The Ace Cats

The cell core of the Ace Cats had known each other since 1977 from various groups (Apples, California Wheelstand Kings). In 1980 the band was founded in Dortmund, Germany, still as Alley Cats. In 1982 they renamed themselves into The Ace Cats - this had legal reasons, in Los Angeles already existed a Punkband with the same name. Rock 'n' Roller from the beginning, they musically oriented on Rockabilly, all songs were sung in English. In 1983 the band played as the opening act for [a85030] and [a309140]. Although they got some stir with the '82 LP "Cat Talk", a bigger breakthrough didn't follow. When the New German Wave peaked in mid-1983, they tried to sing in German. Their 1st single in their own native language, "Heut Nacht" reached Position 40 in the German airplay charts. Musically they remained faithful to their style, reminded a bit of [a312348] and could benefit from the huge demand for German tracks. In 1984 their following single "Linda" reached position 17 in the German charts - their last chart success. Now the Ace Cats came to some TV appearances. In the end of 1985 they disbanded. In 1988 again a single appeared, "S"usse 17", in a completely new style and poppy sound. At this time the band consisted of Christian Schudde, Petra Humfeld, Luitger Fr"ager and a new singer named Ted Shansky. In 1989 the last single for the moment, "Sheila" appeared, followed by a re-break. In 1995 the band reunited for a short time, again with another lineup, Thorsten Birkenfeld, Kaspar Bierk"amper and a new singer, J"urgen Weber. They produced some new titles, reissued the old LPs on CD, had several TV appearances and also played concerts again. Their following released single "Lady Di" was taken from the market, because at the same time "real" Lady Di was killed by a road accident. After that it became quiet again with the band.