Gitta Walther

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Gitta Walther (born June 14, 1940 in Annaberg ; † October 10, 2014 in Annaberg-Buchholz ) was a German singer and author. She also published under the pseudonyms "Simone" or "Jackie Robinson" and under her former married name Gitta MacKay from her marriage to the Scottish musician Don Adams , whose real family name was MacKay . Even after the divorce in 1976, she continued to use the name.

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
Moving Like A Superstar (as Jackie Robinson)
  R&BTemplate: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / country wrong 61 05/01/1976 (7 weeks)

Life

Gitta Walter was born as the daughter of a baker during the Second World War and grew up in the German Democratic Republic after the war . There she first appeared on stage as a singer at the age of 14. At the age of 16 she moved to West Germany alone.

In Munich she won a competition organized by the Bavarian Radio . It was then discovered by Werner Müller , who accepted it into his orchestra. She also sang in Ambros Seelos ' and Addy Flors orchestras. Since the mid-1960s, she was also active as a guest, studio and background singer in several productions and bands and solo interpreters, which she claims to be doing mainly for a living. She was one of the singers of the Silver Convention hit Fly, Robin, Fly . She received 1200 marks for the studio recordings . The scream in the chorus of the song Lady Bump by Penny McLean was also hers .

In 1964 she released her first two solo singles , at that time still under her real name, then initially under her pseudonym Simone. In the late 1960s she also sang with the Cornely Singers , from which the band Love Generation emerged in late 1969 . The formation was honored with the Golden Europe in the category "Best New German Vocal Group" in 1972 and in 1975 reached the third place in the German preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest with the title Listen again .

From the mid-1970s she sang as a solo performer in English under the stage name Jackie Robinson. Her album I'm Different was a success in the United States . The single Moving Like A Superstar stayed on the Billboard Disco charts for seven weeks and made it to fifth place in the sixth week. The song Pussyfooter , which was also released as a single, was well known on the other side of the Atlantic and has been covered several times, for example by DJ Shadow , Eric B. & Rakim or Ultramagnetic MCs .

In 1980 she founded the relatively successful band The Hornettes together with Dagmar Hellberg , Lucy Neale (alias Lucy O'Day) and Christina Harrison . In 1981 it placed two titles in the top 100 of the German music charts, took part in the German preliminary decision with the song Mannequin in the same year and in 1983 with Hello, Mr. Radio in the Austrian preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Gitta Walther recently lived in her home town of Annaberg-Buchholz and sang local music.

Publications

Discography (selection)

(here only solo releases)

Albums

  • 1974: I'm Different (as Jackie Robinson ; Ariola / Les Disques Direction (1977) / Traffic Entertainment (2011))
  • 1996: Christmas carols Erzgebirge (as Gitta Walther ; Laserlight / Delta Music)
  • 1999: Tales from the Arzgebirg (as Gitta Walther ; Phonica / BTM)

Singles

  • 1964: I gave you everything / kiss me by moonlight (as Gitta Walther ; Philips )
  • 1964: I don't want to dream (as Gitta Walther ; Philips)
  • 1967: Happiness is loyal / Me and my sister (as Simone ; Telefunken )
  • 1967: He looks like a man / Opportunity makes thieves (as Simone ; Telefunken)
  • 1968: It should rain / Who knows the answer (as Simone ; Telefunken)
  • 1969: Every path leads to you (as Gitta Walther ; CBS )
  • 1975: Moving Like A Superstar (as Jackie Robinson ; Ariola / Inter Global / Pye Records (1976) / Music-Box)
  • 1976: Pussyfooter (as Jackie Robinson ; Ariola / maxi single: Les Disques Direction (1977))
  • 1976: Moving Like A Superstar (as Jackie Robinson ; Ariola)
  • 1976: Moving Like A Superstar / Pussyfooter (as Jackie Robinson ; Eurodisc)
  • 1977: Pussyfooter / Sympathy For The Devil (as Jackie Robinson ; Les Disques Direction)
  • 1978: Tilt & Boogie (as Jackie Robinson ; Polydor / Eurodisc / Durium)
  • 1978: Warning - Danger / Do You Really Wanna Go (as Jackie Robinson ; Polydor)

Fonts

  • Gitta MacKay: Gitta MacKay - singer of "The Hornettes": a life like a colorful rainbow , Erdenfest Verlag, Leipzig, 2011. ISBN 978-3-9813337-4-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Charts US
  2. ↑ See under: The Silver Convention Story
  3. ^ Tom Moulton: Disco Mix , Billboard, June 25, 1977, p. 40.
  4. ^ Jackie Robinson - I'm Different , Forced Exposure.
  5. ↑ Gitta Walther - Dar Vuglbärbaam , Youtube-Video.
personal data
SURNAME Walther, Gitta
ALTERNATIVE NAMES MacKay, Gitta (former married name); Simone (pseudonym); Robinson, Jackie (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German singer and author
DATE OF BIRTH June 14, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Annaberg , Germany
DATE OF DEATH October 10, 2014
Place of death Annaberg-Buchholz , Germany