Paula’s Pop Week: Pimples, Popkomm and Dick

Documentary of the week: “Really – our youth”

Woohoo, wooooo. You’re nervously puffing on your cigarettes, I’ve now started the real documentary… kidding, of course I watched it in its entirety, tonight as soon as it was available in the ARD media library. “Really – Our Youth” consists of three one-hour episodes, basically like the band career of the five Flensburg-based artists, which lasted three albums. It was made by Kim Frank himself, who leads the story as the narrator. Back then, almost 25 years ago, Kim, Kai, Puffie, Flo and Gunnar constantly filmed everything, meaning Kim Frank had a total of 240 hours of video material at his disposal. Of course, this provides a unique opportunity to take a relatively objective look at a time that everyone probably has a different view of – at least an unadorned one. What was most important to Kim Frank was that the documentary was unadorned; he didn’t want to tell a hero’s journey. And no one really seems heroic. You’re more shocked at how young and delicate the five of them were back then – when they were famous and I was a fan, I was ten to twelve; to me they already seemed big back then. After all, they were often on television, people talked about their sex lives and their bodies, they were asked about drug use and so on – completely grown up. And as you can see in the documentary, some of them reacted quite coolly, were quick-witted and reflective. Until you see another shot where it’s about jerking off… Although that’s actually the most beautiful part. Not for the sake of jerking off, but because they talk about insecurities, because they talk openly about bodies, sexuality, love and even point the camera at them when they do that. They were really open, sweet and brave together.

That’s probably why it was important to Kim Frank to title the documentary “Our Youth” because it’s less about the glorious careers and more about these boys growing up. And even more so, this is apparently Kim Frank’s way of apologizing to the others. He repeatedly goes into what he should have seen back then, what he ignored, where he behaved incorrectly, and tries to find out where the group drifted apart. He is very strict with himself, I even think he is a little too strict. Most of the things happened when the boys weren’t even 20. Kai’s depression is always discussed, basically it’s the topic with which the documentary starts and ends. It’s heartbreaking how, decades later, the boys are still sorry that they couldn’t help him – in the end he himself appeals for more therapy places.

As always when it comes to the tension between boy bands and male bands, the documentary is also about the topic of authenticity. Real were basically a normal, okay band until an older friend pushed them up without them even having time to think about what they wanted to be. Kim quickly realized that he wanted to be exactly the star he was made to be; the others, “the boys”, as he often calls them, wanted above all to make their own music. Of course, it must have been particularly painful that the big hits didn’t come from “the boys”, but from others – and when they finally wrote their album RECORDER entirely themselves, it flopped. And it wasn’t just our own internal battles that had to be fought. As with all groups of boys who are considered inauthentic, too weak, too popular with girls, real men should also be rejected in order to maintain their own image of masculinity. Eggs and bottles were thrown at the band and insults and threats were thrown at them and their families. Very similar to what happened to Tokio Hotel a few years later. Really needed protection; At one point in the documentary, Kim Frank says: “There was an ambulance with my blood type parked behind the stage.” My face, and then you shouldn’t go a little crazy here and there? When you see the boys today, they came out surprisingly well.

By the way, Kim Frank recently appeared as a real frontman again after 20 years – with a medley on “ZDF Magazin Royale”:

Netflix documentary of the week: “(I am) Robbie Williams”

Okay, I have to admit, I actually liked the following documentary even better, sorry! But this time I’ll keep it short, although here too the trend is towards a documentary series (four parts). It’s the story of Robbie Williams, which he also tells himself. Old video material is also viewed here, some of which Robbie sees for the first time and is filmed. I think this one-sided celebrity documentary thing is so much better than when some talking heads show up telling you when they started to worry about him and how bad that one live moment was for them at the time.

Nah, what it takes is a Robbie with no underwear on the bed, looking at old footage and reflecting. How every now and then his daughter comes in and he has to send her away because he’s ashamed. How he finally tells his truth because he no longer suppresses it. How he admits not only his own dismay, but also his asshole parts. How he hopefully plays his part in ensuring that people are not put under pressure by the music industry, the media and also the fans to always function despite their depression, anxiety and addictions.

In my opinion it is the best celebrity documentary in recent years. Only one question remains: WHY ON HEAVEN’S SAKE IS HE NOT WEARING PANTS?

Christmas music of the week

I promised it last time, today the good Christmas releases are coming.

1. Samara Joy – “A Joyful Holiday”

Oh, what a life one could have, which is accompanied by Samara Joy… Loft in New York City, large window facade,… below lies the snow-covered city, crowned with lights,… inside everything is indirectly lit, a huge tree,… heavy, dark Furniture, … a vegan roast is already ready, the friends ring the bell, have red wine with them, … talk about their architecture and art gallery jobs. I don’t know if you want to have a life like that, but maybe for the duration of the EP.

2. Brandy – CHRISTMAS WITH BRANDY

The best Christmas is the R’n’B Christmas. I was surprised because it’s actually Brandy’s first Christmas album, where was she in the noughties? It was released to coincide with the currently popular Netflix film “Best. Christmas. Ever” (with Heather Graham and Jason Biggs), which of course also includes singing. Cool enough, CHRISTMAS WITH BRANDY not only features cover versions, but also six brand new songs.

3. Laufeny – “A Very Rundey Holiday!”

What else can you say about that? Laufeny was obviously born to sing Christmas songs. There are three on this mini EP.

Song of the week: “Baba” by Apsilon

I first found out about this song through the music edition of ZDF magazine (the one with Kim Frank) – and immediately cried. “Baba” by Berlin rapper Apsilon. It’s about fathers, about masculinity, about regret.

Men’s news of the week

• Snoop Dogg quits smoking, that was THE big pop headline recently. Well, now it turns out it was just a (very good) promotional stunt for a smoke-free fireplace.

• Diddy, Puff Daddy, Sean Combs, you name it, was sued for abuse and rape by his ex-partner Cassie, who was successful as an R’nB’ singer in the mid-noughties. A settlement was agreed just one day later. Cassie said she wanted to at least regain control now. The fact that people don’t want to get involved in a process that will probably last a long time and that will be closely watched by the public is easy to understand, at least after what happened to Amber Heard.
• André 3000, rapper and 50 percent of Outkast, has released his first solo album. And he whistles on it! He explains why just by the title of the first track: “I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time”. He also stated in an interview that he simply has no idea what else he should rap about at his age. Yes, sometimes everything has been said but not yet spoken.

What happened until now? Here is an overview of all the pop column texts.