When you least expect it

Couldn´t believe what I saw last morning on my way to work! When I flipped through Metrolehti (a free daily newspaper that you find in all metros and most busses) to kill some time, I stumbled upon this, jaw dropping, eyes popping in disbelief:

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Das Weisse Album closed Beatles-project

Singer Klaus Beyer from Berlin has finished his 13-year project to release the complete work of The Beatles in German.
The German magazine Der Spiegel reported about the matter.
Beyer´s Beatles series was completed when Das Weisse Album (The White Album) was released.
Also The Beatles managed to record in German almost 50 years ago.
Therefore "I Want To Hold Your Hand" got the title "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand". "She Loves You" translated into "Sie Liebt Dich".
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(Roughly translated by me)


Klaus Beyer might and must be the biggest Beatles fan alive, who else has ever shown so much passion for his fave band than this simple man. The only thing weirder than Klaus Beyer himself though is to find a small article about him here in Finland. There is still only a chosen few in the know about the Fab Four maniac, who originally began to translate the lyrics because his mother didn´t understand a word of English. Klausi wanted mommy to know what his fascination with John, Paul, George and Ringo is all about, so he started to "sample" their original songs with two tape recorders, a pair of scissors, scotch tape and his own off-key vocals! DIY, anyone? His effort expanded over 13 albums in 13 years and had the side effect of many funny Beyer originals. He also made hilarious super 8 mm short movies, some of them are "music videos" for - of course- Beatles albums.

Weirdos have a way of attracting other weirdos and it´s unbelievable but true: while the general public is totally oblivious to Mr. Beyer, he somehow managed to team up and work with e.g. Christoph Schlingensief (theater director and Germany´s enfant terrible, RIP), Jörg Buttgereit (notorious German splatter movie director, Nekromantik, Der Todesking, etc.) and just recently John Cafiero (American film director, producer and musician). The latter is founder of "all-star punk group" Osaka Popstar (absolutely disposable if I am asked), featuring Marky Ramone, Jerry Only, Dez Cadena and Ivan Julian. Now Beyer has even refined one of their songs, "Shaolin Monkeys", so Beatles kind of meet Black Flag in "Shaolin Affen".

KB at WP8, Düsseldorf

I´m happy to have seen the man himself in 2009 when he performed his adapted Beatles songs not only in Düsseldorf but also in a homemade Sgt. Pepper uniform. He was troubled by a nervous bladder but rocked the place until the small hours. During the cause of the night I was interviewed by a small film crew that was working at the time on a Beyer documentary. I think I said that he´s a punk by definition because of his DIY ethics and the fact that he is in it for the cause and not for anyone´s acceptance (except mommy´s) nor money. The most beautiful thing, I added, is that he doesn´t know about any of this shit, so he must be unbiased and thus the real deal.
Well, I was a little bit tipsy, so my sermon was gibberish to that extend.

 
I even did something that I hardly ever do, in a flash of total starstruckness I asked the maestro for his autograph. It kind of surprised me when he seemed to be only too happy to clumsily oblige.

Many thanks to you Metrolehti, old fish wrap, for reminding me of this outstanding artist and the fun night two years ago. But now, without further ado, please check out the pure genius of the one and only... Klaus Beyer!



Aaaand make sure to check out:

Das andere Netz des Klaus Beyer (German only, sorry)