Peter Rüchel, born 1937, has often quoted from the Neil Young song "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)" and its acoustic counterpart "My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)" in broadcasts, interviews or privately. It was a heart for him. The Berlin-born journalist and rock fan had so many of them.
Rüchel worked for various broadcasters (SFB, ZDF), but what he had achieved there faded when he recorded rock concerts for WDR together with director Christian Wagner from 1975. The first regular "Rock Night" (with Rory Gallagher, Little Feat and others) took place from 23rd to 24th July 1977 and was broadcast live as a six-hour Eurovision programme. The myth "Rockpalast" was born. Until 1986 these rock nights took place twice a year in the Grugahalle in Essen. This is part of the DNA of every European rock fan born in 1970 and older.
After some conceptual changes and breaks, Rüchel reluctantly handed over the responsibility for the "Rockpalast" to Peter Sommer's team in 2003. The "Rockpalast" from its beginnings to the present day has been documented in several eclipsed editions, and Rüchel was well-disposed towards the magazine. A few years ago, on the sidelines of a Jackson Brown concert in Cologne, for example, Rüchel was stuck with me in a group in which his friend Wolfgang Niedecken was also on stage: "Just between us, you make the only music magazine in Germany that I can take seriously" And grinning broadly, he added: "Even summer sees it that way."
