CLIFF BARNES AND THE FEAR OF WINNING
A CACTUS IN YOUR HEART
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Cliff Barnes and the Fear of Winning
Cliff Barnes and the Fear of Winning began as a band, but it was always more than that. From the beginning, the songs, the records and the live shows were tied to a particular way of looking at the world — restless, observant, political without slogans, and always moving between pop, protest and experiment.
This page brings together different parts of that history: the early years, the records, the people around the band, and the projects that continue to grow out of it. It is not a monument to the past. It is a working space for memory, context and continuation.
What started in the 1980s did not simply end. It changed form, disappeared for a while, returned in other constellations, and still feeds into current work such as Rising Drumbeat of Discontent. That is why this page exists: to connect the archive with the present, and to make visible the line that runs through it.
Cliff Barnes and the Fear of Winning
Cliff Barnes and the Fear of Winning begann als Band, war aber immer mehr als das. Von Anfang an waren die Songs, die Platten und die Konzerte mit einer bestimmten Haltung zur Welt verbunden — unruhig, aufmerksam, politisch ohne Parolen und immer in Bewegung zwischen Pop, Protest und Experiment.
Diese Seite führt verschiedene Teile dieser Geschichte zusammen: die frühen Jahre, die Veröffentlichungen, die Menschen um die Band herum und die Projekte, die daraus weitergewachsen sind. Sie ist kein Denkmal für die Vergangenheit, sondern ein Arbeitsraum für Erinnerung, Kontext und Fortsetzung.
Was in den 1980er Jahren begann, ist nicht einfach verschwunden. Es hat die Form verändert, war zeitweise nicht sichtbar, ist in anderen Konstellationen wieder aufgetaucht und wirkt bis in aktuelle Arbeiten wie Rising Drumbeat of Discontent hinein. Deshalb gibt es diese Seite: um das Archiv mit der Gegenwart zu verbinden und die Linie sichtbar zu machen, die dazwischen verläuft.
Outatune band
WORLD2HOT
The story of WORLD2HOT. The last CBATFOW album. Somewhere between Sustainablity and Rock’n’Roll.
LIVE
LIVE in the DDR
The story of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. And what CBATFOW had to do with it
MORE STUFF
POLITICS
CBATFOW is a band that always takes a stand. We have opinions and are not afraid to say what we think
Saving the world
CBATFOW DISCOGRAPHY
WORLD2HOT - the sustainable Album
Using photovoltaic, pedal power and even a water mill to produce electricity. WORLD2HOT is a cry of hope and a sign that to change things we need to find our voice again. Greedy and crooked politicians have been replaced by even greedier bankers and multinational companies, that control the way we waste resources to fire our consume based hedonistic life philosophy.
CBATFOW: Bob, Heinz, Marcus
Released: 2016 – Label: Timezone (TZ 1155)
WORLD2HOT - ALBUM NOTES
Cliff Barnes and the Fear of Winning have a long history.
Back in the eighties and nineties they were rock stars — on stage, on record — taking on Ronald Reagan, rednecks and the politics of the time. A few days before the Wall came down, they played in East Germany. Some say the band had nothing to do with it…!
Between those political moments there were always songs about love. The band toured extensively across Europe and the USA before imploding in the late nineties.
Now they are back.
The two main protagonists, Bob and Henry, never really stopped. With the Artland Country Club they developed a pedal power system together with friends in the USA — four bikes generating enough energy to run a highly efficient PA. Concerts became possible in remote places, independent of the grid. They played shows for the World Wildlife Fund and even at the German Pavilion at the World Expo in Astana, Kazakhstan — showing that music can do more than entertain: it can argue for a better world with more bicycles, fewer cars and a smaller carbon footprint.
WORLD2HOT is the logical consequence of that journey.
Reuniting with Marcus, the band recorded a new album with a deliberately low carbon footprint — using photovoltaic energy, pedal power and even a water mill to generate electricity.
WORLD2HOT is a cry of hope.
And a reminder that change starts when we find our voice again.
The players may have changed, but the game has not. Power has shifted — from politicians to bankers and multinational corporations — but the result is the same: a system that burns resources to feed a hollow, consumption-driven lifestyle.
The band is older now. No reason to hold back. Tell it like it is. Stand up and be counted.
The time is right for change — for tolerance, for responsibility, for love. In a world shaped by crisis and weak leadership, we should expect more. For ourselves. And for those who come after us.
Listen. Think. Act. WORLD2HOT is a cry from the restless, the frustrated, the unheard.
And a reminder: We are here to make a difference.
GODSATWORK
Gods at Work marked the return of Cliff Barnes and the Fear of Winning in the early 2000s.
The album was recorded in Osnabrück and at Temple Studio in Malta, where the entire band — along with their families — spent time working and living together. That setting shaped the record as much as the songs themselves.
Released shortly after 9/11, Gods at Work carries the weight of that moment without trying to explain it. It is direct, sometimes uneasy, and rooted in the reality of its time.
CBATFOW: Bob, Marcus, Boogie, Tom, Deko
Released: 2001 – Label: Ulftone (UTCD 044)
GODSATWORK - THE MALTA CONNECTION
Gods at Work was the first Cliff Barnes and the Fear of Winning album without Heinz Rebellius.
The record introduced Sven “Boogie” Behrens on guitar and slide, bringing a different playing style into the band at that time.
Recorded in Osnabrück and completed at Temple Studio in Malta, the production brought the entire band together in one place — not just as musicians, but with their families, living and working side by side. The final mixes were done on a vintage Neve console, with Marcus Praed at the desk and the band closely involved in shaping the sound.
Released shortly after 9/11, Gods at Work carries the atmosphere of that moment. Not as commentary, but as context.
The songs move between personal narratives and a wider view of the world, without trying to resolve anything. The title itself remains open: is God at work, or are Gods at work or are we massively overrating ourselves as Gods at work?
The record doesn’t answer that question. And thankfully, it doesn’t try. Everybody has their own God.
LIVE AT THE WORLD
CBATFOW – Live on stage, recorded at three gigs on the Fear Factory Mobile and mixed by Walter Wiewel in the Jovel Studio in Münster.
CBATFOW: Bob, Heinz, Marcus, Martin, Deko
Released: 1991 – Label: Intercord (IRS 951.942)
LIVE AT THE WORLD
Live at the World captures Cliff Barnes and the Fear of Winning at full intensity — on stage, where the band always made the most sense.
Released on the Intercord label, the record documents a time when CBATFOW were constantly on the move, playing across Germany and beyond, building their reputation the old way: night after night, city after city.
The recordings are raw and immediate. No studio polish, no safety net. What you hear is what happened — the energy of the room, the tension between the band and the audience, the songs pushed a little further than on the studio versions.
This was a period when CBATFOW were not just a band, but a presence. The concerts were loud, physical, sometimes chaotic, but always direct. The political undertones of the songs were not hidden, but carried through performance rather than statements.
Live at the World reflects that approach. It is less about perfection and more about impact.
You can hear a band that knows what it is doing — and a band that is still testing its limits.
Moments stretch, break, and come back together. Songs take on a different weight when played live. The connection between players and audience becomes part of the recording.
It is a snapshot of CBATFOW in motion.
Not a retrospective.
Not a greatest hits.
A document of what happened in the room.
GUNS, LOVE AND A CACTUS IN YOUR HEART - LP
“Guns, Love and a Cactus in Your Heart, like each of our albums, has its own particular story. While the first two records mainly featured songs written by Bobby/Bob and Doug/Heinz, Guns, Love…, released in 1989, was the first true band album, with all five musicians sharing writing credits.
And yes — from that point on, we also performed live as a five-piece, with Doug/Heinz taking over the bass parts, just as in the studio. Many still say that this was our best live line-up.”
CBATFOW: Bob, Heinz, Marcus, Martin, Deko
Released: 1990 – Label: Happy Valley Records (01329-08)
GUNS, LOVE AND A CACTUS IN YOUR HEART - ALBUM NOTES
After Spike, the band decided to try something different. The idea was simple: capture the raw energy of a live performance on record.
Producer Mick Franke, who owned Studio Harderberg, had access to a part of the studio that was never acoustically treated — an old barn. The band set up in a circle in that space, using floor monitors and side fills, and recorded live. The tape ran through the night.
There was a full crew on site. Head roadie Heaven took care of the food — and somehow everyone made it through without food poisoning.
Guns, Love and a Cactus in Your Heart is one of the band’s most immediate records. Highlights include The Jungle We Call Home, Gloryland, Lucy’s Song, and the a cappella Seven Blocks of Home, which later became the standard opening track for CBATFOW live shows.
The relaxed working environment, the communal setup and the live recording approach all contributed to the character of the album.
During the sessions, a small audience of friends was invited into the studio to witness a live performance. Mick recorded the show, and the result became the Cliff Barnes record later released by Amiga in East Germany.
Credits:
Doug La Trine (vocals, bass, guitar)
Moses Pellberg (drums)
Marc Praed (vocals, guitars)
Bob Tijuana (vocals)
Marvin Wah-Wah (keyboards)
With:
The Blechgang (horns)
Mick Franke (pedal steel)
CLIFF BARNES & the FEAR of WiNNING - The DDR LP
East Germany did not survive the might of CLIFF BARNES AND THE FEAR OF WINNING, after the tour and after the band was safe again in West Berlin, the Wall came tumbling down. It looked like an uprising, but we know better. This was the record that changed the world.
CBATFOW: Bob, Heinz, Marcus, Martin, Deko
Released: 1989 – Label: KPM Records (11002-05 LP)
CLIFF BARNES & the FEAR of WiNNING - The DDR LP - ALBUM NOTES
Credits:
Doug La Trine (vocals, bass, guitar)
Moses Pellberg (drums)
Marc Praed (vocals, guitars)
Bob Tijuana (vocals)
Marvin Wah-Wah (keyboards)
SPIKE - LP
CBATFOW – Great minds think alike, and as this record was being pressed, Elvis Costello issued a press release that told the world, that his new record would be called “SPIKE”.
CBATFOW: Bob, Heinz, Marcus, Martin, Deko
Released: 1988 – Label: Happy Valley Records (01325-08)
SPIKE - ALBUM NOTES
This was the difficult second album.
The Record That Took 300 Million Years to Make sold over 10,000 copies and established the band across German-speaking territories. It also caused a fair amount of uproar, with tracks like the anti-Reagan “Nancy and Ronnie” and the notorious “No One’s Got an Asshole Like a Cowboy.”
Bob and Heinz could have simply repeated the formula of the first record with a few minor adjustments. Instead, they chose to expand their songwriting and move beyond the initial sensation. That decision cost them some of the more hardcore fans, but it also revealed the depth and range of the band’s writing.
The album includes some of the strongest and most enduring songs in the CBATFOW repertoire: Down on the Strip, Thanks for All the Flowers, Allison Mackenzie, Johnny in Reno 1954, Home Movies, Martha & Billy and I’ll Heave You Up Momma.
Producer Mick Franke brought in additional texture, including an accordion solo by Kenny Margolis (Lucky 7, New York City). Kenny never quite understood the ¾ bar leading into the 4/4 chorus, but somehow it worked perfectly. Cindy Richmond contributed vocals on Jewels of Love and later joined the tour on bass, allowing Heinz to step back into his Doug LaTrine role.
Personnel
Vocals – Bobby Tijuana
Electric Guitar, Bass – Doug LaTrine
Electric Guitar, Vocals – Marcus Praed
Piano, Organ, Accordion, Synthesizer – Dr. Marvin Wah-Wah
Drums, Vocals – Moses Pellberg
Guest Musicians
Accordion – Kenny Margolis
Vocals – Cindy Richmond, Sigi Rebellius
Acoustic Guitar – Mick Franke
Produced by Mick Franke
BAND FORMATION OVER THE YEARS:
Bob “Tijuana” Giddens – Vocals and some tinkering
Henry “Heinz” Rebellius – Guitars and Bass
Marcus Praed – Guitars, Keyboards and Mixing Maestro
Deko “Moses” Pellmann – Drums and Singing
Dr Marvin Wah-Wah – Keyboards
Harry Schuler – Bass and high singing!
Susan Voelz – Violin and Vocals
Mike Stewart – On bass from Austin, TX
Lars Plogtschies – Drums and a Tea-Chest
Kosta Giddens – Electric Guitar
Susan Voelz – Violin and Vocals
Mike Stewart – On bass from Austin, TX
