The Rattles
2006 live at the Maiwoche in Osnabrück, Germany
Background information
Origin	Hamburg, Germany
Genres	beat, rock
Years active	1960 (1960)–present
Labels	Edel Records (2011) Star-Club Records (1960s), Philips and others
Website	rattles.de
Members
Herbert Hildebrandt Dicky Tarrach Eggert Johannsen Manne Kraski
Past members
Achim Reichel Frank Dostal Edna Béjarano more: see below

The Rattles are a rock band (initially beat group) from Germany. Their biggest selling record was their 1968 recorded song, "The Witch", which sold over one million copies globally.^[1]

Career [link]

2006 live at the Maiwoche in Osnabrück, Germany

The Rattles began their career in the same Hamburg scene where many Liverpool based UK beat groups got their start. They met The Beatles in 1962 and played alongside them on three occasions in Germany; at Munich, Essen and Hamburg.^[1] In 1964 the group recorded an up beat version of "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" which was a minor hit in the UK. In 1968 they recorded "The Witch", written by Hildebrandt, which was a hit in Germany.^[1] The group was forced to split up owing to army service and other reasons and a new line-up formed, although Hildebrandt remained as songwriter and record producer.^[1] They enjoyed sustained success in their own country through the 1960s, and recorded a new version of "The Witch" in 1970 which became their only international hit.^[1]

"The Witch" went Top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, in addition to hitting the Top 20 in Austria and on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. By April 1971, it had sold over one million copies, with the Rattles becoming the first German group to ever appear in the U.S. charts.^[1]

Influence [link]

• Rosetta Stone released a gothic rock cover of "The Witch" in the 90s.

Members [link]

• Achim Reichel - vocals, guitar
• Herbert Hildebrandt - bass
• Hajo (Hans Joachim) Kreutzfeld - guitar
• Reinhard "Dicky" Tarrach - drums

(This was the basic mid 1960s line-up.^[2] By the time of "The Witch" they had all left and successively been replaced by other musicians, with Edna Béjarano now being the lead singer.)

Past and present members:

Achim Reichel (vocals, guitar, 1960–66, 1988–91)
Bernd Schulz (keyboards, 1967–68)
Dieter Sadlowsky (drums, 1960–63)
Edna Béjarano (vocals, 1970–73)
Eggert Johannsen [Martin Storm] (vocals, rhythm guitar, 1994–present)
Frank "Piggy" Jarnach (keyboards, vocals, 1991–95)
Frank Dostal (vocals, 1966–67)
Frank Mille (guitar, vocals, 1970–77)
Frank Seidel (keyboards, 1996–present)
Georg "George" Meier (guitar, vocals, 1969–70, 1974–77)
George Miller (drums, 1975–77)
Hans Joachim "Hajo" Kreutzfeld (guitar, 1961–65)
Henner Hoier (keyboards, vocals, 1969–70, 1988–93)
Herbert Bornhold (drums, 1973)
Herbert Hildebrandt (bass, vocals, 1960–68, 1988–present)
Hermann "Rugy" Rugenstein (guitar, vocals, 1965–68)
Jochen "Lu Lafayette" Peters (keyboards, 1973–77)
Kurt "Zappo" Lüngen (bass, 1968–73, 1974)
Linda Fields (vocals, 1974–77)
Manne Kraski (guitar, vocals, 1991–present)
Peter "Peet" Becker (drums, 1968–70)
Rainer Degner (guitar, vocals, 1967-69
Reinhard "Dicky" Tarrach (drums, 1963–67, 1988–present)
Volker Reinhold (guitar, vocals, 1960–61)
Wolfgang "Al" Brock (drums, 1974)

Discography [link]

Singles [link]

Albums [link]

• Twist im Star-Club (1963)
• Twist im Star-Club Hamburg (1964)
• Live im Star-Club Hamburg (1964)
• The Searchers meet the Rattles (1964)
• Rattles (1965)
• Star Club Show 1 (1966)
• Liverpool Beat (1966)
• Hurra, die Rattles kommen (Soundtrack to the film of the same name) (1966)
• Remember Finale Ligure (1967)
• The Witch (1971)
• Tonight Starring Edna (1972)
• Gin Mill (1974)
• Attention (1975)
• Hot Wheels (1988)
• Painted Warrior (1990)
• New Wonderland (1993)
• Live (1997)
• Say Yeah! (2007)

Compilations [link]

• Die deutschen Singles A&B (1963–1965), Vol. 1 (????)
• Die deutschen Singles A&B (1965–1969), Vol. 2 (????)
• Come On And Sing - Best (2004)
• Goldene für die Rattles (1970)
• Greatest Hits (1997)

References [link]

External links [link]

• The Rattles discography at Discogs
• Richie Unterberger, The Rattles at Allmusic