We recently received sad news: Frank Diez has passed away. While things had quieted down around him in recent years and his health struggles were known, his death still comes as a surprise. Over the last few years, we had occasionally exchanged thoughts about his planned autobiography, and I was so looking forward to it; now, sadly, it will remain unfinished.
Frank and I didn’t know each other intimately, but we went back a very long way—specifically to the early 1970s, when we urgently needed a guitarist for an upcoming tour of France. He wasn’t available at the time and recommended his brother Stephan, who actually stepped in. During the recording of our album 2nd in Munich in 1973, he dropped by with his lovely wife Jackie and contributed backing vocals.
After that, I didn’t see him again until 2016, when we were planning a short tour of Germany and invited him to join. We met around lunchtime at the Haus der 100 Biere on the Ku’Damm. He had a beer in front of him, and the very first thing he said was: “Lüül, I’ve been through all the highs and lows of rock ‘n’ roll three times over!” That was certainly a great start! It quickly became clear that the chemistry was right. That he was an absolutely magnificent musician and guitarist went without saying anyway.
I hold the rehearsals with him and Agitation Free in the highest regard—quite apart from his immense musicality—because he had such a wonderful, laid-back way of contributing, paired with a fantastic sense of humor and, of course, tons of anecdotes from his rich life as a musician. Making music with him was a true joy. He had this tiny cigar-box amp with him that buzzed like hell, but Frank brushed all our concerns aside with the remark: “As long as the noise floor is quieter than the audio signal, everything’s fine!”
Unfortunately, the tour was canceled at the very last minute, and even the new band photos we had already taken had to be thrown in the trash. That was deeply regrettable for all of us, because it would have been a musically wonderful experience with Frank.
I later invited him to my 65th birthday to play an Agitation Free track again on his very rare sitar guitar, which became a true highlight of the celebration. How soulfully he could play! It was a piece that his brother Stephan, who has also since passed away, had written for us: “In the Silence of the Morning Sunrise.”
Dear Frank, please keep playing, wherever you are!
Photo: Max Schwarzlose
