Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft

Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft (German American Friendship, DAF) was the German NDW duo of singer Gabi Delgado and synth programmer Robert Görl. They released two indie titles, followed by the 1981/82 Virgin albums Alles ist Gut, Gold und Liebe, and Für Immer. After a three-year split, they regrouped for the 1986 release 1st Step to Heaven.

Members: Robert Görl (drums, synthesizer, programming), Gabi Delgado (vocals), Wolfgang Spelmans (guitar, 1978-81), Michael Kemner (bass, 1978-80), Kurt Dahlke (synthesizer, 1978-79), Chrislo Haas [aka Chrislo] (synthesizer, bass, saxophone, 1979-81)

Background

Robert Görl and Gabi Delgado formed Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft in 1978 after meeting at Düsseldorf’s punk venue Ratinger Hof.

Görl, a classically trained percussionist with jazz roots who recently embraced punk in London, developed rhythmic concepts with Delgado in the venue’s basement, where Delgado used a stylophone and Görl played drums. The pair emerged from the tightly knit Ratinger Hof scene that also birthed early Neue Deutsche Welle acts, often rotating through informal lineups. Early D.A.F. recordings followed quickly, with additional members including keyboardist Kurt Dahlke (Pyrolator), who joined later that year and contributed to their first sessions before departing in 1979.

Produkt der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Freundschaft

DAF released their first album, Produkt der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Freundschaft, in 1979 on Ata Tak.

The album contains twenty-two short, untitled instrumentals marked by raw interplay between guitarist Wolfgang Spelman and keyboardist Kurt Dahlke, who trade jagged, fractured figures over abrupt shifts in texture and density. Drummer Robert Görl anchors the disjointed bursts with hard, taut strikes while bassist Michael Kemner underpins the commotion with brittle, punctuated phrases that drop in and out of the mix.

Produkt moves in quick fragments that range from clipped static assaults to tightly wound rhythm splinters that drop out as abruptly as they begin. Short, jagged guitar jolts cut into boxed-in patterns that twist under warped oscillations and distorted synthetic intrusions. Taut beats persist with harsh, uneven patterns that shift from brittle thuds to tumbling, off-axis propulsion, reinforced or destabilized by intermittent low-end stabs. Some tracks dart forward with sharpened precision before dissolving into tape-sliced segments, while others uncoil with a kind of lurching symmetry, holding just long enough before collapsing into the next clipped vignette.

A1 [untitled] (0:45)
A2 [untitled] (1:04)
A3 [untitled] (0:19)
A4 [untitled] (2:33)
A5 [untitled] (1:07)
A6 [untitled] (0:45)
A7 [untitled] (0:44)
A8 [untitled] (1:48)
A9 [untitled] (0:55)
A10 [untitled] (3:16)
A11 [untitled] (1:00)
A12 [untitled] (1:19)

B1 [untitled] (0:36)
B2 [untitled] (1:41)
B3 [untitled] (0:26)
B4 [untitled] (1:47)
B5 [untitled] (1:24)
B6 [untitled] (2:09)
B7 [untitled] (1:33)
B8 [untitled] (1:14)
B9 [untitled] (0:32)
B10 [untitled] (3:06)

DAF recorded the album between February and April 1979 during a temporary departure by vocalist Gabi Delgado. They tracked the album at Ratingen-based studios for Ata Tak, then still operating under its original name, Warning. Shortly after the album’s release, Dahlke exited the group and Chrislo Haas took his place. The album reappeared in 1999 on Mute and again in 2012 via Bureau B.

Die Kleinen und die Bösen

DAF released their second album, Die Kleinen und die Bösen, in August 1980 on Mute.

The album splits between studio and live settings, capturing DAF at a transitional moment as they tightened their lineup and focus. Guitarist Wolfgang Spelmans and keyboardist Chrislo Haas trade sharp, clipped bursts over stammered sequences and static-piercing sax squeals, while Robert Görl locks the rhythm with an intermittent backbeat that fractures and reforms under vocalist Gabi Delgado’s barked declarations. Michael Kemner rounds out the ensemble with low-end statements that underline or displace the pulse in shifting bursts.

The studio side tightens DAF’s attack into colder, more deliberate structures, and a live side that pushes the same materials into louder, rougher extremity. “Osten währt am Längsten” stretches out with a slow, broken pulse—Robert Görl’s drumming lands in stark, spaced hits while Gabi Delgado rides the gaps with tense, husky phrasing; “Co Co Pino” shifts into sharper electronic pacing, with rhythmic figures snapping forward in short cycles and vocal trills cutting across the grid, while “Nacht Arbeit” hits with a blunt, all-out slam. The Electric Ballroom material turns harsher and more condensed: “Gewalt” opens as a full-noise detonation, then a run of brief tracks follows with clipped forms, cranked amp edge, and sudden bursts of screaming or jagged harmonies (“Das ist Liebe” stands out for its manic vocal collision).

A1. “Osten währt am Längsten” [The East Lasts Longest] (5:45)
A2. “Essen dann schlafen” [Eat Then Sleep] (1:06)
A3. “Co Co Pino” (3:25)
A4. “Kinderfunk” [Children’s Radio] (3:02)
A5. “Nacht Arbeit” [Night Work] (1:53)
A6. “Ich gebe Dir ein Stück von mir” [I Give You a Piece of Me] (1:41)
A7. “De Panne” (2:34)

B1. “Gewalt” [Violence] (1:24)
B2. “Gib’s mir” [Give It to Me] (1:01)
B3. “Auf Wiedersehen” [Goodbye] (2:03)
B4. “Das ist Liebe” [That Is Love] (1:18)
B5. “Was ist eine Welle” [What Is a Wave] (1:15)
B6. “Anzufassen und anzufassen” [To Touch and to Touch] (1:44)
B7. “Volkstanz” [Folk Dance] (0:48)
B8. “Die lustigen Stiefel” [The Funny Boots] (1:49)
B9. “Die Kleinen und die Bösen” [The Small and the Evil] (1:05)
B10. “Die fesche Lola” [The Dashing Lola] (1:41)
B11. “El Basilon” (2:52)
B12. “Y la Gracia” [And the Grace] (2:03)

DAF recorded the A-side and B1 at Conny Plank’s studio in Neunkirchen during March 1980. Plank engineered and co-mixed the material before Mute issued it as their inaugural album release on August 13, 1980. Tracks B2 through B12 derive from a live set at London’s Electric Ballroom. Following the album, Haas, Kemner, and Spelmans exited, leaving Görl and Delgado to reshape DAF as a duo.

Alles ist Gut

DAF released their third album, Alles ist Gut, in May 1981 on Virgin.

The album marks the duo configuration of Gabi Delgado and Robert Görl, with Görl constructing each track from tightly looped sequences and percussive programming intercut by synth accents that slash and sputter between vocal entries. He anchors the set with a rigid backbeat and syncopated drum-machine patterns that displace and redirect momentum while Delgado’s vocal phrasing alternates between clipped repetition and rising cadence.

Alles ist Gut strips DAF down to their starkest form—drum machine, synth, and voice—locked into a relentless grid of repetition and pressure. “Der Mussolini” drives forward on a single hammered rhythm and chant, with clipped phrases spaced into the beat like commands. “Mein Herz macht Bum” moves slower but heavier, its pulse anchored by flat, insistent hits while breathy vocal fragments twist across a looped stutter. “Der Räuber und der Prinz” shifts into lopsided lullaby mode, with thin, chiming synths and a hushed vocal line that turns sinister by restraint. The title track closes with a weighted, lumbering pace, low thumps and vapor-trail effects stretching space between each impact.

A1. “Sato-Sato” (2:43)
A2. “Der Mussolini” [The Mussolini] (3:50)
A3. “Rote Lippen” [Red Lips] (2:41)
A4. “Mein Herz macht Bum” [My Heart Goes Boom] (4:26)
A5. “Der Räuber und der Prinz” [The Robber and the Prince] (3:27)

B1. “Ich und die Wirklichkeit” [Me and Reality] (3:05)
B2. “Als wär’s das letzte Mal” [As If It Were the Last Time] (3:24)
B3. “Verlier nicht den Kopf” [Don’t Lose Your Head] (3:17)
B4. “Alle gegen Alle” [Everyone Against Everyone] (3:55)
B5. “Alles ist gut” [Everything Is Fine] (3:25)

DAF recorded the album between December 1980 and January 1981 at Conny Plank’s studio in Neunkirchen. Plank produced and engineered the sessions, applying his mix treatment across the minimal arrangements and emphasizing dynamic contrast through balance and spatial separation. Alles ist Gut entered the German charts in mid-1981 and remained for 46 weeks, peaking at No. 15. It also charted in Austria and received the Schallplattenpreis from the Deutsche Phono-Akademie. Mute reissued the album in 1998.

Gold und Liebe

DAF released their fourth album, Gold und Liebe, on November 20, 1981, on Virgin.

Robert Görl builds each track on stark, clipped percussion and fixed-sequence patterns that loop under sudden synth breaks and trigger-locked modulations. He acts as both rhythmic anchor and tonal controller, using rigid machine pulses and punched accents to frame Gabi Delgado’s voice against shifting synthetic shapes. With no additional instrumentalists, the duo maximizes tension through compression and subtraction, balancing mechanical repetition with disruptive vocal phrasing.

Gold und Liebe (Gold and Love) sharpens DAF’s minimalism into colder contours and more body-obsessed repetition, with tracks driven by clipped phrasing, rigid pulse, and synthetic tension. “Liebe auf den ersten Blick” opens with hard-sequenced rhythm and clipped synth stabs under barked commands, while “Sex unter Wasser” suspends its pace in vaporous textures, letting the beat slow beneath slurred vowels and diffused phrasing. “Goldenes Spielzeug” balances its low-end stomp with a bright, cycling motif that circles back in even intervals, building weight through restraint. “Absolute Körperkontrolle” locks into a hard-edged march, alternating sharp accents with staggered shifts. “Verschwende deine Jugend” regains the duo’s prior harshness, lashing static rhythm under forceful incantation before closing with the heavier, drawn-out impact of “Greif nach den Sternen.”

A1. “Liebe auf den ersten Blick” [Love at First Sight] (3:57)
A2. “El que” (3:33)
A3. “Sex unter Wasser” [Sex Under Water] (3:04)
A4. “Was ziehst du an heute Nacht?” [What Are You Wearing Tonight?] (3:45)
A5. “Goldenes Spielzeug” [Golden Toy] (3:54)

B1. “Ich will” [I Want] (3:19)
B2. “Muskel” [Muscle] (3:25)
B3. “Absolute Körperkontrolle” [Absolute Body Control] (3:12)
B4. “Verschwende deine Jugend” [Waste Your Youth] (3:47)
B5. “Greif nach den Sternen” [Reach for the Stars] (3:39)

DAF recorded the album during August and September 1981 at Conny Plank’s studio in Neunkirchen. Plank engineered and produced the sessions, working directly with Görl’s analog electronics to shape each track’s spatial weight and dynamic contour. Virgin issued the album on LP and cassette in Germany and Austria, where it charted for 21 and 10 weeks respectively. Mute reissued it on CD in 1998.

Für Immer

DAF released their fifth album, Für Immer, on September 20, 1982, on Virgin.

Robert Görl builds each track from rigid drum patterns and tonal sequences that shift between sharp pulses and dragged fragments, drawing contrast against Gabi Delgado’s clipped incantations. He underpins the set with a dry, mechanical backbeat and modulated keyboard layers that stretch, fold, or splinter around the vocal phrasing without relying on harmonic progression or instrumental embellishment.

Für Immer stretches DAF’s framework to its most unstable point, alternating between clipped machine repetition and looser, often jarring shifts in pace and tone. “Im Dschungel der Liebe” opens with dry, half-tempo pulses and half-whispered phrasing set adrift in skeletal space, while “Ein bißchen Krieg” strikes harder—rigid, single-beat intervals overlaid with blunt, forceful declarations. “Verlieb dich in mich” tightens around a sped-up, circular sequence and percussive blurts that keep each phrase boxed into fast, clipped cycles. “Die Lippe” runs on reduced circuitry, held together by a one-note undercurrent and sluggish pacing, while “Prinzessin” bends its rhythm around layered metallic textures that swing between restrained and overdriven.

A1. “Im Dschungel der Liebe” [In the Jungle of Love] (4:11)
A2. “Ein bißchen Krieg” [A Little Bit of War] (4:00)
A3. “Die Götter sind weiß” [The Gods Are White] (3:00)
A4. “Verlieb dich in mich” [Fall in Love With Me] (3:44)
A5. “Geheimnis” [Secret] (3:22)

B1. “Kebab Träume” [Kebab Dreams] (4:00)
B2. “Prinzessin” [Princess] (4:16)
B3. “Die Lippe” [The Lip] (3:11)
B4. “Verehrt euren Haarschnitt” [Worship Your Haircut] (3:22)
B5. “Wer schön sein will, muß leiden” [Who Wants to Be Beautiful Must Suffer] (3:33)

DAF recorded Für Immer in May 1982 at Conny Plank’s studio in Neunkirchen. Plank produced and engineered the album, applying minimal treatments to Görl’s dry sequences and Delgado’s isolated vocal takes. During the sessions, the duo decided to disband, and each pursued a solo project before reconvening several years later. Virgin issued the album in Europe on LP and cassette; Mute reissued it on CD in 1998.

1st Step to Heaven

DAF released their sixth album, 1st Step to Heaven, in 1986 on Ariola.

Robert Görl arranges each track around digital sequences and programmed percussion with clean, frontal layering and clipped synth overlays that pulse, ascend, or recede around Gabi Delgado’s phrasing. His drum-machine patterns provide a locked underpin across the album, alternating between flat binary thrusts and four-beat cadences that propel or suspend the rhythm beneath sparse chord cycles and tonal repetitions.

1st Step to Heaven shifts DAF’s pulse toward a brighter, overexposed surface, trading their analog harshness for staccato digital patterns and clipped, programmed percussion. “Voulez vous coucher avec moi” spins on syncopated synth-bass figures and dry, two-note phrases, with vocal refrains split between monotone slogans and falsetto faltering. “Opium” drifts with slow-motion steps and sparse tonal drops, stripped down to delay-affected fragments. “Sex Up” leans into clean, metronomic pacing beneath flattened vocal repetition, while “1st Step to Heaven” closes on a lengthened build, layering hi-end loops and a softened pulse until it plateaus into static motion.

A1. “Voulez vous coucher avec moi” [Do You Want to Sleep With Me](5:04)
A2. “Opium” (1:58)
A3. “Brothers” (3:53)
A4. “Voulez vous coucher avec moi (Part II)” (5:13)

B1. “Sex Up” (3:26)
B2. “Pure Joy” (3:30)
B3. “Party” (3:23)
B4. “1st Step to Heaven” (5:53)

DAF recorded the album during 1985 and 1986 at Hartmann Digital Studio. Delgado and Görl produced the sessions themselves, applying sharper digital textures and a brighter surface contrast than on their earlier analog recordings. Ariola issued the album in Germany through its Dean imprint and released multiple 12″ singles. A revised tracklist appeared in 1989 on the US compilation Hitz Blitz. The duo split again shortly after the album’s release.

Discography: