Wolfgang Niedecken

Wolfgang Niedecken, born in Cologne on March 30, 1951, is a leading figure in German rock, best known as the frontman of the successful band BAP in the late 1970s. Singer and guitarist, he began by forming school bands such as The Convikts and The Troop, before studying at Cologne University of Applied Sciences. Devoting himself to painting in parallel, he formed the rock band BAP in 1976, mainly influenced by Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, with whom he recorded some twenty albums, the first two under the name Wolfgang Niedecken's BAP, BAP rockt andere kölsche Leeder (1979) and Affjetaut (1980). The group's distinctive feature is that it performs its songs in the local Cologne dialect, kölsch. Its recognizably husky voice combined with lyrics blending social chronicle and poetry made BAP a success, and it continued to record throughout the decades, becoming Niedeckens BAP for the albums Lebenslänglich (2016) and Alles fließt (2020). At the same time, Niedecken launched a solo career with Schlagzeiten (1987), the only one credited with the group Complizen. In 1995, he translated an anthology of Bob Dylan texts into German for the solo album Leopardefell. Involved in humanitarian causes and a painter exhibited in galleries, Niedecken participated with BAP in the Band für Afrika collective, which recorded the 1985 charity song "Nackt im Wind", inspired by the USA for Africa project. Between his various activities, he recorded the album NiedecekenKoeln with the WDR Big Band Köln in 2004, then, back after a heart attack in November 2011, returned with Zosamme Alt (2013), Reinrassije Strooßekööter - Das Familienalbum in 2017 and a new opus dedicated to his role model, Dylanreise in 2022.

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