Turbojugend

Turbojugend, sometimes shortened to TJ, is the international fan club of the Norwegian rock band Turbonegro.^[1][2][3] A Turbojugend member can be recognised by their specially-made denim jackets with the Turbonegro logo and "Turbojugend [name of chapter]" stitched on the back.^[4][5] The logo of Turbojugend Oslo can be found on almost every album Turbonegro has made.^[6] There are more than 2300 Turbojugend chapters worldwide, with Turbojugend Oslo and Turbojugend St. Pauli believed to be the largest chapters.^{[7][8][9][10]}

The original Turbojugend logo from 1995

History

The fan club was originally designed as a joke in 1995 to include on Turbonegro's album sleeves, as guitarist Euroboy explained in a 2007: "We thought about how Kiss had the Kiss Army so we thought that Turbonegro should have our own Navy. It started as a joke in Happy-Tom's apartment in 1995. We put his address on the album sleeves and it was all just for laughs."^[11][12][13]

Following Turbonegro's break-up in 1998, German label Bitzcore Records bought the rights to the band's music catalog and began reissuing their previous albums.^[14] Bitzcore label owner Jürgen Goldschmitt attempted to contact the Turbojugend address from the band's album sleeves, but received no answer.^[14] He subsequently decided to form Turbojugend St. Pauli as "the real fan club" and took the nickname "El Presidente", in addition to creating the Turbojugend website.^[14] Goldschmitt gifted several Levi denim jackets embroidered with the band's logo and the Turbojugend St. Pauli chapter name to friends in the local music business.^[14][15] The jackets would soon became sought-after by fans and Bitzcore started producing them as a merchandising venture.^[15] The popularity of the jackets, in addition to the release of the Turbonegro tribute album Alpha Motherfuckers assembled by Goldschmitt, eventually led to the formation of multiple Turbojugend chapters around the world, with Goldschmitt assuming the role of worldwide president.^[15] In 2012, official leadership of Turjojugend was handed over to the groups Turbojugend Amb-ASS-adors and Jugendwart, both composed of long-time Turbojugend-members.

Welt-Turbojugend-Tage

 

Group photo of Turbojugend Members at the "Welt-Turbojugend-Tage" 2006

Once a year, Turbojugends from all over the world meet in St. Pauli, Hamburg, Germany to celebrate Turbonegro themselves as well as punk rock in general. This two-day event is called Welt-Turbojugend-Tage ("World Turbojugend Days") with concerts and meetings in different clubs.^[16][17][18] In 2011 the 7th edition of WTJT was held featuring the comeback of Turbonegro, with Duke of Nothing on vocals.

In addition to the Welt-Turbojugend-Tage in Hamburg, in recent years, the Punk Rock Bowling festival in Las Vegas has served as meeting point for Turbojugend chapters worldwide.^[19] Each year, several hundred members can be encountered there.^[20]

Associated bands

Although Turbojugend is the fan club of Turbonegro, Turbojugend has also taken an interest in other rock bands as well. Some of the bands include:

• The Dogs
• Silver (former band of Turbonegro drummer Tommy Manboy)
• Brainerd
• Peter Pan Speedrock
• The Turbo A.C.'s
• Trashcan Darlings
• The Dukes of Nothing (former band of Turbonegro vocalist Tony Sylvester)
• Valient Thorr

See also

• Aero Force One
• Blue Army
• Kiss Army

References

1. Eric Davidson (1 May 2010). We Never Learn: The Gunk Punk Undergut, 1988–2001. Backbeat Books. pp. 235–. ISBN 978-1-61713-389-3. … singer with a murderous gaze and gut, they've since amassed a worldwide cult, the Turbojugend.
2. Thierry Aznar. CAMION BLANC: HARD ROCK & HEAVY METAL 40 années de purgatoire – Tome 2 (in French). CAMION BLANC. pp. 266–. ISBN 978-2-35779-541-9. A peine trois ans plus tard, Turbonegro est presque devenu un groupe culte ; ses fans extrêmement actifs se réunissent tous les ans sous la bannière Turbojugend. Un tel enthousiasme incite le groupe à remettre le couvert : il revient avec …
3. Mark Verver (3 May 2012). Ik heb nergens spijt van: het leven van Dikke Dennis (in Dutch). Marmer. pp. 123–. ISBN 978-94-6068-956-7. De band, met een politie-escorte door het labyrint geloodst, is kort na ons binnengekomen, met in hun kielzog een bonte verzameling vrienden en kennissen, fans met connecties, een delegatie van de Turbojugend Assen, mensen van de …
4. Janka Schröder (2013). Ratten Im Halbmondlicht (in German). BoD – Books on Demand. pp. 44–. ISBN 978-3-8448-9357-1. … Oder die Turbojugend mit ihren Jeansjacken, die nie gewaschen werden. …
5. Spencer Patterson (26 May 2015). "Punk Rock Bowling Day 2: Refused, Murder City Devils and more". LasVegasWeekly.com.
6. Rock 'n' Roll High School. Reading Rocks. 2009. pp. 204–. ISBN 978-90-79947-03-4. … (also known as Party Cowboy), president of Turbojugend Oslo. "You see the jacket you know you got a friend." The members of Turbojugend are very close. They often call each other brother. But it is not easy to become a part of this family.
7. "www.turbojugend.net". turbojugend.net.
8. "Nackte Menschen und Motorräder: So war der Sonntag bei Rock im Revier". Rolling Stone. June 2015.
9. "Turbojugend Worms verbindet die Liebe zur Musik". wormser-zeitung.de.
10. "Agderposten". agderposten.no.
11. Carman, Keith (10 September 2007). "Turbonegro". Exclaim!. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
12. Rock 'n' Roll High School. Reading Rocks. 2009. pp. 204–. ISBN 978-90-79947-03-4. "We thought about how Kiss had the Kiss Army so we thought that Turbonegro should have our own Navy" is a line the band often use to explain the birth of Turbojugend. What started off as a joke ended up as a worldwide network of fan clubs …
13. Daniels, Craig (1 January 2006). "Turbonegro's World Youth Days". Exclaim!. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
14. Holen, Øyvind (2002). "Turbo himmelfartsdag". Dagsavisen. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
15. Campion, Chris (23 April 2005). "Clowns of evil go on the rampage". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
16. Campion, Chris (22 May 2005). ""Clowns of Evil Go On The Rampage"". Observer Music Monthly.
17. Hamburger Morgenpost (15 July 2009). ""WELT-TURBOJUGEND-TAGE": Nicht ohne meine Kutte!". mopo.de.
18. "Wehe, ihr wascht die Jacken!". mainpost.de. 2 August 2006.
19. "Punk Rock Bowling 2015". SLUG Magazine. 2 June 2015.
20. SPIN Media LLC (December 2007). SPIN. SPIN Media LLC. pp. 44–. Yacht Rock Much like the Hitler Youth that perhaps inspired their name, the Turbojugend are nothing if not organized. Just a couple weeks ago, the New York chapter put together a boating trip, despite the fact that the group's president went …

Further reading

• Kundenbindung durch Kundenclubs am Beispiel "Turbojugend" [Customer loyalty via customer clubs e.g. "Turbojugend"] (in German). Fachhochschule Nordostniedersachsen, Studiengang Wirtschaft. 2005.
• Håkon Moslet (2007). TRBNGR – Sagaen om denimfolket (1st ed.). Gyldendal. ISBN 9788205362420.
• Falk Sluga (2008). Denim Demons und Scandinavian Leather: die Turbojugend – der etwas andere "Fanclub". Tectum-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8288-9609-3.
• Uta Heuser (2007). Give me friction, baby!: Turbonegro und die Turbojugend. Reiffer. ISBN 978-3-934896-66-6.

External links

• Turbojugend official website
• Turbojugend World forum