KROKODIL STORY
- Part 1 -
How five guys gave birth to Swiss Progressive-Rock.

It was not without a reason that January 1969 was marked in the Swiss music calendar. It was the date of birth of KROKODIL, a rocky monster out of the progressive underground of Zurich, questioning everything that meant a lot to conventional pop-music-listeners. From now on pop music should no longer be accessible and dancable only. „Switzerland needs new bands creating their own music free of plagiarism; only like this the audience will notice the creativity of music.“ was the motto. And in order to stand out against commercial popbands, they called themselves KROKODIL and not THE CROCODILES.

First KROKODIL consisted of three musician-friends, which had been successful in music-business already. There was Lead-Vocalist Hardy Hepp who was signed as „Tom Jones of the Alps“ and popsinger at the Major-company LIBERTY/UA and who had sung the title song of Klaus Lemke‘s film Negresco. Drummer Düde Dürst had been playing with the beat-band LES SAUTERELLES, had launched some hits and recoreded 2 LPs. Multiinstrumentalist and Sitar-Guru Walti Anselmo had just been elected champion of a big Swiss Rythm- and-Blues-Festival and therefore was of course predestined to give the just hatched out KROKODIL the neccessary bite.

Within a few weeks the regular trio recruted two more musicians: Moio Weideli (mouth organ, flute, vocals) and Terry Stevens, a real ex-Londoner, who had been working as a roady for the SAUTERELLES already. Terry, of course, was able to sing in English without any efforts, write excellent lyrics and serve KRODKODIL as international figurehead.

In the beginning the Swiss preferred continental Bluesrock refined with complex arrangements and far-eastern sounds. A very exotic orchestra emphasised that this was not just a reptile playing, but a true progressive rockmonster. „Already at this stage it was important to us, that all of us were not only playing one instrument“ remembers Düde Dürst „ the mouth organist could also play transverse flute and percussions, the bass player would also play guitar and percussions, whereas the guitarist would know how to deal with the bass. Our singer Hardy could play violin, piano and organ. Then there was the sitar and of course all of us had been singing.“

As on April 09th, the whole band showed up for a pressconference at the Zurich ‚Blow Up‘, they again emphasised their criticism of the Swiss popscene and promised that they soon would take care of a new wind: „We don‘t want to be commercial! Nobody should determine us, no mananger, nobody! We want to be free from all kinds of non-musical interests. Good music can only come about when it is free.“

But nevertheless even KROKODIL had to face reality as to say earn a living. After all the band had neither contract nor enough cash to survive music business. Therefore the first output „Camel is top“ was nothing more than a compromise, as this was an order from Reynolds tobacco but the money was very much welcome. This lively commercial song appeared on a pictured flexi-disc that was sampled at dancing events and in discotheques.

After all, like this KROKODIL became more and more famous in the Swiss youth scene. Furthermore the band was allowed to record 6 own works for future applications at record companies. During the many negotiations with several companies it showed that Hardy Hepp left the biggest impression due to his pop music background. His personal connection with LIBERTY-Director Siggi Loch lead to a contract that guaranteed KROKODIL at least 2 singles and 1 LP-release. And Sigi Loch himself pushed his protégés in style. With success: The LIBERTY-song „Don‘t make Promises“ (a newly arranged Tim Hardin-composition) was sold over 4.000 times in Switzerland alone, and the newcomers became a new national top-band. LIBERTY was very active in Germany, too and tried to establish KROKODIL as a serious act with a future. They were sent to the Trixi-Studios in Munich in order to have best working conditions for the recording of their first LP. Here at this studio their songs should be recorded as a demo, but when Sigi Loch heard the tapes he decided to leave them as they were and to use them for the recording. The whole debut-album was finished after the first take - a sensational result that of course could only be achieved because of the band‘s excellent live qualities.

It was no miracle that KROKODIL - similar to the British band MAN - could develop their performing potential nowhere better as live on stage. On stage they seemed to be more spontaneous, more creative. In short: they were just brilliant. While their repertoire had to be cut down for the recordings, they could play in one piece when playing live. The band would surprise their audience with interesting changes in tempi, new arrangements and wild improvisations. Unfortunately at that time there weren‘t enough possibilities for live acts that were lucrative enough and still local bands had a bad reputation among Swiss rockfans. So KROKODIL concentrated more and more on the German market where their chances were much better.

Whether as opening act or on several festivals - KROKODIL was almost omnipresent in those days and they
played in front of 3.000 people. But still there was this financial pressure and KROKODIL was dependent
on lucrative jobs. One of these jobs for instance was the soundtrack for the young industrial WILLY BOGNER who tried his luck in the film industry. But as soon as a job was done, KROKODIL was on tour again and most of the time in a package with their German label-collegues CAN and AMON DÜÜL.

- Part 2 -
Retreat to the Mountains

In 1970, the promotional efforts made by KROKODIL's record label LIBERTY started to bear fruit for the first time. Record sales rose considerably, the Swiss celebrated KROKODIL as a national top act because of their deal abroad, and German concert promoters finally recognized, that the alpine rockers were a crowd-pulling import that could not only impress with musical virtuosity, but which was also a solid stage act able to create a fantastic atmosphere - a very special gift other bands simply were not blessed with. First and foremost, it was Walli Aselmo who made an impression with his sitar inderludes as a psychedelic master of ceremony. On him, the "Hamburger Abendblatt" wrote: "... without a doubt one of the most interesting musicians in the German scene - with one reservation: he is Swiss." Careless and freaked out interludes, and spontaneous sessions that sometimes could get out of hand, both gave the band the image of being really heavy pot-smokers. And this, of course, was true to a certain extent: During the long tours with GURU-GURU, CAN and AMON DÜÜL, there was hardly a day on which any of the guys still belonged to this world. In addition to the regular package concerts, the Swiss could often be seen on highly acclaimed pop festivals, e.g. in Munich, Essen and Aix-la-Chapelle, where the played with PINK FLOYD. It was on these occasions in particular that KROKODIL's stage appearances caused a sensation even among concert goers who didn't normally approve of teutonic rock, and this of course opened new horizons for the band. Ironically, it was during this decisive period of imminent success, that the artistic development got slightly out of hand. This was mostly due to Hardy Hepp's recurring ambition to be recognized as a solid songwriter, while the other band members were happy with getting their more and more spacy ideas out of spontaneity and fun of playing alone. From that point of view, the band entered a stage where compromise became almost impossible.

Nonetheless, contracts had to be fulfilled, and that meant to provide LIBERTY with a new LP every year. They could not do anything about that if they wanted to stay in the business. Followingly, KROKODIL took a break from touring and brought their gear to the mountains, to be able to recapture the old feeling, and to find new ideas in the unspoilt landscape. In part at least, the plan succeeded: In total seclusion, among mountain ranges and glaciers, "Swamp" was recorded in just a few days - a wonderful album that was in no way inferior to their debut. Yet it showed that Hardy Hepp's singing had lost some of the importance it had earlier, and so "Swamp" finally turned out to be the last KROKODIL project for him. At the end of April in 1971, he split from the rest of the group amiably, and thus all the people involved have been able to maintain their friendship up to this very day. Henceforth, the machinery of the band operated on four cylinders and steered further into the direction of Psychedelic - on to their greatest masterpiece: "An Invisible World Revealed".

- Part 3 -
Beyond Mammon and Modesty

Although Hardy Hepp had thrown in the towel, the rest of KROKODIL soon wenton tour again, at first in Germany, being announced as "Progressive GermanRock Experience", and later also in France, the Netherlands and Austria.They simply had to play, play and play again if the money in the band's cashbox should in any way be sufficient.

But life on the road had also become more costly, because in addition to theexpenses for transportation and hotels, a regular crew had to be paid. Andas gigs alone could hardly pay the bills, the musicians started looking for other jobs as well. Mostly, they would do some studio sessions or play as guest musicians here and there, as they did with Klaus Doldinger and Swiss bombast rocker Tommy Fortmann, also known as DEMON THOR, who - inofficially! - had the whole group of KROKODIL working for him live as well as in the studio. In the same year, Düde Dürst also recorded an all drums' opus (KROKODIL SOLO) in the vein of IRON BUTTERFLY's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" for Sigi Loch, which sold considerably well. This happened to be Sigi Loch's last chance to help his protégés: Before LIBERTY was taken over by UNITED ARTISTS in 1972, the highly active label boss switched over to WARNER BROTHERS.

Being KROKODILS band leader, Düde's reaction to this development was reserved, but he had neither time nor inclination to take care of bussiness policies. He kept himself rather busy trying to find a suitable producer for the next album instead. And this was when the many studio jobs KROKODIL had done, finally paid off. Their best customer, DEMON THOR, had been taken under the wing of a certain Dieter Dierks, who was just extending his studio in Stommeln. By then, he had already piled stacks of state of the art equipment. Even today, Düde still falls into raptures: "We immediately realized that this was THE good studio. We wanted to go there. Dierks immensely enjoyed having us there, too. What really got him going was our will to experiment. Regarding this, we really were on the same trip. He was far-sighted, wanted to try out new sounds all the time, and we were just as keen on that. And the fantastic mellotron standing there was a thing that really appealed to us. Thus, it was no surprise that "Invisible World Revealed" was our most lavish production to date. We worked on it for the best part of two weeks. And it was a wonderful time with Dieter Dierks."

But the record was hardly in the shops, when bad tidings struck KROKODIL: UNITED ARTISTS had ceased to exist, and all of a sudden all the artists were turned out onto the streets - without contracts and without a penny. "That really took it out of us", Düde remembers. "We had been on pot most of the time, lived our life as musicians, and every time I, as the so-called band leader, had to deal with record companies, I needed a different kind of cocktail in order to get back on my feet... and then this kind of shit..."

As the whole thing was at stake - because the band was not worth a farthing without a deal, Düde grudgingly picked up the phone and obtained offers from all over the republic. Due to KROKODIL's popularity the bosses were there and ready for action quite soon. EMI Electrola showed considerable interest, the "Ohr" label wanted the Swiss, and so did Frankfurt based company Bellaphon. The lot went to the latter because they were the ones who gave the best advance payments: a full 40.000 Deutschmarks, a sum the band could not afford to miss. The real purpose behind this generosity can only be suspected, but it soon became clear that KROKODIL did no longer call the tune in their new company. Peter Haucke, who was then Bellaphon's regular producer, was a declared NEKTAR fanatic, and everything else was only
fulfilment of duty for him. Surely, this was one reason why the quality of the Bellaphon productions never got near the old material, but it was also the company itself that did not pay enough attention to KROKODIL. People fulfilled their contracts but hardly did anything else, and so the band's progress was slowed down more and more. Therefore, it may be assumed that Bellaphon did not see enough potential in the Swiss in order to invest anew, but then for some reason or other tried to keep the band from developing. And why record sales declined so drastically after the first three LPs, was just as incomprehensible. Accordng to Düde Dürst, the royalties payed were simply ridiculous compared to what had been earned through previous records - and this soon proved to be the final curtain for the Swiss KROKODIL.

Reinhart Kotzsch