Epitaph History Box 2 - the Polydor Years 1971-1972

The story of Epitaph begins in the winter of 1969/70 in Dortmund's most popular music club at the time, "Fantasio", in whose basement the Brit Cliff Jackson (vocals, guitar), his compatriot James McGillivray (drums) and bassist Bernd Kolbe practiced and worked on their program, whilst performing weekly at Fantasio amongst the likes of Black Sabbath, Rory Gallagher, Yes and Argent. Even at this time, Epitaph showed its full professionalism. Their big chance came when champion Jack Dupree canceled his appearance at Fantasio and the well-known blues pianist Günter Boas stepped in with Epitaph as the backing group.
Producer Günter Boas recognized the potential of this band and it didn't take long for Epitaph to sign their first contract with Polydor, then move to Hanover, shorten their band name from Fagin's Epitaph to Epitaph and start with Klaus Walz (later Jane) as the second guitarist in the London band Wessex Studio recorded the first LP of the same name, "Epitaph", which was released in autumn 1971. This was followed by concerts all over Germany and an invitation from the legendary Beat Club, which resulted in Epitaph's first television appearance in 1972. The band was back in the studio in April 1972 to record "Stop Look And Listen" (Polydor). Numerous appearances followed again, including the most important German festivals of the time.
Did they themselves have any idea when they first gathered in the Fantasio music club in Dortmund in the winter of 1969/70 that 50 years later they would still be one of the hottest bands in the country?