Bonfire (band)
| Bonfire | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Cacumen, Lessmann/Ziller, Ex, EZ Livin' |
| Origin | Ingolstadt, Germany |
| Genres | Heavy metal, hard rock |
| Years active | 1972–1985 (as Cacumen), 1986–present (as Bonfire) |
| Labels | BMG, RCA, Sony, LZ Records, Universal, HÁrt, UDR/Warner |
| Website | bonfire |
| Members | Alexx Stahl Hans Ziller Frank Pané Ronnie Parkes Tim Breideband |
| Past members | Hans Zehetbauer Alfons Schlamp Karl Ziller Hanns Schmidt-Theißen Hans Hauptmann Hans Forstner Robert Prskalowicz Horst Maier-Thorn David Reece Angel Schleifer Joerg Deisinger Edgar Patrik Chris Lausmann Jürgen "Bam Bam" Wiehler Dominik Hülshorst Claus Lessmann Chris "Yps" Limburg Uwe Köhler Harry Reischmann Michael Bormann |
Bonfire (originally Cacumen) is a German heavy metal band, founded in Ingolstadt, Germany in 1972 by Hans Ziller. In 1986, based on the advice of the record company and the management, the band changed its name to Bonfire. The original founder Hans Ziller is still in the band and is the only one who has the rights to the Bonfire name.
In 1972, in the Bavarian town of Ingolstadt the teenaged guitarist Hans Ziller, put together a rock band called Cacumen with his guitarist brother Karl and gathered a bunch of friends to complete the band. The name of the group was taken from a school test Hans had done and it translates from Latin as "the top of a mountain". For the next six years, the band played in small local venues, but formed a fan base in their hometown. In 1978, the group consisted of Hans and Karl on guitars, Horst Maier on guitar (in 1983, Maier's last name would become Maier-Thorn), Hans Hauptmann on bass and Hans Forstner on drums. When the band started searching for a replacement singer, Claus Lessmann, a fellow student of Hans', was hired.
Lessmann previously had performed in the bands Ginger and Sunset and was known for his harmonic vocals and he fit in perfectly with Cacumen. With this line-up, the band had a chance to start branching out to venues outside Ingolstadt. The band recorded a single in 1979 called "Riding Away", which featured the song "Wintertale" on the flip side. The group used this opportunity to begin touring in clubs, schools and even in parking lots. The fan base grew and Cacumen was finally signed to an independent label. By then though, Karl Ziller had departed the group. The self-titled Cacumen album was released in 1981 and featured a new version of "Riding Away".
Eventually, Cacumen got in contact with Hanns Schmidt-Theissen, who owned a small music studio. Schmidt-Theissen had played with the group on the "Riding Away" single and was supporting the band at live venues on keyboards. Since money was poor and Schmidt-Theissen was willing to help, they recorded the album Bad Widow at his studio in Rodgau, Germany in 1982. Schmidt-Theissen helped the group to get a contract, and was successful at the time.
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