Hit of the Week (RIAS)

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Schlager der Woche was a weekly radio broadcast by RIAS Berlin that was produced and broadcast from 1947 to 1985. A total of 1916 broadcasts were made. This broadcast went down in radio history as the first German-language hit parade .

Story and moderators

Beginnings with Wolfgang Behrendt (1946–1954)

According to Wolfgang Behrendt , the speaker from the very beginning, the idea for the series came from Ernst Verch . From Sunday, March 24, 1946, the program was broadcast on DIAS (wire radio in the American sector) for four weeks as a rehearsal, but was then put on hold until further notice. When the station was renamed "RIAS" on September 4, 1946, various music programs ran for rehearsals, but there was a desire to focus more on dance music. In March and April 1947, only three issues ran. It was not until May 3, 1947, that the program was resumed, until July 5 on Saturday, then it was moved to Friday evening. In it the section Intermezzo - The marginal note: Curth Flatow chats . This form ran almost every Friday from 9:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. until January 2, 1948. From July 16, 1948, the name Schlager der Woche disappeared again, instead two new programs were launched in mid-August: Make a wish - a musical foray through the listener's wishes on Monday between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. and on Friday between 10 p.m. and 10 p.m.: 45 p.m. Do you remember - Popular hits . Both programs were broadcast irregularly until Easter 1949. On Friday, March 18, 1949, the program was put back into the program, 9:50 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. From October 7, 1949, it was extended to 40 minutes, now between 9:05 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.

On October 19, 1950, it was moved to Thursday evening at the same time. Because of the enormous approval on the part of the listeners, the broadcasting time was extended to just under an hour from April 15, 1951, from 8:01 p.m. to 9 p.m., often also 8:06 p.m. to 9 p.m. In the first few years, many programs were produced at public events, mainly in the Titania-Palast in Steglitz , the Mercedes-Palast in Wedding and the Metro-Palast in Neukölln . Here on February 16, 1952, “five years of hits of the week” were celebrated, the exact dates were already considered lost. From April to July 1952 the program was moderated by Jürgen Graf for nine weeks, Ricarda Riebensahm sat at the microphone for one program. With the introduction of RIAS 2 on November 1, 1953, the transmission time was changed again: Mondays between 19:31 and 20:30. For the first time there was a repeat on Friday, November 6th, 1953 on RIAS 2 at the same time. In the first few years, recordings from the broadcaster AFN were often presented, as it was hardly possible to get American shellac records. The original subtitle of the program was Popular American Melodies that our listeners wanted and Popular German Melodies that our listeners wanted, alternating weekly . A mixed program was broadcast approximately every four weeks. From January 4, 1954 to March 7, 1955, there was also a mailbox shipment every four weeks , with Wolfgang Behrendt, then Fred Ignor and Ernst Verch commenting on and answering letters from the audience.

Over the years the word "American" has been dropped as the German record industry increasingly supplied domestic productions. Until 1956, only German hits were played in every second edition. His last broadcast was on June 8, 1954. Wolfgang Behrendt later became the chief news anchor of ZDF .

With Fred Ignor and Charlie Hickman (1954–1968)

On June 14, 1954, Behrendt's successor, Fred Ignor (1920–1999), began his service. Representation way sat in these years Gerd Vespermann , Klaus Jaecks, Camillo rims (both 1960) as well as a vacation replacement in 1963, 1966 and 1967 Karin Yurov at RIAS microphone.

With the episode of December 27, 1956, the series was canceled to make room for new ideas. On January 7, 1957, the program Schlager-Auslese - Das Beste von Woche von Woche was broadcast for the first time, the speaker was Peter Hirche, on January 14, 1957 Günter Neumann and on January 21, 1957 Jürgen Graf . This program should run three times a month. On January 28, 1957, Felix Knemöller presented the program For the Friends of Jazz . The hit month should be rounded off with the show Your hit of the month , hosted by Fred Ignor. The only episode ran on Saturday, January 26th and was repeated on Tuesday, January 29th, 1957.

Due to thousands of letters of complaint from the listeners and a flood of angry calls on the station, which were also reported by several Berlin daily newspapers, the "Tanzmusik" editorial team decided to take the hits of the week back into the program. On February 4, 1957, Fred Ignor welcomed his old listeners again and surprised them with a new theme of music, which could be heard until September 30, 1968. On February 26, 1957, a new program was added to the program that was to last well over ten years: How do you like it? - New melodies, new rhythms with Jürgen Graf . From this broadcast, titles could also be selected for the hit of the week . As of May 20, 1957, the subtitle Popular Melodies our listeners wanted was added to the program name. The episode of February 17, 1958 was probably the sportiest - here the boxing hits fought against Music Week , a musical exchange of blows between Fred Ignor and Felix Knemöller, who had started the long-running RIAS Musicbox series on February 22, 1957 .

Fred Ignor shaped the program with almost ritualized announcements and rejections such as "... before number 3 as always - greetings from east to west and from west to east" - Ignor coined this sentence in his first broadcast after the wall was built on August 21 1961 - and a farewell that should not change for almost 15 years: " Bye , dear Schlager friends, bye until next time, and until then - all the best".

On January 8, 1968, Fred Ignor presented the hit of the week to an American colleague who had previously worked for AFN, WDR and ARD , the actor and singer Charlie Hickman, who died in 1980 . This surprised not only with his American accent, but also with his technical competence in matters of music and acquaintance with many stars and starlets. Hickman always said goodbye with the sentence "Keep swinging everybody - bye bye". Negative voices from the radio listeners, however, caused the moderation to be handed over to Knud Kuntze (" Lord Knud ") on September 30, 1968

Lord Knud and the End of the Show (1968–1985)

Lord Knud , who has hosted the RIAS hit cassette since January 28, 1968 , was the ex-bassist of the pop group The Lords . On October 7, 1968, he presented the hit of the week for the first time with episode 1029 and said goodbye with his famous "Oki Doki". On this day the show received its new opener ( Théme Favori , composed by Uli Roever), which it was to keep until 1985, in May 1975 it was re-produced in stereo by Horst Jankowski . Gregor Rottschalk , Nero Brandenburg , Dennis King, Christian Graf and Wolfgang Hälbig were heard as holiday substitutes.

The saying "I have nothing against women's movements - the main thing is that they are rhythmic" was allegedly heard by the then Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker , who complained to the broadcaster. This gave RIAS Berlin a reason to terminate the long-unpleasant employee Lord Knud without notice. The last number 1 on September 27, 1985 came from Sandra with the title (I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena .

Lord Knud died on June 14, 2020 at the age of 76 in his house in Berlin-Dahlem .

Broadcast times and start of stereo broadcasts

  • From issue number 1 on March 24, 1946 to 1948: Sundays from 9.15pm to 10pm
  • 1949 to 1950: Fridays from 9:05 p.m. to 9:45 p.m., then mostly on Thursdays from 8:01 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.
  • Until May 16, 1952: Fridays from 8:06 p.m. to 9 p.m.
  • From May 23, 1952: Mondays from 8:01 p.m. to 9 p.m.
  • RIAS 2 went into operation in 1953. On November 6, 1953, the first repeat broadcast ran on Friday from 7:31 pm to 8:30 pm, with the same broadcast time on Mondays.
  • From 1960 on Mondays from 7:31 pm to 8:30 pm, repeated on Friday from 8:01 pm to 9 pm; brought forward to Wednesday for several months.
  • From 1962 irregular second repetition in the night from Wednesday to Thursday from 0:15 to 1 a.m.
  • From May 16, 1966 on Mondays from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., unchanged on Fridays.
  • From April 10, 1967, regular live on Monday, 8 p.m. on RIAS 1, repetition on Friday, 8 p.m. (late 1969 to autumn 1972 at 8:30 p.m.) on RIAS 2 and the repeat of the previous week on Wednesday at 11:35 p.m. on RIAS 1. The program at that time consisted of three to four new presentations, the German top 7 and finally the international top 7.
  • As a trial, the program was split into two editions from April 10, 1972, each live on Monday the international Top 12 on RIAS 1 from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on Fridays the German Top 12 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on RIAS 2. On April 10, 1972, the hit puzzle was introduced, which ran before number 1. The first question was “There are three versions of How do you do - which one was played in Schlager der Woche?” (Answer: Mouth & MacNeal ) From November 20, 1972, the program was extended by 30 minutes and was now live on Mondays from 20 to be heard on RIAS 1 until 9:30 p.m., with nine to eleven new releases and the top 13.
  • On May 14, 1975, RIAS 2 was broadcast in stereo for the first time and so the live edition of Schlager der Woche was moved to Friday. The first stereo broadcast was heard on May 16, 1975 with the 1374th edition. The repetition on Monday on RIAS 1 continued in mono , as was the repetition of the previous week's hit parade on RIAS 1 on Wednesday from 11:35 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.
  • On December 9, 1978, RIAS 1 switched to stereo. Shortly before that, the Wednesday repetition was removed from the program.
  • From 1984 the Friday and Monday editions were broadcast live.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolfgang Behrend to Erich Verch. In: 15 years RIAS - 15 years Schlager , recording of the anniversary broadcast on February 13, 1961.
  2. ↑ Obituary in the Berliner Morgenpost : "We mourn Fred Ignor, * August 28, 1920, † October 21, 1999, who died after a brief, serious illness."
  3. ↑ Alexander Osang : Laborious steps to the rainbow . In: Berliner Zeitung , October 15, 1994. (Also published as a book in a collection of Osang reportages.)