S.T.S. (Austrian pop-rock band)

S.T.S. (also STS; acronym for "Steinbäcker – Timischl – Schiffkowitz") was a three-member Austropop band from Graz in Austria. Its most famous songs are "Großvater", "Irgendwann bleib i dann dort", "Gö, du bleibst heut Nacht bei mir" and "Fürstenfeld". The trio was founded in 1978 by Gert Steinbäcker, Günter Timischl and Schiffkowitz (real name Helmut Röhrling). All three members are from Styria, a fact that is repeatedly referenced in the group's songs. The three musicians played acoustic guitar and sang the chorus of their songs in three-part harmony whereas the solo part was sung by the composer with a few exceptions. Instrumentation and vocals reveal influences of bands such as Crosby, Stills and Nash. S.T.S. recordings have gone gold three times, platinum eleven times, double-platinum three times and quintuple platinum once. The band sold 2.5 million albums. Its fame and popularity is based on loyalty to the trio's own musical concepts and its live performances. S.T.S.'s most popular songs include Fürstenfeld, Da kummt die Sunn (Here Comes the Sun), Großvater (Granddad), Gö, Du bleibst heut Nacht bei mir (Help Me Make It Through the Night), Kalt und kälter (Cold and colder), Mach die Aug’n zu (Close your eyes), Wunder meiner Seligkeit (Wonder of my bliss), Überdosis G’fühl (Overdose of feeling) und Irgendwann bleib i dann dort (One day I'll stay there). The three musicians went their separate ways until 1975 and were mainly active in various bands in Styria and Germany, before they finally came together as a trio. After Gert Steinbäcker and Schiffkowitz had at times formed a loose formation, Günter Timischl finally joined them. A first short public appearance took place in the course of the "Forum Stadtpark" in Graz – a small event to which mainly poets were invited. Soon thereafter, an engagement for a first "real" appearance followed on 4 December 1975, with the trio being complemented by an English bongo player. The first appearances were quite popular, although they were only limited to the surrounding area (Graz, Fürstenfeld, Güssing and Gleisdorf). Nevertheless, after this regional tour they wanted to go their separate ways again and gave their supposed farewell concert in Graz in April 1976. The following years put the three musicians to the test. Günter Timischl tried unsuccessfully as a soloist and survived until 1976/77, among other things as a window cleaner. He eventually joined the UN troops and worked in a kind of "entertainment company" in Cyprus. However, he did not fail to compose his own songs for a later band. 1978 he returned to his hometown Fürstenfeld. Gert Steinbäcker returned to Germany in 1976, where he found himself in a personal crisis. Constantly changing odd jobs and the associated musical standstill finally moved him to go back to Styria. There he recorded a single under the pseudonym Stony Becker. The single was titled Matchless Woman (B-side: Catherine) and flopped. Meanwhile, Schiffkowitz traveled to the United States in the summer of 1976 to conduct a series of interviews with well-known musicians for a radio station. According to his own statement, the excursion made a significant contribution to his personal development, whereby he wanted to "... bring the idols of (his) past down from their pedestal". After three and a half months he returned to Styria, where alternative civilian service was waiting for him. With the material from overseas he also started to write a book. In 1978 the musicians got together again and finally launched "S.T.S.". At first a few songs were written and everyone got involved and contributed what he had composed in the years in between. Half of the lyrics were written in English before it was decided to use the Styrian dialect of the German language. But the sparse appearances, which in turn were limited to Graz, Gleisdorf and Fürstenfeld, prompted them to take part-time jobs. Timischl met his future wife Lotte, Steinbäcker worked, among other things, as a stage worker and composer for plays for children and young people. Schiffkowitz continued to write his book and worked as a freelance journalist. In 1979 their first single came out, which was entitled Matter of Sex and was composed by Schiffkowitz. The B-side came from Gert Steinbäcker and was titled With You. The project failed, which is why the record company forced them to sing in Italian. The three declined with thanks and finally canceled the contract with the production company. In 1979 the Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung also had its first successes. When they were planning a summer tour, S.T.S. played for "E.A.V." for a while. Günter Timischl was also often active for the formation "Opus", which he, in addition to S.T.S., supported musically at numerous concerts. It wasn't until 1980 that the Ariola record company reacted to live demo tapes from S.T.S. and produced the single Da kummt die Sunn, a Schiffkowitz adaptation of the Beatles classic Here Comes the Sun. The back side was the song Geht's Da Guat by Günter Timischl. Da kummt the Sunn was very well received on the radio, but did not sell well. The record company nevertheless decided to make an LP and so the long-playing record Gegenlicht was created by March 1981. With 2,000 copies sold, this was to be regarded as a respectable success, but the breakthrough was still a long time coming. S.T.S. set out on their own to record their own single, which was titled Automaten-Karl. Also of these only a few hundred were sold, which is why they lived mainly from extensive concert tours. The final separation from E.A.V. followed in order for them to be able to devote themselves entirely to their own projects. During this time the formation had a deep crisis, although the fourth single followed. The contract with Ariola had long been dissolved when the musicians produced the single Irgendwann bleib i dann dort (1983) in a small recording studio in Oberschützen, Burgenland. With 5,000 copies sold, success was still limited. The song only became a hit two years later and was known as the "dropout anthem". At the beginning of 1984, concrete considerations on the subject of quitting were formulated, with the aim of continuing until the end of the year at the most in the event of failure. During this phase, the band members received a call from the Viennese record company Amadeo, which had become aware of demo tapes that had been sent. They agreed to finance a long-playing record that was recorded in March and April 1984 in Vienna. At the beginning of May the public was finally presented with the second S.T.S. LP Überdosis G’fühl, of which only 500 were initially produced. On the record are titles like I hab di Leben g'sehn and Das neue Vaterland. Just when ten songs had been written for this LP, the record company said that there was enough room for one more song. In discussing the situation, Schiffkowitz recalled a song that the East Styrian musician Josef Jandrisits had composed in 1982 and which was entitled With a Little Help. The song written by Schiffkowitz was rearranged with the consent of Josef Jandrisits and given a German text. The song, which was now called Fürstenfeld, was aimed at Günter Timischl, who is passionate about being and coming to his homeland, and was initially intended as a parody. This Jandrisits-Fürstenfeld has already been part of the concert program of S.T.S. years ago. Fürstenfeld should now be the first single from the new LP. The trio achieved their breakthrough – the LP sold 70,000 copies within a year (platinum), the single even 140,000 copies. In the same year due to the surging wave of success, Günter Timischl had to part with Opus, for which he had worked as a band musician for years. The last joint appearance took place in Oberwart, Burgenland. From the live recording of this concert, the single Live Is Life resulted, which would go on to sell three million times worldwide in the summer of 1984. Meanwhile, S.T.S. went on to produce a new LP