Mojo JUNE 2004 – by Johnny Black
Portrait of a composer-performer whose influence has been wide-ranging and heretofore
unrecognized.
An inspiration to artists as diverse as Red Hot Chili Peppers Brian Eno and Julian Cope
Roedelius has pursued his unique and extraordinarily beautiful vision for half a century.
He has also lived a life that screams out to be told in a movie but this will do nicely for
starters. Born in East Berlin in 1934 he found early celebrity as a child actor in Hitler’s
propaganda movies survived the Allied bombardment of Berlin was drafted unwillingly
into the Hitler Youth spent two years in prison for his rebellious stance became a rubbish
collector farm-hand and masseur – all of this before turning German music upside-down
as a member of avant-garde bands like Kluster and Harmonia. Iliffe’s affectionate and
detailed book overflows with great stories from a previously untold life at the heart of
twentieth century musical change so that Roedelius is recognized for contributions to
music which have been in their own quiet way as revolutionary as Robert Johnson
Stockhausen or The Beatles. [The foreword is by Brian Eno]
http://www.meridianguides.com/
