann transformed The Torquays into an anti-Beatles, stripping down their original material to repetitive minimalist mantras which built up peaks of nervous tension, where lyrics became abstract shouted insults (“I hate you baby, but call me!”) or near-nonsensical Dadaist chants.

    Apart from singing songs about hate, paranoia, self-doubt, James Bond and the madness of Vietnam, they also used feedback as a weapon. It was industrial music with strangulated vocals, melody replaced by brevity and the kind of emphasis on repetition that became the calling card of later KraΓΌtrockΒ bands.

    After rejecting several different anti-band names (Fried Potatoes, Molten Lead, Heavy Shoes), the collective settled on The Monks. The associated image was a masterstroke – all black with long hooded capes, white rope ties and hardcore monk tonsures, with every step of their makeover photographed for the German teen mags.

    Relocated to Hamburg’s Reeperbahn and fuelled by booze and speed (Clark excepted) the mood became heightened. A contract with Polydor Germany followed and after a month of rehearsals, the band recorded their debut LP, Black Monk TimeΒ (March 1966).

    The chorus to their debut singleΒ ran “Complication! CONSTIPATION!” . . .

    The band began a non-stop tour for a year and a half, playing three towns a night. They were regularly attacked in the more religious southern Germany, but a Monks fan club started up in KΓΆln, with devout fans replicating the band’s tonsured image.

    German television appearances followed, and in July 1966, The Monks played live on Beat ClubΒ to a TV audience of six million.

    Tour exhaustion began to take a toll on the group, and an increasingly boozy Karl-H Remy left.

    Their singles became poppier, but the band finally split up on the eve of a planned tour of South-East Asia in 1967. The band members went their separate ways, reforming in 1999 for the Cavestomp garage rock festival.

    Drummer Roger Johnston passed away in 2004, and electric banjo genius Dave Day died in 2008.

    Gary Burger
    Guitar, vocals
    Larry Clark
    Organ, vocals
    Eddie Shaw

    Bass, vocals
    Dave Day
    Guitar, banjo, vocals
    Roger Johnston

    Drums, vocals

    Video

    Related Posts

    • Thunderbirds, The
      Thunderbirds, The
      Melbourne (Australia) band The Thunderbirds signed to Festival Records in 1959, releasing two EP's and two singles. Laurie Bell left…
    • Throb, The
      Throb, The
      Drummer Pete Figures and guitarist Marty Van Wynk had been playing together in various groups around Sydney (Australia) for some…
    • Duffy Power
      Duffy Power
      Duffy Power was born Ray Howard in Fulham, south-west London, and had been obliged by his parents to leave school…
    • Frijid Pink
      Frijid Pink
      Frijid Pink formed from the ashes of a covers band called The Detroit Vibrations. Their version ofΒ The House Of The…
    • Van Morrison
      Van Morrison
      Van Morrison was born in Belfast, Ireland. At sixteen he began playing tenor sax and started touring with a rock…
    • Bobby Cookson
      Bobby Cookson
      Australian singer Bobby Cookson started out playing guitar in a Melbourne group called The Premiers. In the early 60s he…
    • Roy Harper
      Roy Harper
      Roy Harper was born in June 1941 in Rusholme, Manchester. His mother, Muriel, died three weeks after he was born…
    • Val Doonican
      Val Doonican
      It would be a mistake to think that in 1968 everybody dressed like a hippie, smoked pot and listened to…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleMonkees, The
    Next Article Moody Blues, The

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    You May Also Like
    • Feminist and the Fuzz, The (1971)
      This 1971 ABC TV-movie revolved around a feminist doctor […]
    • Browning Version, The (1951)
      Andrew Crocker-Harris (Michael Redgrave) is the […]
    • Shirts , The
      ‘The Shoits’, as their Brooklyn accents would have […]
    • Sunstruck (1972)
      Young Welsh schoolteacher and choral director Stanley Evans […]
    • Time To Live, A
      1 9 5 4Β (USA) 129 x 15 minute episodes 28-year-old Julie Byron […]
    • Fantastic Voyage (1966)
      A defecting Czech scientist narrowly escapes an attack by […]
    Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

    OUR LATEST FACEBOOK POSTS

    www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-64558222 ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    David Bowie's handwritten Jean Genie lyrics sold for £57,000

    www.bbc.co.uk

    The handwritten sheet was given to the founder of the inaugural David Bowie fan club by the star.
    19 hours ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    edition.cnn.com/2023/01/30/entertainment/cindy-williams-dead/index.html

    More sad news 😒
    ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    'Laverne & Shirley' star Cindy Williams dead at 75 | CNN

    edition.cnn.com

    Cindy Williams, the dynamic actress known best for playing the bubbly Shirley Feeney on the beloved sitcom "Laverne & Shirley," has died, according to a statement from her family, provided to CNN by a...
    1 week ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 1
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64442824 ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Television frontman Tom Verlaine dies at 73

    www.bbc.co.uk

    His band rose to fame in the 1970s New York punk scene, scoring UK hits including Marquee Moon.
    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64418847 ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Mr Blobby costume sells for more than £62,000 on eBay

    www.bbc.co.uk

    The character, made famous by BBC show Noel's House Party, had been in storage since the 1990s.
    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    Put some beefiness into your mid-week menu with these recipe ideas published in a Birds Eye advertisement from the Radio Times on 30 September 1965.

    Put some "beefiness into your mid-week menu" with these recipe ideas published in a Birds Eye advertisement from the "Radio Times" on 30 September 1965. ... See MoreSee Less

    3 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 3
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    They were awful. An overpowering savoury flavour that lingered in your mouth for hours. Heaven knows what unmentionable parts of a bull went into making them 😳

    More sad news πŸ˜ͺ

    ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    US rock legend David Crosby dies aged 81

    www.bbc.co.uk

    Crosby, who co-founded both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash, had been ill for some time.
    3 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 1
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    This is what they promised us when I was a kid. What happened? 

All I have is 700 channels of rubbish on the TV in High Def, TikTok, Facebook and a phone I can take photographs with . . .

    This is what they promised us when I was a kid. What happened?

    All I have is 700 channels of rubbish on the TV in High Def, TikTok, Facebook and a phone I can take photographs with . . .
    ... See MoreSee Less

    3 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 54
    • Shares: 22
    • Comments: 7

    Comment on Facebook

    I thought we would have moving pavements by now when I was a kid πŸ˜‚

    Totally agree!!!

    The new Tesla, 4.6 next century.

    We got transvestite story hour instead

    We appear to be going backwards

    There's actually a very good David Graeber essay on this very topic: thebaffler.com/salvos/of-flying-cars-and-the-declining-rate-of-profit

    The Jetsons strike again.

    View more comments

    Renowned Australian singer Renee Geyer is dead at 69 following complications from hip surgery. Such a fabulous voice. RIP😒

https://nostalgiacentral.com/music/artists-l-to-z/artists-r/renee-geyer/

    Renowned Australian singer Renee Geyer is dead at 69 following complications from hip surgery. Such a fabulous voice. RIP😒

    nostalgiacentral.com/music/artists-l-to-z/artists-r/renee-geyer/
    ... See MoreSee Less

    3 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    That is so sad to hear πŸ˜₯ rest in peace πŸ™ πŸ•Š xx

    Gina Lollobrigida: Italian screen star dies at 95
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64292026

    Gina Lollobrigida: Italian screen star dies at 95
    www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64292026
    ... See MoreSee Less

    3 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 5
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    😍😍😍😍

    Vale Jeff Beck. Dead at 78. 😒

    ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Jeff Beck: British guitar legend dies aged 78

    www.bbc.co.uk

    One of rock's most influential guitarists, he was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.
    4 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 1
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    Load more
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Sport Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright Β© 1998, 2023 Nostalgia Central
    • About Nostalgia Central
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.