Roland W.

Roland W. , real name Roland Wächtler (born April 3, 1941 in Stuttgart , † September 11, 2009 in Schürdt ) was a German pop singer .

Life

Wächtler went to school in Stuttgart. After graduating from high school, he went to Paris to study art history. There he stayed in the artists' quarter of Saint Germain, where he painted and soon appeared as a singer with German and French songs. After a stopover in London, he moved as a tramp from Africa to Japan and via Holland to Canada until he returned to Germany.

Roland W. - Monja

Here he appeared as a singer in discos or at gala evenings and sometimes had his own shows as an entertainer. In September 1967 he received a recording contract with the German record label Cornet Records , which belonged to the successful producer Heinz Gietz . With Cornet # 3025 the title "Monja" was released that same month, which climbed to number four in the German charts and even reached number 1 in the Swiss charts for the entire month of January 1968 (it was the first number one hit of the straight established Swiss hit parade). In Austria he placed third. Roland W was accompanied by the Jay Five , a cover band that was also under contract with Cornet.

Although the largely spoken song is always associated with Roland W., the original comes from the German rock band Cry'n Strings , who had “Monja” pressed as a promotional record for the small label Kerston . Composed by their creative head Gerhard Jäger, initially nobody took any notice of the title until the group hit the German charts in October 1967 and reached a # 11. Fred Kersten, the owner of Kerston, recognized the potential of the single and secured royalties early on under the pseudonym Dal Finado as a co-author . Kerston Records was overwhelmed by the medium success and had to watch how the hardly larger Cornet with the cover version outstripped the original.

The follow-up single "Cindy Jane" - previously published as the B-side of "Monja" - no longer hit the charts. Roland W. had thus achieved a classic one-hit wonder . Nevertheless, until 1972, when Cornett was taken over by BASF , a number of other singles were released, including the somewhat more successful track "Everyone comes again". BASF then only released its hit "Monja" once more. In 1989/1990 he released another single ("Tanja").

In 1980 he married his longtime partner Doris, the mother of his children. After his cancer operation in 1994, he initially only pursued his hobby, painting. After he had a small comeback with the new version of "Monja" as a "cult title" (Partygeier versus Roland W .: Monja 3000 - "Make the lighters on ..."), a new album by him. There is also a song on it ("Do you want a Tequila") by Drafi Deutscher . He last lived in Schürdt in the Westerwald . His grave is in the cemetery in Flammersfeld .

Discography

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Singles

Monja   DE 4th December 01, 1967 (16 weeks)   AT 3 December 15, 1967 (16 weeks)   CH 1 01/02/1968 (12 weeks) My Maria   DE 29 03/01/1968 (4 weeks)

Albums

• 1990: Monja - my life
• 2000: Mr. Monja
• When I think of love
• Do you want a tequila

Singles

• 1967: Monja / Cindy Jane (Cornet # 3025)
• 1967: Cindy Jane
• 1968: My Maria / Jamaica Girl (Cornet # 3047)
• 1968: Everyone Comes Back / Denver Colorado (Cornet # 3063)
• 1969: My green valley / Baby discotheque (Cornet # 3088)
• 1969: At Night / A Girl in Idaho (Cornet # 3104)
• 1970: Marion / Another drink for the way (Cornet # 3145)
• 1971: My Life And My Home / Linda Lou (Cornet # 3217)
• 1972: Les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer / Aranjuez (Columbia # 1C006-30358)
• 1973: My Life And My Home (The Lonely Disc Jockey) / Linda Lou (Cornet # 05 11767-1)
• 1989: Tanja / Tanja (instrumental) (Titan # 577 / 0149-7)

Web links

• Roland W.

swell

1. ↑ Chart sources: DE W. AT CH