Günter Ilgner

Günter Ilgner (born February 21, 1926 in Silesia; † September 20, 2004 in Cologne ) was one of the most influential personalities in the German music industry as a music producer and music publisher .

Career

Ilgner started as a sales representative for Deutsche Grammophon in Hanover in the early 1950s , before moving to Polydor Records in Hanover as local sales manager in 1955 . Here he had to manage the 20,000 shellac records of a certain Freddy , initially unsaleable , which had been stored here from his single She was called Mary Anne / Heimweh since March. The first single by this new performer was supposed to counter the competitor Electrola , which, after its release in May 1956 , was able to advance to second place on the German charts with the German version of the US millionaire Sixteen Tons in the version by Ralf Bendix . Ilgner suggested to the Polydor headquarters in Hamburg that the B-side be converted to the A-side, which was rejected. In June 1956, however, German radio stations increasingly played the B-side with such success that Heimweh had sold a million copies by the end of 1956. By switching to vinyl, another two million copies were sold by the end of 1958.

In 1959 Ilgner founded a music production company together with Kurt Feltz and Heinz Gietz . He then moved to Electrola for a short time in 1962 to take on the position of head of production. Here he made a historic decision when he proposed that the Beatles record German versions of She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand while performing in Paris . The German texts by Heinz Hellmer and Camillo Felgen (under the pseudonym “Nicolas”) were hastily rehearsed with Otto Demler and put on the original music track on January 29, 1964 in the EMI recording studio Pathé Marconi in Paris . As early as February 4, 1964, the recordings came on the market as Come, give me your hand / She loves you (Odeon # 22671).

In early 1965, Ilgner returned to Polydor, where he became head of production and promotion. In 1966 he founded the Cornet record company together with his companion Heinz Gietz . In between, Ilgner took over the executive chair of Deutsche Vogue in 1968 (1962 to 1971 as the Cologne subsidiary of the Paris record label Disques Vogue ). After returning to EMI Electrola in 1969, he took up the position of program director, took on the role of managing director of EMI AV and rose to become deputy managing director of Electrola.

Music publisher and artist developer

When Ilgner realized that the traditional publishing work was also complementing the production activities of a music publisher, he acquired the music publishers Dr. Hans Gerig based in Bergisch Gladbach near Cologne. Today you are one of the few large, successful, privately owned companies in the music industry. The music publishers Hans Gerig have over 30,000 titles in their repertoire, including great hits from German hits, but also all the great Cologne carnival hits. Despite the national successes of this publishing group, Ilgner always made sure that the good international contacts of the Hans Gerig publishers could be further expanded. At the same time he founded the record label Papagayo in 1979 , which is distributed by EMI Electrola. In 1989 Ilgner bought Harth and Pro Musica Verlag in Leipzig.

Ilgner discovered and developed a large number of interpreters. In January 1959, he discovered Ted Herold , who owes his stage name Ilgner. Freddy Breck (from 1970 with Cornet, from 1977 with EMI), Andy Borg , BAP , Purple Schulz and Hape Kerkeling are among the most important interpreters or artists who owe their careers in part to Ilgner.

Günter Ilgner also worked on a voluntary basis in numerous committees, including the GEMA evaluation committee and the media committee of the Cologne Chamber of Industry and Commerce. In the German Music Publishers Association he was a member of various committees for two decades, such as the specialist committee for sound carrier issues, the broadcasting committee and the committee for popular music, which he headed from 1989 to 1991. During this time he was also a member of the DMV board. In 2000, the association awarded him the Golden Badge of Honor.

family

In 2003 Ilgner married the German pop singer and presenter Ulla Norden . Shortly after the wedding, Ilgner died in 2004 as a result of an intestinal operation. His sons Carsten and Lutz Ilgner continue the business of the music publishers Hans Gerig.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Der Tagesspiegel of September 25, 2006
2. ^ Bill Harry, The Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia , 1993, p. 364, ISBN 3-283-00269-X