Out of Focus -

Out of Focus was a German jazz-rock band behind the 1971/72 Kuckuck albums Wake Up!, Out of Focus, and Four Letter Monday Afternoon. Material from their 1973/74 period later appeared on the archival disc Not Too Late.

Members: Remigius Drechsler (guitar, backing vocals), Hennes Hering (keyboards), Moran Neumüller (vocals, saxophone, flute), Stephan Wiesheu (bass), Klaus Spöri (drums), Ingo Schmid-Neuhaus (saxophone), Peter Dechant (guitar), Hermann Breuer (keyboards), Michael Thatcher (keyboards), Grand Roman Langhans (percussion), Wolfgang Göhringer (guitar, backing vocals), Evelyn Drechsler (bass)

Formation

Out of Focus formed in 1968 in Munich. They took their name from a song on Vincebus Eruptum, the debut album by American proto-metal pioneers Blue Cheer. In 1970, they signed with Kuckuck, a just-launched local label with Armaggedon and Murphy Blend.

Wake Up!

Out of Focus released their debut album, Wake Up!, in March 1971 on Kuckuck.

The album contains six group-composed numbers, including the super-length titles “Hey John,” “World’s End,” and “Dark, Darker.”

Wake Up! establishes the classic Out of Focus quintet: guitarist Remigius Drechsler, bassist Stefan Wisheu, drummer Klaus Spöri, organist Hennes Hering, and singer/saxophonist Moran Neumüller.

A1. “See How a White Negro Flies” (5:48)
A2. “God Save the Queen, Cried Jesus” (7:28)
A3. “Hey John” (9:35)

B1. “No Name” (3:11)
B2. “World’s End” (9:55)
B3. “Dark, Darker” (11:37)

Sessions occurred in late October and early December 1970 at Munich’s Union Studios, where Jonas Porst produced Wake Up! along with Murphy Blend’s First Loss and the first three Ihre Kinder albums.

Thomas Klemt co-engineered Wake Up! with Reinhold Mack, a future soundman for Abacus, Subject ESQ., Sunbirds, Scorpions, and the English groups Queen, Deep Purple, Electric Light Orchestra, and Uriah Heep.

Out of Focus

Out of Focus released their self-titled second album in September 1971 on Kuckuck.

The album contains five group-composed numbers, including the super-length titles “Whispering” and “Fly Bird Fly.” The opening track takes titular inspiration from a Rolling Stones evergreen.

Out of Focus retained their Wake Up! lineup with Hennes Hering on organ and piano and Moran Neumüller on tenor saxophone, flute, and vocals.

A1. “What What Can a Poor Boy Do (But to Be a Streetfighting Man)” (5:48)
A2. “It’s Your Life” (4:30)
A3. “Whispering” (13:31)

B1. “Blue Sunday Morning” (7:05)
B2. “Fly Bird Fly / Television Program” (16:51)

Sessions occurred in June 1971 at Bavaria Studios in Munich, where Hans Endrulat engineered Out of Focus between the first two Popol Vuh albums.

The back cover contains green-tinted monochrome performance pics of each member, taken by C+M Hudalla, a sibling photographic team credited on later albums by Karthago.

Four Letter Monday Afternoon

Out of Focus released their third album, Four Letter Monday Afternoon, in late 1972 on Kuckuck.

Four Letter Monday Afternoon is a two-record set (91:45 duration) with one side-long track (A), two half-side numbers (B), one standard-length cut (“Where Have You Been”), and “Huchen 55,” a four-part, fifty-minute piece spread across sides C and D.

Guitarist Remigius Drechsler multi-tasks on flute, recorder, stylophone, and tenor saxophone. They welcome a sixth member, acoustic guitarist and backing vocalist Peter Dechant.

Four Letter Monday Afternoon features guest organist Michael Thatcher (Nowy, Giorgio), and three supplemental hornists, including Embryo trombonist Hermann Breuer and alto/baritone saxist Ingo Schmid-Neuhaus, who later joined Out of Focus.

A. “L.S.B.” (17:40)

B1. “Tsajama” (9:25)
B2. “Black Cards” (9:40)

C1. “Where Have You Been” (5:35)
C2. “Huchen 55, A” (24:45)

D. “Huchen 55, B / Huchen 55, C / Huchen 55, D” (24:40)

Sessions spanned July 17–28, 1972, at Bavaria Studios, where Hanuman soundman Wolfgang Löper engineered Four Letter ahead of titles by Niagara and Lied des Teufels.

Four Letter Monday Afternoon appeared in a gatefold with an inner-gate stage photo of the core quintet.

Not Too Late

In 1974, Out of Focus recorded a fourth album, released in 1999 as Not Too Late, an archival CD on the Cosmic Egg label.

The album features a reconfigured sextet lineup with Saffran guitarist Wolfgang Göhringer and Four Letter alto saxophonist Ingo Schmid-Neuhaus. They join four-fifths of the original band: guitarist Remigius Drechsler, bassist Stephan Wischeu, drummer Klaus Spöri, and singer/reedist Moran Neumüller.

Not Too Late (40:39 duration) contains two Drechsler compositions (“X,” “Y”) and three by Neumüller.

1. “That’s Very Easy” (9:04)
2. “X” (10:57)
3. “The Way I Know Her” (3:36)
4. “Y” (7:51)
5. “Spanish Lines” (9:11)

Sessions occurred in the spring of 1974 in Herrsching.