Bettina Köster, formidable and trailblazing vocalist, songwriter, saxophonist, actress, and producer, has passed away on March 16th at age 66.
Köster began her music career in 1978, playing saxophone for an early lineup of Berlin-based avant-garde electronic band Din A Testbild, where she met like-minded musician Gudrun Gut. Koster was a member of German art collective genius dilettantes, members of which collaborated across several bands in a short period of time. During this time period, Köster and Gut would open Eisengrau, a shop that celebrated underground fashions, distributed fanzines, screened experimental films, and served as a hot spot for the genius dilettantes members to exchange ideas and conversation.
In the heat of the budding Neue Deutsche Welle movement, Köster and Gut (along with Beate Bartel, Karin Luner, and Eva-Maria Gößling) founded the project Mania D., a deeply influential collective that recorded a single in 1980, drawing on the experimental sides of post-punk, industrial, and music concrete. Around this time period, Köster would also record with Nachdenkliche Wehrpflichtige and Liebesgier (the latter also with Gut). After performing in New York and releasing a live record that same year, Mania D. went their separate ways. While Gößling would join an early lineup of Die Krupps and Bartel would record with Einstürzende Neubauten, Liaisons Dangereuses, and later Matador, Gut and Köster would quickly form Malaria! in 1981.
Malaria! served as a figurehead of the German post-punk and new wave scene, combining minimal electronics, experimental lyrics, and dark, abstract grooves. The duo released their first eponymous single in 1981, collaborating with percussionist Christine Hahn, who officially joined the band afterwards. The band quickly expanded to include Die Haut’s Susanne Kuhnke on synthesizer and multi-instrumentalist Manon Duursma. This solidified lineup of the band would record a session for legendary DJ John Peel in 1981. Peel would dub Köster (as well as Gut and Bartel) as the “Queens of Noise,” championing these early recordings and helping to draw attention to the fruitful NDW scene.
In true collaborative fashion, Gut and Köster would record with Rema-Rema’s Gary Asquith as Mutabor!, releasing one single in early 1982. In quick succession, Malaria! then released a series of acclaimed singles, including 1982’s “Kaltes Klares Wasser,” “Your Turn to Run,” and “How Do You Like My New Dog?” followed by the Emotion LP later that year. The success of these releases led to independent chart success throughout Europe and the United States as well as tours and supporting slots with Nina Hagen, The Slits, New Order, The Birthday Party, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and John Cale. Malaria! would dissolve in 1984, shortly after the release of the excellent Beat the Distance EP, which consisted of recordings made in 1982-1984 and featured two versions of “You You,” both of which can still be heard in clubs to date.
Köster, living in New York at the time, would embark on a solo career and branch into film, collaborating closely with Swiss director Isabel Hegner. Malaria! would reunite for a brief period in the early 90s, releasing 1992’s Elation single and 1993’s Cheerio LP before disbanding once more, with their unique and innovative work serving as heavy inspiration to punk, alternative, electronic, and gothic bands to follow.
In the early 2000s, Köster would form Autonervous with San Francisco-based musician, fellow saxophonist, and singer Jessie Evans of The Vanishing. Autonervous would release a single in 2004 and an eponymous full-length LP in 2006. While still working in film, Köster released her first solo LP in 2009, taking its title after the nickname John Peel would bestow upon her at the beginning of her career. She would continue performing live throughout Europe and the US, performing at Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig and at New York’s legendary Wierd party. She would record a follow-up, Kolonel Silvertop, in 2017.
At the time of her death, Köster was living in Italy. We truly wish her family, friends, and collaborators all the best during this sad time.
Bettina Köster and Gudrun Gut from Beat the Distance, 1984
Malaria! – Photo by Wolfgang Burat
Photo by Klaus Pichler
Photo by David Fischer
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