Five friends from Augsburg (South Bavaria) formed a school band in 1969 and were obviously fans of Amon Düül II, because they called themselves Phallus Dei, just like the debut album of their favourite band, which was released in the same year. After years of practising and various small gigs, they were discovered by producer O. B. Hartmann in Munich, who launched a record contract with the renowned record company Telefunken. However, those in charge insisted on a different band name that was less „dirty“. So they changed their name to Gift, which means „poison“ in German.

Singer Helmut Treichel, guitarist Rainer Baur, English guitarist and singer Nick Woodland, bass guitarist Uwe Patzke and Hermann „Mandy“ Lange on drums recorded their eponymous debut album at Munich’s Union Studios in 1972, which was released in the same year. With their powerful hard rock with strong progressive elements, they gained a loyal fan base, had frequent live appearances and performed at numerous festivals, especially in southern Germany. As their debut, like their second album Blue Apple in 1974, was released exclusively in Germany, sales figures remained low and the record company dropped the band. The group subsequently disbanded. German originals of this heavy rock debut are now sought-after collector’s items.