1986–2005 Jörn Genserowski (bass), Axel Kurth (guitar), and Jochen Bix (vocals) founded the band "Wieso" (English translation: "why?") in
Sindelfingen, a town in the vicinity of
Stuttgart, in 1986. Until Ralf "Ratz" Plapp joined the band as a drummer, the group practiced with a
drumcomputer. Later in 1986, they altered their band name to "WIZO". In 1987 the band made their first public appearances in
Sindelfingen and the surrounding area. In 1988, WIZO recorded their first demo tape
Keiner ist kleiner in the
Nebringer Hammer-Sound-Studio. This was followed by a second demo tape in 1990. Jochen Bix sang a few songs, including the
Judas Priest cover, "
Breaking the Law". Ralf "Ratz" Plapp was replaced by Charly Zasko on drums. Jochen Bix left the band to move to
Berlin-Friedrichshain. Axel Kurth took over as singer. Axel Kurth is also the main songwriter for the band, and he has jokingly said that he writes many of his songs on the toilet. Later that year, together with Andreas "Fratz" Thum, WIZO founded their own label, and released the EP
Klebstoff ("Glue"), their first
vinyl record, which was recorded in 1989 in a basement studio in
Stuttgart. In 1991, WIZO released their first full-length album ''
für'n Arsch'' ("In vain", literally "for an ass"). This was recorded in the studio of a friend of WIZO in Stuttgart. The band also gained attention for an illegal public performance outside of a courthouse during the road-rage trial of
Manfred Krug, a TV celebrity. The band played from the bed of a delivery truck while the case was going on. In 1992, WIZO's album,
Bleib Tapfer (English translation: "Stay Brave") was released. On the first anniversary of German pop-star
Roy Black's death, WIZO released the single "Roy Black ist tot" (English translation: "Roy Black Is Dead") as a dubious tribute. The tribute in question was a punk cover of a children's song with the lyrics altered to a German version of "Roy Black is dead, Roy Black is dead." It was named the worst CD of the year by the
Bild-Zeitung, a major German
tabloid. For the American market,
UUAARRGH! (as well as the later compilation album
Kraut & Rüben) was distributed by
Fat Wreck Chords, one of the most successful and influential punk labels in the world. The version of this album produced by Fat Wreck was cut from 25 songs to 13 songs, which were also different versions than the German ones. Later that year, due to the "glorification of violence" and "illegal anti-state statements" present in the song
"Kein Gerede" ("No idle talk"), the album
Bleib Tapfer was indexed In 1994, WIZO performed at the
Chaos Days in
Hannover. This also made headlines, among other places in the
Tagesschau. Axel has said that the band was sued over this incident, and this is the reason that they no longer play large festival shows. The band offered to stop selling the T-shirt if the Catholic Church put a sign on the
Judensau, an anti-semitic carving on the
Regensburg Cathedral dating to 1330. In November 2004, coinciding with the release of their album
Anderster (English translation: "differenter"), WIZO announced their intent to dissolve in March 2005, upon the conclusion of a farewell tour.
Reunion After the band dissolved in 2005, Axel Kurth released several solo songs under the pseudonym XLQ, including a song for the Soccer team VfB Stuttgart at the German Soccer Championships. This song used the melody of the WIZO song
Kadett B. He also released covers of "
Als ich fortging", written by and
Pour Un Flirt by
Michel Delpech. At the end of 2008, XLQ played guitar for a German boy-band, was involved in writing music for the film , and other projects. In November 2009, WIZO announced a new album and a reunion tour for 2010 on their official Homepage. In the new line-up, bassist Jörn Genserowski was replaced by Thorsten Schwämmle. In May 2010, the band performed at the punk festival with this new line-up. On 13 December 2013 bass-player Thorsten "Karachoo" Schwämmle announced on his Facebook-page that he had left the band. WIZO released the album ''Punk gibt's nicht umsonst (Teil III)
("Punk Isn't Free (Part III)
") on 13 June 2014, and announced a fall tout to support the album. Ralf Dietel replaced Schwämmle on bass; although Dietel is credited as band-member in the album booklet, the bass parts were written by Axel Kurth or Thorsten Schwämmle. One song on the album, Unpoliddisch
, which Axel sings in a Saxon dialect, had already been released in 2012 under the pseudonym Total Verboilt''. In December 2015 Guhl left the band for family reasons, and was replaced by Alex Stinson, the drummer from the band "Start A Fire". On 21 June 2016 the single
Verwesung was released. On 25 June 2016 during the
Amnesia Rockfest in
Québec, the band released the new single
Adagio. On 12 August 2016 WIZO released the new album
Der. In 2019 the band launched their
Die Schönheit des Verfalls tour of Europe. On 5 May 2023 they released the single "
Grauer Brei", their first release in the last 5 years, followed by the EP "Prokrastination" on 25 May. On 5 December, they released the studio album
Nichts Wird Wieder Gut, their first album after seven years. ==Lineup==