Purple Schulz

Purple Schulz 2018

Purple Schulz (* 25. September 1956 in Cologne as Rüdiger Schulz ) is a German pop singer , songwriter , multi-instrumentalist and radio host . He achieved great fame in the 1980s and 1990s with titles such as Sehnsucht , Verliebte Jungs and Kleine Seen .

Life

Schulz grew up in Cologne. He has lived with his wife in the Bergheim district of Glessen since the early 1990s . The couple has three children.

Musician career

Schulz received his nickname "Purple" in Cologne in 1970:

“As a 13-year-old I spent a lot of time in an organ shop in Cologne. For me this was the only place in the world where I could play real Hammond organs . ... In any case, I was annoying the salespeople back then because I was constantly playing Child in Time from Deep Purple there. I wasn't banned from the house, but they gave me the nickname Purple. "

Musical beginnings

From the age of eight he received piano lessons and, at the age of eleven, additional organ lessons. Under the influence of Uschi Nerkes Beatclub and his two older brothers, his taste in music developed. In the 1960s it was mainly The Who, The Rolling Stones, Small Faces and The Beatles that fascinated him. He made his stage debut in March 1973 with the band D'accord , whose style was influenced by the prog rock of early Genesis, King Crimson, Yes and Gentle Giant.

Foundation of the band Purple Schulz and the new home

In 1981, during the Neue Deutsche Welle , the singer Wolf Maahn and the BAP guitarist Klaus Heuser and other musicians founded the band Neue Heimat to release a cover version of the Heintje hit Ich build dir ein Schloss . Because the musicians did not want to continue the project despite the success of the single, the subsequent album by Purple Schulz (vocals and keyboards) , Josef Piek (guitar) , Dieter Hoff (drums) , Freddy Böhmer (keyboards) and Hagü Schmitz (bass) recorded. After the two initially only moderately successful albums Die Hard (1982) and Hautnah (1983), the band broke up.

1984 to 1999: The musical breakthrough with longing

Appearance at the Palace of the Republic in January 1989

In the meantime, the later manager of the band Manfred Schmidt had campaigned for the publication of the title Sehnsucht from the album Hautnah . Schulz, Hoff and Piek had already renamed themselves Purple Schulz and their new home . Because Schulz could be heard sobbing on the album version, and he did not want to imitate this outburst of emotions during playback appearances on television, the song was re-recorded at his insistence.

Sehnsucht reached number six in Germany and Switzerland in spring 1985 and number 20 in the charts in Austria and was awarded the Golden Europe for the most successful German-language single of 1985 . The title took fourth place in the German airplay charts and stayed in the top 10 for five weeks. In the wake of this success, the album Hautnah , now with the new band name on the album cover, reached number 20 in the charts. In the same year an English version of Sehnsucht was published under the title Heartsick . Numerous television appearances and tours to Italy followed.

Also in 1985 the album Verliebte Jungs was released for the first time under the name Purple Schulz , from which the successful singles Nur mit dir , Kleine Seen and Verliebte Jungs were extracted. Boys in Love reached number one on the airplay charts and stayed in the top 10 for 11 weeks. The album was awarded a gold record.

In 1986 Purple Schulz appeared alongside Die Toten Hosen , Rio Reiser , BAP , Herbert Grönemeyer and other artists at Germany's largest festival until then, the Anti-WAAhnsinns Festival against the construction of the Wackersdorf reprocessing plant .

After the 1987 album Der Stand der Dinge , Dieter Hoff left the band. An English version of the title Four Steps was recorded as The Vison for the soundtrack of the Horst Schimanski movie Zabou . In 1988 the album Tsvai was released, in 1990 the album Purple Schulz . The latter gave rise to the single You just missed me , which took third place on the airplay charts and stayed in the top 10 for eleven weeks.

In 1989, Schulz released the single Was ist Happen , which landed on the soundtrack for the television series Die Schnell Gerdi .

In 1989 and 1990 Purple Schulz was on the rock poet tour in the GDR and sang the title Sehnsucht with the line I want out in the Palace of the Republic , which in eastern Germany was often referred to as the “hymn of those willing to leave”.

In 1992 the album HaHa was released. The text of the single Up to the End of the World , published from it, was the occasion for the editors of Emma magazine to name Schulz Pascha of the month. In 1993 the compilation The Singles 1984-1992 appeared . The album made it to number 17 on the charts, where it stayed for 19 weeks and was awarded a gold record. 1994 appeared from the album Spass nacheite? the singles you've seen it all , one more day another year , as well as when you fall down .

Until the beginning of the new millennium, Purple Schulz played predominantly in the new federal states. In spring 1999 Schulz published a new version of Sehnsucht under the title Sehnsucht'99 together with Kami , who had left the hip-hop band Basis . This new edition made it to number 15 in the charts and made Schulz known to a younger audience again through publications on numerous samplers such as Bravo Hits and The Dome , as well as appearances in programs such as Top of the Pops . The compilation Sehnsucht die Balladen 1984-1999 followed soon after . In the winter of 1999 Purple Schulz and Josef Piek shared the stage with Status Quo , Zucchero and other musicians at the Night of the Proms . In the same year Schulz and his band appeared in an episode of the Sat.1 television series SK Kölsch .

2000 to 2009: Duo concerts and encounters

From 2001 Schulz and Piek appeared more often as a duo. In October the musical Die Biene Maja celebrated its premiere, for which Schulz composed a large part of the music. In 2003 the first live album appeared with a change in the program , with which the duo played a 50-concert tour. Schulz and Piek composed the title song of the album back in 1996 on the occasion of a television program for the 25th anniversary of the show with the mouse .

In the summer of 2004 Piek and Schulz organized their own cabaret series in the Cologne theater in the building tower . Guests were Pe Werner , Stoppok , Manfred Maurenbrecher , Ulla Meinecke , Jess Jochimsen , Die Halbe Truth and Tommy Engel . In 2006 it was decided to take up the series again, this time with guests like Bläck Fööss , Wise Guys , the Cologne voice imitator and talent rehearsal moderator Linus and Heinz Rudolf Kunze . The encounter with Kunze resulted in a quartet that played around 150 shows as a common cause from 2007 to 2010. Wolfgang Stute and Josef Piek complemented the two singers on cajón and guitar. The four musicians developed a program of hits and partly forgotten songs and offered comedic interludes and parodies. In 2005 Schulz and Piek took part in the Cologne Stunksitzung and strengthened their house band Köbes Underground . Once a year they then supported the Stunk unplugged ensemble on their tour. In 2007 Purple Schulz was a guest at Pur & Friends - Live on Schalke and sang together with Hartmut Engler the songs Verliebte Jungs , Sehnsucht and Friends in the Veltins-Arena . In 2008 he recorded the single We all have something to say with his son Ben Schulz . The song was premiered on the day of the meeting in Xanten together with his son, one hundred children of a deaf choir and a children's and youth choir in front of 28,000 visitors.

2010 to 2018: first solo album, book publication and tours

In 2011 Schulz appeared together with Tommy Engel on his show Christmas Angel . In November 2011, Piek and Schulz ended their musical collaboration. In October 2012, after 15 years, Purple Schulz released his first studio album So und nicht anders , on which he also acted as a producer for the first time. He wrote most of the texts together with his wife.

Purple Schulz and Schrader 2014

From 2012 to summer 2015 Purple Schulz was on stage with guitarist Schrader, who had previously played in Guildo Horn's group . In November 2013 the live album and the DVD So ist das live! . In December 2013, Purple Schulz was a guest alongside Gaby Köster in the Brings Christmas shows in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne. In 2014 and 2015 Purple Schulz was on a tour of 140 concerts in Germany. Schulz also plays at unusual venues such as the start of the tour in a psychiatric facility, in the cemetery of his deceased friend Fritz Roth , or in a mine 500 meters underground.

In addition to his concerts, Purple Schulz is increasingly involved in the topics of dementia and Alzheimer's , including a video for his song question mark on YouTube . There Schulz slipped into the role of someone suffering from dementia. The video serves as an introduction to congresses on the topic of Alzheimer's and is also used in the training of nursing staff. Since 2015 Purple Schulz has been playing with the violinist and guitarist Markus Wienstroer , who previously a. a. had stood on stage with Westernhagen.

In November 2015, Schulz's first book Sehnsucht Remains , a journey through four decades of artistic creation and German-German history, was published. In 2016 he was on tour with the program The Little One with the Difference with over 50 concerts, gave occasional concert readings, performed poorly with the solo program Einsig and was awarded the “Clown d'honneur” by the World Parliament of Clowns. On New Year's Day 2017, Purple Schulz performed in front of 80,000 people at Warnemünde's tower lights under the motto Longing . In March 2017 his 14th album was released with the title Der Sing des Lebens , which can be counted among his most political works. This is the theme of the video for his song Das ist die Zeit! the attack on December 19, 2016 on Breitscheidplatz in Berlin . In July he performed with colleagues such as Konstantin Wecker , Sebastian Krumbiegel and Helen Schneider at the two-day songwriter festival Lieder auf Banz . In August he shared the stage with bands like Brings , Höhner and Kasalla at the rally for the 25th anniversary of the Ass huh initiative at the Gamescom Festival. In the same year he became a member of the board of trustees of the German Alzheimer Foundation. Since May 2017 he has hosted the radio show Songpoeten on WDR 4 once a month . In addition to the tour concerts, Schulz has also been on stage with the multimedia and laser show special concert series Lichtblicke since 2017 . These concerts take place in selected theaters, cinemas and churches. The Sing des Lebens Tour , which includes over 100 concerts, ran from March 2017 to November 2018.

2019 to today: anniversary of longing

In March 2019, Purple Schulz released the album Nach wie vor to mark the 35th anniversary of Sehnsucht . It contains newly arranged versions of older songs as well as a cover version of Bis ans Ende Meine Lieder as an homage to Udo Jürgens and the two new pieces Ich seh what du see und Wohin Do u want to go . The tour , which includes 50 concerts, started in March 2019 and will be continued with further concerts in 2020. In addition, he continued to perform solo and with concert readings. In April 2019, Purple Schulz appeared with a new version of Boys in Love in the anniversary show 50 years of the ZDF hit parade . In the same month WDR 4 broadcast "Songpoeten Live: Das Talk-Konzert" , in which Purple Schulz and his guest Gregor Meyle each presented their personal favorite song poet. In October Schulz published the first official music video on longing under the motto 35 years of longing .

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		DE
1983	Up close	DE20 (11 weeks) DE	Purple Schulz and the Neue Heimat First publication: 1983 as Neue Heimat
1985	Boys in love	DE26th gold (34 weeks)DE
1987	The state of affairs	DE57 (4 weeks) DE
1988	'tsvai	DE42 (4 weeks) DE
1990	Purple Schulz	DE46 (8 weeks) DE
1992	Haha	DE35 (10 weeks) DE
1993	Singles 1984-1992	DE17th gold (19 weeks)DE	compilation
1994	Joking aside?	DE43 (8 weeks) DE
1999	Longing - The Ballads 1984–1999	DE39 (7 weeks) DE	compilation
2017	The sing of life	DE72 (1 week) DE

More albums

• 1982: Hardness (as New Home)
• 1990: Live Vol. 1 (with Leo Löhr's Original Oldie Quartet)
• 1997: Pop
• 2003: program change
• 2012: One way and no other
• 2013: That's how it is live! (Live, CD and DVD)
• 2017: The little one with the difference - Live 2016 (exclusively as a bonus album on "The Sing of Life - Deluxe Edition")
• 2019: As before

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	AT	CH
1984	Longing up close	DE6 (23 weeks) DE	AT20 (8 weeks) AT	CH6 (9 weeks) CH	Purple Schulz and the New Home
1985	Only boys in love with you	DE51 (11 weeks) DE	-	-
	Boys in love Boys in love	DE15 (15 weeks) DE	-	-
1986	Small lakes Boys in love	DE25 (14 weeks) DE	-	-
1987	(Far too little) time The state of affairs	DE55 (6 weeks) DE	-	-
1990	I was just missing you Purple Schulz	DE33 (18 weeks) DE	-	-
1992	Until the end of the world haha	DE58 (12 weeks) DE	-	-
1996	If you fall joke aside?	DE66 (9 weeks) DE	-	-
1999	I want out (longing) '99 longing - the ballads 1984–1999	DE15 (16 weeks) DE	AT40 (2 weeks) AT	CH33 (5 weeks) CH	with Kami

More singles

• 1985: Heartsick
• 1985: hold me tight
• 1987: It hurts
• 1987: Sometimes only one thing helps
• 1988: never enough
• 1988: heart full of gold
• 1988: Small world
• 1989: What happened / Sorbas and Gerdi
• 1990: beautiful people
• 1991: Longing '91
• 1992: Guide dog
• 1993: moving on
• 1994: You saw it all
• 1995: Another day, another year
• 1996: We'll have one more drink
• 1996: A good feeling
• 1997: Over 30
• 2008: We all have something to say
• 2012: I started a fire
• 2012: question mark
• 2017: This is the time
• 2019: longing

Guest Posts

• 1992: Album Die Rühmann Revue , Heinz Rühmann - Tribute album - La Le Lu and What are we men for a funny club together with u. a. Wolfgang Niedecken , Achim Reichel and Stefan Waggershausen
• 1999: Album: The Night of the Proms 1999, With your back to the wall
• 2001: Album: Maya the Bee - Original songs from the musical, Maya the Bee, Life is wonderful, Be beautiful as a dragonfly, The night
• 2002: Album With a Little Help from my Friends , Beatles tribute album, Rain .
• 2010: Maurenbrecher für alle album , Maurenbrecher tribute album, Avignon
• 2012: Album Ich bin , Heinz Rudolf Kunze , duet version Longer Days .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ BERT: Schwerin scene: "The Sing of Life" | svz.de. Retrieved November 20, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Dennis Vlaminck: Glessen gives him strength , in Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, Rhein-Erft, from 28/29. September 2013, p. 50 and tour through Glessen, photo series with Purple Schulz
3. ↑ Much more than the boys in love nwzonline.de of October 9, 2015, accessed on January 24, 2018
4. ↑ Biography - Purple Schulz. Retrieved on November 19, 2019 (German). 
5. ↑ starcover: Purple Schulz - kmp-anowski. Retrieved on November 19, 2019 (German). 
6. ↑ Purple Schulz: Longing remains . editionfredebold, 2015, ISBN 978-3-944607-16-0 ( google.de [accessed on November 17, 2019]).
7. ^ Purple Schulz Biography - Press Partner Cologne. Retrieved November 19, 2019 . 
8. ^ Günter Ehnert: Hit balance sheet German chart singles 1981-1990 . 1st edition. Taurus Press, Hamburg 1994, ISBN 3-922542-44-1 , p. 197 .
9. ^ Purple Schulz - Heartsick . Retrieved April 12, 2019 . 
10. ↑ walteriana: Purple Schulz Heartsick (longing - I want out) (German version). October 19, 2011, accessed April 12, 2019 . 
11. ^ Purple Schulz - So and not otherwise [1 CD]. Retrieved November 19, 2019 . 
12. ↑ ^{a b c} gold / platinum database DE
13. ↑ Various - Zabou (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). Retrieved November 20, 2019 . 
14. ^ The Vision. Accessed November 20, 2019 (German). 
15. ^ Purple Schulz. Retrieved November 20, 2019 . 
16. ↑ Various - The Fast Gerdi. Retrieved November 20, 2019 . 
17. ↑ purple schulz - sehnsucht (live Palast der Republik, Berlin). Retrieved November 16, 2019 (German). 
18. ↑ Manja Wilde: Interview: "What remains is my longing for the truth". March 25, 2019, accessed November 16, 2019 . 
19. ^ Frank Wolff: The Wall Society: Cold War, Human Rights and German-German Migration 1961-1989 . Suhrkamp Verlag, 2019, ISBN 978-3-518-76366-7 ( google.de [accessed on November 16, 2019]).
20. ↑ EMMA: Pascha of the month: [Purple Schulz] . In: EMMA (=  EMMA (1992) 11 ). No. 11 , 1992, pp. 7 ( Online [accessed November 19, 2019]).
21. ↑ Top of the Pops - Kami and Purple Schulz "Sehnsucht 99". Accessed November 20, 2019 (German). 
22. ↑ Kami & Purple Schulz (DEU): discography, links, information. Retrieved November 20, 2019 . 
23. ↑ Purple Schulz, Josef Piek, Zucchero, John Miles, Status Quo, Emilia & Nathalie Choquette LIVE. Retrieved on November 19, 2019 (German). 
24. ↑ imfernsehen GmbH & Co KG: SK Kölsch Season 1, Episode 3: Playing with Fire. Retrieved November 18, 2019 . 
25. ↑ RALPH JANSEN: Sweet bee is growing up. September 7, 2001, accessed on November 17, 2019 (German). 
26. ^ Purple Schulz | Blomberg Song Festival. Accessed November 17, 2019 (German). 
27. ↑ SRAKITIN: From the mouse to Lola. November 20, 2009. Retrieved November 20, 2019 . 
28. ^ Purple Schulz in hr3
29. ↑ Cologne (Xanten): We all have something to say! The day of the encounter drew 28,000 people to the Archaeological Park. LVR shows how integration is possible. Sport builds bridges at Germany's largest festival for people with and without disabilities. In: NEWS-on-Tour.de. May 31, 2008, accessed on November 17, 2019 (German). 
30. ^ RP ONLINE: Xanten: Purple Schulz with choir. Retrieved November 17, 2019 . 
31. ↑ Westfälische Nachrichten: "My longing for the truth has remained". Retrieved November 17, 2019 . 
32. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSWm9bgkidE
33. ↑ "A song has to be lived." Portrait Schulz 'by Karin Grunewald, Bergischer Bote , 2014, accessed on February 19, 2019 (archived version)
34. ↑ http://www.editionfredebold.de/index.php/ebook/sehnsucht-bleibt/
35. ↑ Dates archive - Purple Schulz. Accessed November 17, 2019 (German). 
36. ↑ reihedrei - Purple Schulz - longing remains - concert reading - 23.11.2015 - Cologne. Retrieved November 17, 2019 . 
37. ↑ Dates archive - Purple Schulz. Accessed November 17, 2019 (German). 
38. ^ Clown d'honneur
39. ↑ The little one with a big difference. Retrieved November 17, 2019 . 
40. ^ RP ONLINE: Volunteering in Kevelaer: Purple Schulz: His songs encourage courage. Retrieved November 18, 2019 . 
41. ↑ 85,000 visitors to the tower lights. Retrieved November 17, 2019 . 
42. ↑ Those were the songs on Banz 2017. Retrieved on November 17, 2019 . 
43. ↑ Ass huh, Zäng ussenander! celebrates its 25th anniversary at gamescom. Retrieved November 17, 2019 . 
44. ↑ deutsche-alzheimer-stiftung.de
45. ↑ WDR 4: WDR 4 song poets . May 4, 2017 ( online [accessed July 19, 2017]).
46. ↑ Purple Schulz - The Sing of Life - German Mugge. Retrieved November 17, 2019 . 
47. ↑ Purple Schulz before Leipzig concert: "Whoever wants to sing has to open his mouth". Retrieved November 17, 2019 . 
48. ↑ Dates - Purple Schulz. Accessed November 17, 2019 (German). 
49. ↑ FOCUS Online: "Nach wie vor": New album and tour by Purple Schulz. Retrieved April 21, 2019 . 
50. ↑ Dates - Purple Schulz. Accessed November 17, 2019 (German). 
51. ↑ Chucky: 50 Years of the ZDF Hit Parade (Tracklist) ›Tracklist Club. Accessed April 21, 2019 (German). 
52. ↑ WDR 4 Songpoeten Live: The Talk Concert. April 12, 2019, accessed November 16, 2019 . 
53. ↑ Purple Schulz - Sehnsucht (Official Music Video). Accessed November 17, 2019 (German). 
54. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: albums / singles
55. ↑ http://werkzeug.heinzrudolfkunze.de/musik/alben/ichbin.html

Web links

Commons : Purple Schulz  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Purple Schulz website
• Purple Schulz at Allmusic (English)
• Purple Schulz at Discogs (English)