Franz Thon

Franz Wilhelm Thon (born June 30, 1910 in Cologne , † December 14, 2009 in Hamburg ) was a German clarinetist , saxophonist , conductor and orchestra leader .

Live and act

Franz Thon was the son of the composer Franz Thon senior and studied at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin . In Berlin he first played in the cast of foreign dance orchestras . He was engaged for several orchestras at the same time. He obviously began in July 1928 with the band of Ben Berlin (Hermann Biek), then played in the orchestra of Paul Godwin ( Margarethe ; Grammophone 1206; October 1932), in November 1932 he is on Godwin's The Beginning in Love Is Easier Than That final heard (November 1932; gramophones 1216). With xylophone player Kurt Engel he played clarinet on recordings from October 1933 in Berlin, he stayed with Engels "dance rhythmics" until January 1937. From October 1935 he appeared with Peter Kreuder ( The Japanese Sandman ; Telefunken 1880) until April 1937. From the Hans Bund Orchestra, which alongside Adalbert Luczkowski in 1934 a. a. and Kurt Hohenberger , Erhard Krause , Georg Hentzschel and Harold Kirchstein belonged, was formed in November 1934 now legendary German lace band, The Golden Seven . He played for this septet from September 1936 ( May I ask / The music plays very quietly ; Electrola EG 3732) until April 1937 ( Me and You / Dangerous Game ; EG 3321). On September 30, 1936 he played alto and tenor saxophone with Teddy Stauffer and the Original Teddies . He stayed there until April 1939. He can be heard on the Truxa-Fox (1937) with the Otto Stenzel Orchestra . In July 1937 he appeared in Robert Gaden's orchestra .

His first own band were the dance rhythmics who accompanied Rudi Schuricke to the hit Goodbye Johnny from the movie Wasser für Canitoga (premiere: March 17, 1939; Imperial 17244), sung by Hans Albers in the film . Rudi Schuricke followed with Thon at So wie Du (1939; Imperial 17285). Between 1936 and 1942 he played in the music corps of the Wehrmacht. From October 1940 he took part in recordings as a member of the Hans Rehmstedt Orchestra .

In 1946 Thon was employed as the first saxophonist in the radio dance orchestra of the NWDR . He took over the management of this dance orchestra in 1948. With this he accompanied Peter Igelhoff on October 7, 1948 at So besides (Polydor 48118), where Thon played the clarinet. Thon worked as a musician in the film Hallo Fräulein (premiere: May 13, 1949). In 1951 he presented the Cocktail Boogie (1951; Decca 43238) with the Hamburg Radio Dance Orchestra .

From January 31, 1954, he acted in 2 episodes of the NDR TV game show "1: 0 for you" with Peter Frankenfeld as band leader . After the NWDR was split up into WDR and NDR, he headed the “ NDR Dance Orchestra under the direction of Franz Thon” from January 1, 1956 . With this orchestra he accompanied numerous pop interpreters such as Liselotte Malkowsky , Evelyn Künneke , Wolfgang Sauer and Udo Jürgens . In March 1956 he founded the NDR's dance orchestra without a name , which was supposed to play a contemporary sound. In 1963 he put together the NDR studio band , which, with well-known soloists (such as Wolfgang Schlueter ), became known primarily as a jazz formation. Thon retired in July 1975, but directed the NDR entertainment orchestra until December 1979. His successor was Dieter Glawischnig . The NDR director Lutz Marmor wrote on his death: “Franz Thon helped write a piece of music history in the NDR. His arrangements and his sound shaped the musical image of the North German Radio to a large extent for decades. With his work, he laid the foundation for the development of the NDR big band, which today is one of the best jazz orchestras in the world. "

Radio and television appearances

Franz Thon took part in numerous radio broadcasts by Hans Rosenthal ( Who asks, wins , 1955; Alone against everyone , fun must be ), where he was responsible for the musical accompaniment. On the screen he was u. a. musical director of the NDR broadcasts Haifischbar , between 1969 and 1978 his band played in 5 episodes of the comedy series Zwischenmahlzeit with Gisela Schlueter . He also provided the background music for numerous entertainment shows.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Obituary in the Hamburger Abendblatt dated December 18, 2009
2. ↑ Heiner Bontrup / E. Dieter Fränzel The Ernst Höllerhagen Story , 2011, p. 114 ff.
3. ^ NDR from December 17, 2009, NDR mourns Franz Thon