VOLLE MOLLE

Grobschnitt had already released a live record, the famous Solar Music Live, presenting their most known track, the main dish of their concerts which lasted four hours in general. Another important part of their shows were half musical, half theatrical show routines like The Sahara Show, the Balli Balli Show etc. which were difficult to present on a record. In 1980 the band released their second live effort Volle Molle to fill this gap. A part of their show routines were presented by the road crew and in particular Rainer Loskand aka Tony Moff Mollo. The band had already dedicated one record to a roadie named Ballermann and Volle Molle is not only dedicated but features Tony Moff Mollo on a couple of tracks. The title itself Volle Molle can be loosely translated by Full speed ahead or Flat out and is also a hint to Loskand's surname Tony Moff Mollo. Tony is also the unidentified flying band-member seen on the cover. The record starts with Snowflakes the English version of their single Sonnenflug, followed by A.C.Y.M a mockery song about the then upcoming disco scene, from the Merry Go Round record. The third track presents strangely the end of the concert, using the riff from Traveling (taken from their first record) and which was and is still used today to introduce the band-members (musicians and others), including the presentation of the only "foreign worker" of the band, the Austrian Geheimrat Günstig, master of the soundboard, who delivered (and still delivers) his famous trombone solo, followed by a longer applause section. These two tracks might be a little confusing for someone who has never seen Grobschnitt in concert, but this record is obviously meant for their fans.

Side two of the vinyl starts with a then unreleased acoustic ballad in the style of Rain-time leading into the Coke Train Show featuring Lupo and Tony Moff Mollo. These show routines were often based on visuals and jokes that are hardly understandable, if you haven't seen the concert. The last track presents the Rockpommel's Land Medley, featuring Tony Moff Mollo as little Ernie, again a show element depending on visuals and combining musically Ernie's Reise and the ending of the title track. This record was obviously meant for their fans and depending on whether you have seen the band live or not this record can be a little hard to get into, but on the other hand it gives good sample of their late 70's shows.