Learn German by Listening to German Golden Oldies

Do you know who these people are? Roy Black, Lale Andersen, Freddy Quinn, Peter Alexander, Heintje, Peggy March, Udo Jà ¼rgens, Reinhard Mey, Nana Mouskouri, Rex Gildo, Heino, and Katja Ebstein. If those names sound familiar, you were probably in Germany during the 1960s (or early 70s). Each of those people had one or more hit songs in German during that era, and some of them are still musically active today! Its true that deutsche Schlager are not really â€Å"in† these days, especially the old, sentimental ones from the 60s and 70s sung by the people mentioned above and other German pop stars. But despite their lack of coolness and the distain of todays music generation in Germany, such German golden oldies are actually ideal for German-learners in many ways. First, they usually have simple, uncomplicated lyrics suited for beginners: â€Å"Memories of Heidelberg sind Memories of You / und von dieser schà ¶nen Zeit da trà ¤um ich immerzu. / Memories of Heidelberg sind Memories vom Glà ¼ck / doch die Zeit von Heidelberg, die kommt nie mehr zurà ¼ck† (Peggy March, an American from Pennsylvania, had several 60s hits in Germany). Even many of Reinhard Meys folk ballads are not that difficult to follow: â€Å"Komm, giess mein Glas noch einmal ein / Mit jenem billgen roten Wein, / In dem ist jene Zeit noch wach, / Heut trink ich meinen Freunden nach..† (CD album Aus meinem Tagebuch). German songs can be a very enjoyable way to learn German—both vocabulary and grammar. The title alone of another Peggy March song, â€Å"Male nicht den Teufel an die Wand!,† is also a German saying that means something like â€Å"dont tempt fate† (literally, â€Å"dont paint the devil on the wall†). â€Å"Seemann, deine Heimat ist das Meer† (â€Å"Sailor, your home is the sea†) was a big German hit by the Austrian singer Lolita in 1960. (Diese à ¶sterreichische Sà ¤ngerin hiess eigentlich Ditta Zuza Einzinger.) Other top tunes in Germany that year were: â€Å"Unter fremden Sternen† (Freddy Quinn), â€Å"Ich zà ¤hle tà ¤glich meine Sorgen† (Peter Alexander), â€Å"Irgendwann gibts ein Wiedersehen† (Freddy Q.), â€Å"Ein Schiff wird kommen† (Lale Andersen), and â€Å"Wooden Heart† (Elvis Presleys version of â€Å"Muss i denn†). By 1967, American and British rock and pop was already edging German Schlager out, but besides Penny Lane (Beatles), Lets Spend the Night Together (Rolling Stones), and Good Vibrations (Beach Boys), you could still hear German hits on the radio (unlike today!). â€Å"Memories of Heidelberg† (Peggy March), â€Å"Meine Liebe zu dir† (Roy Black) and â€Å"Verbotene Trà ¤ume† (Peter Alexander) are just a few oldies from 1967. But if you werent even around in the 1960s/70s or youve forgotten what those classic German oldies sound like, you can listen to them online! Several sites, including iTunes and Amazon.de, offer digital audio clips of these and other German songs. If you want the real thing, there are German â€Å"Hits of the...† and â€Å"Best of...† CD collections available from iTunes and other online sources, both in Europe and in North America. (I even found one online source in South Africa!) Popular German Singers of the 60s and 70s Roy Black Gerd Hà ¶llerich (1943-1991) DeutschlandLale Andersen Liselotte Helene Berta Bunnenberg (1913-1972)Freddy Quinn Manfred Nidl-Petz (1931- ) Ãâ€"sterreichPeter Alexander Peter Alexander Neumayer (1926- ) Ãâ€"sterreichHeintje Hein Simons (1955- ) NiederlandePeggy March Margaret Annemarie Batavio (1948- ) USAUdo Jà ¼rgens Udo Jà ¼rgen Bockelmann (1934- ) Ãâ€"sterreichRex Gildo Alexander Ludwig Hirtreiter (1936- ) DeutschlandJoy Fleming Erna Strube (1944- ) DeutschlandLolita Ditta Zuza Einzinger (1931- ) Ãâ€"sterreichHeino Heinz-Georg Kramm (1938- ) DeutschlandKatja Ebstein Karin Witkiewicz (1945- ) Polen Besides Peggy March, there were several other U.S.-born singers who either recorded exclusively in German or had several German-language hits in the 1960s or 70s. Even the Beatles recorded a few of their hits in German (Komm gib mir deine Hand and Sie liebt dich). Here are a few of the Amis, along with the names of some of their hit songs (most of them fairly forgettable): Amis in Deutschland Gus Backus  (Donald Edgar Backus) Der Mann im Mond, Da sprach der alte Hà ¤uptling der Indianer, Die Prà ¤rie ist so groß, Schà ¶n ist ein Zylinderhut. Sauerkraut-PolkaConnie Francis  (Concetta Franconero) Eine Insel fà ¼r zwei, Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel, Bacarole in der Nacht, Lass mich gehen, Schà ¶ner fremder Mann, Sternenmelodie, Jedes Boot hat einen HafenPeggy March  (Margaret Annemarie Batavio) Male nicht den Teufel an die Wand, Memories of HeidelbergBill Ramsey  Zuckerpuppe Schokoladeneisverkà ¤ufer, Souvenirs, Pigalle, Ohne Krimi geht die Mimi nie ins Bett. Now lets move on to those  Evergreens  and the  Grand Prix  for music! â€Å"Grand Prix Eurovision† Since 1956 there has been an annual European popular song contest, broadcast all across Europe. In all that time the Germans have only won once: Nicole sang â€Å"Ein bisschen Frieden† (A Little Peace) in 1982 to win the number one spot that year. Germany won second place three times in the 1980s. In 2002, Corinna May from Germany placed a very disappointing 21st! (ARD - Grand Prix Eurovision) Evergreens The German word  Evergreen  has nothing to do with trees and everything to do with classic popular songs by people like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett,  Marlene Dietrich, and  Hildegard Knef  (more about her below). An example is the  Botho Lucas Chor  (which had a sort of Ray Conniff choral sound). They recorded a few LPs by Capitol Records of classic  Evergreens  in German: In meinen Trà ¤umen (Out of my Dreams) and Du kamst als zauberhafter Frà ¼hling (All the Things You Are). Hildegard Knef  (1925-2002) has been called the German answer to Kim Novak and the thinking mans Marlene Dietrich. She wrote several books and had a career that included Broadway, Hollywood (briefly) and performing as a sultry, smoky-voiced singer. One of my Knef song favorites goes: â€Å"Eins und eins, das macht zwei / Drum kà ¼ss und denk nicht dabei / Denn denken schadet der Illusion...† (words by Knef, music by Charly Niessen). She also sings a great version of Macky-Messer (Mack the Knife). On her Große Erfolge CD, she also produces a wonderful version of Cole Porters I Get a Kick Out of You (Nichts haut mich um - aber du) and Lets Do It (Sei mal verliebt). See our  Hildegard Knef  page for more lyrics and information about her. German Instrumentalists In closing, we need to at least mention a couple of famous German instrumentalists. They almost always worked without words, but  Bert Kaempfert  and the  James Last Band  (real name: Hans Last) offered a sound that crossed the Atlantic and produced a few hits outside of Germany. Frank Sinatras huge hit Strangers in the Night was originally a German song composed by Bert Kaempfert.