Scorpions was founded in 1965 in the German city of Hannover. At that time, it was popular to name groups after representatives of the fauna world.
The founder of the band, guitarist Rudolf Schenker, chose the name Scorpions for a reason. After all, everyone knows about the power of these insects. "Let our music sting to the very heart."
Until now, rock monsters delight their fans with compositions for hard guitar riffs.
The early years of the Scorpions
The virtuoso guitarist and composer Schenker was joined by his brother Michael. He had undoubted talent, but could not get along with other members of the group and soon left it.
The younger Schenker joined the group Copernicus, whose vocalist was Klaus Meine. Rudolf Schenker was negative about his vocal abilities and decided to focus only on playing the guitar and creating the band's music.
The search for a vocalist was completed very quickly. Rudolf Schenker brought his brother back to the group. Klaus Meine also came with him.
The musicians spent all the funds from the performances on the development of the group. They saved up money for a used Mercedes. The car was necessary in order not to spend money on the bus on tour. Thus ended the early history of the band, and the birth of a legend began.
Recognition and difficulties of the team
The world first learned about the Scorpions group in 1972. This happened after the release of the album of future monsters Hard & Heavy. The record was called Lonesome Crow. The team went on tour to support her.
The musicians immediately relied on the English-speaking audience, but the founders of hard rock (the British) took the Germans with hostility.
The English public spoke negatively about the group's music, about the lyrics of their songs and Maine's vocal data. But the criticism was based on the fact that the musicians were German, and not on their ability to play the guitar.
Criticism from the English-language press only energized the musicians. They became friends with the musicians of the UFO group. The British were very popular in Germany, which helped the Scorpions gain new listeners. Michael Schenker became UFO's guitarist for a while.
Before the start of the recording of the second Scorpions album, there were changes in the group. Part of the team moved to another group, taking with them the already “promoted” name.
After the recording of Fly to the Rainbow, the band's popularity began to increase not only in Europe, but also in Asia. The team spent a lot of time on tour.
In 1978, Michael Schenker returned to his brother's group, having quarreled with the UFO musicians. The Scorpions were looking for a new drummer after Uli Roth left the band.
The talented guitarist Michael Schenker was addicted to drugs, so he could not help the team reach heights in rock music. He was replaced by Matthias Jabs, who became the band's full-time lead guitarist.
Great success of the Scorpions team
Real world success came to the group in the early 1980s. The team has fans in the United States. 1980-1981 went like one big party.
The musicians were on tour almost all the time, met with fans and created new compositions. Surprisingly, apart from Michael Schenker, none of the other musicians suffered from addictions.
In 1989, the Scorpions were one of the first to have the opportunity to show their talent behind the Iron Curtain. The musicians played at the legendary Moscow Peace Festival. The band learned about the wonderful vocals of Klaus Meine and the guitar ballads in the USSR.
In the mid-1990s, a crisis occurred in the group. The musicians were exhausted by the intensive touring schedule, the new compositions were not already as successful as the earlier songs.
The group was disintegrated, but the new disc of the group received the long-awaited recognition. The leaders have updated the team of the group. The music has become more modern.
In order not to risk the emergence of new problems, the musicians have sharply reduced their touring activities. They were more with their families, there was time for rehearsals of new compositions.
Music by Scorpions
Very popular in the band were lyrical ballads, "wrapped" in a hard guitar sound, which brightened up the magnificent vocals of Klaus Meine.
The Lovedrive album deserves special attention.
Lovedrive is the band's sixth studio album, released in 6. The popularity of this record was confirmed by the stay of her songs in the charts in America for a duration of 1979 weeks, in England - 30 weeks.
A provocative cover was designed for the album, depicting a woman with bare breasts, to which a man's hand was reaching. Attraction was depicted as a chewing gum that connects a man's hand and a woman's chest.
The artistic design of this idea was appreciated by Playboy magazine itself, but the public made a lot of hype. Therefore, the guys had to change the cover to a more modest image.
In 1980, the band's lead singer had health problems that could affect the musician's voice. He underwent two operations, after which the voice of the Scorpions frontman sounded even better.
One of the most favorite songs of German rockers in our country is Wind of Change. It is called the unofficial anthem of perestroika. The composition was included in one of the best albums of the group Crazy World.
Another important composition, Still Loving You, was hugely popular in France in the 1980s. If you meet a Frenchman with the name Sly (Sly), then it denotes an abbreviation of the song title.
So the French fans of the Scorpions expressed their gratitude to the group. It is known that during the period of popularity of Still Loving You in France, there was a “boom” in the birth rate.
In 2017, the Scorpions were inducted into the Heavy Metal Hall of Fame. Despite its venerable age, the team did not stop in its development.
Scorpions today
New concerts were held in the same energy as 20-30 years ago. In one of his interviews, Klaus Meine said that the new album could be released in 2020.
In 2021, the team shared with fans information about the release of a new LP. Rock Believer is scheduled for release at the end of February 2022. The musicians were working on tracks during the coronavirus pandemic. After the premiere of the collection, the guys have a world tour planned. On January 14, the group pleased with the release of the single Rock Believer.
