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Bonfire is a German heavy metal band which formed originally in Ingolstadt in 1972 under the name Cacumen. Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that emerged as a defined musical style in the 1970s, having its roots in hard rock bands which, between 1967 and 1974, took blues and rock to create a hybrid with a thick, heavy, guitar-and-drums-centered sound, characterised by the...
Ingolstadt is a city in the Federal State of Bavaria, Germany. ...
1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ...
Bonfire has a unique history to them as currently there are two bands whom have held the name. The original group started out as Cacumen, became Bonfire and currently performing as Charade. The second group began as Lessmann/Ziller and then purchased the rights to the Bonfire name, which they have used ever since.
In 1972, in the West German town of Ingolstadt a teenaged guitarist, Hans Ziller, put together a rock band called Cacumen with his brother Karl, whom also played guitar, then gathered a bunch of friends to complete the band. The name of the group was from a school test Hans had taken and it translates from Latin meaning “the top of a mountain”. For the next six years, the band played at local small venues, but had a fan base in their hometown. In 1978, the group consisted of Hans and Karl on guitars, Horst Maier on guitar (in 1983, Horst’s last name would become Maier-Thorn), Hans Hauptmann on bass, Hanns Schmidt-Theissen whom had a solo career previously on keyboards and Hans Forstner on drums. When the band was seeking a replacement singer at that time, Claus Lessmann, a fellow student of Hans', was hired.
Claus previously was in the bands Ginger and Sunset and was known for his harmonic vocals and he fit in perfectly with Cacumen. With this line-up, the band had a chance to start branching themselves out to venues outside Ingolstadt. A single record was recorded called Riding Away, which featured the song Wintertale on the flip side in 1979. The group used this opportunity to begin touring at clubs, schools and even in parking lots. The fan base grew and Cacumen was finally signed to an independent label. By then though, Karl had departed the group while Hanns decided to stay on the sidelines instead of being a full fledged member. The self titled Cacumen album was released in 1981 and featured a new version of Riding Away.
The fans of the band were growing, as were performance dates. In 1983, Robert Prskalowicz replaced Hans Hauptmann on bass and this group became the well-known Cacumen band, but when they signed with BMG, the group had a total make-over. Robert and Hans Forstner were no longer with the group as in May of 1985, the band had Joerg Deisigner, previously from Rascal and Dynasty, to play bass while Dominik Huelshorst from Darxon became the new drummer. Next, the group updated their image, donning the standard look of an 80s hard rock group. Finally, the company requested a name change as they found Cacumen was too hard for the average Joe to pronounce as well as was not a very marketable name. After a brain storming session in 1986, the new name selected was Bonfire.
Their world-wide debut album was released that June as Don’t Touch the Light. During recording of the follow-up album, Dominik was fired in November for not getting along with the rest of the band and Bonfire released their Gold seller album, Fireworks, as a quartet, the drums being recorded by Ken Mary from Fifth Angel. Two versions of this album exist, the world-wide version and the North American verison (cover features the four members as well as the represented 'You Make Me Feel' song from the first album).
Between the second and third albums, Bonfire went through many changes. Although Ken made live appearances with the group, a new drummer needed to be hired, which occurred in November of 1987 when Edgar Patrik from Sinner, Samson and Tyran Pace joined. In June 1988, during the Fireworks Tour, Horst discovered that the constant pain he was experiencing in his hands was the development of a crippling disease and he could no longer play guitar. Taking his spot was Angel Schleifer, formerly of Doc Savage, Red Alert, Sinner, Mad Max, Pretty Maids and Helter Skelter. The tour went on and once it was completed, the band settled down to collaborate for a new album. It was then that Hans had problems with the record company and especially with that band's management. Against the band's better decisions, he was fired from the group in 1989 and Bonfire carried on as a quartet. It should be noted that Bonfire's first two albums were the only ones that were released commercially in North America.
Despite the business decision, Claus and Hans maintained a great friendship. When Hans formed his own group, Claus was asked to write songs as well as perform vocals. Cruel fate would intervene and the record company wouldn’t allow him to do so, leaving Hans to find a replacement singer for his new band, EZ Livin'.
The decision to remove Hans from Bonfire was beginning to show on Claus though in Bonfire. After many attempts to break through in the North American scene and what he deemed was a failure for the four album, Claus left the band in September of 1992. His announcement was not a shock to the rest of the band, but it did leave them with the dilemma of who would take his place. One vocalist that had the group’s attention was Michael Bormann, whom was singing for Letter X and had his own group on the side called Jaded Heart, plus he was previously in High Voltage and the J.R. Blackmore Group. Even though he was willing to sing with Bonfire, he was committed to his two other projects so the group continued looking. The unsuccessful attempt to find a full-time vocalist lead to Michael becoming the new frontman of Bonfire in March of 1993. Although he did leave Letter X, he maintained his band Jaded Heart.
Despite the new singer, Bonfire was in a rut now. Their record company refused to release any new material that did not have Claus singing and the grunge years in music had started. The band kind of knew that the end was in site so a live album that featured concert recordings from the Point Blank Tour was released and had Claus on vocals. The album Michael had sung on was shelved and Bonfire broke up in June of 1994.
Meanwhile, Claus had reunited with Hans after he left Bonfire and together they became Lessmann/Ziller in 1992 (Hans broke up EZ Livin' for this project). In 1993 they released an EP, Glaub Dran, that was all in German. This was followed by a few single releases of songs that were not on the initial recording. The duo's following was starting to grow once more and then it hit them, they needed to be Bonfire again. In 1995, they decided to start legal proceedings to get the rights to the Bonfire name as well as the music from 1986 to 1992. Being successful in that venture, Lessmann/Ziller was renamed to Bonfire and the second coming began with the reissue to Glaub Dran with other songs in English in 1996. In 1997 they hired Chris Lausmann on guitar and keyboards, whom played with Affair and Frontline; Uwe Kohler on bass, formally from Black Tears, Paradise Leaf, Big Apple, Lipstikk, Blitzkrieg and British Steel; and finally Jurgen Wiehler on drums whom played with Backdoor Affair, Heaven Sent, Chain Reaction, Loud & Proud, EZ Livin’, Parish Garden, Wet Paint and 88 Crash.
Also in 1997, Michael and Angel got back together and wanted to release the shelved Bonfire album they had recorded previously in 1993. Joerg was not interested in being involved and Edgar had other commitments so the reunion was a duo and due to the legal decision Michael and Angel decided to call themselves Charade. The shelved album was then released in 1998 in Japan, becoming a highly sought after CD. The duo continue to work together.
Since 1996, Bonfire has released at least one album a year and their fan base has grown, surpassing their 1980s popularity. In 2002, Chris left the group, but that did not stop the band. In 2004 after successfully gaining the rights to more material, the band released a 5 part CD series called The Early Days. Part 1, 2 and 3 were the reissuing of the Cacumen albums, part 4 was the EZ Livin' album and part 5 was the Lessmann/Ziller album, every one of them featuring bonus material.
In 2006, Bonfire celebrates their 20th anniversary and now Chris Limburg from Wet Paint and Lustfinger has taken the reigns as the band's co-guitarist.
Band Members
Bonfire Claus Lessmann (vocals, guitar), Hans Ziller (guitar), Chris Limburg (guitar, keyboards), Uwe Kohler (bass), Jurgen Wiehler (drums)
Charade Michael Bormann (vocals, guitar), Angel Schleifer (guitar, programming)
Past Members Karl Ziller, Hanns Schmidt-Theißen, Hans Hauptmann, Hans Forstner, Robert Prskalowicz, Dominik Huelshorst, Horst Maier-Thorn, Joerg Deisinger, Edgar Patrik, Chris Lausmann
Discography
Cacumen - 1979: Riding Away single
- 1981: Cacumen
- 1983: Bad Widow
- 1985: Longing for You EP
Bonfire (1986 - 1994) - 1986: Don't Touch The Light
- 1987: Fireworks
- 1989: Point Blank
- 1991: Knock Out
- 1993: Live...The Best
Lessmann/Ziller - 1993: Glaub Dran
- 1994: Charlie & Louise single
- 1994: Für Dich single
- 1995: Die Antwort Weiß Der Wind single
Bonfire (1996 - present) - 1996: Feels Like Comin' Home
- 1996: Freudenfeuer (German version of Feels Like Comin' Home)
- 1997: Hot & Slow
- 1998: Rebel Soul
- 1998: Because It's Christmas Time single
- 1999: Fuel To The Flames
- 2000: Who's Foolin' Who (greatest hits)
- 2001: Strike X
- 2002: 29 Golden Bullets
- 2002: Live Over Europe
- 2003: Tell Me What U Know single
- 2003: Free
- 2004: The Early Days Parts 1 - 5
- 2004: Schanzerherz single
- 2005: One Acoustic Night
- 2006: Double X
Charade
External links - Bonfire Official Website
- Charade Official Website
- Bonfire on Allmusic
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