Hot sand
Hot Sand is a German hit song written by Werner Scharfenberger (music) and Kurt Feltz (text), which became a hit in 1962 by the Italian singer Mina .
History of origin
Mina (Anna Maria Mazzini) was already a successful pop singer in Italy, as she had three number one hits there since 1959. She was unknown in Germany, and Hot Sand was to be her first record in German. Kurt Feltz was one of the most successful German hit writers and music producers. He had specialized in texts that dealt with Mediterranean flair and lifestyle ( Come with me to Italy for a bit , Caterina Valente ; February 1956). Also hot sand falls into this category.
The text is about a jealous murder of a certain Rocco and the escape of the suspect Tino. Many hints make the text mysterious and interpretable. The names of the three main characters, Tino, Rocco and Nina, refer to (southern) Italy. Rocco was Nina's fiancé because she was "already in Rocco's word." After the murder, Tino had to flee, probably across the sea, which is also suggested by the second verse, which refers to a port. In the thematic repertoire of the 1950s there are often references to the Foreign Legion, which goes well with the words “hot sand” and “a life in danger” in the chorus lines. His homeland is lost for Tino because of his flight. Visiting the Foreign Legion because of an unhappy love affair did not play an insignificant role in trivial novels of the post-war period. Nina, on the other hand, seems to have already forgotten Tino, because she dances with other men at the harbor. The oriental atmosphere of the piece is supported by Mina's accented German and the minor sounds of the orchestra by the composer Werner Scharfenberger. Unlike most of the Feltz compositions, the song was not recorded in Cologne, but on February 5, 1962 in the Wiener Konzerthaus (Studio III). The collaboration between Feltz and Scharfenberger began in 1956 (their first hit was Bombalu for Margot Eskens ; December 1956), previously Feltz had mostly written the lyrics to melodies by his friend Heinz Gietz .
publication
Mina first sang the title publicly on March 12, 1962 in the TV show Herzlichst, Ihr Peter Kraus . In April 1962 the single hot sand / Ein treuer Mann (Polydor # 24793) was released and on May 12, 1962 it reached the first position of the German hit parade, which it held for 9 weeks. It sold 150,000 copies in Germany within the first six weeks, a total of 700,000; Over a million copies were sold worldwide. In addition to the German version, Mina sang a Spanish ( Un desierto , "a desert"), French ( Notre étoile , "our star") and Italian version. The Italian version under the title Sì lo so ("Yes, I know") appeared in 1963 on the Mina LP Stessa spiaggia stesso mare ("same beach - same sea") as a love song. The music track of the German original was used for this because Mina's Italian record company Compagnia Generale del Disco was the sales partner of the German Polydor.
Mina topped the Bravo annual charts in 1962 and received a silver lion from Radio Luxembourg .
Cover versions
Anneke Grönloh brought Brandend Zand ( "hot sand") in July 1962, a Dutch (Text: Johnny Hoes; two weeks Rank 1 in the Netherlands) and English version ( Oh Malaysia ) out. In the Dutch version, which is based on the German text, we learn that Nina ends in Marseille. Ørkensand was the Danish version of Grete Klitgaard in 1962 (text: Victor Scarup). Connie Francis recorded the song on June 19, 1966 for her LP Melodies that are conquering the world in the DGG studios in Munich. Similar to the various Mina versions, the original music track was also used here because Polydor Records was the German distribution partner of Connie Francis' American label MGM Records . In addition, the music producer Gerhard Mendelson , who is responsible for the Vienna-based “Polydor Produktion Süd”, was responsible for the German tracks recorded in this studio by both Connie Francis and Mina. In September 1984, Kristina Bach remembers the big hit of 1962 and with it she had her first hit (rank 30).
According to Coverinfo, there are a total of 28 versions of the title.
Follow-up single
In 1964, the hit was continued with the title "Fremdes Land", also sung by Mina, which tells the story of Tino.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Billboard Magazine of May 12, 1962, Germany , p. 20
- ↑ Der Musikmarkt, 30 Years of Singles Hit Parade , 1989, p. 20
- ↑ Mark Dezzani: RTI Buys Switzerland's PDU label Home of Mina. Billboard, May 11, 1996, accessed November 29, 2019 .
- ↑ Cover info entry on Hot Sand