The story of Epitaph begins in the winter of 1969 / 70 in Dortmund's hottest music club of the time, "Fantasio", in whose basement rooms the Brit Cliff Jackson (vocals, guitar), his fellow countryman James McGillivray (drums) and bassist Bernd Kolbe practiced and worked on their program while performing weekly at Fantasio between greats such as Black Sabbath, Rory Gallagher, Yes and Argent. Even at this time, Epitaph was showing its full professionalism. Their big chance came when champion Jack Dupree canceled his gig at Fantasio and the well-known blues pianist Günter Boas stepped in with Epitaph as a backing group. Producer Günter Boas recognized the band's potential and it wasn't long before Epitaph signed their first contract with Polydor, moved to Hanover, shortened their band name from Fagin's Epitaph to Epitaph and, with Klaus Walz (later Jane) as second guitarist, began recording their first LP of the same name, "Epitaph", in London's Wessex Studio, which was released in autumn 1971. This was followed by concerts throughout Germany and an invitation from the legendary Beat Club, which resulted in Epitaph's first television appearance in 1972. The band was back in the studio in April 1972 to record "Stop Look And Listen" (Polydor). Once again, numerous gigs followed, including the most important German festivals of the time. Did they themselves have any idea when they first gathered at Dortmund's Fantasio music club in the winter of 69/70 that 50 years later they would still be one of the hottest bands in the country?