Kurt Hertha

Kurt Hertha , pseudonyms Andy Adison , Felix Prost , (born May 2, 1926 in Gestungshausen near Coburg , † July 8, 2007 in Grünwald ) was a German lyricist and composer . He often collaborated with the composers Henry Mayer , Ralph Siegel , Heinz Gietz , Karl Götz , Rolf Arland and Christian Bruhn .

youth

Kurt Hertha learned to play the violin and the piano. A draft order brought him to the radio operators in World War II . He was transferred to a punishment company for allegedly undermining military strength, but his work in popular music near the front saved him from severe consequences.

Beginnings

The minor third - I'd like to go to Biersee (September 1955)

Hertha's first successful composition was the mood song I would like to like an Biersee by the formation Die kleine Terz & Blaskapelle Otto Ebner, which appeared in September 1955 and became the Oktoberfest hit of 1957. In 1958 he wrote for Dietmar Schönherr I seek love (January 1959). Ted Herold then took over Dixieland Rock (B-side of Hula Rock , February 1959), Rudi Büttner brought Ich liebe You (May 1959;) onto the market. For 1959, Hertha registered at least 6 titles. These included his first hit parade listing by Gerhard Wendland (July 1959; rank 15), Heidi Brühl took over Always when you are with me / we will find each other (July 1959; rank 37), Vico Torriani Piano (EP Vico Torriani sings ; December 1959) or Willy Hagara So are only you, Lorena (B-side of A Heart and a Rose ; recorded on April 24, 1959).

The sixties

Gerhard Wendland - Dance with me in the morning (August 1961)

In 1960 Hertha released at least 3 titles, including Lou van Burg's German cover of Traditional Down by the Riverside with the title Friends for Life (June 1960), Willy Hagara's version (August 1960) made it to 8th place on the German charts. This was followed by Jimmy Makulis with Nachts in Rom (B-side of Ein Boot, ein Mondnacht und Du ; July 1960) and Fred Bertelmann with Herrlich was die Reise (August 1960). In 1961 8 titles were released, including the Nilsen Brothers with the novelty song Halt the Kangaroo, Boy (March 1961), which was based on Tie Me Kangaroo Down, a sport by Rolf Harris . For Carmela Corren , life goes on (B-side of Be not sad, beloved mom ; October 1961), Gerhard Wendland took over dancing with me in the morning (1st place; August 1961), with which Kurt Hertha achieved the breakthrough. His first number one hit sold more than a million copies by May 1962 and was subsequently covered by at least 18 performers. The medium trio followed with The whole boat is full of homesickness (September 1961; rank 39). The year 1962 presented at least 16 titles from the pen of Kurt Hertha. Among them were Gerhard Wendland and look me in the eye again (from the film Die Post goes off ; premiere on September 21, 1962; May 1962; rank 3) / Are you asleep? , Fred Bertelmann with Tango without Light (B-side of You need glasses ; July 1962) and Thousand Orchids (November 1962), Ralph Bendix with the title The big number is made (July 1962), Zarah Leander with what to know Men of love? / Cabaret Paris (recorded on August 10, 1962; November 1962), Carmela Corren with Blue Wind from Mexico (November 1962) and Petula Clark with Monsieur (August 1962; 1st place) and Casanova Baciami (January 1963; 2nd place). The song Monsieur , interspersed with French vocabulary, was his second number one hit, selling 1 million copies after four months.

In 1963 at least 20 titles from Hertha's pen came onto the market, including the medium trio Der Schatz im Silbersee (April 1963; rank 15) and Winnetou (August 1963; rank 15), Gitte Hænning took over the old house on Huckleberry Street ( B-side of Ich want 'nen cowboy as a man ; June 1963) and luckily I don't need a chimney sweep (B-side of If you are musical ; June 24, 1963), Benny Quick resorted to the midnight twist with Susi ( August 1963). In 1964 there were at least 27 titles written by Hertha. These included close your eyes (March 1964) and dance all night with me for Gerhard Wendland (December 1964), Heidi Bachert with the German-language cover version of My Boy Lollipop (July 1964), and Roy Black With His Canon's first single Sweet Baby mein (B-side of My Little Girl ; September 1964) still as beat music . The athlete Manfred Schnelldorfer sang When You're Alone (August 1964; Rank 4), Bernd Spier That was my most beautiful dance (Original: I Only Came to Dance With You , music James Marcus Smith = PJ Proby ; December 1964) or Gitte Das is the blue beat (December 1964).

Roy Black - All in white

In 1965, Hertha had 25 titles. He provided Roy Black With His Canons with Let's Go ( B-side of Darling My Love ; January 1965), Gitte with Come back (B-side of Nashville Tennessee ; March 1965). Then Roy Black switched to the hit with Hertha's title You are not alone (April 1965), which sold 800,000 times, followed by the biggest commercial hit Ganz in Weiß (December 1965). In total, the record was sold 2.5 million times and received the gold record for it on January 25, 1968. Hertha came up with the idea for the title while reading a shop window with this label in a bridal shop. In August 1965, Electrola released Gilbert Bécaud's French original Nathalie and the German version with a text by Hertha in Germany, the latter reaching number 17 in the charts. On October 18, 1965 Renate Kern recorded the single Eine Welt für uns Zwei (Tom Springfield / Kurt Hertha) in the Bremen Polydor recording studio. In 1966, 21 Hertha titles were released, including Bata Illic Einsames Herz in der Nacht (B-side of Die Welt ist voll Liebe ; December 1966), Wencke Myhre took over 4 titles, including Einsamer Boy (B-side of Wer hat Geseh'n?, November 1966), Franz Beckenbauer No one can separate good friends (B-side from You alone ; December 1966) and Roy Black Good Night My Love (December 1966).

In 1967 Hertha presented at least 26 tracks, most of which appeared as the B-side of a single. Schlager newcomer Bata Illic took on 3 tracks, including Einsames Herz in der Nacht (B-side of his first German single Die Welt ist voll Liebe ; February 1967), Was wird morgen sein (Cover of Non mi dire mai Good Bye ; June 1967), Roy Black received a souvenir as a present (B-side of Meine Liebe zu Dir ; June 1967). In 1968, 19 Hertha titles were published, including for Chris Roberts Nur die Liebe ist gut (B-side of his first single Wenn Du mal als sich bist ; January 1968), Roy Black This dance should never end (B-side of Stay with me ; February 1968), Christian Anders first single Happy love (B-side of Mexico , September 1968), bata illic blindfolded (October 1968), Nana Mouskouri flowers of love (B-side of Aranjuez melody ; 1968). Of the 24 titles from 1969, only Adamo with You are like love (March 1969) should be emphasized.

The seventies

Chris Roberts - You Can't Always Be Seventeen (December 1973)

In the seventies, Hertha achieved the highest productivity of his creative period. In 1970 at least 33 titles came on the market, with 5 titles alone he supplied Chris Roberts for his LP Die Maschen der Mädchen (January 1970), the title song of which rose to number 8 in the singles charts in December 1969. 4 tracks were created for Ivan Rebroff (LP Kosaken muss ritten ; 1970), Katja Ebstein sang Wind in der Nacht (LP My life is like a song ; November 1970). Siw Malmkvist took over Liebe wie im Rosengarten (cover of Rose Garden ; February 1971), Chris Roberts Your Chocolate Side (B-side of Mein Name ist Hase ; April 1971), Costa Cordalis And the Sun is Hot (August 1971), Katja Ebstein Ein little song of peace (November 1971; rank 47). In 1972 36 titles were published by Hertha, 8 for Freddy Breck alone ; including Überall der Welt ( Paraphrase from Giuseppe Verdi's prisoner choir ; July 1972; rank 7) and Bianca (December 1972; rank 2). Roy Black took over Sommernacht (B-side of Eine Rose I give you ; March 1972), I believe in you (B-side of Dreams in Velvet and Silk ; July 1972) and My heart is with you (November 1972; rank 11 ).

Most of the songs with Hertha's lyrics were published in 1973 with a total of 55 titles, including 12 for Freddy Breck alone, for example A woman is so beautiful when she loves (B-side of Rote Rosen ; July 1973) or Halli Hallo (adapted from Gioacchino Rossini's Diebische Elster ; December 1973; rank 21) or Chris Roberts most commercial hit You Can't Always Be Seventeen (December 1973; with Ralph Siegel; rank 3). Olivia Molina received 10 titles (LP Meine Lieder ; September 1973), 4 landed on Peter Alexander's LP We are a big family (November 1973). Hertha created another 55 titles in 1974, including 10 for Chris Roberts like you and me alone (January 1974) and I make a happy girl out of you (October 1974; rank 20). Freddy Breck also reserved 10 titles, including Komm 'in mein Boot (B-side of Die Sonne geht auf ; July 1974), 4 titles were taken over by Ireen Sheer . In 1975 Hertha produced at least 41 titles. First of all, Peggy March and Ralph Siegel created a cycle of songs about personalities (LP men : Al Capone does it , Cassius Clay , The Kennedy Family , Gary Cooper - Why smoke the pistols , Napoleon - Who was Napoleon , Pelé , Sigmund Freud - Love makes you free ; February 1975). Adam & Eve took over Where the Musicians Are (LP We both ; March 1975), Freddy Breck was awarded 9 titles, including Angelie (B-side of With a colorful bouquet of flowers ; March 1975) and The great Zampano / Your is my song ( June 1975; rank 16), 5 was created for Peter Alexander, including And afterwards I'll take you in my arms (May 1975), Olivia Molina resorted to a white dress and red wine (B-side of Today Si, Tomorrow No ; June 1975).

In 1976 there were 24 more titles from Hertha, 5 of them for Freddy Breck, including Das ist dierue Liebe / Die Sonne (March 1976), Once everyone finds home (B-side of Der Weiße Lilac ; May 1976). Chris Roberts received Do You Speak English? (April 1976; rank 14). For the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 the Les Humphries Singers took over Sing Sang Song (April 1976), but landed here on rank 15. Mireille Mathieu was awarded with Der Wein was aus Bordeaux / Es ist Zeit für Musik (August 1976; Rank 24) . Jürgen Marcus took over the entire neighborhood of the 27 titles in 1977 (August 1977), 4 titles were written for Martin Mann , including Ich haben Dir (B-side of Strohblumen ; September 1977), 7 for Freddy Breck, including Mach ' something nice from that day (December 1977). Mireille Mathieu received the Traditional Glory, Glory Halleluja (LP Das neue Schlager-Album ; 1977). Fifteen titles have survived for 1978, including Tony Marshall with Bora Bora (March 1978), Bata Illic people, just like you and me (B-side of Sehnsucht ; April 1978), Chris Roberts I swap the summer for 7 days of rain ( August 1978), Karel Gott The Girl from Athens (November 1978). There were at least 11 titles in 1979, such as Bata Illic Oh Cleopatra (January 1979), Dschinghis Khan Sahara (B-side of Genghis Khan ; March 1979) and Desert Land (B-side of Genghis Khan , April 1979).

In July 1963, Hertha's first million-seller dance got into a copyright dispute with me in the morning (midnight tango) , which was carried out up to the Federal Court of Justice . The Supreme Court recognized similarities of 12 bars with the main movement of the Magdalene aria. In the copyright lawsuit, Hertha and music composer Karl Götz were able to prove that the melodic elements also matched the Magdalene aria (“O beautiful youth days”) set in D major from the opera “ Der Evangelimann ” by Wilhelm Kienzl (first performance: May 4, 1895) are included in folk songs and in works by Schubert, Mozart, Weber, Chopin and Wagner. The BGH stated that although both differ in the rhythm, the defining effect of both does not come from the rhythm, but from the melody. Coincidental double creations are also particularly obvious in the field of light music, which uses simple, catchy forms, especially since neither has any particular peculiarity. Matches based solely on chance did not constitute copyright infringement.

The eighties and beyond

In the eighties, Kurt Hertha's workload decreased significantly. In 1980 at least 11 titles were created. Costa Cordalis took over Pan (April 1980; rank 22), Katja Ebstein Glashaus (B-side of Then he would marry your office ; July 1980). In 1981, 10 Hertha titles were released, 5 of them for Tony Marshall alone, including Make your life beautiful (February 1981) and Costa Cordalis I'll get you out (May 1981). Of the at least 7 titles from 1983, the travesty duo Mary & Gordy 6 reserved themselves for the LP Mostly there is nothing behind them (1983), after which their tour, which began on September 15, 1984, was named. Of the 6 Hertha contributions in 1984, Tony Marshall took over Das We'll überleben (October 1984), in 1985 Hertha awarded Audrey Landers with Paradise Generation (with Jack White ; October 1985). In 1987 Die Toten Hosen performed a cover of Hertha's Wenn Du mal sein times by Manfred Schnelldorfer (LP Never Mind The Hosen - Here's Die Roten Rosen ; July 1987). In August 1992 Tony Christie covered the Jürgen Marcus hit, written by Hertha and composed by Jack White, What are you going to do tonight? (January 1978). Hold on to the one who loves you for Guildo Horn & the Orthopedic Stockings (LP Thank you!; March 1998) was one of Hertha's last texts.

Honors

Kurt Hertha has written over 1,300 titles, three of which earned them platinum and twelve gold records . From 1961 to 1979 he was a member of the GEMA Supervisory Board . The German Lyricist Association honored Kurt Hertha in 1990 with its “ Golden Feather ” award . In 1997 he was awarded the Willy Dehmel Prize of the GEMA Foundation, and in 2006 GEMA awarded him honorary membership.

Web links

• Works by and about Kurt Hertha in the catalog of the German National Library
• Laudation by Christian Bruhn on the occasion of the 1997 Willy Dehmel Prize

Individual evidence

1. ↑ SPIEGEL online from July 10, 2007, 'All in White': Schlager poet Kurt Hertha has died
2. ^ A cover version of the title of the same name by Elvis Presley
3. ↑ Cover version of Chantilly Lace 's Big Bopper
4. ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 169
5. ↑ Michael Fischer / Fernand Hömer, Lied und popular Kultur , 2013, p. 250 f.
6. ↑ NDR television, The most popular cult hits  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ^ Bettina Greve, Starry Sky: The Chronicle of a German Record Brand , 2001, p. 145
8. ^ BGH, judgment of June 5, 1970, Az .: I ZR 44/68
9. ↑ DER SPIEGEL 12/1965 of March 17, 1965, From the subconscious , p. 134 f.
10. ^ Paul W. Hertin , Copyright , 1998, p. 768
11. ^ Died: Kurt Hertha DER SPIEGEL 29/2007 of July 16, 2007, p. 146