Tony Hendrik

Tony Hendrik (actually Dieter Lünstedt ; born March 4, 1945 in Bederkesa ) is a German music producer , composer and owner of a record label . He also worked under the pen name Dee Dee Halligan .

Tony Hendrik Five

Tony Hendrik graduated from high school in Rendsburg and first founded the beat band "Hendrik & The Luniks", which performed in the Hamburg Star Club . He left his hometown in 1966 to study law in Cologne, where his father was stationed as a professional soldier. There he founded "The Big Three", which was expanded by a man and was then called "Tony Hendrik Four". The first single Big Boss Man / Early Bird as "Tony Hendrik Five" was released in 1966. Early Bird was also included on the 1966 Sonocord compilation LP Pop History . In 1967 their only LP Nightflight came on the market, which contained an unusual mix of styles of the most diverse influences. Their liner notes mention Tony Hendrik (guitar / vocals), Eric Folkert (bass guitar), Frieder Reynard (organ), Ron David (drums) and Tim Norvo (saxophone) as members.

In its early days in particular, the band presented itself as a pure cover band , which, however, took on rather unknown third-party compositions. The next single was O Sole Mio / Down by the Riverside (April 1967), followed by Merry-Go-Round / Mistreated Man (December 1967) with a brass section. In addition to Hendrik, the band at that time also consisted of Peter Schild (keyboards), Gerry Fleming (Gerd Flamminger; bass guitar) and Günther Steinborn (drums). The latter was then replaced by Tommy Engel , who came from the Cologne cover band "Shooting Stars" and later became known as the front man of the Bläck Fööss . As "The Tony Hendrik" they switched to German Vogue from the single The Grooviest Girl in the World / Majestic World (March 1969) . Their occupation was at the time of Hendrik, Peter Shield (keyboards), Hilary "Hilli" Dietmar Hillnhütter ( "Hilli grain"; bass guitar to 1971) and Ron David (drums). This was followed by the work All Day / Honey Sunny Baby (November 1969) produced by Hendrik , where Tommy Engel can be seen on the album cover . In between, Hendrik made a solo recording with the single Until the end of all days / Hundred Thousand Years (1970). They were again called "Tony Hendrik" with Rovin 'Man (composed by Hendrik) / Hey, Carolina Mary (1971) with Peter Schild (keyboards). The next single Baby, How Are You (composed by Hendrik) / Some Kinda Fun with the line-up Hendrik, Friedrich Viehmann (organ), Erich Volkert (bass guitar) and Rolf Kutscher (drums) was released by Hansa Records (October 1972) and reached in Austria ranked 20th in the charts in June 1973.

The 9 singles between 1966 and 1972 of the "Tony Hendrik Five" do not reveal a consistent, independent style and also no individual group image with recognition value. Nevertheless, "Tony Hendrik Five" was one of the few beat bands in Cologne that managed to record more than one single.

Hendrik wrote, published in April 1969 by Ron Gordon (Rolf Kutscher) Single heaven on earth / Angela Allison (Vogue 14863), Hendrik itself came under the pseudonym John Eichendorff with his own composition Julia on May 30, 1970 in ZDF hit parade itself on (Vogue 14999), because initially no other interpreter could be found. Only later did the Flippers take over the song, which as their third single after it was released on September 15, 1970 only reached 32nd place in the charts.

Producer for other artists

Dennie Christian - Rosamunde

At Hansa Records in 1970 he produced the only album of the same name for the progressive rock formation "Nosferatu". This was followed by the progressive rock group "Andromeda" (Hendrik / Steinborn / Schild), recruited from parts of the "Tony Hendrik Five", whose only album of the same name he also produced. The single Galaxy / Andromeda was released from the debut LP in 1971.

From May 1972 he produced the hit duo Phil & John , which released a total of 11 singles by 1976. Seven of them reached middle positions on the German charts, of which the first single Hello, Mary Lou in June 1972 came off the best with rank 20. He even produced 15 singles for Dennie Christian . His version of Rosamunde, produced by Hendrik, took third place in January 1975, the highest ranking of the 3 hits.

Wolfgang Petry

Tony Hendrik met Karin Sabine Hartmann-Eisenblätter (born January 17, 1950) in 1973. Wolfgang Petry's career would have been inconceivable without the Hendrik / Hartmann-Eisenblätter team. At the beginning of 1975, both signed a contract with the pop singer and music producer Andreas Martin Krause, who introduced them to the still unknown Wolfgang Petry. Both wrote and produced for Petry his debut album Ein Freund - ein Mann (December 1976), from which the title of his first single Every friend is also a man / Who knows Julie? (December 1976) was decoupled; The second single Sommer in der Stadt also came from this LP and was Petry's first hit with rank 16 (September 1976). With this he appeared on July 31, 1976 in the ZDF hit parade . This was followed by the LP Zweisaitig (May 1979) with the single Ruby (December 1977). The singles Wenn ich geht ' (May 1979) or Jessica (March 1981, rank 8) followed. The Hendrik / Hartmann team was also responsible for the LPs Einfach Leben (September 1981) and Wahnsinn (July 1983) with the single of the same name (February 1983) as a signature hit for Petry. In total they produced 20 singles and 7 LPs for him by 1984, that is 43 tracks.

More productions

Monza (Dieter Bohlen) - Hello taxi number 10

In 1977, Hendrik / Hartmann produced for Juliane Werding their LP Oh man, oh man (singles: Since staunste what? ; Oh man, oh man / composed by Hendrik). The following LP One step further with the single Hotel Royal (1978) was supervised by them. They wrote and produced Hallo Taxi number 10 (1978) for the Duo Monza . Monza consisted of Holger Garboden and - the still unknown - Dieter Bohlen . It was his first record that went without a response.

Then Hendrik / Hartmann began their work with À La Carte , a girl trio put together by Hendrik with a constantly changing line-up. The first single When the Boys Come Home (March 1979) was released from the LP Do Wah Diddy Diddy Round (March 1980). This was followed by Doctor Doctor Help me Please (October 1979), Ring Me Honey (September 1980), You Get me on The Run (January 1981), the LP Viva À La Carte (November 1981) with the release In the Summer Sun of Greece (April 1982), the singles Ahé Tamouré (July 1982), Radio (January 1983), LP Rockin 'Oldies (October 1983) with the release On the Top of Old Smokie (September 1983) or Jimmy Gimme Reggae (1984). Only a few singles made it to the middle of the charts. Both produced a total of 38 titles for the trio.

The career of the international male trio Bad Boys Blue began in Cologne, where it was founded by Hendrik. The first single in May 1985 was called You're a Woman (produced and composed by Hendrik / Hartmann) and reached number 8 on the German hit parade. It came from the debut LP Hot Girls, Bad Boys (November 1985; recorded in the Helmuth Rüßmann studio, Hennef). Her LPs were created annually, starting with Heart Beat (October 1986), Love is no Crime (October 1987), which, like the following, were created in the Coconut Studio Hennef, namely My Blue World (October 1988) and The Fifth (October 1989) . Hendrik / Hartmann produced 79 titles for the Bad Boys.

The most successful production by the Hendrik / Hartmann team was the Eurodance hit What Is Love for Haddaway . The song, which came onto the market in Germany on January 18, 1993, was written by Dee Dee Halligan (pseudonym of Hendrik) and Junior Torello (Karin Hartmann) and produced in their own Coconut Studio (Hennef). It reached number 2 on the charts in Germany and Great Britain and was able to occupy number 1 in 13 other countries. 900,000 copies were sold in Germany alone and over 500,000 in the USA, another 400,000 in Great Britain and 2.6 million copies worldwide. The title received two echo awards . Haddaway had 27 titles produced by the Coconut team.

Own record label

In January 1981, Hendrik and Karin Hartmann-Eisenblätter founded a music production company of the same name in Hennef Coconut Records and later also a recording studio. Both founders worked under different pseudonyms as producers and composers (Hendrik as Dee Dee Halligan, Hartmann-Eisenblätter as Junior Torello or Karin van Haaren). As one of the first artists for their label, they discovered “À La Carte” and “Bad Boys Blue”. Wolfgang Petry also brought out records at Coconut Records at times. The most successful song in the catalog was Haddaway with What is Love . Both founders sold Coconut to Coconut Music Ltd. in January 2007. & Co. KG, which belongs to an international investor group.

Discography (own records)

As Tony Hendrik / Tony Hendrik Four / Tony Hendrik Five :

Singles

• Big Boss Man / Early Bird (1966)
• O Sole Mio / Down by the Riverside (Columbia 23,477; April 1967)
• Merry-Go-Round / Mistreated Man (Columbia 23 620; December 1967)
• There Is A Tavern in The Town / I've Said My Say (Columbia 23,742; April 1968)
• The Grooviest Girl in the World / Majestic World (Vogue 14841; March 1969)
• Work All Day / Honey Sunny Baby (Vogue 14942; November 1969)
• Renée / Mr. G (Vogue 11052, 1970)
• Rovin 'Man / Hey, Carolina Mary (Vogue 11182; 1971)
• Baby, How Are You / Some Kinda Fun (Hansa Records 12 330; October 1972)

LP

• Nightflight (Columbia SMC 74255; 1967)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tommy Engel / Joachim Brücher, Engel, Bengel, Botzestengel , 1991, p. 66
2. ↑ Billboard Magazine, March 26, 1994, Casebook: Haddaway , p. 58
3. ↑ Billboard Magazine, March 26, 1994, Echo Party Resounds With Excitement , p. 64