Peter Behrens (1947-2016) *68

was a German drummer, actor, musician and clown. Peter Behrens was the illegitimate son of an American GI, and was put up for adoption by his biological mother. He was adopted by the Behrens family, where he grew up in northern Germany. After graduating from high school in Jaderberg, he studied at a college nearby, but quit a short while later.

Subsequently, he toured as a drummer in several bands, playing throughout northern Germany, and for half a year throughout Africa. In 1971 he played in the Krautrock band Silberbart, who released an album of psychedelic hard rock, now very popular among collectors. Nearing the end of the 1970s, he attended the Milan circus school, and worked briefly as a clown and pantomime artist.

Together with Stephan Remmler and Gert "Kralle" Krawinkel, Behrens was a member of the German band Trio in the early 1980s, where he played the drums. The band became known particularly through the minimalist title Da Da Da, a succession to the New German Wave. The other two members met Behrens through a newspaper advertisement. Behrens was especially known for his somewhat formal dress attire: white T-shirt, white pants, red suspenders (aka braces) and red shoes. Behrens' hair-do showed an upward coil similar to that of Moritz of Max and Moritz. Behrens owned this outfit before clown school and Trio. Also he used to play the drums standing upright in a stoic manner, which added to the visual appearance of the band.

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