Each November 9th since 1989 I remember the fall of the Berlin wall because this town is a kind of second hometown for me and I watch  at the TV with some tears in the eyes the old movies which show all these people and families who at last reunited each other.
The poster of a painting from the Wall hung on my wall for years…
This year a lot of politicians from Europe celebrated the 20th anniversary with a huge party in front of the Brandeburger Tor. I was not very convinced with their performance thinking to the financial crisis, to all other walls which still exist around the world and to all the people who still live oppressed by dictators in the complete indifference.
Meeting with an angel in Berlin…
my friends from East Berlin who found their ex-national flag thrown in the rubbish after the fall of the wall…
So I chose through that podcast to do a kind of punk personal celebration in two parts : first with mixing some old live ambience recordings I did in « my » Berlin these last years (during the Walpurgis Night in Friedrichshain streets with the band ACK, with Markus in his car, at Wild at Heart a punk club in Kreuzberg) , a few German songs I love (from the band Noah : « Help your police, Hit yourself » and from John F. un die Gropiuslerchen : « Berlin Berlin ») and a recent interview I recorded with Ralf who shares with us his night in Berlin November 9 th when he heard the Wall was opened !!
The Wall’s opening from East Berlin side : still some hesitations…
« Berlin Berlin !! dein Herz hat kein Mauer » (Berlin your heart has no wall)
from John F. und die Gropiuslerchen ( a lot of archives’ pics in that clip)
In a second part I propose to leave Berlin for a country which is waking up from a very hard nightmare too : Cambodia where the dictactors Kmher Rouge completly destroyed the culture and erected a kind of mental wall which isolated the people until they lost the memory of their own names.
I recorded a few days ago an interview with a long time friend of mine Bob Passion who lives and works there now with streets kids in the context of a project called Bhor Cambodia.
The kids who learn and do art performances with Bob in Cambodia
Bob brought me the last album « Peur de Rien » (Fear of Nothing) he recorded there with his new local band « Kanlat Rik Rié » : I played excerpts from « Chez Mike, Maconiero, Pas Là , Là « . Punk is not dead in Cambodia with Bob !!
Bob’s band Kanlat Rik Rié Live on stage
You can DOWNLOAD HIS WHOLE ALBUM FOR FREE here :
WWW.BOBPASSION.NET
and all your welcomed donations will go to his project for kids « Bhor Cambodia ».