Armadillo Texas: Biography
"Armadillo Texas" was an underground band from Mainz. They existed in the late seventies to mid eighties. They played a mixture of progressive and funk rock and released an LP, called "Huch!" in 1980.
The band consisted (at the time of the LP) of
- Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet - Michael Eichholz
- Bass, Voice - Thomas Tüffers
- Drums, Vocals - Arnulf Schmittlein
- Guitar, Keyboards, vocals - Martin Wester
- Guitar, Vocals, Whistling, Voice - Klaus Hartgenbusch
guest on the LP:
- Flute - Reinhard Schulze
The LP is the second LP on the "Schneeball 2" label, after the only album of the Elastic Rock Band. The story of this second Schneeball is unknown, it uses the same label code as the normal Schneeball label.
The band was undiscovered for a long time, probably also because they never appeared in Schneeball-lists, the only hint to the label is on the insert of the LP. That's why it was only registered as "Not on Label" on Discogs until recently. In the big encyclopedia "The Crack in the Cosmic Egg" the band wasn't mentioned until the most recent version (Website).
They toured until 1985, but there is also a live recording from 1988 on the solo CD of guitarist Martin Wester "Wrobltschek" (YouTube). This recording is interesting because it shows that the band has changed a lot, it sounds a lot darker and less funky there.
After the band split up, Arnulf Schmittlein played with the Alternative Rock band "Carlof", who released one CD. Martin Wester released some solo LPs and founded the "Klangraum" label.
