Corry Brokken

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Corry Brokken (1964)

Cornelia Maria "Corry" Brokken (born December 3, 1932 in Breda , Province of Noord-Brabant , † May 31, 2016 in Laren , Province of Noord-Holland ) was a Dutch chanson and pop singer as well as radio and television presenter . The artist, who was also active in the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1950s and 1960s, has worked as a judge since the 1980s .

Life

Corry Brokken grew up in the south of the Netherlands in the province of Noord-Brabant . After finishing school, she first learned to be a dental assistant in order to be able to finance the desired vocal training. In 1952 she first appeared on a radio broadcast. Engagements in cabarets in Eindhoven and Amsterdam followed . Then she trundled through the Netherlands with the "John Kristel Orkest". In 1954 she received her first record deal with the small Belgian record company Ronnex Records , where she recorded songs in Dutch, German and English until 1957. In 1956, test recordings were made in Amsterdam for the German record label Polydor , which, however, did not publish the pieces for legal reasons.

On May 24, 1956 Brokken appeared in Lugano at the Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Europénne , the first Eurovision Song Contest . She represented her homeland with the piece Voorgoed voorbij ("Forever over"). The song was not a winner, but it was a great success, so that it was sent to this competition again the following year , this time in Frankfurt am Main . With the Chanson Net as toen , Brokken surprisingly won first place. A little later, in Hilversum , a German version of the song was recorded under the title Damals was everything so beautiful (Text: Kurt Feltz ), which was already released by the big Philips record company . In the same year a German and an English EP , each with four recordings, were released, including compositions by Michael Jary .

Corry Brokken as a participant in the Eurovision Song Contest 1958

Participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1958 brought the artist with Heel de wereld (“The Whole World”) only the shared last place. Since then she is the only interpreter who achieved a first and a last place at the ESC. Her English-language long-playing record Corry’s Bed-Time-Story was initially not published. With the chanson Les Gitans, which she sang on television at a charity event, she won back the audience a little later.

In 1960 she sang the Dutch and German versions of the number one hit Milord by Édith Piaf . Brokken achieved great success in both countries with the ambiguous song about prostitution ("[...] What happened tonight was so long ago [...]", German text by Ernst Bader ). In her home country she received a gold record for this . Numerous appearances on domestic and foreign television followed. In Germany she released some singles and EPs with cover versions of chansons and French-sounding hits. In 1962 she achieved another hit in the Netherlands with the title Mijn ideaal ("My Ideal"), the Dutch version of Charles Aznavours Tu t'laisses aller ("You let yourself go"). The title was sung in German by Friedel Hensch , Caterina Valente (Mein Ideal) and Charles Aznavour (You let yourself go) .

Corry Brokken's versions of Aznavour's chansons La mamma were published again in German and Dutch . In 1964/1965 it achieved good listings in the charts in both countries. In 1965 a German-language LP was released with compositions by Burt Bacharach , Gilbert Bécaud , Hans Blum , Guy Mardel and others. In 1966, along with other singles, the album hit yesterday was released . The compilation contained recordings by Heidi Brühl , Bully Buhlan , René Kollo , Maria Marky, the Rosy Singers and Gerhard Wendland . Corry Brokken was then represented with songs by Zarah Leander , Caterina Valente , Dalida and Lale Andersen . In the same year she was supposed to represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest . However, Brokken declined to enter the competition for their neighboring country. In 1967 she moved to the German record label Polydor.

In the same year she took over the moderation of her own Saturday evening show Varietézauber at WDR . By 1970, 19 episodes of the program were made, in which well-known artists such as Salvatore Adamo and Hildegard Knef appeared. Another LP was released in 1968, which included recordings by Corry Brokken with Wolfgang Kieling , Ingeborg Hallstein and Peter Rubin . The record was dedicated to the composers Theo Mackeben and Werner Richard Heymann . In 1969, their last German single was released with the song The Last Seven Days, the text of which denounced environmental pollution. In 1969 the Dutch newspaper Het Parool published an interview in which Brokken was negative about her work in Germany. After a Cologne tabloid reported about it, there was a scandal. At the end of 1970 the last edition of their ARD show was broadcast.

In her home country she continued to record records until 1973 and was also seen in television shows until the mid-1970s. One of her last television appearances for the time being was the moderation of the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 in The Hague . After that, the singer ended her show career, studied law and graduated in 1981. From then on she worked successfully as a lawyer in Den Bosch , among others .

From the mid-1990s Corry Brokken occasionally appeared again as a singer. She mostly performed her old titles at various shows and gala events. In 1996 the album Nooit meant (“Never thought”) with new songs was released in their homeland . In Germany Bear Family Records released three CDs with a large part of their German-language recordings. In 2000, her memoir Wat mij betreft (“As for me”) was published, which was a great success in the Netherlands. In 2006 a DVD was released with the highlights of her Dutch television program Een avondje uit met Corry Brokken (“An evening out with Corry Brokken”). In 2009 her second autobiographical book was published under the title Toegift ("Encore").

Corry Brokken was married for a short time from September 11, 1956 to the drummer Cees See and from 1968 to 1976 with the theater producer René Sleeswijk . She left a daughter.

Discography (selection)

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
My lord
  DE 5 11/01/1960 (4 weeks)
He looked like a lord
  DE 41 04/01/1961 (2 weeks)
La mamma
  DE 9 January 15, 1965 (6 weeks)

Singles (Germany)

  • Nana (Born from Accidental Love) / Rio de Janeiro (A Mid-Summer Night on the Bay of Brasil) (1955; Ronnex 10 063)
  • Nana (Yes, there was a Nana) / Rio de Janeiro (That Radiant Dream) (1956; Odeon )
  • My good star / A day with you (1956; Ronnex)
  • Back then everything was so beautiful / Since we saw each other (1957; Philips )
  • Milord / Moro (1960; Philips)
  • He looked like a Lord / Bonjour Paris (1961; Philips)
  • You are seen through / He makes music on Montparnasse (1961; Philips)
  • It was spring, Cherie / If I only knew (1962; Philips)
  • Luck and Glass / Flea Market Melody (1963; Philips)
  • La mamma / Give me your hand (1964; Philips)
  • Such is love, mon ami / Venice in Gray (1965; Philips)
  • All my dreams / child number ten (1966; Philips)
  • Take my hand / game, gypsy (1966; Philips)
  • And she wore a rose in her hair / You can't live on your dreams (1967; Polydor )
  • Stranger Streets / My Lady (1968; Polydor)
  • The coffee is hot / I'm happy even though I'm crying (1968; Polydor)
  • My Love Melody / The Last Seven Days (1969; Columbia )

EPs (Germany)

  • Music sounds very softly / Sing, Nachtigall, sing / Under the thousand lanterns / Now I know the way to your heart (1957; Philips)
  • Maurice, the old charmer / You are seen through / Like the dream of my sleepless nights / He makes music on Montparnasse (1961; Philips)

LPs (Germany)

  • Corry Brokken-Miss Wonderful (1965; Philips)
  • Yesterday's Hit (1966; Philips)
  • It was always so nice with you (1968; Polydor)

CDs (Germany)

  • Milord (1996; Bear Family Records )
  • La Mamma (1996; Bear Family Records)
  • Nana - The Ronnex Recordings (1997; Bear Family Records)

Web links

Commons : Corry Brokken  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Corry Brokken in besloten kring creamed. Obituary in AD , accessed June 4, 2016.
  2. srf.ch: For Corry Brokken's 80th birthday
  3. ^ Corry Brokken. In: Official German charts. GfK Entertainment , accessed on June 3, 2016 .