Legendary former SCORPIONS drummer Herman Rarebell spoke with Furyrocks.com recently about a number of topics including his new album under the HERMAN ZE GERMAN moniker called Take It As It Comes. He also answers a few questions from his past. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Furyrocks.com: What was the defining moment for you when you realized that the Scorpions were going to be big?

Rarebell: "I joined the band the day Klaus (Meine) got married; May 18, 1977 and left on the April 18, 1996. We were together 19 years. The day I knew we were headed towards something big was when our manager suggested we play a summer festival in Cleveland in 1979. We played with THIN LIZZY, JOURNEY, TED NUGENT, AEROSMITH, and AC/DC. From that show came the opportunities to open for AC/DC, Aerosmith, and Nugent. This went on until we did Animal Magnetism which rolled in Blackout and we had our first platinum LP. Blackout was my title and song. The LP was named Blackout when we were in Cleveland on another trip, opening for Judas Priest. Rudy got arrest in the morning for being drunk. When he came back to the hotel, we were sitting in the bar with Priest and Def Leppard and he was still drunk. He grabbed two beers and poured them into the TV and then went to his room. When he woke, he couldn’t remember a thing and I said he had a blackout. That stuck as the title for the LP."

Furyrocks.com: Whys did you leave the band in 1996?

Rarebell: "I left after Pure Instinct. I didn’t write nor was I asked to write it for it. I didn’t like the LP and didn’t even want to play on it. It’s not what Scorpion’s fans want, but Klaus was caught up on the 'Wind Of Change' style of songs and hard rock music was on the way out. I just felt that the creativity had left the band so thought it was time to do something new after 19 years. Also at the time I was living in Monte Carlo and Prince Albert asked me to put together a record label with him. So all those things came together and I said why not. We parted on good term and I even found my replacement, James Kottack."

Furyrocks.com: Any plans to join them on stage for their farewell tour?

Rarebell: "I’m really happy for them; they found their way back to the Scorpions true sound…rock with melody. They are currently touring arenas this summer and then next year when they play stadiums they plan to bring Michael, Uli and myself in for certain dates as special guests. It depends on our availability."

Read the entire interview here.