I SAW PARADISE – MY LIFE

Achim Reichel, a true native of Hamburg with a 60-year stage history, looks back at his life. To his surprise, he celebrated his 75th birthday in 2019 – and a lot has happened that is worth talking about: in the 1960s he had huge success as the lead singer of the Rattles, played as the opening act for the Beatles and toured with the Rolling Stones. In the 1970s Achim Reichel became the pioneer of Krautrock: his album “Die grüne Reise” with psychedelic improvisation inspired Brian Eno and Kraftwerk. He brought out an album with shanty and seafarer songs and set ballads written by Goethe, Fontane and Liliencron to music and received numerous awards for this.

In the 1980s Reichel worked with Jörg Fauser: among other things, they wrote “Der Spieler”, according to Rolling Stone one of the most significant German pop songs ever. In the 1990s came the big hits – “Aloha Heja He” and “Kuddel Daddel Du”. The 2000s were the stage years: sold-out tours in which Achim Reichel spoke about his life, to his fans’ delight. At the beginning of last year, Achim Reichel travelled to Namibia on a container ship and used this time to write down his story – from the beginnings in St. Pauli to the wild years on the road to the present day. Colourful, reflective, loud and fascinating.