The Bates

The Bates were a German punk band known for their 'bubble gum trash' style and their punk covers of classic songs. The band was formed in 1987 in the small town of Hessian Eschwege, taking their name from the murderer Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's film 'Psycho'. The band's greatest successes came in the 1990s, with each album featuring covers alongside their own compositions. The most notable was a version of Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean' which made it to number ten on the Swiss Charts and number 67 on the UK Singles Chart. The covers were popular with fans and in 2000 they released an album exclusively made up of covers including The Beatles' 'Helter Skelter', The Rolling Stones' 'Out of Time' and The Cure's 'Wailing Wall'. The band disbanded soon after, however, reuniting just once in 2006 to perform a gig in tribute to their singer Markus 'Zimbl' Zimmer, who had died earlier that year. The show was filmed and, alongside interviews with Zimbl's friends and family, turned into the film 'Zimbl - A Real Cool Time'.

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