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Rennie Hatzke

Münchener Freiheit
Münchener-Freiheit-Alte-Oper-Erfurt.jpg
Münchener Freiheit live in concert at Alte Oper Erfurt in March 2006.
Background information
Origin Germany
Genres Pop
Rock
Pop rock
Schlager
Neue Deutsche Welle
Synthpop
Years active 1980–present
Labels CBS Schallplatten
Crocodile Music
Website Official website
Members Tim Wilhelm
Aron Strobel
Michael Kunzi
Alex Grünwald
Rennie Hatzke
Past members Stefan Zauner
Freddie Erdmann
Günter Stolz

Münchener Freiheit (known sometimes simply as Freiheit) is a German pop and rock band that had released seventeen albums by 2007, six of which have gone gold and have sold over five million copies in Europe. They are named after a square in the city of Munich in Germany, meaning "Munich liberty". It is considered part of the Neue Deutsche Welle musical movement.

They are best known in the English-speaking world for their single "Keeping the Dream Alive". This song became a #14 hit single in the UK Singles Chart when released in December 1988, making Münchener Freiheit a one-hit wonder there. Due to its December release and rich orchestral sound, "Keeping the Dream Alive" still receives a lot of airplay at Christmas time and can be found included on many Christmas compilation albums. In the United States the song failed to chart there when it was originally released, gaining favour with the American public only after it was featured in the soundtrack for the movie Say Anything.... The single has received additional exposure in the United States thanks to the singing talent contest American Idol on the Fox television network. The song has been used in recent seasons as a backdrop to video montages featuring contestants on the programme.

The band, composed of Stefan Zauner (vocals, keyboards), Aron Strobel (guitar and vocals), Rennie Hatzke (drums), Michael Kunzi (bass and vocals), and Alex Grünwald (keyboard), formed in the early 1980s. Their first album Umsteiger, released in 1982, was a 'rough-around-the-edges' form of new wave showing an aggressive side to Zauner's otherwise smooth vocals. This was followed a year later by Licht, which took them in a more 'synthpop' direction. The band's next album Herzschlag einer Stadt in 1984 was a more commercial new wave record which spawned a Top 30 hit in Germany, Oh Baby.


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