Scorpions are a hard rock band from Hanover, Germany, best known for their '80s rock anthem, " Rock You Like A Hurricane" and their singles "Wind of Change" and "Still Loving You". Contrary to common usage, the band's name is "Scorpions" and not "The Scorpions".
Rudolf Schenker, the band's rhythm guitarist, set out to find a band in 1965. Things began to come together in 1969 when Schenker's younger brother Michael and vocalist Klaus Meine joined the band. In 1972 the group recorded and released their debut album Lonesome Crow with Lothar Heimberg on bass and Wolfgang Dziony on drums. During the Lonesome Crow tour, Scorpions opened for upcoming British band UFO. At the end of the tour the members of UFO offered guitarist Michael Schenker the lead guitar job; an offer which he soon accepted.
The departure of Michael led to Scorpions dissolvement. In 1973, guitarist Uli Roth and friend of the Schenker brothers was in a band called Dawn Road. He had been offered the role as lead guitarist in Scorpions after Michael's departure (and even performed a gig with them) but turned the band down. Rudolf decided that he wanted to work with Roth, but did not want to resurrect the last Scorpions lineup.
Rudolf attended some of Dawn Road's rehearsals and ultimately decided to join the band which consisted of Roth, Francis Buchholz (bass), and Juergen Rosenthal (drums). Roth persuaded Rudolf to invite Klaus Meine to join which he did soon after. While there were more members of Dawn Road than Scorpions in the band, they decided to use the Scorpions name because they had released an album and were known in the German hard rock scene .
In 1974 the new Scorpions released Fly to the Rainbow. The album proved to be more successful than Lonesome Crow and songs such as "Speedy's Coming", and the title track began to establish the band's sound. It wasn't until the following year that the band hit their stride with the release of In Trance. In Trance marked the beginning of Scorpions long collaboration with German producer Dieter Dierks. The album was a huge step forward for Scorpions and firmly established their hard rock formula, while at the same time garnering a substantial fan base, both at home and abroad. Cuts such as "Dark Lady", "Robot Man" and the title track are still considered classics by fans today.
