Bläck Fööss
The Bläck Fööss (Ripuarian "De Bläck Fööss") are a music group from Cologne, Germany, started in 1970. Name of the band. The band's name in Kölsch, a local dialect of Ripuarian, in which the group predominantly sings, means barefoot. It is pronounced . In their early days the group would perform barefoot, which was later given up mainly after several injuries from remains of broken glass on stages. Repertoire. The band's style of music is a cross between Schlager and pop, but they also perform songs with jazz, blues, rock and reggae styles. The group is famous  for its a cappella singing. Many of the band's songs are popular carnival songs, while others are covers of bands such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Beatles, Hollies or Willi Ostermann. In August 1985 the band got their biggest chart success, with the song "Frankreich, Frankreich" (France, France) landing in at number 9 in the German charts. Band members. In their 4 decades together, the Bläck Fööss have only had a few changes in membership. Willy Schnitzler and Rolf Lammers have both played keyboard; in 1994, the band had its biggest split, with frontman Tommy Engel leaving for a solo  career after so-called creative differences. Willy Schnitzler left the band in 2005 after arthritis of the hand rendered him unable to play. He was succeeded by Andreas Wegener. In January 2017 Singer Kafi Biermann and founding member Peter Schütten left the band and were succeeded by Mirko Bäumer and Pit Hupperten. Hanz Thodam replaced bass player Hartmut Priess after the band's traditional New Years Eve concert of 2018.