Rudolf Schenker

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Rudolf Schenker
Scorpions - 03.jpg
Schenker performing with the Scorpions in 2014
Background information
Born (1948-08-31) 31 August 1948 (age 75)
Hildesheim, Germany
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)Guitar
Years active1963–present
Labels BMG

Rudolf Schenker (born 31 August 1948) is a German guitarist, founder and leader of the hard rock band Scorpions. He is the rhythm/lead guitarist, primary songwriter and longest-serving original member of the band. He is also the CEO/owner-manager of the Scorpions Musik-Produktions-und Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (Scorpions music production and publishing company) and owner/founder of the Scorpio-Sound-Studios in Lower Saxony. He is the older brother of Michael Schenker.

Contents

Career

Since founding Scorpions in 1965, Schenker has become one of the major driving forces in the band's songwriting and musical direction. He has been Scorpions' most consistent member, appearing on every album and every tour. His younger brother Michael Schenker was a member of the Scorpions in the band's early days, before joining UFO.

Schenker was awarded the City of Hanover Plaque [1] as well as the Cross of Merit First Class of the Lower Saxony Order of Merit in 2000.

Playing style

In an interview on World Wide Live video, Schenker mentioned that his goal is grounded in compositional skill more than technical skill. While most Scorpions' guitar solos are performed by lead guitarist Matthias Jabs, there are some notable exceptions in which Schenker plays the solos instead of rhythm guitar, such as "Wind of Change", "Always Somewhere", "Still Loving You", "Send Me an Angel", "Lady Starlight", "Big City Nights", "As Soon as the Good Times Roll", "When the Smoke Is Going Down", "Animal Magnetism", "Through My Eyes", "SLY" and "Rock 'N' Roll Band".

Schenker is known for his energetic riffing and wild live performances, which often includes swinging his guitar over his head and throwing the guitar up and catching it.

He also sang lead vocals on four Scorpions songs: "They Need a Million", "Drifting Sun", "Hey You" and "Love is the Answer".

Equipment

Schenker performing in 2007 Rudolf Schenker au Zenith de Nantes en 2007.jpg
Schenker performing in 2007

While Schenker began playing with a Fender Stratocaster, he is primarily known for playing Gibson Flying Vs. On the Acoustica DVD, he is seen playing an acoustic Flying V made especially for him by Dommenget. He now uses Dean acoustic V models. Some of Schenker's main live guitars in recent years have been Dommenget — the same maker that produced Klaus Meine's live guitar [2] and many guitars for Matthias Jabs. [3] Schenker's signature models are "Gibson Rudolf Schenker Flying V", the Dommenget "Ferrari" V, PGG "Scorpions Golden Jubilee" Flying V, PGG "Veetle" Flying V and the "Scorpions" V. [4] In the past, he primarily used Marshall amps, using their JMP, JCM800 2203, and JCM800 2205 heads. Currently, he uses ENGL amps, endorsing the E 650 Ritchie Blackmore signature heads.

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  1. "Bad Boys Running Wild"
  2. "Hit Between the Eyes"
  3. "Tease Me Please Me" (VideoClip)
  4. "I Can't Explain"
  5. "The Zoo"
  6. "Don't Believe Her" (VideoClip)
  7. "Rhythm of Love"
  8. "Crazy World"
  9. "Can‘t Live Without You"
  10. "Blackout"
  11. "Dynamite"
  12. "Lust or Love"
  13. "Send Me an Angel" (VideoClip)
  14. "Big City Nights"
  15. "Rock You Like a Hurricane"
  16. "Wind of Change" (VideoClip)
<i>Classic Bites</i> 2002 greatest hits album by Scorpions

Classic Bites is a compilation album released in 2002 by the German hard rock/heavy metal band Scorpions. It features songs from two studio albums—Crazy World (1990) and Face the Heat (1993)—as well as a single track from the 1995 live album Live Bites.

"Raised on Rock" is the second single from the seventeenth studio album "Sting in the Tail" of the German rock band Scorpions. The song achieved a great placement on the charts worldwide and became known as one of the greatest hits in the 2010s which is #2 on the Classic Rock Mediabase chart.

References

  1. ↑ "Die Scorpions". Hannover.de. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  2. ↑ "Boris Dommenget Guitarmaker handmade Guitars and Pickups".
  3. ↑ "Matthias Jabs Studio & Touring Guitars".
  4. ↑ "Boris Dommenget Guitarmaker handmade Guitars and Pickups".
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