Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung


The EAV was an Austrian band which was formed in 1977 and disbanded in 2019.
Nino Holm first established a band called "Anti-Pasta", but it was not successful and it dissolved after three years. Holm then decided together with his friend Thomas Spitzer to create a new band. While they were undecided on a name, they saw a bus stop in a branch of "Erste Allgemeine Versicherung", abbreviated EAV, and so they came to the name "Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung-EAV".
They initially faced legal difficulty in Austria due to the similarity of their band name to that of the corporation "Erste Allgemeine Versicherung". This was later dropped and the insurance company was even known to sponsor them on a few occasions.
The EAV often changed their members. Their members as of today are Klaus Eberhartinger, Thomas Spitzer, Kurt Keinrath, Franz Kreimer, Alvis Reid and Aaron Thier.
The stage shows are known for lavishness in both backdrop and costumes, the latter often selected and changed for specific songs that are then acted out by either the vocalist or other members.
Despite the band's failed attempt to gain international fame, they still remain quite popular in Germany and Austria.

Style

Their songs are mostly comical and weird in nature, but the lyrics contain hints of social criticism as well. For example, "Cinderella" is one of their "fun" songs, in which they tell the tale of Cinderella in a funny way: "Sie schlief im Kohlenkeller, trotzdem war sie bettelarm, weil sie von der vielen Kohle, die da lag, zu wenig nahm". The word "Kohle" is a colloquial word for money in German.
More critical lyrics can be seen in the song "Burli", which tells the story of a boy born shortly after the Chernobyl accident in an exaggerated and humorous way: "Herr Anton hat ein Häuschen mit einem Gartenzwerg und davor, da steht ein Kernkraftwerk. Da gab es eines Tages eine kleine Havarie, die Tomaten war'n so groß wie nie…". Both "Burli" and the song "Afrika" led radio stations to boycott the band.
The band is known for open statements against political extremism especially on the right and was sued by prominent politicians of the political right like Kurt Waldheim for drawing attention to his past in the 3rd Reich and Jörg Haider, then-head of the right-leaning FPÖ. Songs on this topic include e.g. "Eierkopf-Rudi" or "Wir marschieren".

Members

Deaths of members

In February 1981, group member Walter Hammerl committed suicide by hanging. He had attempted suicide before. He was a close friend of Klaus Eberhartinger, who took over his duties. Bandmate Thomas Spitzer commented that it was worrying how the band got on and felt so close to Walter Hammerl, but without actually knowing him. Hammerl had mainly done managing and stage directing work for the band, however he did sing on a few tracks.
In May 2012, former group member Andy Töfferl died of a heart attack at the age of 56 years.
In July 2017, former singer Wilfried Scheutz died after a short battle with cancer at the age of 69 years.

Timeline of members


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bar:Stei text:"Gert Steinbäcker"
bar:Hammerl text:"Walter Hammerl"
bar:Eber text:"Klaus Eberhartinger"
bar:Spitzer text:"Thomas Spitzer"
bar:Keinrath text:"Kurt Keinrath"
bar:Stranzinger text:"Reinhard Stranzinger"
bar:Holm text:"Nino Holm"
bar:Bottazzi text:"Mario Bottazzi"
bar:Töfferl text:"Andy Töfferl"
bar:Bronner text:"David Bronner"
bar:Zettl text:"Franz Zettl"
bar:Kreimer text:"Franz Kreimer"
bar:Breit text:"Eik Breit"
bar:Bei text:"Leo Bei"
bar:Reid text:"Alvis Reid"
bar:Stenmo text:"Anders Stenmo"
bar:Deutsch text:"Alex Deutsch"
bar:Baum text:"Robert Baumgartner"
bar:Thier text:"Aaron Thier"
bar:Tatic text:"Marina Tatic"
bar:Aigner text:"Gabi Aigner"
bar:Scho text:"Günther Schönberger"
bar:Timischl text:"Günter Timischl"
bar:Schiff text:"Schiffkowitz"
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Line-ups

Discography