LIFT

Lift biography
Hailing from Dresden, a German rock unit LIFT were founded in 1973 firstly as a blues / soul / gospel project by Gerhard ZACHER, Konrad BURKERT, Jürgen HEINRICH, Till PATZER, Manfred NYTSCH, Wolfgang SCHEFFLER, Karl-Matthias PFLUGBEIL, Bernd SCHLUND, and Christiane UFHOLZ. They've had their first concert upon January 28 1973.

In 1973 the brass section left LIFT and the singer Stephan TREPTE was invited. A keyboardist Franz BARTZSCH, who also came to LIFT in 1973, soon joined the Veronika Fischer Band in 1974 and Michael HEUBACH replaced Franz as a keyboardist. The drummer / singer Werther LOHSE replaced Konrad in 1974 and is the only remaining lift member from that time. In 1976, a keyboardist Wolfgang returned to LIFT with a new singer and harmonica player Henry PACHOLSKI. Stephan left for joining a new band named Reform. In 1977 their debut album titled eponymously was released via Amiga label. In the spring of 1978, Werther was replaced by Frank-Endrik MOLL and some material for their second album "Meeresfahrt" released in 1979 was recorded with the hits "Nach Süd" and "Tagesreise".

Sadly upon November 15, 1978, Henry and Gerhard died in a traffic accident during a tour around Kalisz in Poland, and Michael was seriously injured. After the death of the two musicians and Michael's temporary resignation, Werther returned as the lead vocalist. Michael SCHIEMANN joined the band as a bass player. That is, significant changes around LIFT were done. In 1980 Michael SCHIEMANN was replaced by Michael LEDIG and their third album "Spiegelbild" saw the light in the following year. Jochen Kittan joined as a bassist for Michael LEDIG in 1982.

In 1984 Michael HEUBACH returned to LIFT. A violinist Hans "Die Geige" WINTOCH also became a member of LIFT at the time, whilst Wolfgang and Till left the band. Hans WINTOCH and Michael HEUBACH left the band after a short while, but In 1985, four new members joined the band: Bodo KOMMNICK, Frank GURSCH, Thilo PIETSCHMANN and Holger COAST. Their fourth album "Nach Hause" released in 1987 was recorded / produced under the formation. In 2000s some compilation albums have been launched.