The pictures went around the world: Andreas Frege (60) from Mettmann in the Rhineland waves in tails from the outside staircase of Bellevue Palace in Berlin. As is well known, this is the official residence of Federal President Walter Steinmeier. On Wednesday evening there was “Lecker Essen”; to talk to Hape Kerkeling in his legendary Queen Beatrix sketch.
The reason for the royal parade is the first state visit of the British King Charles, who has often stayed in Germany in his permanent role as “Prince”. So far, so official. “Surprising guest list at the banquet” noted the “Hamburger Abendblatt”.
This not only means “Let’s Dance” TV juror Motsi Mabuse, but also Frege, who is better known to many under his punk name Campino. Singer of a band that, in its wild early years, liked to cause a real riot with a badass horror atmosphere.
Campino lives between Germany and England
As a Liverpool fan, half-Englishman and man of international cultural exchange, Campino is of course a good, modern choice for the Office of the Federal President. The Presidential staff usually “curate” such highly official invitation lists in long night sessions. It is not uncommon for society to get upset when, as is currently the case, someone prominent is NOT allowed to eat. Georg Friedrich Prince of Prussia, for example, had to stew in his own hunting lodge, as “Der Spiegel” snippyly notes.
But what does it mean when Campino now represents the German pop music scene in front of the world? Normally, the Scorpions, Herbert Grönemeyer or Marius Müller-Westernhagen take on such state-supporting tasks, with at least four courses and fine wines from the Moselle (by the way, the menu included: marinated carp with watercress, then Heck beef broth, pasture chicken and tree fungus and finally prunes, East Frisian black tea and sand biscuits). Is the Campino’s appearance in tails even a sign of the “turn of the era”?
Now the judge’s son, who, according to the coal platform “Vermögen Magazin”, has easily 25 million euros on the high edge, has long since ceased to be an underdog. His men’s band, Die Toten Hosen, is only too happy to flirt with the breath of the early punk movement. Seen in perspective, the more recent mood hits of the trousers, such as “Days like these”, have long been pure stadium rock; popular not only with CDU regular voters.
Campino himself, on the other hand, which also makes him personable in a certain way, has long since stopped being afraid of contact with the bling-bling world. Legendary his kisses kisses with the Düsseldorf society lady Ute-Henriette Ohoven (77), who stands for the ocelot-fur-wearing pseudo-aura of the Königsallee (“Kö”) like hardly any other. A world that the Jung-Hosen have always and violently attacked.
Tempi Passati: A classic case of a “march through the institutions”, here in the noble punk variant?
Is that still punk?
Yes and no. While Herbert Grönemeyer, for example, has often discussed his millionaire status (see, for example, his album “Luxus”), the pants like well-controlled, shielded public relations. “In 2003, as part of a ZDF election, the artist was named one of the 100 greatest Germans. After all, he reached place 65”, states the “Verständige Magazin”.
So it will be interesting to see what Campino will say about the presidential gig in his role as the establishment lion. In any case, it’s not purely private.
Even if every man and every woman can of course feel embarrassed when dining in such illustrious circles. Anyway, we wish there was a little more, uh, Subversion…
In any case, Kurt Cobain would have given it the green light: “Punk rock should mean freedom, liking and excepting anything that you like. Play whatever you want. As sloppy as you want. As long as it’s good and it has passion..:”
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