Weird but true: Five US soldiers based in Germany created one of the greatest 60s albums ever! They got together as a band in 1964 and performed in the barracks as a fun band. Later they played in the same Hamburg clubs as the Beatles. After leaving the army they decided to stay in Germany. Under the guidance of the two ad executives Walther Niemann and Karl-Heinz Remy they became their artwork named Monks with black robes and tonsures. This very controversial image by the five monks, Roger, Gary, Larry, Eddie and Dave plus their sole album Black Monk Time, released in March of 1966, was unlike popular pop rock bands.

Their mix of proto-punk, garage and avantgarde wasn’t only innovative but revolutionary and radical with it’s subversive style, absurd, free association lyrics, fuzzy dissonance and beat-heavy rhythms. There was simply nothing like that. Numerous performances across Germany to promote the album were equally extravagant and were largely met with controversy. Due to the foreseeable continued commercial failure and certain tensions within the band, the quintet disbanded a year later. The band and their sole Polydor LP, which was released exclusively in Germany and was not particularly successful, have since achieved legendary status and are now celebrated as pioneers of punk and garage rock.