Overview
“Alles ist gut (Everything is Fine)” is the third album by German music group Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft.
Background of the Production
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft (“German American Friendship”, frequently acronymized to D.A.F. or DAF), was formed by Gabriel “Gabi” Delgado-López (vocals), Robert Görl (drums, percussion, electronic instruments), Kurt “Pyrolator” Dahlke (electronic instruments), Michael Kemner (bass-guitar) and Wolfgang Spelmans (guitar) in Düsseldorf in 1978.
From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, DAF had been recognized as one of the bands called “Neue Deutsche Welle” (“New German Wave”) in the media.
DAF’s first album “Ein Produkt der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Freundschaft (A Product of German-American Friendship)” was recorded by Görl, Dahlke, Kemner, and Spelmans (Delgado had temporarily left the group), and was released on Dahlke’s Ata Tak label (then called Warning Records) in 1979.
“Produkt” is an experimental album in styles from post-punk to industrial music. It consists of 22 untitled instrumental pieces (improvisational jam sessions).
In 1979, Chrislo Haas (electronic instruments, bass guitar, saxophone) joined the group in place of Dahlke.
After that the group moved to London, got signed to Mute Records, and released the single “Kebab-Träume”/ “Gewalt” in 1980.
Around this time, DAF introduced sequencer-based electronic sounds using the Korg MS-20.
“Kebab-Träume” is DAF’s early masterpiece featuring Haas’s synthesizer, Görl’s live drums, and Delgado’s vocals.
“Kebab-Träume” is a re-recording of “Militürk” (1979), a song recorded by punk band Mittagspause when Delgado was a member of the band.
After Kemner left the group, DAF released the second album “Die Kleinen und die Bösen (The Small Ones and the Evil Ones)” in 1980.
“Die Kleinen und die Bösen” is an electro-punk album marked by rock elements and brutal electronic sounds. The tracks of side A and the first track of side B are studio recordings produced by Conny Plank. The other tracks of side B are live recordings at Electric Ballroom, London, February 29, 1980.
DAF then became a duo of Delgado and Görl, and their music moved from electro-punk to electronic dance music led by sequencer and live drums.
DAF released three albums (Virgin trilogy) produced by Conny Plank, “Alles ist gut” (1981), “Gold und Liebe (Gold and Love)” (1981), and “Für Immer (Forever)” (1982), on Virgin Records. They achieved commercial success with “Alles ist gut” and “Gold und Liebe”.
DAF disbanded once in 1982 during the recording of “Für immer”.
Commentary
The album “Alles ist gut” was recorded at Conny Plank’s Studio, Neunkirchen, Germany in 1980–1981, and it was released as a LP by Virgin Records in 1981.
The album was on the German charts for 46 weeks, peaking at No. 15, and the Austrian charts for eight weeks, peaking at No. 16.
It received the Schallplattenpreis award from the Deutsche Phono-Akademie, an association of the German recording industry.
“Alles ist gut” is a groundbreaking album in which DAF established their unique minimalist style of electronic dance music. This work had a wide-ranging influence on later electronic music in general, including industrial dance and electronic body music (EBM).
This album is characterized by simple instrumentation, minimalist repetition, funky beat, and raw physicality.
The sound of this album consists only of Görl’s analogue synthesizers (Korg MS-20 and ARP Odyssey) driven by an analog sequencer (Korg SQ-10) and live drums, and Delgado’s vocals.
In 1981, DAF released three tracks of the album as two singles, “Als wär’s das letzte Mal” / “Der Mussolini” and “Der Räuber und der Prinz” / “Tanz mit mir”, and “Der Mussolini” became an international hit in the club scene.
The CD of this album was released by Virgin Records in 1989. Then, the digitally remastered CD was released by Mute Records in 1998.
Track Listing
Side One
- Sato-Sato” (“Sato-Sato”) – 2:43
- “Der Mussolini” (“The Mussolini”) – 3:50
- “Rote Lippen” (“Red lips”) – 2:41
- “Mein Herz macht Bum” (“My heart goes boom”) – 4:26
- “Der Räuber und der Prinz” (“The robber and the prince”) – 3:27
Side Two
- “Ich und die Wirklichkeit” (“Me and the reality”) – 3:05
- “Als wär’s das letzte Mal” (“As if it were the last time”) – 3:24
- “Verlier’ nicht den Kopf” (“Don’t lose your head”) – 3:17
- “Alle gegen Alle” (“Everyone against everyone”) – 3:55
- “Alles ist gut” (“Everything is fine”) – 3:25