Wolfgang Michels was a German singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer.
History
Early years
In May 1968 Wolfgang Michels recorded a song under pseudonym "One Plus None" and scored a #2 BBC radio hit with "Desert Walker", a song produced by himself, topped only by the Rolling Stones at #1. The English blues musician Alexis Korner invited Michels to London and introduced him to the local scene.
Michels founded the psychedelic Rock band Percewood's Onagram in 1969 and served as singer, guitarist and composer. In the early 1970s the band became the first German independent band releasing four albums on their own label with lyrics and music all provided by Michels. After the band's split in 1974 Michels returned to London to pursue a solo career where he appeared at the Marquee Club among other venues.
California years
In 1975 he moved to San Francisco, California, USA where he subsequently recorded two solo albums in collaboration with Neil Young and producer / engineer John Nowland as the first German musician. For the album "Full Moon California Sunset" Michels was awarded the "Deutscher Schallplattenpreis", the predecessor of the Echo, in 1978.
German years
From 1981 until 1985 Michels released three solo albums in German, written and produced in collaboration with the renowned German singer / composer Rio Reiser. This period was followed by 1990 hit "Dancing On The Edge Of Life" released under the pseudonym Percewood. The song became a chart hit Michels presented on German television shows. In the 1990s all Michels and Percewood's Onagram albums were rereleased by Warner Brothers in Germany. 1993 Michels was invited by Joan Baez to perform as her support act in the "Philharmonie" concert hall in Munich.
2000 years
In 2003 Warner Strategic Marketing / Warner Music Germany had released the complete Michels / Percewood's Onagram back catalogue as digitally remastered CDs with previously unreleased bonus tracks and alternative takes. Two 'Best Of' albums were also released. In the same year German hip hop band Fettes Brot scored a chart hit with the Michels–Reiser song ich bin müde. The national daily newspaper the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung praised it as one of the best songs of the year.
Comeback
In April 2008 Michels released a new studio album Zuhause with 14 new songs recorded at Franz Plasa's Home Studio. German singer Udo Lindenberg called it a "World class" album while German music magazine Musikexpress claimed the album to be "A dozen songs for eternity". Michels promoted the album with a concert tour, supporting Neil Young in Hamburg in August 2008. Furthermore, he also played with the Beth Hart and Joan Armatrading. In 2009 Michels continued his concert and television promoting activities and touring with Neil Young in June on the German leg of his European tour. On September 14, 2017 Wolfgang Michels died after a longterm disease.
Discography
LPs
1975 Kunstkopf Live – Hamburger Folk-Rock Session '75, Sky777
1976 New Wave Dropouts, Pastels
1977 Full Moon California Sunset, Telefunken
1979 Crazy Enough, Pastels, Bellaphon
1981 Irgendwas stimmt hier nicht, Metronome
1983 Keine Probleme, Teldec
1985 Bei Mondschein..., Teldec
Vinyl Sampler
1981 Rock in Deutschland Vol. 8 – Strand, Teldec
1982 Rock in Deutschland Vol. 3 – Neue deutsche Unterhaltungsmusik, Teldec
