Thursday, October 19, 2017

Collecting Xmal Deutschland and looking for Incubus Succubus.


I saw this black and white picture, it was a small one to be precise, in an item in Rolling Stone magazine. It featured this German band Xmal Deutschland. There were four females and one male in the band. lead singer Anja Huwe was a striking blonde but I was smitten by keyboardist Manuela Rickers and guitarist Fiona Sangster. Then I heard the song "Incubus Succubus" over Capital Radio on WXB. It was a haunting Goth song and in German too. 

I remember going to the old Odyssey store in Greenhills to order -- yes you could order records through them -- for Xmal Deutschland's debut album, Fetisch. I know it cost me about P120 bucks which was a princely sum back in the early 80s! When it finally arrived like two or three months after, I rushed home to play the record. I was so disappointed. One, it did not contain Incubus Succubus. Second, all the songs were in German. Boy, was I depressed. I tried to listen to it a couple of times but I didn't like it. I thought about selling it but decided otherwise. It was the first time I had seen the 4AD Record label and was intrigued. 

Eventually, the band came out with a mostly English album in Viva (their third album) which contained the hit single, "Matador". But it was New Wave and the band abandoned the Goth style that permeated Fetisch and Tocsin, the second album. 

I lost these albums over the years. They weren't among the batch that was burned when our house was lost to a fire. I have no idea what happened to them. But over the years, I decided to look for them. German or English, I have a better appreciation for Xmal Deutschland's music. 

Unfortunately, three decades later, I still do not have a copy of "Incubus Succubus". 

1 comment:

  1. Discogs could help. There are copies of the Incubus Succubus single on sale but for a very princely sum.

    https://www.discogs.com/X-Mal-Deutschland-Incubus-Succubus/master/570096

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