Shirley Zwerus

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shirley Zwerus (1981)

Shirley Zwerus (mostly only Shirley as an artist ; born May 22, 1946 in Haarlem ) is a Dutch singer. Her career began in 1958 when she was built up to become the Dutch counterpart to German teen star Conny Froboess . Teenager Melody became her first hit in November 1959. Further chart successes followed around two decades later with It's You (1977) and Heel Even (1981). With the Dutch team, she won the Knokke Song Festival in 1964 .

life and career

First hits as a teen star

Shirley Zwerus began playing the piano at the age of five; at the age of seven she accompanied a children's circus on the keyboard instrument. at eight she played at dance events. With an interpretation of Kitty Kallen's number one hit Little Things Mean a Lot , she appeared on television for the first time at the age of ten, on the show by Johnny en Rijk , followed by appearances with the Noordhollands Philharmonic Orchestra in the Haarlems Concertgebouw .

Shirley's first record was released in 1958. The recordings Maar ondanks dat (Ben jij m'n lieve schat) and Mambo Olé were duets with Godert van Colmjon from the duo The Butterflies . The first hit in the following year was the cover version of the German song Teenager-Melodie , which Conny Froboess had sung in the film Wenn die Conny mit dem Peter together with Peter Kraus and released as a single as a duet with Will Brandes . Teenager Melody was released under the band name Shirley and her Rhythm Stars ; this combo, led by Loek Burgemeester, remained Shirley's backing band until 1961. At that time, singing was still going on alongside school, but Shirley began her professional career in the music business at the age of 15. In addition to several singles, she also sang an advertising record - Spaar me , a song that was intended to promote the De Zilvervloot austerity program among young people .

Success in Europe, rest period in the USA

In 1963 Shirley's first single recorded in German was released. I want 'I was Princess' was a cover of Little Peggy March's second US hit , I Wish I Were a Princess . Further German recordings followed in 1964 and 1965, including Vergessen , a cover version of the hit Remember (Walkin 'in the Sand) by the American girl group The Shangri-Las .

Shirley at the National Song Festival in 1965

Together with Willeke Alberti , Ilonka Biluska , Trea Dobbs and Rita Hovink , Shirley won the Knokke Song Festival in the summer of 1964; She contributed to the overall victory with interpretations in Dutch of Georgia (On My Mind) and You're My World . A few weeks later she took part in the Sopot Festival in August , where she sang the songs Droom aan zee , Czy ta pani tańczy twista and Please go , a cover version of Barbra Streisand's Gotta Move with German lyrics by Kurt Hertha . She also released this title in Dutch as Ik ga weg on a single.

In February 1965 Shirley took part in the Nationaal Songfestival , the Dutch preliminary decision for the 10th Gran Premio Eurovisione della Canzone . Her competitors were Trea Dobbs, Conny Vandenbos , Gert Timmerman and Ronnie Tober . In the preliminary round she sang the songs Als een vlinder , Requiem voor een clown and Blijf bij mij . The latter, an own composition by Shirley Zwerus, reached the final round, but only fourth place there.

After her career stalled a little in the years that followed, Shirley settled in London in 1969 . Here she got a contract with Robert Stigwoods RSO ; Chas Chandler became their manager. She sang regularly in Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club ; There were no record releases, however, because the contract with their Dutch record company was still running. Shirley therefore accepted an offer from the American label Black Records and made some studio recordings in New York. However, these were not published because the company went bankrupt a little later. Shirley married her American producer Frank Byron Clark, put her career on hold and stayed in the United States. It was not until the couple separated in 1976 that Shirley returned to the Netherlands and to the recording studio.

Comeback in the old homeland

Shirley produced a few songs with Jaap Eggermont , and on April 2, 1977 she made her comeback in the Dutch Top 40 with one of these songs. It's Me - written by Arnie Treffers and Tony Britnell of Long Tall Ernie & The Shakers and Harry van Hoof - rose to number 13 in seven weeks of the chart. Shirley received an Edison Award for "best single of the year" . The success led to the fact that in 1978 Shirley (under her full name Shirley Zwerus) released her first long-playing record. She produced Makin 'Love Is Good for You in Great Britain, on which she sings and plays a few cover versions with a song by Tony Joe White as the title track. The next singles, however, just missed the official top 40.

From 1980 Shirley sang again in her mother tongue. With success: Heel Even , the Dutch version of a canzone by the Neapolitan Eduardo de Crescenzo , became Shirley's third top 30 hit. The title was also on her LP Shirley , which was also released in 1981. As a duet with Gerard Joling , there was a new edition of Heel Even in 1995 , which was noted in the lower regions of the charts, the Tipparade .

In the following years Shirley Zwerus lived in Spain. In 2007 she married a second time and moved with her husband to the south of France. She performs there regularly, as well as in Spain and in her home country. In Shirley's band, her sister Bep Zwerus plays drums, who was the drummer for the women's band The Broads in the 1980s .

Discography

Albums

  • 1978: Makin 'Love Is Good for You (as Shirley Zwerus )
    • Have You Ever Seen the Rain / Makin 'Love Is Good for You / The Light I Wanna Be / Save a Little for the Morning / The Next Time // A Bad Case of Rock' n 'Roll / Fool, Fool / Love Has Tied Our Hearts Together / Giving It Up for Love / Don't Cry Out Loud
  • 1981: Shirley
    • Bij jou / Eerste Laufde vergeet je nooit / Bloemen bloeien zelfs als het koud is / Jij maakt me so blij / Het is voorbij // Heel even / Oh, het is waar / Nu ik jou niet heb / Dromen van een anders / Zonder woorden

Singles

  • 1958: Maar ondanks dat (Ben jij m'n lieve schat) / Mambo Olé (as Duo Godert en Shirley )
  • 1959: Teenager Melody / Jolly Joker (NL # 14) (as Shirley and her Rhythms Stars )
  • 1959: Vacantie in Honolulu / Mijn Daddy
  • 1961: Blue Moon / Besame mucho
  • 1961: Spaar me / Wat zou je doen? (B-side of Joop van der Marel & Het Leedy Trio )
  • 1962: Ya-Ya / Shadows of the Past
  • 1963: Zeven witte meeuwen / Mooi zijn de nachten op Ikaria (under the pseudonym Rosemarie )
  • 1963: Cimeroni / Toen kwam Johnny
  • 1963: Verliefd, verloofd en dan getrouwd / Blondie (Shirley en Tony Ronald )
  • 1963: I want to be a princess / who will be first
  • 1964: Ik ga weg / Huil toch om deehle niet
  • 1964: Please go / I'll choose my husband myself
  • 1964: Vergessen (Remember) / Once upon a time
  • 1964: You're My World / Who Knows Why
  • 1965: Take the kiss as a souvenir / Georgia
  • 1965: In Swing and Sweet (EP): Hands Off Him - Misty Moonray / Lost and Lookin '
  • 1966: Ik wist allang (dat jij zou komen) (Çe soir je t'attendais) / Georgia
  • 1966: Bach bijvoorbeeld / Het organ concert
  • 1967: No More Love for Me / I Come Another Step Closer to Your Heart ( Robert Dahl & Shirley)
  • 1967: Big Boss Man / I'm an Evil Gal (single title: Shirley Goes Soul )
  • 1968: Anatole / Ev'ry day
  • 1968: That's Why I Die a Little / Save the Last Dance for Me
  • 1970: Fantasy in Fiction / Love Her in the Car (B-side of Corner Act '68 ; both titles from the film Fantasy in Fiction )
  • 1971: Amsterdam ... het blijft een gezellige stad / Doe 't met je neus (A: Shirley met leden van het Amsterdams Toneel / B: Shirley & John Brands )
  • 1977: It's Me / I Will Love You (NL # 13)
  • 1978: Nothing Has Changed / Take Me
  • 1978: Persil : Een nieuw geluid (Advertising Flexidisc )
  • 1978: The Light I Wanna Be / Makin 'Love Is Good for You (as Shirley Zwerus )
  • 1979: What a Lovely Day / What a Lovely Dub (A-side: Errol & Shirley, B-side: Errol Ross Orchestra plus vocals Shirley & Errol)
  • 1980: Easy Livin '/ It's the Only Way / Theme from' You're My Future '(instr.) (As Shirley Zwerus )
  • 1981: Heel even / I'm Sorry (NL # 24)
  • 1981: Bij jou / Oh, het is waar
  • 1981: Eerste fielde vergeet je nooit / Jij maakt me zo blij
  • 1982: Een kind, een kind / De jaren van je jeugd (Charity single by Lenny , Bonnie , Dimitri , Shirley, Willem & Alexander )
  • 1983: The Way Old Friends Do / One and Only
  • 1995: Heel even (new version) / Soms (If I Have to Go Away) (by Gerard Joling & Shirley Zwerus)
  • 1996: Wil je me soms kwijt / Wil je me soms kwijt (instrumental)

Web links

Commons : Shirley Zwerus  - Collection of Images

Notes and evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Spaar me at Rateyourmusic.com
  2. ↑ The Shirley Zwerus Official Tribute Page , Awards and Prices
  3. ↑ List of participants and songs on the BART festival website
  4. ↑ Entry Please go / I'll choose my husband myself at Discogs
  5. ↑ With Huil toch om de fielde niet on the B-side, a cover of Liebeskummer is not worth it ; both sides in one file on YouTube
  6. ↑ Oven at 50plusser.nl
  7. ^ Entry It's Me at 45cat.com
  8. ↑ Chart listing at Top40.nl
  9. ↑ Dutchcharts.nl, however, ranks both The Light I Wanna Be in 1978 on place 50 and Easy Livin '/ It's the Only Way in 1980 on place 39
  10. ↑ Ancora cf. Search at coverinfo.de
  11. ↑ Chart listing at Dutchcharts.nl
  12. ↑ Label information , photo on 45cat.com
  13. ↑ in the original Where Can the Lovelight Be by The LeGarde Twins
  14. ↑ Entry at Discogs.com
  15. ↑ cf. Corner Act '68 at NLDiscografie.nl; Fantasy in Fiction in the IMDb
  16. ↑ Medley from the Uriah Heep hit and a new song
  17. ↑ Entry of the single at 45cat
  18. ↑ Chart listing at Top40.nl
  19. ↑ Een kind, een kind at Discogs.com
  20. ↑ Heel even at Top40.nl
  21. ↑ Wil je me soms kwijt at Dutchcharts.nl
personal data
SURNAME Zwerus, Shirley
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Shirley (stage name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch pop singer
DATE OF BIRTH May 22, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Haarlem , North Holland , Netherlands