The Rattles

Years active1960 (1960)–presentLabelsMembersWebsiterattles.de

The Rattles are a German beat and rock band formed in Hamburg in 1960, best known for their 1970 psychedelic hit single "The Witch".^[1]

Career

The Rattles performed in Hamburg, and played at the same venues as The Beatles on several occasions in 1962.^[1] In 1964, the group recorded "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah", which charted in the UK. In 1968, they recorded their first version of "The Witch", with vocals by Henner Hoier.^[1] The band's records sold well in Germany throughout the 1960s.

Their second version of "The Witch" in 1970, this time with vocals by Edna Bejarano, was their only international hit.^[1] It reached the Top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, the top 20 in Austria, and the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. It eventually sold over one million copies.^[1]

Rosetta Stone released a gothic rock cover of "The Witch" in the 1990s. The Norwegian psychedelic hard rock band, Motorpsycho, covered the song during 1999 and 2000.^[2] A recording of this song can be found on their bootleg Live Union Scene from 14 April 1999.^[3]

Members

Current members

• Herbert Hildebrandt – bass
• Manfred Kraski – vocals, guitar
• Eggert Johannsen – guitar
• Reinhard "Dicky" Tarrach – drums

Former members

• Achim Reichel (vocals, guitar, 1960–66, 1988–91)
• Bernd Schulz (keyboards, 1967–68)
• Dieter Sadlowsky (drums, 1960–63)
• Edna Béjarano (vocals, 1970–73)
• Eggert Johannsen [Martin Storm] (vocals, rhythm guitar, 1994–present)
• Franz "Piggy" Jarnach (keyboards, vocals, 1991–95)
• Frank Dostal (vocals, 1966–67)
• Frank Mille (guitar, vocals, 1970–77)
• Frank Seidel (keyboards, 1996–present)
• Georg "George" Meier (guitar, vocals, 1969–70, 1974–77)
• George Miller (drums, 1975–77)
• Hans Joachim "Hajo" Kreutzfeld (guitar, 1961–65)
• Henner Hoier (keyboards, vocals, 1968–70, 1988–93)
• Herbert Bornholdt (drums, 1973)
• Herbert Hildebrandt (bass, vocals, 1960–68, 1988–present)
• Hermann "Rugy" Rugenstein (guitar, vocals, 1965–68)
• Jochen "Lu Lafayette" Peters (keyboards, 1973–77)
• Kurt "Zappo" Lüngen (bass, 1968–73, 1974)
• Linda Fields (vocals, 1974–77)
• Manne Kraski (guitar, vocals, 1991–present)
• Peter "Peet" Becker (drums, 1968–70)
• Rainer Degner (guitar, vocals, 1967–69)
• Reinhard "Dicky" Tarrach (drums, 1963–67, 1988–present)
• Volker Reinhold (guitar, vocals, 1960–61)
• Wolfgang "Al" Brock (drums, 1974)

• 
  Herbert Hildebrandt
• 
  Manfred Kraski
• 
  Eggert Johannsen
• 
  Reinhard "Dicky" Tarrach

(This was the basic mid 1960s line-up.^[4] By the time of "The Witch", they had all left and successively been replaced by other musicians, with Edna Bejarano now being the lead singer.)

Discography

Singles

Year	Singles	A	GER	UK[5]	USA
1965	"La La La"	-	19	-	-
1965	"(Stoppin') In Las Vegas"	-	20	-	-
1966	"Come on and Sing"	-	11	-	-
1966	"Love of My Life"	-	16	-	-
1966	"It Is Love"	-	26	-	-
1967	"Cauliflower"	-	25	-	-
1968	"After Tea"	-	26	-	-
1969	"Geraldine"	-	-	-	-
1970	"The Witch"	20	4	8	79
1971	"You Can't Have Sunshine Every Day"	-	45	-	-
1971	"Devil's on the Loose"	-	38	-	-
1972	"Money Making Machine"	-	-	-	-
1988	"Hot Wheels"	-	47	-	-

Albums

• Twist im Star-Club (1963)
• Twist-Time im Star-Club Hamburg (1964)
• Live im Star-Club Hamburg (1964)
• The Searchers Meet the Rattles (1964)
• Rattles (1965)
• Star Club Show 1 (1966)
• Liverpool Beat (1966)
• Hurra, die Rattles kommen (Soundtrack to the film of the same name) (1966)
• Remember Finale Ligure (1967)
• The Witch (1971)
• Tonight Starring Edna (1972)
• Gin Mill (1974)
• Attention (1975)
• Hot Wheels (1988)
• Painted Warrior (1990)
• New Wonderland (1993)
• Live (1997)
• Say Yeah! (2007)

Compilation albums

• Die deutschen Singles A&B (1963–1965), Vol. 1 (2000)
• Die deutschen Singles A&B (1965–1969), Vol. 2 (2000)
• Come On And Sing – Best (2004)
• Goldene für die Rattles (1970)
• Greatest Hits (1997)

References

External links

• The Rattles at AllMusic
• The Rattles discography at Discogs
• Richie Unterberger, The Rattles at Allmusic