Bobo In White Wooden Houses

Country of origin:

Germany

Type of music generally:

Sweet, fun mainstream pop

Status:

Band no longer exists. Final release of the band was Cosmic Ceiling, 1995. This was followed by a release by the singer of the band, Bobo, with the London Session Orchestra (Glow, 1996). Bobo continued with some backing vocals for Rammstein, and a collaboration with "Saal Drei", Licht, in 2000.

Bobo's latest project is a band named Alaska, with a release planned for the near future.

See also:

Wikipedia's entry on Bobo

Comparisons:

The Sundays, Björk

Covers/own material:

Except for a few covers, own material has been released.

General comments:

German band with female vocals (sung in English) and guitar-based music. Very powerful live band. With the cosmic ceiling album only Bobo remains in the band, and the new project (I wouldn't call it a band) is using mainly keyboards now.
     Bobo (whose real name is Christiane Hebold) finished formal vocal training at a music school. After that she moved to East Berlin and started a rock band with guitarist Frank Heise. The name of the band has its origin through Norwegian friends who invited them to see the countries white wooden houses. As they couldn't leave the country they used it as the band's name instead. Singing in English (written by Bobo), they had no chance to get support from the East German record industry, so their music was mostly distributed as tapes at concerts and they were part of underground music scene in the former GDR. After the German reunification they had no problem getting signed by a major German record company. (klaus.kluge@gmx.de)

Very pretty, quite mainstream pop/rock. Bobo has a strong, delightful voice, almost a cross between Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries and Katharina Franck of Rainbirds. (Neile)

Comments about live performance:

They are a very strong live band. In the last weeks we were lucky to see two concerts of Bobo In White Wooden Houses. Since I wasn't too much in favour of the new album (Cosmic Ceiling), the tour was a big surprise. The live arrangements were sooo good! (klaus.kluge@gmx.de)

Recommended first album:

Passing Stranger. (klaus.kluge@gmx.de)

Recordings:

• Bobo In White Wooden Houses (c. 1990)
  • Wide Awake (cassette only, c. 1991)
  • Bobo In White Wooden Houses (1992)
  • Passing Stranger (1993)
  • Cosmic Ceiling (1995)
• Solo projects and major collaborations
  • Bobo & The London Session Orchestra: Glow (1996)
  • Saal Drei feat. Bobo: Licht (2000)

Bobo In White Wooden Houses

Release info:

1992—Pilgrim Records, Germany (Polydor)—513 458-2

Availability:

Good, in Germany

Ecto priority:

Recommended

Group members:

Bobo—vocals, acoustic guitar
Frank Heise—guitar, acoustic guitar
Lexa Schäfer—bass guitar
Ulli Lange—drums

Guest artists:

Michael Nass—additional keyboard

Produced by:

Jens Trödle

Comments:

includes a very beautiful rock song, based on an Irish traditional. 2 or 3 songs on this album are recorded live. (klaus.kluge@gmx.de)

Passing Stranger

Release info:

1993—Pilgrim Records, Germany (Polydor)—517 924-2

Availability:

Good, in Germany

Ecto priority:

Highly recommended

Group members:

Bobo—vocals, backing vocals
Frank Heise—guitars, backing vocals
Axel Schäfer—bass, contra bass
Andi McGuinness—drums

Guest artists:

Matthias Bätzel—organ, piano
Lars Rudoph—trumpet on 1 track
Nikko Weidemann—ac guitar on 1 track

Produced by:

Ingo Vauk & Emanuel Fialik

Comments:

musically more evolved than the first album. again a nontypical song is my favourite, this time with a jazz flavour. (klaus.kluge@gmx.de)

Cosmic Ceiling

Release info:

1995—Pilgrim Records, Germany (Motor Music)—527 629-2

Availability:

Good, in Germany

Ecto priority:

Medium

Group members:

Bobo—vocals, guitars
Andi McGuinness—drumloop programming
Frank Heise—guitars

baukneX—programming
Ingo Vauk—programming, guitars
Dorothee Wesseling—percussion
Moses Schneider—kalimba
Emanuel Fialik—flute, backing vocals
Nikko Weidemann—keyboard, backing vocals
Olav Bruhn—guitars, backing vocals
Jörn Heilbutt—guitars
Lu Minao—erhu

Produced by:

Emanuel Fialik, baukneX, Ingo Vauk, Olav Bruhn, Bobolina

Comments:

a complete change to the previous records. although the songs are still written on the guitar, they mainly use keyboards on the album. the reason might be that they now have their own studio, which gives them more time to experiment. thus the album has a more technical feeling, although Bobo's voice and the melodies are as good as on the earlier albums. still, this album might come as a shock to old fans. All songs written by Bobo, except one written by B. Green/A. Lincoln. (klaus.kluge@gmx.de)

Glow

Bobo & The London Session Orchestra

Release info:

1996—Pilgrim Records/Motor Music—531 963-2

Availability:

Good, in Germany

Ecto priority:

Medium

Group members:

Bobo—vocals

Guest artists:

The London Session Orchestra

Produced by:

Emanuel Fialik, Wil Malone, Olav Bruhn. All songs arranged and conducted by Wil Malone

Comments:

A mixture of songs by the band and covers, sung by Bobo with music by the London Session Orchestra. Covers include:

• "Black Hole Sun" (Soundgarden)
• "How Insensitive" (Antonio Carlos Jobim / Norman Gimbel)
• "Forbidden Colours" (Ryuichi Sakamoto / David Sylvian)
• "Little One I'll Miss You" (Bunky Green / Abbey Lincoln)

Not only a nice addition to your Bobo collection, because of the new interpretation of her own songs. Especially the covers turned out very well. (klaus.kluge@gmx.de)

Björkish german singer goes orchestral. Very nice cover of "Forbidden Colours." (stjarnell@yahoo.com)

Licht

Saal Drei feat. Bobo

Release info:

2000—Thorshammer—TH 005

Availability:

Only released in Germany—even hard to find there

Ecto priority:

Medium

Group members:

Gersom Herold—synth
Torsten Uhlmann—git
Benis Stilke—dr
Serge Radke—bg

Guest artists:

Bobo—vocals
Sören Linke—tp

Comments:

Bobo said in an interview, her involvement with this recording was merely by chance. "I just happened to be there, when a friend...said 'While you're here, you might as well sing for us'". It's hard to believe, as her contribution is so substantial. Without her, this record would probably still be quite nice and well produced, but hardly as interesting.
     It is hard to label the music. The fashionable terms "trance" and "ambient" certainly come to mind. Occasionally one is reminded of medieval-synthie-pop a la Qntal, especially when they sprinkle the music with some bagpipes or flute. Mari Boine comes to mind, as do Jan Garbarek or even Trip Hop.
     Sometimes BoBo uses her voice like an instrument, sometimes she sings lyrics (English). Often her parts do not need the full extent of her abilities, but in some pieces she can use her vocal training to its full extent. That's when you know it's BoBo. I also feel that she has gained aptitude and expression since the days of the "white wooden houses".
     Not "easy" listening, but if you like music with brains, you'll enjoy it. (cspix@t-online.de)