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Michael Karoli

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Michael Karoli
Born(1948-04-23)April 23, 1948
Straubing, Bavaria, Germany
DiedNovember 17, 2001(2001-11-17) (aged 53)
Essen, Germany
OccupationMusician
Spouse
Shirley Karoli
​
(m. 1981)​
Children2 (Tamara and Angie)
Parents

Michael Karoli (29 April 1948 – 17 November 2001) was a German guitarist, violinist, and sound-mixer. He was a founding member of the krautrock band Can.

Biography

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Early life

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Michael Karoli was born 29 April 1948 in Straubing, Bavaria, to Susanne and Hermann Karoli [de]. The year of his birth, Hermann "had just been freed after testifying in the Nuremberg Trials" and Pohl trial.[1] Hermann had been a member of the Waffen-SS and fought on the Eastern Front during the WWII. After Herman got shot in his lung, he was moved back to Berlin, where he headed the audit department of the Berlin administrative centre until the end of the war. In 1943, Hermann married Susanne who had worked as a film editor.[2] After the trials, Hermann and his brother Richard established an accounting company based in Essen, and in 1971 Der Spiegel magazine called Karoli one of the "most influential consultants to West German companies".[3]

Growing up, Michael Karoli learned banjo, violin, cello, and electric guitar. Karoli familiarized himself with a wide range of music from classical and Romani music to swing and blues. While attending board school in St Gallen, Switzerland, he started a band with his school friends playing modern jazz, and by the mid-sixties switched to rock, pop, and soul music emerging from Britain and US.[2]

In 1966, Karoli befriended his guitar teacher Holger Czukay,[4] introducing Czukay to the contemporary rock music of The Beatles, Velvet Underground, and Frank Zappa.[5] They played with rock pianist Tony Ashton and several members of his band, Remo Four, proposing him an idea to form an experimental band, but didn't followed through. When Michael was finishing school, Czukay was fired from the Institut auf dem Rosenberg, as Czukay explained, "for being too … er … intriguing!"[6]

Career

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In late Autumn 1967, as Michael began studying for a law degree in Lausanne, Czukay got the letter from his ex-classmate Irmin Schmidt, inviting him to visit Cologne and join his band. Czukay brought Karoli with him and formed Can.[7] According to Schmidt, Karoli "had to fight with his family, doubting his career choice. Schmidt and Holger talked to Hermann Karoli and convinced him that "it was really something serious." Hermann "reluctantly gave in". When Can debuted their first album, Monster Movie, Hermann told the band he liked the song "Father Cannot Yell", and Schmidt said Hermann was "very convinced that they had a marvellous group".[8]

While playing with Can, Karoli mostly performed on guitar and violin, occasionally picking up bağlama, bass, and various non western instruments. After vocalist Damo Suzuki left Can in late 1973, Karoli became the band's main vocalist. In the years following the Can's split, Karoli joined the band for its three reunions, in 1986, 1991, and 1999.[9] Karoli continued working with the ex-members of Can, appearing on albums made by Irmin Schmidt and Holger Czukay.

After leaving Can, Karoli invested in property in southern France, buying a former olive oil mill near Nice and establishing his own recording studio at home, calling it "The Outer Space Recording Studio".[10] Karoli developed the atmospheric "Microsonic" recording technique,[11] and collaborated with vocalist Polly Eltes, for the next three years irregularly working in his studio and coming up with album Deluge. The album was mastered by Holger Czukay and released by Spoon Records in 1984. Rob Young, Can's biographer, described Deluge as post-punk and reggae.[10] Outside of Deluge, Karoli recorded several other albums in the Outer Space studio: Neue Deutsche Welle group called The Bit, Irmin Schmidt's Rote Erde soundtrack, Belgian Associality's album, and 1989 Can album Rite Time.[12][11]

Between 1981 and 1986, Karoli has been studying African rhythm and dance with the drummer Seni Camara.[10][11]

In 1999, Karoli participated in CAN Solo Projects concerts with his group SOFORTKONTAKT, named after a late-night TV ad for a sex hotline. The group consisted of Michael Karoli, Felix Gutierrez, and Alexander Schoenert.[13]

Family

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Karoli's sister, Constanze Karoli, and then-girlfriend Eveline Grunwald are the models on the cover of Roxy Music's 1974 album Country Life.[14]

Karoli married Shirley Argwings-Kodhek on September 15, 1981, in Essen.[11][10] Shirley participated in the recording of the last Can album, Rite Time, contributing as a background vocalist.[15] They had two daughters: Tamara Karoli, born in April 1989, and Angie, born in May 1992.[11][16] Tamara has been working in photography.[17]

Death

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Karoli died from an undisclosed form of cancer in 2001 in Essen, Germany, aged 53.[18][19] Before his death, Karoli scheduled an "informal recording session" in Dortmund with drummer Thomas Hopf and electronic musician Mark Spybey.[16]

Discography

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Solo
Can
See also: Can discography
Holger Czukay
Irmin Schmidt
  • Filmmusik (1980) ("Im Herzen Des Hurrican (Verfolgung)")
  • Filmmusik Vol.2 (1981) ("Endstation Freiheit - Titelmusik")
  • Filmmusik Vol. 3 & 4 (1983) ("You Make Me Nervous")
  • Rote Erde - Originalmusik Zur Fernsehserie
  • Roll On, Euphrates (1986)
  • Musk At Dusk (1987)
  • Filmmusik Vol. 5 (1989)
  • Impossible Holidays (1991)
  • Gormenghast (2000)
Other
  • Playboys (1985) — Les Playboys
  • Charlatan (1988) — Arno[11]
  • Tales Of Purple Sally (1995) — Alex Oriental Experience
  • Jpn Ultd Vol. 1 — Damo Suzuki's Network (2000)

References

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  1. ^ "Introduction to NMT Case 4 – U.S.A. v. Pohl u. a. auf". www. nuremberg.law.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b Young & Schmidt, pp. 42–43.
  3. ^ "Der Spiegel vom 17. Februar 1965". Der Spiegel.
  4. ^ Young & Schmidt 2018, p. 42.
  5. ^ "Can – publications". Czukay.de. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  6. ^ Young & Schmidt 2018, pp. 44–45.
  7. ^ Young & Schmidt 2018, pp. 42, 45.
  8. ^ Young & Schmidt 2018, p. 78.
  9. ^ Young & Schmidt 2018.
  10. ^ a b c d Young & Schmidt 2018, p. 288.
  11. ^ a b c d e f "Michael Karoli's biography & selected chronology". Spoonrecords.com.
  12. ^ Diego Olivas (April 7, 2017). "Michael Karoli & Polly Eltes: Deluge (1984)". Fond Sound.
  13. ^ Young & Schmidt, p. 302.
  14. ^ Young & Schmidt, p. 235.
  15. ^ Young & Schmidt 2018, p. 291.
  16. ^ a b Young & Schmidt, p. 304.
  17. ^ "Tamara Karoli official website".
  18. ^ "Julian Cope presents Head Heritage - Unsung - Michael Karoli 1948-2001". Julian Cope presents Head Heritage. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  19. ^ Christian Koehl (Dec 5, 2001). "Michael Karoli". Variety.

Works cited

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