Joachim Witt

Joachim Witt (born , 1949 in Hamburg, Germany) is a German musician and actor.

Life and work

Joachim Witt became a major star of the German pop scene during the Eighties with huge hits such as "Herbergsvater" and "Der Goldene Reiter". He was one of the biggest names of the so-called "Neue Deutsche Welle" (New German wave), of which performers like Nena and Falco were also a part.

He made a big comeback at the end of the Nineties, when he scored a major hit with "Die Flut", a duet with Peter Heppner, the singer of popular German synth pop group Wolfsheim. Witt's album "Bayreuth 1" (1998) scored platinum in Germany and Austria. "Bayreuth 2" followed two years later. His music in those days influenced major bands such as Rammstein, although it had a bit more of a gothic touch, that owed a lot of inspiration to legendary German composer Richard Wagner. He has collaborated with such artists as Apocalyptica, Oomph!, Angelzoom, Tilo Wolff of Lacrimosa and just recently, German Electropop group Purwien as well.

Joachim Witt was the guitarist/singer in the Seventies Krautrock band Duesenberg. He released three albums with them, "Duesenberg" (1977), "Duesenberg 2" (1978) and "Strangers" (1979), before embarking on a solo career as a singer and actor.

Joachim Witt also contributed the song "Vandemar" to the 2006 album "Where's Neil When You Need Him?" which is a compilation of songs based on the works of author Neil Gaiman. "Vandemar" is based on a character from Gaiman's novel "Neverwhere."

Joachim Witt was featured in Angelzoom's 2004 video "Back in the Moment" and in 2007 with Purwien's video "Alle Fehler" (All Errors).

Joachim Witt's "Best of" album titled "Auf Ewig" was released August 31, 2007, is 16 tracks of some of his current and past work but with more of the hard-hitting Bayreuth 3 sound. Also inside is a bonus DVD containing music videos and interviews. To celebrate the release of "Auf Ewig" Joachim Witt released two new videos of his biggest hits from the 80's, "Goldener Reiter" and "Herbergsvater".

As of now, there have been two million albums sold to date. With albums such as Silberblick, Edelweiss, Bayreuth 1 and Bayreuth 2 were the top selling albums of his career, while the rest did not sell successfully but are now a collectors item.

2009?present

Joachim Witt remixed some songs from various bands, one of Sara Noxx's latest single Earth Song. His next contribution was a remix to a song from the upcoming album for Obszon Geschopf that was released in April 2009.

On March 12, 2009, Joachim Witt announced on his official MySpace that the Bayreuth Trilogy had ended and all that he provided was that "New projects will take place in the near future."

Joachim Witt also contributed to the Dorian Hunter play by creating the Dorian Hunter 2009 Theme which is available worldwide on iTunes.

In May 2009, Joachim Witt was interviewed by MP3.de and confirmed that he is working on his thirteenth album which is titled Retromania, and is scheduled for a Spring 2010 release.

Studio albums

Silberblick (1980)
Edelwei? (1982)
M?rchenblau (1983)
Mit Rucksack und Harpune (1985)
Moonlight Nights (1985)
10 Millionen Partys (1988)
Kapit?n der Tr?ume (1992)
Bayreuth 1 (1998)
Bayreuth 2 (2000)
Eisenherz (2002)
Pop (2004)
Bayreuth 3 (2006)
Retromania (2010)

Live albums

Live In Der Berliner Philharmonie (2002)
Live At Secret Garden (2005)

Compilation albums

Goldener Reiter (1996)
Witt / Das Beste (1998)
The Platinum Collection (2006)
Auf Ewig (2007)

Singles

1981: Goldener Reiter
1981: Kosmetik
1982: Herbergsvater
1983: M?rchenblau
1983: H?rner in der Nacht
1984: Wieder bin ich nicht geflogen
1984: Das Supergesicht
1985: Blonde Kuh
1986: How will I Know
1987: Mad News
1988: Engel sind zart
1988: Pet Shop Boy
1988: Der Tankwart hei?t Lou
1989: Herbergsvater Mix ?90
1990: Goldener Reiter -Thorsten Fenslau Remix
1991: Hallo Deutschland
1992: Das kann doch einen Seemann nicht ersch?ttern
1992: Restlos
1992: In die falsche Welt geboren
1992: Kapit?n der Tr?ume
1994: Goldener Reiter Remix ?94
1995: Goldener Raver
1997: Das geht tief
1998: Die Flut
1998: Und ... ich lauf
1999: Das geht Tief
2000: Bataillon d?Amour
2002: Eisenherz
2002: Supergest?rt und Superversaut
2004: Erst wenn das Herz nicht mehr aus Stein
2005: Back In The Moment (mit Angelzoom)
2006: Sternenlicht
2007: Alle Fehler (mit Purwien)
2009: Dorian Hunter Theme