Radau!

Hailing from the city of Hamburg, Radau were a German children’s entertainment band. Made up of multi-instrumentalists Arne Gedigk, Christian Herzog, Oliver Bergmann, and Achim Ore, the group joined forces after having lived together for some time in Hamburg’s western district of Altona. During a local festival in the summer of 1997, the four musicians decided to come together and put their own loud, exuberant, and fun stamp on popular children’s songs for the local neighborhood children. Having been in bands with one another before, the process came quickly and easily. Their performances for the local youth at the festival were successful and the ensemble were called back the following year for more performances. They still lacked a name, and decided to hold a local contest to pick one, ultimately resulting in Radau after a neighbor declared their talent as "Radau!" The group continued to perform for many years, eventually developing a dedicated fan base due to their tiresome efforts, which led to them recording a full-length album. Their debut, Am Liebsten Laut, was released in 2008 on kindergarten music label, Oetinger Audio. The release consisted of original songs about pirates and angels and was audibly composed of guitar, saxophone, drums, bass, and keys. They followed up with Voll Aufgedreht the same year, which featured additional cello and more orchestral arrangements. They continued to perform and record in subsequent years, also putting out a festive album, Christmas with RADAU! Radau returned in 2016 with another effort, Weihnachten mit RADAU! ~ Rob Wacey