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Krokus

Krokus is a Swiss hard rock band from Solothurn. Formed in 1975, the group is successful in the first half of the 1980s playing a hard rock, similar to that of AC / DC. Their album Headhunter became a platinum album in the United States (more than a million albums sold), they are named "honorary citizens" of the city of Memphis , in Tennessee. The year 2003 marks the return of the group with their album Rock The Block, becoming for the first time number 1 in their country of origin. Krokus is considered by the specialized press as the largest Swiss hard rock band>.

Krokus was formed in 1974 in the city of Solothurn. The name of the group is inspired by the kind of plants that grows, in particular, in the Swiss Alps, the Crocus. In his original composition, Chris Von Rohr is on drums and piano, Tommy Kiefer singer and guitarist, Remo Spadino on bass and Hansi Droz as second guitarist.

Their first self-titled album, released in 1975, has little in common with the hard rock sound that makes them famous. Peter Richard is invited to sing on one of the songs of the album>. Their second album Highway Songs , is the band's first hit in Switzerland. A highway will be barred for the needs of the filming of their clip. The next album, Painkiller, still marks the band of a change: Chris von Rohr realizes that his singing skills are not enough for the band and decides again to change the composition of Krokus. He takes the bass, while Jürg Nägeli retires to take care of mixing and technique. The group seems to find a new singer in the person of Henry Friez, with whom they prepare the new album and tour Germany. However Friez retires quickly, and his replacement will be Marc Storace, who had already released two albums with the jazz band Tea.

In 1980, the first album with Marc Storace as singer carries the title Metal Rendez-Vous. The band goes on tour across Europe with Nazareth, Ted Nugent and Rainbow before breaking into their British tour with Girlschool, More and Angel Witch at the legendary Reading Festival. Their title Heatstrokes is now in first place in the UK rankings and 150,000 copies of their album are sold in Switzerland>. In the summer of 1980, Krokus played the first part of Sammy Hagar, AC / DC and Cheap Trick. The following year, they continue their momentum with titles like Rock City or Easy Rocker of their new album Hardware, but separate from guitarist Tommy Kiefer. The latter, struggling with heroin problems, will kill himself on Christmas Eve 1986. His replacement is Mandy Meyer, with whom the group will renew its tour in the United States. The latter will leave Krokus before the next album to found the band Cobra and will be replaced by Mark Kohler. Krokus continues his tour of the United States with bands such as Motörhead, Rush, Rainbow and Cheap Trick and confirms their status as "the most famous Swiss rock band of all time" in 1982 by playing at the sold-out Zurich Hallenstadion.

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