Monday 17 may 2021
From drummer to drummer
Leslie Mandoki congratulates Udo Lindenberg
“I’ll take you through hard times, I’ll be with you like a shadow. Because it’s never too late to start again, where good times await behind all the black clouds.” If Udo’s song was not already present, Mandoki would have just written it: he congratulates them on their 75th birthday.
Dear Udolius Maximus,
You have shaped our colorful Republic of Germany more and pushed it further into more habitable paths than any other rock ‘n’ roller!
I am happy and thankful that you and Klaus Doldinger took care of me when I arrived in Germany after fleeing Hungary in 1975. Your unorthodox and relaxed approach to our republic has strongly shaped my image of Germany, as you and Klaus were, to say so, my first integration assistant in the West. This has enhanced our special friendship, which means a lot to me.
My deepest regards to you, my dear partner, for your incredible life’s work and for the first part of the path you have walked for us and partly with me, because I know there is still much to come.
Robin Gibb, Udo Lindenberg and Leslie Mandoki in Hamburg in 2011.
(Photo: Red Rock Productions)
Today, from Dholakia to the Drummer, along with all the soulmates, including people from New York, LA and London, I heartily congratulate you. Dear Udolius Maximus, from you, we have learned that art and music should never serve a selfish purpose in themselves, but rather that they set a clear, responsible attitude towards music. Let’s never stop playing the drum for a better, more colorful world!
And I know now you will say, being 75 after all these fundamentally intense rock ‘n’ roll years is not so easy. But since we think this will give you more creative freedom, we are already looking forward to new music, lessons, pictures and shows.
So I wish you all the best, but above all, health, health, health!
Together for many more wonderful years, and hopefully on stage together again soon!
warm hug
Dean Solmate Leslie
