2008 - Nearly ten years after their last album the Duetones are back with a new long-playing CD. During the last few years, the band repeatedly made attempts to record a new album. They even had a number of recording sessions, but then scrapped the recordings due to, among other things, repeated changes in the line-up. Now the new album is finally out after two years of intensive work in the studio. And it was worth waiting for.

On the new CD, the band again presents powerful Rock 'n' Roll with a dash of Rockin' Blues. Most of the tracks are original material written by the bass player Josy Weinzierl and the guitarist Andreas Papavlassopoulos. Some songs were penned by Scotty “Bullock” Schober, the former lead singer of the band, who now plays with the Sunny Bottom Boys. Other former members of the band as well as some well-known musicians of the South German Rockabilly scene also contributed to the recordings, for example, Ted Scholz (Stampeders, Alley Cats), Chris Kaempfert (Saints & Sinners) und Ref. Max the 5th (Use To Abuse). While their first CD entitled “Just in Time”, which was released in 1998, may be best labelled as “Desperate Rock ‘n’ Roll” - a style that was quite popular at that time - , today the Duetones see themselves to be stylistically somewhere between Ref. Horton Heat and the Paladins.

Band History

The Duetones come from the South of Germany and were founded as a trio by Peter Gansbühler ("Peter Gunn"; drums / vocals), Josef Weinzierl ("Josy"; double-bass / vocals) and Scotty Schober (guitar / lead vocals) in 1992. All three of them had played in various other Rockabilly bands before (e.g. the Bruise Boys). In 1994 Andreas Papavlassopoulos ("Paps") joined the band as lead guitarist. It has been particularly his unconventional way of playing the guitar, which, together with the songwriting of Scotty Schober, has had a lasting influence on the sound of the Duetones.

After some successful gigs with artists such as Joe Clay, Wildfire Willie, Sin Alley and Restless, the Duetones played in clubs and at festivals all over Germany. In autumn 1996 they recorded the first songs, which then were released on the EP "Too Late" on Part Records at the beginning of 1997. A short time after this first release, however, the line-up of the Duetones changed, as Peter and Scotty left the band to play with other groups. Scotty, for example, went to the USA, where he joined the Swing Rays and went on a tour through 14 states.

After Albert Lockermeier had joined the band to replace Peter on the drums in May 1997, the Duetones shortly were on tour as a trio again, with Josy as lead singer. With this line-up, the Duetones toured Austria, Slovenia and Croatia in June 1997.

In October 1997 Ted Scholz, the former lead singer of the Alley Cats, joined the band to become the new lead singer. He also played the rhythm guitar. With this new line-up, the Duetones went to the studio in summer 1998 and recorded the songs for their first long player. These songs were then released on the CD entitled "Just In Time" on Cherokee Records in July 1998. In September a 10" LP of the same title was released on Cherokee Records. After the release of their debut album, the Duetones toured some European countries. In 1999 they also appeared at the legendary Hemsby Weekender.

Line-up in 1998 at the time the first CD was released

In 2000 the lead singer Ted Scholz left the band to pursue a new project. As no new fourth man was recruited, the band has performed as a trio since then. The following years also saw some drummer changes. As a result, existing studio recordings were scrapped, and the plans for a new album had to be postponed several times. Through all this time, however, the Duetones have always been present on the Rockabilly scene as a popular live band. And some of the tracks recorded over the intervening years were released on compilation CDs.

The Duetones in 2001: Josy, Chris and Paps

Finally, in 2006 the most tracks for the new album were recorded with the line-up of the early days consisting of Josy on the bass, Paps on the guitar and Albert on the drums, with the latter doing the lead vocals of the most songs. After some additional songs were recorded with some guest musicians in 2007, the new CD entitled “Take a Trip with” was released on Cherokee Records in 2008.

Discography:

VA / "Hit The Road" CD (CKPS)
CKPS Records (1997)

"Too Late” EP (Part-EP 023.001)
Part Records (1997)

“Just In Time” CD (CHER-CD 807101)
Cherokee Records (1998)

“Just In Time” 10”-LP (CHER-10” 807101)
Cherokee Records (1998)

VA / Wild Men Bop Vol. 2 CD (MCG 1020036-2)
Vampirella (1998)

VA / "A Tribute to Carl Perkins" CD (MCG 1020044-2)
Vampirella (1999)

VA / “Hot & Wild Vol. 1” CD (CHER-CD 107108)
Cherokee Records (2001)

VA / “Frankfurt Special - A Tribute to the King” CD (VAMPCD 111)
Vampirette (2007)

“Take a Trip with ...” CD (CHER-CD 801115)
Cherokee Records (2008)

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