The original band name was Kapitän Sehnsucht (Captain Desire), “Bryllyant Berger & The Tronic Twins” was another fun named they used ..
The band intended to write and play heartjerking and melancholic Electro Pop songs, sung in german. They were already well known in Germany for strange performances such as soundtracking nightclub sex shows on the well known »Mile of sin«, Reeperbahn in Hamburg, which caused some problems for Holger, who was not yet 18.
And so it was strictly illegal, but well paid. Some producers showed interest. However, it was a difficult time - German New Wave had it's best days behind it, and singing in German had lost it's popularity. Despite this they went to the studio and produced some tracks with Joachim Witt, best known in Germany for individual and obstinate Pop. The results were unsatisfying, and the band remained unsigned. However, this was not the end of the story. Almost simultaneously to the production Witt did, they went to a studio in Hamburg and recorded a track in english. It was a spontaneous descision, largely for fun. Unpleasing results resulted in 3 separate recordings. These unplanned recordings again went largely unnoticed by the labels, with the exception of Mercury Records, who signed the band and released the material. The debut received some club notoreity but little chart interest. Boytronic finally received some publicity as a last minute replacement for Kim Wilde on Germany's equivalent of Top of the Pops. The performance was strange and a little embarassing for the band.
But the record was an instant hit. »You« went top ten in Germany and many European countries. The First Album »The Working Model« also did very well. So they decided to drop Kapitän Sehnsucht and go on with this. But with success comes trouble. Boytronic is and always has been a idealistic band who wants to create something good and unique and didn`t repeat themselves again and again. So this fact leaded to major problems with the record company. As they recognized that the band wouldnt turn into the expected moneymachine — they tried to force Boytronic in a different direction. In this period the work on the second album began and Peter left Boytronic before it was finished.
Holger then teamed up with at that time, highly recomended Bobby Orlando. Holger liked the work Bobby O. did on the Pet Shop Boys and the simplicity that mostly comes to the point. So he went to New York and recorded some tracks. One of them »Man in a uniform« later was released as a Single and did well in Skandinavia and Benelux. In 1985 The second Album »The Continental« went to the shops and as you can hear, this is the result of confusion and disruption. A true document and very authentic album — (by the way — we've rereleased it as »The Continental (replace)« in 2005 — so you can make yor own judgement). Peter and Holger got together again for the Single. »Late Night Satelite« and then Peter started work on his Ultrabass Project. He recorded two Albums. »Trance Beats« and »Planet Sys«. The last Boytronic single »Hurts« was released as a teaser for the 3rd Album »Godspell« in 1986. But unfortunately the Longplayer never saw the light of day. Some of the tracks where included in the »Kamerata« Album »Lovers and other Strangers«.
After a long lawsuit between the record company who claims the right to use the name Boytronic and Holger, who was really tired of all this, he decided to start a new project called Kamerata . His new Partner was Ralf Martens, with whom he did the »Hurts« Single already. The Band released one Album and three Singles. Then split up. Strangely enough, the second major Hit Single for Boytronic came out at that time. »Bryllyant«, originaly released as the flipside of the "You" 86 Remix, inspired some Belgian DJ to play it halfspeed. This version became a Clubmonster. Re-released as the slower Version, it went straight in the charts in Benelux and Great Britain and topped the Billboard Dance Charts. This also marks the end of the first Boytronic Period.
The second Boytronic band was casted by the record company and has in fact nothing to do with the original. The members were Hayo+Panarinfo , Bela Lagonda and Mark Wade as the Singer. They released two Albums ("Love for Sale", 1988 and " The Heart and the Machine" 1992) and multiple other singles between 1988 and 1995. They sounded different and suffered from the fact that they`re a "fake band". "Don`t let me down", which sounded like Modern Talking in Italo Disco La La La and made it to he charts in Germany. The last single of this Boytronic period was »Blue Velvet« in 1995.
Holger and Peter Sawatzki started to work again on a new project called »A Feather on the Breath of God«. They had just finished the recording of demos for a whole new album when Peter was diagnosed of cancer and passed away very rapidly. Holger decided to gave up singing and writing songs. He thought that this Band is cursed and went to a monastery in Thailand. He remains silent for one and a half year. When he came back to Germany, he didnt thought of doing music again. He was more interested in leading a normal life with a job and a partner...just like other people do. But after a while he started writing songs again and had the idea to relaunch Boytronic somehow.
On the same day, he seriously tried to figure out how to manage, he received a call from Hayo Panarinfo. One of the members of the second Edition Boytronic Band. Hayo had exactly the same Idea. So they met up and started working on »Autotunes« very soon. The record came out in May 2002 and brought Boytronic back to Life. With »Autotunes« also came two different MCD-versions of »Living without you« (the album version of the track was produced by Gareth Jones).
In the meantime both of them where very busy...Holger compiled and re-released sucessfull the first album — now called »The Working Model Reverse« — and works on a second project called »Beachhead« with Hans Johm from Leipzig. They've released the first e.p. »Drowning tonight« in September 2004. It contains 63 minutes of Music and the voices of both of them. `
Also on Boytronics own Label »Triggertrax«, a Double CD called »Maxi«, which is a Compilation of all 80`s twelve Inches and a few new Tracks. Hayo left the band in 2005 by mutual agreement — his label Major-Records demands more of his time and energy.
Holger decides to continue the work together with Hans Johm from Beachhead. He also involved Michael Maria Ziffels — a multi-instrumentalist and composer from Berlin — into the band. So they began to work on the new album "Dependence" immediately.
The trio lasted only for this album.
In 2009 Holger Wobker and Hayo Panarinfo joined forces again, and went to studio to record the new Boytronic album. The release is scheduled for autumn 2009. No album came...
2017: The 2nd incarnation of Boytronic feat, Hayo Panarinfo (Lewerentz) and Bela Lagonda (Alberto Ingo Hauss) teamed up with Scarlet Soho vocalist James Knights to record the album "Jewel".
This line-up lasted only for this album, but more exciting news was on the horizon,
The original vocalist Holger Wobker had to go to court to get the bandname Boytronic back (which he founded together with Sawatzki). The record company had claimed it belonged to them.
Wobker rightfully won. He was so pleased with his replacement from the "Jewel" album James Knights,
that he asked to join him for the next chapter of Boytronic.
2019: Boytronic released "The Robot Treatment". The name came to life that Holgers voice had became a bit rusty over the years. So they joked around and said that it needed "The Robot Treatment"!
They played live in Berlin and other places to promote the album and play old favourites.
A remixed version of the album The Robot Treatment was released in 2020 including 5 bonus tracks on the digital release.
Red Chips
Boytronic Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Red chips - burning, burning
We crossed the oceans of megabyte
When the diskettes start to burn like candles
The data enter shows the warning light
" this program is to hot to handle"
Red chips - burning, burning
We beat the knights of interface
And crushed the dragons of both poles
But our program lost the trace
I hope our user save our souls
Red chips - burning, burning
Red chips - burning, burning
The lyrics of Boytronic's song "Red Chips" describe a technological crisis in which the system is compromised and the data is at risk. The song references a time of computer technology when the main mode of storage was the diskette. The line "we crossed the oceans of megabyte" suggests that the technology has come a long way, but is still prone to glitches and malfunctions, as seen in the reference to the "data enter" showing a "warning light."
As the crisis deepens, the song describes the frustration of the programmers who are unable to save their work. The line "this program is too hot to handle" suggests that there is an overload of information or a breakdown in the system that they are unable to fix. Similarly, the line "our program lost the trace" indicates that the data has been corrupted or erased, and the programmers are in dire straits.
Overall, the song speaks to the fragility of technology and how even the most skilled tech workers can succumb to its limitations. It also hints at the sense of urgency that comes with technological crises and the need to work quickly to find a solution before it's too late.
Line by Line Meaning
Red chips - burning, burning
Referring to the red LEDs on a computer showing that something is overheating or malfunctioning.
Red chips - burning, burning
Repeating the refrain for emphasis.
We crossed the oceans of megabyte
Traversing through vast amounts of digital data; a metaphor for progress through technological advancements.
When the diskettes start to burn like candles
When storage devices begin to become corrupted or damaged, leading to potential data loss.
The data enter shows the warning light
A notification that the system is at risk of failure or critical error.
" this program is to hot to handle"
Referring to a program being overburdened or unable to handle the stress of its usage.
Red chips - burning, burning
Repeating the refrain for emphasis.
Red chips - burning, burning
Repeating the refrain for emphasis.
We beat the knights of interface
Having overcome technical difficulties related to human-computer interaction and design.
And crushed the dragons of both poles
Having triumphed over challenges related to both hardware and software development.
But our program lost the trace
Having lost the capability to trace or debug the program's errors.
I hope our user save our souls
Expressing hope for a user to help resolve the problem or to save the system from crashing entirely.
Red chips - burning, burning
Repeating the refrain for emphasis.
Red chips - burning, burning
Repeating the refrain for emphasis.
Writer(s): Peter Sawatzki Copyright: Hanseatic Musikverlag Gmbh & Co. Kg
Contributed by Colin F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.