It's no wonder that the Abacus of 2021 sound musically different from those of the early 70s, when the band from Hamm in North Rhine-Westphalia gained a certain degree of popularity in the German rock scene. While the sound was once dominated by Kraut, Folk, Jazz and Rock, now the more opulent sounds in the style of Magnum and Kansas prevail. Responsible for this change in style is keyboardist Jürgen Wimpelberg, who joined the group in 1979. Even then, only bassist Klaus Kohlhase was still on board as the only founding member, who then struck sail at the beginning of the 80s. Since then, Wimpelberg has been the captain of the Abacus cruiser, if one remains in maritime parlance. At the same time, the 69-year-old is also the executor of the estate of the shamefully underestimated innovative combo, whose first-generation members split up in a dispute in 1976, and is responsible for the reissues of the early material.
