Red roses, red lips, red wine (song)

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Red roses, red lips, red wine is the title of a hit song sung by René Carol in 1952 , composed by Michael Harden (music) and André Hoff (text).

History of origin

Pop composer Kurt Feltz made sure that wanderlust and southern countries were thematized in pop songs since April 1949. In this context, he came up with the idea of ​​providing a new composition with the music title Red Roses, Red Lips, Red Wine . “Last spring I saw a bright poster on a rainy Bavarian village street: enticing grapes, blue sea, sky and - between the lips of a beautiful woman - a red rose. And lo and behold, I suddenly had melody and lyrics in my head. ”Michael Harden, a pseudonym of Franz-Leo Andries - the répétiteur of Kurt Feltz at the NWDR in Cologne , provided the background music . A répétiteur for Schlager recordings was uncommon before the Feltz era. In the past - and also with other music producers - the singers were led by their piano accompanists or the conductor. The Kapellmeister was a relatively insignificant person at Feltz, since information about the speed or volume came from the control room. Feltz consequently did not count the Kapellmeister among his staff. Kurt Feltz hid himself under the name André Hoff, who played a key role in the creation of the hit as a songwriter and music producer .

The sound recordings with pop singer René Carol took place on June 8, 1952 in the Cologne exhibition hall ("Messestudio"). The band master acted with his NWDR dance orchestra Adalbert Luczkowski , who was solely responsible for the accompaniment of 92 music recordings with René Carroll. Barbara Kist , Rosemarie Bergson and a choir provided the background vocals for this tango . The text described Italy, a country that for the majority of Germans still had to appear out of reach.

Publication and Success

René Carol - Red roses, red lips, red wine

The single Red Roses, Red Lips, Red Wine / I have nothing but you and your love in the world ( Polydor 48783) was released on June 10, 1952. Since there was no official German hit parade at that time , further information is available about to determine the popularity of the hit only fragmentarily. In any case, the single became the hit of the month of November 1953 and reached the status of a number one hit . With over 750,000 copies sold, it was the first post-war single to receive a gold record in 1954 . This highest award was given at the time for a turnover of 500,000 copies. In 1953, nobody believed that one million records could be sold per recording in Germany, until in 1956 , homesick Freddy Quinn was the first to overcome this hurdle and thus set a new standard for gold records. With his compositions and productions, Feltz temporarily accounted for 80% of Polydor record sales, to which red roses, red lips and red wine made a significant contribution.

Cover versions

The German love melodrama Red Roses, Red Lips, Red Wine was based, according to the opening credits, on “motifs from the song of the same name by Michael Harden and André Hoff”. The movie premiered across Germany as a mass start on September 18, 1953, when the hit hit was still topical. The melody is played in the film. There are at least 45 cover versions of the hit that has since become an evergreen , including as early as 1953 by Horst Winter & the Hansen Quartet (January 1953; Telefunken 11368), Klaus Groß , Heinz Becker & Werner Schmah (December 1953; Amiga 235) and Maria Mucke & Peter Schaeben. Finnish and Swedish versions of several performers were particularly popular. On June 19, 1954, Lale Andersen recorded an English version written by Doreas Cochran with Luczkowski's orchestra in the Cologne exhibition studio under the title Tender And True , which was only launched in 1994. Other versions are by Bobby Solo (1969), Heino (1973), Freddy Breck (1981) or Florian Haidt (1982, DE # 42).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hermann Bausinger, Folk Culture in the Technical World , 2005, p. 84.
  2. ↑ Kurt Feltz in the women's magazine Constanze, January 1953 issue
  3. ↑ a b Offer entertainment , DER SPIEGEL 48/1955 of November 23, 1955, p. 49 f.
  4. ↑ My name is Hase , DER SPIEGEL 5/1952 of January 30, 1952, p. 28.
  5. ↑ Thommi Herwerth, Katzenklo & Caprifischer: The German Hits from 50 Years , 1998, p. 19.
  6. ↑ Manfred J. Franz, German Music Charts 1954 , 2012, p. 23 f.
  7. ^ Bettina Greve, Sternenhimmel: Polydor - The Chronicle of a German Record Brand , 2001, p. 81.
  8. ↑ a b Who is “do”? , DER SPIEGEL 40/1963 of October 2, 1963, p. 101