The Lords were first mentioned in BRAVO issue 39 from 1964. The Lords had just won the young talent competition for the best 'Beatle band' in Germany at the Hamburg Star Club. The prize: 1,000 DM, donated by the film company United Artists. They also received a management contract with the Düsseldorf company Interart and a recording contract with the Cologne company EMI. Incidentally, BRAVO had offered 500 Deutsche Marks for second place, and the Bremen 'Germans' were able to pocket it.
For the men around singer Ulli Günther , the victory was the beginning of a career that made them the most popular and successful beat band of the 1960s. The Rattles were still around - and they were even allowed to play as the Beatles ' opening act in 1966! - but judging by the chart entries in the Musicbox , the score in Germany is four to two in favor of the men with the characteristic Prince Valiant hairstyles.
In addition to their hairstyles, the Lords also made their clothing their trademark: white shirts, sometimes with ruffles, spats, ironed trousers, sometimes a bow tie, sometimes a bowler hat, but also sometimes a suit. In any case, they always wore the same outfit. They never had a sleazy image - like many other bands of the Beat era.
Like so many other bands of the time, the Lords started out as a skiffle band. The founder, Lord Ulli, operated the characteristic washboard himself. The name was also his idea: Skiffle Lords. When the Berlin Senator for Youth and Sports sponsored a competition for young bands in 1961, the Skiffle Lords took part in gold shirts and promptly won first prize: the Golden Washboard!
According to BRAVO, the change from skiffle to beat took place on New Year's Eve 1962/1963. BRAVO issue 34 from 1965 : "The washboard fashion was on the verge of extinction. Ulli Günther realised that he had to find a connection. To the rock'n'roll wave. On that New Year's Eve in the Berlin jazz bar 'New Orleans', the washboarders finally had their moment. They played skiffle until midnight, then they quickly put on their new Lord costumes and bowler hats and grabbed their new instruments. With the new year, the new Lords arrived."
According to BRAVO, the Lords earned 1,500 German marks per performance in 1965 and were fully booked until 1966. The Lords suffered a serious setback in February 1965. Peter Donath and Knut Kunze were involved in a car accident; Lord Knut was taken to hospital with serious injuries and lost a leg. Heinz Hegemann stepped in for him at short notice. Bernd Zamulo took over the bass in the long term.
»Shakin All Over«, their first contribution to the BRAVO Musicbox , entered the charts on October 11, 1965, stayed in the Musicbox for only two weeks and only reached position 16. The successors »Poor Boy« (position 6), »Que Sera« (position 14) and »Gloryland« (position 6) were more successful.
The Lords took a break between 1971 and 1976 and have since performed in different line-ups. In 1999 , original Lord Ulli Günther died after a serious fall on stage. Currently, only 'Leo' Lietz is still with the band from the beginning. With over 60 years of existence, the Lords are considered one of the longest-serving bands.