The beginning Kai Horn, one of the founder members, left the group suddenly before their first recording. The first single was recorded with the support of
Chrislo Haas and
Robert Görl (both
DAF members at the time). The recording of a jam session was carried out in an underground shelter using a
cassette dictation machine. In 1979 the band released 1500 units of their debut single themselves. This was the start of
Der Plan's own label "Warning Records", later known as "
Ata Tak". Their early recordings are reminiscent of
industrial sounds of the same period (e.g. early works of US band
Chrome) and had a significant influence on fellow Düsseldorf act
Die Krupps as well as, eventually, on electronic pop worldwide.
1980s Kurt Dahlke aka
Pyrolator (ex
DAF) joined
Der Plan a short time later. The group became more musical, clearly reducing the noisy elements of their songs. Their 1980 debut album
Geri Reig still showed their experimental side. On this album, they strongly displayed their musical influences, which included
The Residents and
Throbbing Gristle. Some titles were kept deliberately "inaudible" by the members in order to explore the boundary of music. At the end of the year, they released the single ''Da Vorne Steht 'Ne Ampel'' which had a plausible melody.
Der Plan thereby began to seek out a musical framework which would lead to their later style of "Electronic
Schlager" (electronic hit song), or "Synthi Pop", as they called it themselves. The single became one of the first hit tunes of
Neue Deutsche Welle, and the group received offers from major
record companies.
Der Plan decided to remain
independent within their own label, although they accepted a partial contract with
Teldec to re-release the single. The LP
Normalette Surprise was released in 1981 where the group developed "electronic
schlagers" further and finally fixed their own style. In 1982,
Rainer Kirberg, the film director, made a film
Die letzte Rache (
The Last Revenge), for which
Der Plan composed the
soundtrack. The group not only provided the film music: Moritz R was partly responsible for the film's
surrealistic scenic design, which resembled
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari-like
German expressionism, whilst Frank Fenstermacher played a small role as an actor. The film was broadcast by
ZDF as a part of "Das Kleine Fernsehspiel" series and received critical acclaim. The soundtrack emphasized the group's experimental side in a mixture of experimental sounds and plausible melodies as in preceding works. In 1984,
Der Plan released two singles.
Gummitwist did not achieve the expected high chart position, although it was released by a major label (WEA) and enabled the group to appear on
ARD's music program ''''. Soon after that, the double single
Golden Cheapos was released. It featured three
instrumental tunes. The group subsequently released the video
Japlan, after which they did a successful Japan tour. The LP entitled
Japlan was quite successful in the Japanese market, but was never released in Germany. This
LP work was re-released in
CD in 2002. In 1985, the
compilation album LP
Fette Jahre (Fat years) was released in Germany. It contained well-known single tracks, outtakes, and remixes of previous works. The record sleeve shows an ironic picture of the band members disguised in
homeless type clothing. A new album was released in 1987, entitled
Es Ist Eine Fremde Und Seltsame Welt (
It is a strange world). The title was taken from a famous quote of
Blue Velvet by the cult director
David Lynch. The sleeve is very eye-catching, as the wording and the main
monochrome image are almost entirely in black. One song from this album
1 Mann, 1 Ball was later covered by
Der wahre Heino. As CDs swept across the market,
Der Plan decided to release their best album in CD. It was released in 1988 under the title of
Perlen.
Breakup Working for the label and record distribution activities over-shadowed the focusing on the band's music. Differences within the group about career priorities began in 1983, resulting in Moritz R leaving the label
Ata Tak and moving to
Hamburg. Since then Der Plan had changed from a full-time project to an occasional side-project of its members. Nevertheless, they released yet another album, entitled
Die Peitsche Des Lebens in 1989, which was much less successful than their previous works. In 1992
Der Plan eventually split up. In 1993 the fake live album "
Live At The Tiki Ballroom ...", which is confirmed as a studio album on their official website, was released. Its first edition was accompanied by a mini CD, which contained "
techno versions" of well known
Der Plan titles. Moritz R® dedicated himself to painting after the group's break up. He chronicled his experiences as part of
Der Plan in the book
Der Plan - Glanz und Elend der Neuen Deutschen Welle (
Der Plan - the Splendor and Misery of the New German Wave).
Pyrolator and Frank Fenstermacher formed a
trance project
A Certain Frank later. They joined another German group,
Fehlfarben in 2002. Meanwhile Kurt Dahlke and Moritz Reichelt live in Berlin. Reichelt opened his own gallery called
chakchakart shop in Potsdam and Berlin in 2020 and released his first solo album
Nach Herzenslust in 2021. In 2021 the band releases the Album
Save your Software. In 2025, Der Plan released the album
Take It Easy – Der Plan Plays Der Plan on their own label Ata Tak. The LP/CD features ten newly recorded versions of the band’s classic songs, reinterpreted in a smoother, more melodic style that blends elements of electronic pop, jazz, psychedelia, and easy listening. The album was created by the founding members Moritz R®, Frank Fenstermacher, and Kurt Dahlke (also known as
Pyrolator).
Der Plan v4.0 Der Plan was formed again as
Der Plan v4.0 in
Berlin by Moritz R®,
Achim Treu and JJ Jones in 2003. The album
Die Verschwörung (
The Conspiracy) was released in 2004.
Der Plan v5.0 In 2008
Der Plan was formed as
Der Plan v5.0 within the online virtual world
Second Life. The entirely virtual band played two gigs using scans of stage designs and masks from their real life in the early 1980s and was represented by the
avatars Mo Eriksen, Moni Duettmann and Popeye235 Baxter. ==Musical style==