The dead trousers
Liverpool super fan Campino: A lot of stress and anticipation
Campino from Toten Hosen is on fire for Liverpool FC. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The Toten Hosen have just celebrated their 40th birthday, soon new music will be released and they will go on tour. Frontman Campino currently has a completely different type of stress – as a football fan.
There is probably no better-known Liverpool FC fan in Germany than Andreas Frege, alias Campino (59), frontman of the Düsseldorf punk rockers Die Toten Hosen.
For the 40th anniversary of the band, the German press agency spoke to the singer about his favorite club before the end of the season with the English Cup final against Chelsea (May 14), championship (last matchday May 22) and Champions League final against Real Madrid (May 28th) spoken. And also about a “derailment” that happened a long time ago.
Question: Campino, let’s talk about football. Maybe it will actually work out that the anniversary celebration at the Toten Hosen at the end of May coincides with four titles for Liverpool FC. How do you feel as a Reds fan these days?
Answer: “This is an incredible time for the club and I have the feeling that everyone understands this momentum. Everyone is aware that we are experiencing something very special there. Whatever the outcome, this has already been a remarkable season. But so close to the finish, the team is obviously hungry. As a fan, who can experience this very closely, I was there live at many games, I already have my ticket for the FA Cup final, for the last day of the season and also for the Champions League final in Paris. I’m trying to incorporate that into my entire tour preparations – so it’s going haywire for me right now. But I’m full of anticipation.”
Question: And do you sometimes throw the “flight shame” overboard because of the many trips?
Answer: «I was lucky, I was in England for several weeks, so I could always take the train to the games. Thank God I didn’t have to have these conflicts of conscience this time. But of course the topic remains in the room. I always dutifully pay the flight compensation and even double it to be able to convince myself that I’m saving the world climate with Liverpool, but of course that’s nonsense. No, it can’t really be justified from a reasonable point of view. But everyone has to have some quirk, and then I try to be a responsible citizen in other areas. I can’t do that with the trips to Liverpool.”
Question: Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp was once said to play “heavy metal football”. Does that fit, or is it more punk rock football for you?
Answer: «No, punk would be a bit too chaotic for football (laughs). In the case of Liverpool FC, I would like to have that more organized. Then rather metal, where the people play exactly to the click and where everything is calculated exactly. Punk would mean: too much chaos, always running forward with the ball and not paying attention to the defense – we don’t need that right now. This is really only the last weapon if nothing else helps.”
Question: Football and punk rock, that’s a proven connection. With you and the pants the most biting with the anti-FC Bayern piece from 1999 (“Only one thing I know 100 percent / I would never go to Bayern”), which is now also represented on the anniversary record. So you obviously have no regrets.
Answer: «It is simply part of our history. I’m not particularly proud of it now, but someone had to do it back then, so it was us (laughs). But even in the South, people have gotten over this gaffe and see it with humour. At that time we were in the third or fourth division with Fortuna Düsseldorf, so for us Bayern Munich was nothing more than the moon at which the dog barked – and of course we were the dog in the picture. The ridiculousness of our size in relation to Bayern, there was nothing aggressive about it. Nevertheless, they felt attacked there at the time, because you don’t just want to be the best, you also want to be loved by everyone, and that doesn’t always work out. But even Uli Hoeneß brought out the peace flag at some point, and then that was good too. »
ABOUT PERSON: Andreas Frege, stage name Campino, has been the singer of Toten Hosen, one of the country’s most popular rock bands, for 40 years. In June, the German-British musician from Düsseldorf will be 60 years old – and before that, as a long-time admirer of the English Premier League club FC Liverpool, is hoping for a rich harvest of titles.
The best-of album “Alles aus Liebe: 40 Jahre Die Toten Hosen” will be released on May 27 on four vinyl discs, double CDs or digitally. The compilation contains 43 songs, seven of which are new tracks as well as new recordings and remixes of previously released “classics”.