Su Kramer

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Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Be free
  DE 47 04/15/1972 (1 week)
Singles
Children of love
  DE 27 02/18/1974 (6 weeks)
Here is life
  DE 48 07/05/1976 (1 week)

Gudrun "Su" Kramer (born March 24, 1946 in Oldenburg ) is a German singer who has mainly worked in the fields of hits , musicals , disco and pop . She also appeared as a composer, lyricist and actress. Her biggest hit was Children of Love in 1974.

Career

The beginnings and the musical Hair

Kramer initially trained as a kindergarten teacher. As a singer, she gained experience in amateur bands. In 1968 she was selected from 3,000 female competitors to play the leading role of Sheila in the German premiere of the musical Hair . In 18 months she completed 500 performances and was henceforth called "the girl with the Afro- curly head". In 1970 the German original recording of the musical with Kramer was released on LP by Polydor . At that time the pop singer Jürgen Marcus and the later disco queen Donna Summer (at that time still as Donna Gaines) were part of the ensemble. Her first single, called Hare Krishna , which Su Kramer recorded in the studio with the Les Humphries orchestra, was released soon after, under her real name Gudrun. In the same year she took the name "Su" and released her first single Eine Welt für den us both under this stage name. Originally, Kramer wanted to use the first name "Susanne", but this was rejected on the grounds that it did not sound international enough.

With Frei sein , the Oldenburg native's debut album was released on the Telefunken label in 1971 . The LP was named "Best Production of 1971" by 50 music journalists. In addition to titles written especially for Kramer, the LP includes cover versions of internationally known hits by Elton John , Mikis Theodorakis and Simon & Garfunkel . Kramer had developed the German-language texts with her team, Rudi Bauer and Gerd Thumser . Ralph Nowy was the arranger for the international titles. In the same year, Kramer achieved a smaller single success with the single, Like the water, so flows time , which was released from Frei . During this time, she also appeared regularly in the ZDF hit parade.

Eurovision preliminary round, biggest hits and disco

In 1971 Su Kramer represented ARD at the International Song Festival in Sopot (Poland) with the title Meine kleine Welt (music: Günter Noris, text: Mischa Mleinek) and came second out of 25 nations. The track was then recorded by Ariane on Polydor and not by Su Kramer. In 1972 Su Kramer took part in the preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest , but lost to Mary Roos and again came second with Cindy & Bert . The title Believe in Yourself nonetheless became a modest hit. Kramer celebrated her greatest chart success in 1974 with the single Kinder der Liebe , which reached number 27 in the German charts. The original Figlio dell'amore , composed by Fausto Leali and others, was recorded by Rosanna Fratello in 1972. In 1974 Kramer's second LP Stage Fever was also released , again with new compositions and German-language interpretations of international hits by Leo Sayer , Kris Kristofferson and Maureen McGovern . Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte , who later made their former Hair colleague Donna Summer a world star, contributed some songs to this album; Anja Hauptmann was responsible for the German lyrics this time , including the single Nur who Loves Life that was released . The prominent Munich studio team, including the arrangers Thor Baldursson and Mike Thater as well as the composer and keyboardist Sylvester Levay , were to be instrumental in the success of the disco music produced in Germany by groups such as Boney M. or Silver Convention .

It was therefore natural for Kramer to try his hand at the disco sound of those days, for example in 1975 with Evenings in a Big City (cover of Donna Summers Lady of the Night ) and in 1976 with her second and last chart success Here is the life that in English when You've Got the Power was published in 17 countries. The title, written by Joachim Heider and Christian Heilburg , reached number 48 in the German charts. The Americans were also interested in the English-language recording, and Kramer was able to place himself at number 38 on Billboard's disco charts . In the following years numerous other elaborately produced singles appeared, including Las Vegas , Helden (from the musical Tell ) (1977) and Nachts in Manhattan (1978, German version of Grease from the musical film of the same name ). The Disco presenter Ilja Richter praised Kramer in his 1977 book, Star Scene '77 with the words:

“She is the most unconventional of the German pop singers. She has not always been guided by what she should do, what is meant for her. She preferred to decide that herself. And she sings more expressively than any other German singer. "

Artistic advancement

Her musically most versatile album The Two Faces was released in 1978, but could not build on the success of the early days. For the first time Kramer demonstrated her talent as a producer, lyricist and composer. The album also features cover versions by, among others, Barbra Streisand , Elton John and Carole King . Kramer's own composition Magic Dance , in a minimalist electro garb, was sampled in 2000 by the German hip-hop group Deichkind for the hit Bon Voyage . Classic disco sound of those days was offered by the single love comes and goes . Also chanson-like ballads like The Melody of Great Solitude or Where is the Snow in Summer? are represented. Herbert Rehbein was responsible as producer , who died a few months after publication. In an interview in 2010, Kramer noted that a planned tour with a big big band was therefore not taking place.

Kramer continued to release singles until 1985, but the LP Die ZweiFS remained her last studio album to this day. In 1981, in a duet with Albert West, the title Never Ending Love , an English version of Kramer's 1979 single Wir Zwei sind frei . After the singles Let Us Live (1982), Nobody Lives For Himself (1984) and Fire on Eternal Ice (1985), the singer at least withdrew from the release catalogs.

Kramer had already started to build other artistic pillars in the 1970s. Among other things, she worked as a publisher; In 1978 she founded the music publisher art-music in Hamburg. She also tried her hand as a film actress: For example, she was seen in the 1982 black, red and gold crime thriller Alles in Butter ( director : Dieter Wedel ) and in 1986 in the film Laufen, Leiden, Leben (director: Christian Görlitz ) . She also sang the theme song for the cinema and television films Milo Milo (1979) and Der kleine Riese (1985, ARD). She also played the theater. So from May 17, 1979 she was seen for six months as "Spelunken Jenny" at the State Theater Oldenburg under the direction of Volker Kühn in a spectacular new production of the Threepenny Opera .

Career since 2000

To this day, Kramer performs at smaller events or song recitals. In 2002 she presented a 90-minute program as part of the North Jazz Festival 2002 in Westerstede , which in addition to standards such as The Look Of Love , Summertime and Unforgettable also included her hair titles Aquarius and Let the Sunshine In . With her “One Woman Show” she gave longer guest performances in the Bremen Theater Madame Lothár in January 2001, March 2004 and most recently in December 2007 . She also took part in a gala show there in June 2002 on the occasion of the tenth theater anniversary.

In 2011 the title The Sun Shines Tonight from the collaboration with The Mighty Mocambos was published.

Numerous songs by Kramer have been reissued as part of compilations in recent years, including the songs Die Grüne Witwe for Funky Fräuleins , Magic Dance for D-Funk and You've Got the Power for Disco Deutschland Disco . The interest in these funk and disco titles prompted Kramer to re- release both Here is Life and the English-language version You've Got the Power with various remixes.

In October 2018 Kramer published the first new title in many years: My child was composed by Henner Hoier .

Private

Kramer was never married. Their son Alexander was born on March 5, 1973. He sang with his mother on the B-side of their single Wir Zwei sind frei (1979) the song Mama, ich muss Pipi (in the original Mi scappa la pipì papà by Pippo Franco). He attended a musical school at times, but decided against a career in show business. Like Su Kramer, he lives in Hamburg.

Discography

Albums

  • 1971: being free
  • 1974: stage fright
  • 1978: The two faces

Compilations

  • 1973: 2 Stars x 6 Songs (shared LP with Peter Maffay)
  • 1979: Profiles
  • 1993: love comes and goes
  • 1998: Time flows like water
  • 2001: Children of love

Singles

  • 1970: Hare Krishna / The Last Stars (as "Gudrun Kramer and Ensemble")
  • 1970: A world for both of us / It's beautiful in the morning
  • 1971: Good Morning Starshine / Hare Krishna / Where Do I Go (A-side as "Su Kramer & the Broadway Matadors")
  • 1971: I just want you / heart cold as stone
  • 1971: Time flows like water / What have you done with the world?
  • 1972: Believe in yourself / This is my country
  • 1972: The sun is red / What is written in the stars for you
  • 1973: Children of love / vest white
  • 1974: Only those who love life / Stranger man
  • 1975: Evening in a big city / Domino
  • 1976: Here is life / Don't leave me alone today
  • 1976: You've Got the Power Part 1 / Part 2
  • 1977: Las Vegas / Mr. Music
  • 1977: Heroes / Tells Escape (instrumental)
  • 1977: Love comes and goes / Where is the snow in summer
  • 1978: At Night in Manhattan / Oh Lady
  • 1979: We two are free / Mom, I have to pee (Su Kramer & Sascha)
  • 1979: The Woman He Loves / Milo Milo (instrumental)
  • 1982: Let's Live / For a Lifetime
  • 1984: Nobody lives for himself / everyone wants peace
  • 1985: Fire on the Eternal Ice / Samba Soul
  • 2014: Weißer Sand / Weißer Sand (Alt. Version) / Sex song (re-release from the pop opera Trip from 1972)
  • 2018: my child

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chart sources: Germany ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musicline.de
  2. ↑ Back in the disco, Nordwest-Zeitung from July 25, 2009 (PDF; 122 kB)
  3. ↑ Credits to the LP Stage Fright
  4. ^ Joel Whitburn: Hot Dance / Disco 1974-2003, 2004, page 149, ISBN 0-89820-156-X
  5. ↑ Interview recording on YouTube
  6. ↑ The Federal German Funk-Fräulein-Wunder, August 2009 ( Memento from November 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ What is Su Kramer doing ?, Das Neue Blatt, December 2005
personal data
SURNAME Kramer, Su
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kramer, Gudrun (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German singer, composer and lyricist
DATE OF BIRTH March 24, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Oldenburg