Birth Control formed in 1966 in West Berlin from the ashes of two other bands, the Earls and the Gents, with an original line-up 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). In those early years they played a hybrid of jazz and rock compositions, and in January 1969 the band sailed to Lebanon, playing sold-out nights in Beirut night-clubs for three months, before five members returned to Berlin, losing Borchert, who stayed behind in Lebanon and was replaced by Bruno Frenzel. By late summer 1969 the band were recording original material, and they released their first single 'October' on the Amadeo label. Their fist album soon followed for the Metronome label, bringing to the fore their penchant for humour, both both their name and with the album cover illustration. In 1970 they released their second single 'No Drugs', followed quickly by the local hit 'Hope', and apart from the song 'No Drugs', none of these tracks appeared on their albums. When their second album 'Operation' was released in 1971, some record shops refused to stock it as the cover showed the Pope together with a baby-eating monster, and so the UK issue changed this to feature two huge condoms, which resulted in a strike of the female British packers. This was the best publicity that the band could hope for, and the album was voted the second best record of the year by the readers of Musik Express. 'Operation' was a great improvement on their debut, adding a heavy rock sound to the subtle jazzy arrangements. 1972 saw some changes to the line-up, with Sobotta leaving the band for health reasons, and being replaced by Wolfgang Neuser. They also left Ohr and signed to CBS, who released the bands third album 'Hoodoo Man' in 1972. This record became a milestone in the history of German rock, with tracks such as 'Gamma Ray' becoming a cult song of the Krautrock era, and this song was also released as a two-part single in an edited version. In 1973 they released another non-album single in 'Nostalgia', and then followed this with their fourth album 'Rebirth', which was another successful progressive heavy rock album. In 1974 Steffens left the band, and so they carried on as a quartet, releasing the 'Plastic People' album in 1975, but in 1976 'Blackdoor Possibilities' was a commercial failure due to a more mainstream sound, and the inclusion of more jazz elements. They released a few more albums on the Brain label over the next few years, but following the death of Frenzel in 1983, the group disbanded, although they did reunite in 1993 with only Noske remaining from the previous lineup. Birth Control were one of the very best, and most popular in the UK, of the German progressive rock bands of the 70's, and they left behind a number of hard to find recordings from their stand-alone singles, so here they are all gathered up in one place, to remind us of what a great band they were.
Track listing
01 All I Want (b-side of 'No Drugs' 1970)
02 October (single 1969)
03 Freedom (b-side of 'October')
04 Hope (single 1970)
05 Rollin' (b-side of 'Hope')
06 The Work Is Done (single 1971)
07 What's Your Name (single 1972)
08 Believe In The Pill (b-side of 'What's Your Name')
09 Nostalgia (single 1973)
10 Gamma Ray parts 1&2 (single 1975)
11 Fall Down (single 1976)
12 Laugh Or Cry (b-side of 'Fall Down')
