Die Tödliche Doris

Die Tödliche Doris was born out of West Berlin’s lively post-punk community in the early ‘80s. Along with Einstürzende Neubauten, Malaria, Sprung Aus Den Wolken and Frieder Butzmann, Die Tödliche Doris ranks amongst the Geniale Dilletanten – which roughly translates as “ingenious dilettantes” – who sought to democratize cultural productions beyond the grip of both Western capitalism and GDR socialism. The Geniale Dilletanten became synonymous with a free-for-all approach to music, film, painting and performance where participants encouraged raw expression through provocation and experimentation. Wolfgang Müller and Nikolaus Utermöhlen founded Die Tödliche Doris in 1980, presenting the public persona of Doris as a constantly shifting entity that deliberately engaged the contradictions of the human condition. The band often referenced themselves in the third person singular, alluding to Doris as a fully-formed female character with explosive, colorful emotions.

As part of the celebrations for the group's 40th anniversary, here is the third title in Suezan Studio's bunch of Die Tödliche Doris releases. This limited edition collectors' item includes eight MiniCDs 3" (8cm) that come in an oversized square fold-out sleeve. Also part of this precious edition is a replica of the minibook (12x17 cm, 60 pages, with text in German and Japanese) that was included in the original 1983 release by Berlin-based Pure Freude/Gelbe Musik, which - we'd like to remember - was issued as a series of eight 4" miniphon records.