1977

July 20, 1977. Udo Hanten and Albin Meskes meet for the first time. Udo visits en art exhibition in
the “Haus Lange“ museum in the city of Krefeld, Germany, where he views paintings by Albin Meskes
(one of which to become the cover artwork of the first YOU-album later). 

At this point, Udo is one half of the electronic duo „Brüker & Hanten“.

1978

Udo Hanten (b. 1956)—by then a synthesizer soloist (performing concerts at home and abroad, including a radio appearance in Belgium on May 26, 1978, for „Muziek uit de Kosmos,“ followed by a brief collaboration with Klaus Schulze)—and Uli Weber (b. 1948, formerly a guitarist in various rock bands) form a group that soon takes the name YOU and produce their first demos.

West Berlin—the capital of electronic music and the „Berlin School.“ In the divided city, Udo Hanten and guitarist Ulrich Weber meet Harald Grosskopf, already a drum icon of the German electronic scene at the time. The former drummer for Wallenstein and Klaus Schulze—and currently one-third of the band Ashra—wants to produce a solo album alongside his other band commitments. They agree to collaborate, as Grosskopf possesses an essential piece of equipment for recording electronic music: an eight-track tape machine. The two members of YOU provide the electronic instrumentation—synthesizers, sequencers, and peripheral gear—and set up an electronic studio in Krefeld to produce, first, Harald Grosskopf’s solo LP *Synthesist* and, subsequently, the first YOU production.

The legendary eight-track machine—an ITAM 805 featuring eight track tape heads mounted on a Revox A77 transport mechanism—has a history all its own; for it was on this deck that not only the debut LPs by Harald Grosskopf and YOU were created, but also several recordings by Klaus Schulze (such as *Timewind*) and the cult album *Departure From The Northern Wasteland* by Michael Hoenig.

1979

Following the completion of the Harald Grosskopf album in the spring of 1979, work on the first YOU LP began at the „Spiegeltraum Studio.“ Synthesist and designer Albin Meskes (b. 1952) joined the group, completing the trio. The basic tracks for *Electric Day* were recorded on a multitrack machine; the instruments used included the Minimoog, Micromoog, Formant modular system, ARP Omni, Korg PS 3100, and—most importantly—two ARP sequencers.

On August 1, 1979, the YOU trio travelled to Frankfurt to meet the three members of Ashra—Manuel Göttsching, Lutz „Lüül“ Ulbrich, and Harald Grosskopf—at the Panne-Paulsen Studio, a facility that, thanks to Klaus Schulze, served as a sort of „home base“ for the German electronic music scene of the era. The Ashra members had just finished recording their album *Belle Alliance* there.

Harald then joined the YOU production team. The eight-track recordings from the home studio were transferred to the studio‘s own 16-track Telefunken tape machine, and live drums—along with guitar, keyboard, and percussion overdubs—were recorded onto the eight remaining open tracks. In doing so, Harald once again demonstrated a talent possessed by hardly any other drummer in the late 1970s: the ability to drum in perfect synchronization with pre-recorded sequencer tracks.

An additional instrument was also employed: Eberhard Panne owned an ancient but still functional Mellotron Mk.II keyboard.

Finally, the LP‘s seven tracks were mixed over the course of three days (and nights) with sound engineer Eberhard Panne.

1980

The first YOU LP was released on May 2, 1980, on the Cain label (distributed by Bellaphon). Albin Meskes contributed the cover design, and the photographs were taken by Holger Heine (San Francisco). For copyright reasons, Harald Grosskopf appears on the record under a pseudonym—though anyone in the know realized immediately upon listening who was hiding behind the name „Lhan Gopal.“

The album was reissued on May 27, 2011, by the BureauB label on both CD and vinyl.

The first acquisition following the LP‘s release was a Mellotron of their own: a „Novatron 400 SM“—which would feature on all subsequent YOU albums—was installed at the YOU Studio. Later that year, a Prophet-5 synthesizer rounded out the band‘s gear. 

In the summer of 1980, filming took place for a video for „Electric Day.“ However, what began promisingly ended in disappointment: the film crew pulled out, and the video project was abandoned. 

YOU owed their first radio airplay to none other than Winfrid Trenkler, who—long before his „Schwingungen“ era—played the track „Magooba“ on the WDR program „Radiothek“ on May 15, 1980.

The album was reissued in 2010 on the BureauB label, available on both CD and vinyl.

1981

Instead of a second album, Cain Records released a YOU maxi-single on May 19, 1981. The record („Scanner Part One & Two“) featured a novelty for the time: the same track appeared on both sides of the 12-inch, albeit in different mixes.

The guitar-driven track—once again pre-produced in a home studio—was completed on April 5, 1981, at the AVC Studio in Ratingen, where Udo Hanten worked as a sound engineer. The line-up was the same as on the *Electric Day* album: Udo Hanten (synthesizer/sequencer), Albin Meskes (synthesizer), and Ulrich Weber (electric guitar). Harald Grosskopf travelled from Berlin to contribute his drumming skills. And the „Scanner“ maxi-single was released as a „Limited Edition in Black Vinyl“ :-).

YOU performed live for the first time at the electronic music festival in Oberhausen. On March 21, 1981, Udo Hanten, Ulrich Weber, and Albin Meskes took the stage together for the first time at Revierpark Vonderort. Robert Schroeder appeared as the supporting act.

1982

On Maundy Thursday of that year, YOU upgraded their studio with their own eight-track tape machine (an Otari 5050), marking the start of recording sessions for their second album. *Time Code* would become the YOU album with the longest production period; the record was not completed until the spring of 1983. Production was handled almost entirely by Udo Hanten and Albin Meskes alone; guitarist Ulrich Weber made his „farewell appearance“ on the track „Bluewater Dream“ before returning to pure rock music (the „Neue Deutsche Welle“ was calling). Additionally, Helmut Brüker—a friend from the old B & H days—contributed various sounds as a guest.

The instrumentation used on the LP included the indispensable ARP sequencer/Minimoog combination, the polyphonic Prophet-5, Prophet-10, and Memorymoog, and the Mellotron; the drum sounds were largely generated using the modular synthesizer—there is no live drumming on *Time Code*. For the drum tracks on the song „Metallique,“ a piece of gear from the „toy department“—the Roland TR-606—was employed. And notably, an unassuming bass synthesizer called the TB-303 was returned by YOU, deemed useless.

1983

From February 16 to 24, 1983, Hanten and Meskes mixed their work at Bardo Kox’s studio. „Time Code“ was finally released on June 14, 1983, on the newly founded indie label „Rock City Records.“

On September 29, 1983, Winfrid Trenkler presented YOU and the new record on his WDR radio show „Rock-In,“ giving the two creators ample opportunity to speak about the project.

The album was reissued on May 27, 2011, by the BureauB label on both CD and vinyl.

That summer, Udo Hanten traveled to Berlin to handle production duties at Christoph(er) Franke’s studio for the debut album by crossover composer Jaime M. Zenamon, who would go on to collaborate on several later productions.

At the end of 1983, recording began for the third YOU LP, „Wonders From The Genetic Factory,“ featuring the same Hanten & Meskes lineup and taking place in their own studio. Guitarist Michael Dommers („Wallenstein“) appeared as a guest musician on the track „Isotopic Moments.“ Although MIDI technology existed at the time, it was not yet a major factor, so the music was still largely played „by hand.“ However, one of the first digital drum machines was available for the production.

1984

The mixdown for the new LP takes place once again—from January 19 to 22, 1984—at Eberhard Panne’s studio in Frankfurt; by this time, the digital age has arrived, allowing the record to be finalized as a digital master using a Sony F-1 system. *Wonders From The Genetic Factory* is released on May 24, 1984, by Rock City Records.

A single featuring the tracks „Isotopic Moments“ and „Axis“ is released for promotional purposes as a spin-off from the LP. Incidentally, the latter track is used as the music for a free-skating routine at the German Figure Skating Championships that season.

In late 1994, a digitally remastered version of the band‘s debut LP, *Electric Day*—which had gone out of print in the interim—is re-released by Rock City Records. The Aphex Aural Exciter—remember that?—makes a resounding comeback.

After seeing Godfrey Reggio’s film *Koyaanisqatsi* (featuring minimalist music by Philip Glass)—which would later achieve cult status—Hanten and Meskes are inspired to organize a special concert event (a „movie concert“). On December 24, 1984, at midnight, a screening of the film takes place at the Casablanca Cinema in Krefeld, with YOU performing an original alternative score live to accompany it—years before Philip Glass himself came up with the same performance concept. That evening, YOU performs a single continuous piece—without the aid of computers or backing tracks—that matches the film‘s runtime of 87 minutes without an intermission.

This concert is documented in an edited form on the CD version of the album *Wonders From The Genetic Factory*.
The following instruments are used this evening: 2 x Minimoog, Micromoog, Prophet-5, Memorymoog, Siel Opera-6, Oberheim Xpander, Quantec QRS, Spacemaster Modular System, 2 x ARP Sequencer, 2 x MFB 601 Sequencer, 2 x Böhm Digital Drums, Böhm Soundlab, Doepfer Sound Sampler, EDP Wasp. The concert will be broadcast by Wolfgang Layer as part of his legendary radio series „Steckdose“ on SFB. 

1985

In June 1985, an opportunity arose to work at the Berlin studio of Christoph Franke (then still with Tangerine Dream) on the new album *Promenade* by Jaime Zenamon, a project in which the two members of YOU also participated. Material from the sessions recorded there was subsequently included on the *Laserscape* LP.

August 1985: Laser artist Horst H. Baumann planned a laser event in Krefeld that encompassed the entire city center of this major Lower Rhine city. YOU was engaged to provide the audio component of the project. An audience of 10,000 attended the live spectacle, excerpts of which are featured on the album *Laserscape*.

1986

Following the discontinuation of the Rock City Records label, work began on a fourth LP for Racket Records in late 1985. Recording sessions took place during the winter of 1985–86 at the ACA Studio—owned by renowned industrial designer Kurt Ziehmer—where YOU had set up a new studio. For the first time, the band did not visit an external recording studio to finalize the tracks; instead, they produced the LP entirely on their own, using their own equipment.

The LP *Laserscape*—the title pays homage to the intensified collaboration with Horst H. Baumann following the laser concert in August 1985—was released on April 18, 1986.

(On August 23, 2013, the LP was reissued on the BureauB label on both CD and vinyl.)

Subsequently, Hanten and Meskes focused on music and promotional work in the commercial sector, going on to handle shows and events for clients such as Karl Lagerfeld, Ars Electronica, and BMW.

CENTRAL EUROPE PERFORMANCE

The musical journey continued in the summer of 1988, when the key figures behind YOU—together with Harald Grosskopf—launched the new project „Central Europe Performance“ for the Hamburg-based label Erdenklang.

The album *Breakfast In The Ruins* was recorded and mixed between late 1988 and early 1989 at Udo Hanten’s CEP Studio; it was released in the spring of 1989 by Erdenklang Records.

The lineup for the recordings consisted of Udo Hanten (synthesizers/sequencers/production), Albin Meskes (synthesizers/sequencers/sound engineering/programming), Harald Grosskopf (drums, percussion, special vocals, sampler), Jaime M. Zenamon (acoustic guitar, keyboards), Markus Maria Jansen (electric guitar), and Mike Peltzer (accordion), with additional sound engineering by Jürgen Kleine.

It was our first recording produced largely using computer sequencing (utilizing an Atari 1040 computer with Steinberg 24 software), with the MIDI tracks mixed live directly to digital stereo (using Sony PCM processors paired with video recorders).

The primary instruments used were several samplers (three Sequential Prophet 2002s and an E-Mu Emax I), which provided both computer-generated synthesizer sounds and samples of acoustic instruments. These were complemented by analog Prophet-5 and MemoryMoog synths, the indispensable Minimoogs, and other instruments from Roland and Yamaha.

In its February 1997 issue, the German music magazine *KEYBOARDS* named *Breakfast In The Ruins* one of the 33 best electronic music albums of all time.

Another track by Central Europe Performance, titled „Temple Of Mind,“ appears on the compilation *Erdenklang Music III – Collector’s Items*.

In early 1990, the band embarked on a nationwide tour. Joining the core lineup of Grosskopf, Meskes, and Hanten on stage were fusion percussionist Frank Mevissen (later of „Belgium“ and „Plexiphones“), guitarist Markus Janssen and accordionist Mike Pelzer (both of „M. Walking On The Water“), keyboardist Marco Cancian, rock guitarist Ralf Außem („Sun“), and electronic drummer Sibi Siebert („Twelve Drummers Drumming“).

The tour included three radio concerts broadcast by WDR (Cologne), SFB (Berlin), and DFF (during the final phase of the GDR). The CEP live shows were further enhanced by laser performances, video projections, lighting effects, and the like.

A live document of the concerts can be found on the album *Central Europe Performance – Tour 90*, released on Bandcamp [https://robot-city.bandcamp.com/album/tour-90].
[https://robot-city.bandcamp.com/album/tour-90].  

1996

The two protagonists revive the YOU project. The four LPs released to date—supplemented by unreleased studio material and concert recordings—along with a completely new album, are released as a 5-CD box set titled „ERA“ on Joerg Strawe’s CUE Records label. It is a retrospective spanning the years 1978 to 1996.

The new album, titled „[00:19:96:00] Electric Images Revisited,“ contains several new tracks from the 1991–1995 period and includes a data section (for Mac and PC) featuring an interactive computer game created by the two artists, who by this time were working in multimedia.

On June 8, 1996, YOU performs live again for the first time in over a decade—appearing as a duo at the „Electronic Space Night“ during the 1996 Lünen State Garden Show. The performance is integrated into a multimedia concept designed by the band itself, incorporating music, lasers, video projections, and lighting.

In the autumn, another live performance follows at the 1996 „KLEM-Dag“ festival in Nijmegen, Netherlands.

A recording of this performance is available on Bandcamp
[https://robot-city.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-nijmegen-1996].

1998 ·  CHARTBREAKER

The story of YOU’s second LP, *Time Code* (1983), continued in Italy: the album had sold quite well there and, throughout the 1990s, was frequently played in clubs and on the radio by innovative DJs such as Beppe Loda, who regularly featured tracks from the album in his broadcasts.

This sparked the interest of other renowned DJs and producers—including Gigi D’Agostino (who released the song under the title „Elektro Message“), Claudio Diva (alias Diolac Duvai), and hardcore/trance producers Julian DJ and David Sonar. They all reinterpreted the YOU track „Liveline“ from the *Time Code* album across various dance and techno styles, releasing cover versions on a range of successful 12-inch singles, albums, and compilations.

2001  ·  ROBOT CITY

Albin Meskes launched his virtual band „Robot City“ as a kind of side project. Under this project name—and separate from his activities with the band YOU—he created the solo album *Scientific Romance* (2002), featuring new original compositions, followed in 2008 by *Die Planeten* (The Planets), a synthesizer-based arrangement of Gustav Holst’s orchestral suite. Further classical adaptations were released in 2019 under the title *The Replicator*.

Releases featuring new original compositions followed with the albums
*The Sounds Of Science Part 1 & 2* (2021), *Adventures In Space* (2023), *Androidic Zombies* (2024),
and *>8K – The Himalaya Project* (2025).

The project‘s website is www.robotcity.de. All releases are available for listening and download at
[https://robot-city.bandcamp.com].

2002  ·  MOON MODULAR

The resurgence of modular synthesizers in the original Moog format prompted Udo Hanten and Albin Meskes to consider launching their own synthesizer project, which was named „Moon Modular.“

Initial module prototypes were created in collaboration with Matthias Schmidt (Curetronic), though commercial products or serial production did not materialize at that stage. The project only became a professional venture when synthesizer mastermind Gert Jalass (Berlin) took up the initiative in 2008.
The full history of „Moon Modular“ can be read in detail at the following addresses:

[https://www.synth-werk.com/sites/default/files/pdf/history_of_moonmodular_de-k.pdf] 

[https://www.synth-werk.com/sites/default/files/pdf/history_of_moonmodular_en-k.pdf]aden.

2006  ·  QATSIMANIA

„Qatsimania“ Project: At a live event on October 30, 2016, in the sold-out Friedenskirche in Krefeld, film scores by American minimalist composer Philip Glass for the three films *Koyaanisqatsi*, *Powaqqatsi*, and *Naqoyqatsi* (directed by Godfrey Reggio) were performed live in a synthesizer arrangement by Albin Meskes. This marked a revival of the „Central Europe Performance“ project (featuring the lineup of Udo Hanten/synthesizer, Albin Meskes/synthesizer, and Frank Mevissen/percussion, accompanied by a choir conducted by Hans-Jörg Böckeler and a church organ).

2009  ·  ATHENS

At the initiative of Italian DJ Beppe Loda, YOU performed new arrangements of several „Time Code“ tracks live at the „Synch“ Festival in Athens on June 14, 2009. 

A recording of the concert was released in 2010 as a live CD titled „Benaki Cycles – YOU live At The Synch Festival – Athens.“

2017  

YOU participated in the „Musik made in Krefeld“ project—a double LP featuring tracks by numerous musicians and bands from Krefeld. YOU contributed a new song („Horizon“) and—following a long hiatus from live performances—appeared live once again as a duo at the „Musik made in Krefeld“ festival on December 15, 2017.

2018  

On May 4, 2018, YOU performed alongside Gert Jalass (head of the Moon Modular project; died 2024) as a special guest at Superbooth18 in Berlin, Europe‘s leading trade fair for electronic musical instruments.

On June 8, the group YOU played another — and final — concert as part of the „Kultur findet Stadt“ event in Krefeld. This time, they were joined by Steven Hein on guitar as a third member.

FINALE

On August 14, 2018, Udo Hanten passed away in Krefeld following a long illness. This marked the tragic end of the band YOU. Albin Meskes decided not to continue the band without Udo, choosing instead to focus on his „Robot City“ project.

In the autumn of 2026, two final YOU releases — titled “YOU – The Sequential Mixes” and “YOU – The Ambient Mixes” — will appear on Bandcamp, comprising reworked tracks from the six YOU albums. 

Additionally, a website is being created once again under the original domain name “yourovision.de”.

Copyright ©2026 by Albin Meskes