Robert GÁƒ¶rl may be remembered by some as the drummer/keyboardist for German industrial band DAF (short for Deutsch-Amerikanische Fruendschaft or German/American Friendship), but more people may remember him as an early 80s solo artist, thanks to a pretty famous backing vocalist on his biggest single: Annie Lennox.

Lennox lent her vocals to GÁƒ¶rl’s 1984 single, “Darling Don’t Leave Me”, a haunting, danceable number that got some scant club play in the States. Annie overshadows GÁƒ¶rl’s robotic, weak vocals quite a bit, making it more a curious missing piece of Eurythmics history than anything else.

That’s a shame, since DAF were early pioneers in the EBM or industrial music movement, coming up with downright funky numbers like “The Gun”, another big underground club hit which brings to mind other industrial acts like Front 242 or Nitzer Ebb. After several releases, then some solo work, DAF reformed for some big music festivals a few years ago, and a new line-up continues to perform under the name DAF.Partei.

“Darling Don’t Leave Me” peaked at #49 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play Chart in 1984.
“The Gun” did not chart.

Get Robert GÁƒ¶rl music on Amazon

Special thanks to Baby Chutney for the vinyl!

Lost in the '80s, Music

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John C. Hughes

John C. Hughes began his Lost in the ’80s blog in 2005 and is now proud to be a member of the Popdose family, where he’s introduced LIT80s’s companions, the obviously named Lost in the ’70s and Lost in the ’90s, alongside the slightly more originally named Why You Should Like…

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