FEX broadcasted on NDR in 1983 – Research

Written by Lennon Ferguson

For the first time ever, official documentation has been found that establishes a connection between FEX and NDR.

Upon contact with NDR Archives, I have been able to confirm that FEX were the musical guests on Abendjournal: “Kultur und Wissenschaft” on September 28th, 1983.

Background

This started during a separate project. Karl-Heinz “Kalle” Eckert, founding member of FEX (and its precursor bands Sunshine Caravan and Modulators), and I have had contact during 2026. He had provided me with press clippings and photos documenting FEX’s first live performance at Schreie gegen den Krieg at Opernhaus Kiel on September 30th, 1983, and I had intended to release them on social media. One press clipping stood out and I realized that I would have to shift the direction of the project entirely.

English Translation: Kulturforum: “Schreie” with Heinz Reincke. As part of the City of Kiel’s Kulturforum ‘83, the event “Schreie gegen den Krieg” will take place at the Opernhaus next Friday at 8 p.m. Subtitled: “Rock und Dichtung,” it features rebel songs from five centuries. The performers include: Heinz Reincke, Burgtheater actor and recipient of the City of Kiel’s 1983 Kulturpreisträger; Sonja Donalies, Peter Bernhardt, Siegfried Kristen, and Rainer Luxem, actors from Theater Kiel; and Hermann-Joseph Geiger, who compiled the texts and directed the performance. A large portion of the texts were set to music by Karl Eckert, who also rehearsed the songs and ensembles. The rock group “FEX” enthusiastically embraced this musical material in close collaboration with the composer, director, and actors. Ture, Hans, Volker, and Kalle will also perform some of their own songs, such as “FEX In Der Oper,” “Skyward,” and “Helikopter.” Excerpts from the program will be broadcast on NDR Kiel radio this Wednesday.

(author’s note: Karl Eckert being the father of Karl-Heinz “Kalle” Eckert)

I asked Kalle about this broadcast and he advised that, “As a program promo, NDR broadcast a 20-30 minute segment featuring commentary. The audio recording was made during rehearsals and was of poor quality. I do not have the audio available to me.“.

Contact with NDR

In order to obtain a Sendeprotokoll (Broadcast Log), you must provide NDR with a broadcast date or program name. They cannot search their archives via band name or song title. Thankfully, I had the broadcast date.

Within hours, NDR Archives got back to me with an entire, unredacted protocol from September 28th, 1983. The most damning detail was the log of song entries – credited to FEX’s name, including an original composition by Ture Rückwardt. NDR Archives also confirmed that they possessed an MP3 file of the program and they were more than happy to provide that to me. As I awaited the audio recording, I informed Kalle of the news and it turned out that he had recently taken a second look in his archive and found his own copy of the broadcast, which he had recorded live onto cassette directly from the radio back then. I received Kalle’s recording first and the reality set in that I had gotten my hands on something incredible.

The Broadcast

Per the data sheet received to me:

– Broadcast date: September 28th, 1983
– Broadcaster: Norddeutscher Rundfunk
– Start time: 19:05
– End time: 20:15
– Program identifier: NDR 1 Welle Nord
– Studio origin: NDR Landesfunkhaus Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel

This was an evening report on Abendjournal: “Kultur und Wissenschaft”, hosted by the late Brigitte Schubert-Riese. There are interviews with Dr. Knut Pfeiffer (event organizer for Schreie gegen den Krieg) of KulturForum Kiel, author Udo Steinke, and playwright Ulrich Fischer. FEX and the Theater Kiel ensemble perform selections from the Schreie gegen den Krieg program in a live studio session – closing out with the FEX instrumental piece “Skyward”, written by just Ture.

Aftermath and Conclusion

This discovery is a breakthrough in the FEX timeline. For the first time since FEX was identified as the composers of TMMS, there is now proof of FEX’s airtime on NDR. In addition, the finding disputes suspicious claims made on social media that FEX does not appear in NDR Sendeprotokoll. Unfortunately, TMMS has still not been found in the broadcast logs, but research has established September 3-4, 1984 as the probable air date. It is highly likely that an entry in NDR for “Subways Of Your Mind” simply does not exist.

In even more unfortunate news – I am currently unable to publish a recording of the program. There are licensing issues and although a small risk, it is best to avoid any trouble. I assure all the fans that they will be able to hear this recording soon!

I have recently connected with Ture and it is an honor to be able to present my research to the man who wrote TMMS. Ture is currently helping me with a project that will hopefully be announced in the future. I also was able to have a video conference with Michael and his daughter, fellow archivist ComfyGlow, and my favorite memory from that meeting was mimicking the synthesizer effect with him on a currently unreleased Modulators track, recorded under the name Session Band in 1980.

Special thanks to NDR Archives and especially Kalle, who is an integral part of the FEX story and we would not be where we are today without him. I still have contact with Kalle and he is one of the many friends I have met along the way. Nowadays, Kalle has retired from band life and focuses on studio productions with vocalists.

Is this the key to how a demo tape of FEX ended up at NDR?

Stay tuned for more exciting news and rock on, FEX!!!