BAP () is a German rock band. With eleven albums reaching the number one in the German record charts, BAP is one of the most successful rock acts in their home country. Nearly all of BAP's lyrics are written in Kölsch, the dialect of Cologne, or more precisely in a Kölsch-influenced derivation of Eifelplatt, a regional variant of the Ripuarian language spoken in the nearby rural Eifel. Niedecken's most prominent musical influences, especially early in his career, were Bob Dylan, the Kinks, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones and Wolfgang Ambros. History The group was founded in 1976 under the name Wolfgang Niedecken's BAP in Cologne by Wolfgang Niedecken and Hans Heres. In 1981, they released their most famous song "Verdamp lang her" (Damn long time ago), in which Niedecken describes regrets he has about his relationship with his then recently deceased father. The band's name "BAP" derived from "BAPP", both, a play-on-words on the Kölsch word "Papp" (related to the German word dad), but pronounced differently, and Niedecken's then-nickname. Niedecken translated a collection of Bob Dylan's lyrics to German for his 1995 solo album Leopardefell. Band members Current members (Information valid for 2018) Wolfgang Niedecken – singer (1976–present) Werner Kopal – bass (1996–present) Michael Nass – keyboards (1999–present) Ulrich Rode – guitar (2014–present) – percussion (2014–present) Sönke Reich – drums (2014–present) – violin (2014–present) Former members "Afro" Bauermann – percussion (1976–1977) Rainer Gulich – saxophone (1976–1977) Hans Heres – guitar (1976–1980) Klaus Hogrefe – bass (1976–1978) Wolfgang Boecker – drums (1976–1983) Manfred Boecker – percussion (1976–1995) Wolfgang Klever – bass (1978–1980) Bernd Odenthal – keyboards (1978–1980) Fritz Kullmann – saxophone (1980) "Steve Borg" (Stephan Kriegeskorte) – bass (1980–1995) Klaus Heuser – guitar (1980–1999) Hans Wollrath – sounds (1980–1999) Alexander Büchel – keyboards (1981–1999) Jan Dix – drums (1983–1985) Pete King – drums (1986) – drums (1987–2014) – percussion (1996–1997) – saxophone (1996–2002) – percussion (1999–2003) – guitar (1999–2014) Albums 1979: [Wolfgang Niedecken's BAP rocks different Colognian songs] 1980: [Defrosted] 1981: [For cutout] 1982: [From the inside to the outside] 1983: [Live – So long...] 1984: [Between pretzels and beer] 1985: [Crystal night] (UK Sampler) 1986: [Old slick men] 1988: 1990: [Putting something over on someone] 1991: (Live) [Rocking...] 1993: [Seven of Spades] 1995: [Frenzy – The hits of 1979–1995] 1996: [America] 1999: 1999: [Talking movie] 2001: [Every now and then] 2002: (Live) [Everywhere] 2004: [Songs] 2005: [Thrice ten years] 2008: