Wolfgang Ambros
Wolfgang Ambros (born March 19, 1952 in Vienna ) is an Austrian songwriter and rock / pop singer . He is one of the most important contemporary Austrian musicians and is considered one of the founders of Austropop .
Life
1952-1970
Wolfgang Ambros was born in the Vienna Semmelweis Clinic and spent the first years of his life in Wolfsgraben , Lower Austria. His father ran the elementary school there, his mother worked as a teacher. The family later moved to Preßbaum . Ambros attended the Astgasse grammar school in the 14th district of Vienna , later he trained as a screen printer at the graphic teaching and research institute .
1970-1974
His musical career began in 1971 at the age of 19 with the release of the song Da Hofa, written by Joesi Prokopetz . The song immediately rose to number 1 on the Ö3 charts in Austria and stayed in this position for eight weeks. Since there were no official sales charts at the time, the Ö3 hit parade was used as a benchmark. In 2020 this song was voted 3rd of the “100 most important Austrian pop songs” by the pop culture magazine The Gap in the AustroTOP ranking. In 1972 Ambros released his debut album Everything Else Counts Net More ... , which has not yet achieved any great success. With other singles like Kagran and I drah zua he could not follow up on the success of his first single either. It was not until the appearance of Tagwache , which was directed against the Austrian Armed Forces and the then Defense Minister Lütgendorf , that it caused a sensation in Austria, the song was then boycotted by the ORF .
At the beginning of his career, Ambros often worked with Joesi Prokopetz and Manfred diving . The best-known work of the trio is the concept album Der Watzmann calls from 1974, which is still performed today.
1975-1979
The next commercial success wasn't to come until 1975 with the single Zwickt's mi - another number one hit. Against all expectations, the accompanying album Es lebe der Zentralfriedhof also reached number 1 . The song of the same name, which was not released as a single, is still considered a characteristic peace hymn among Ambros fans today. The text is intended to show the equality of people (and the dead people were used as an example). From this point on, Ambros established himself as a star of the Austrian rock scene. A few years later another song came out on the market, which was supposed to be another hymn - Schifoan . Initially, the song was hardly successful and was not played on public radio. But then in the winter season this song also became a hit among après-ski fans.
From 1978 Wolfgang Ambros played his solo concerts with his band Die No. 1 vom Wienerwald , consisting of the following musicians: Günter Dzikowski (keyboards (also Hammond B3), accordion, harmonica, vocals), Peter Koller (guitar, vocals), Helmut Pichler (bass, saxophone, vocals) and Harry Stampfer (drums, vocals ).
Helmut Nowak played drums until 1985, and was succeeded by Harry Stampfer (previously Hallucination Company ).
Among the most legendary concerts by Wolfgang Ambros & Der Number One vom Wienerwald include u. a. the concerts in Vienna's West Stadium ( Gerhard Hanappi Stadium ) in 1983 (where they were supported by Rainhard Fendrich and Opus among others in front of 20,000 fans) and also the Rock on the Rocks in the Kitzsteinhorn glacier ski area in Kaprun / Austria 1985, which was one for a long time Held the world record for the highest open air rock concert.
1980-1989
Even in the first half of the 80s, both Ambros' singles and his albums were great successes and milestones in his career. With some of his long players he was able to reach the German hit parade. In the 1980s, Ambros also recorded several tracks with André Heller . The hit Forever Young , which he covered by Bob Dylan's Forever Young and sang with Heller, was often played at demonstrations critical of the government.
In the second half of the 1980s, Ambros stepped out of the limelight. He made headlines more with private scandals than with his music. With the release of the album The Greatest Hits of 20 Years in 1992, he remembered old successes and was able to follow up on them with the album.
In 1986 he took the stage free of charge at the Anti-WAAhnsinns Festival against the planned Wackersdorf reprocessing plant .
1990-1999
In the mid-1990s, there was a major program reform in public radio stations, as private radio stations were legalized. The transmitter Ö3 was converted into a format radio , alternative programs were expanded to FM4 and cultural programs to Ö1. The important thing was that dialect music could now only be played on regional radios. So Ambros decided not to release any more singles and could concentrate better on his albums. The result are albums such as Equator , Wasserfall or Verwahrlost but free , which sold solidly and each achieved top ten placements. In 1997 the Trio Austria 3 was founded with Rainhard Fendrich and Georg Danzer .
Since 2000
A highlight was the reinterpretation of Tom Waits songs on his album Nach mir die Sintflut - Ambros singt Waits (2000). In 2002 the live album Hopelessly Confident was released , with which Ambros made it into the top ten of the album charts. Ambros was also regularly in the top ten of the album charts with the following albums: Nameless (2003) made it to number four, Steh grod (2006) to number two. Nameless is controversial among the fans because Ambros, at the instigation of his record company SonyBMG , used studio musicians for the production instead of his main band. During the recordings at Steh grod , the No. 1 here again.
From 2004 the "Watzmann" was played again. Ambros had resisted a re-performance of the "Rustikals" since the previous tour in the early 1990s. According to their own statements, the reasons for this lay in the difficult relationship between the three Watzmann creators, Ambros, Prokopetz and diving. While Ambros and Prokopetz were and remained close friends, there was a rift between Prokopetz and diving even before the Watzmann tour in the early 90s, which prompted Prokopetz not to participate in the performances. His part was taken over by Christoph Fälbl . Diving gave the farmers and the Gailtalerin. During this tour, Ambros and Diving fell out with each other.
In 2004 Ambros was persuaded to perform a new performance, Prokopetz returned to the ensemble, Klaus Eberhartinger (front man of the EAV) took over the part of Gailtaler , and Christoph Fälbl could be seen again as Bua und Knecht. Initially, only five weeks of playing time (around 20 performances) were planned on the lake stage at Chiemsee . At the urging of southern German and Austrian concert organizers, a city tour with around 20 more dates was added. Further performances have been postponed to 2005. What was originally planned as a short tour grew again into an extended concert tour. At the end of 2005, “the spoon was finally buried”. But in 2008 and 2009 the play was back on the repertoire of many stages.
At the end of 2006 bassist Helmut Pichler had to be replaced by Erich Buchebner due to illness. Officially, Erich Buchebner is still “representing” in the band. Since 2007, the No. 1 only Günter Dzikowski, Peter Koller and Wolfgang Ambros are there.
Wolfgang Ambros set a milestone in the matter of Wienerlied with the CD Der Alte Sünder - Ambros sings Moser . On this sound carrier and also at the subsequent concerts, Wolfgang Ambros sings songs such as Die Reblaus , In der Kellergassen or Sperrstund is , which Hans Moser and his long-time partner Paul Hörbiger have made popular, but without mumbling or grumbling, but with his own unmistakable Voice, with its own "shame".
He was accompanied by the Ambassade Orchestra Vienna under the direction of Christian Kolonovits . The idea came from Michael Buchmann, the founder of the orchestra, and Peter Steinhardt, trumpeter of the Ambassade Orchestra Vienna. The highlight of the "Ambros singt Moser" phase was certainly the performance on April 24, 2006 in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein . After this concert, the CD Ambros singt Moser - Der alte Sünder was awarded the gold record.
Ambros was nominated four times for a regular Amadeus Austrian Music Award and received it in 2002 for his life's work.
After a very successful autumn tour 2006 ( Steh grod ) had to be canceled due to health problems, several media reported in early March 2007 that Ambros had liver cancer, which he denied. Wolfgang Ambros sued the news magazine News after a lurid double-sided article about his alleged liver cancer and was awarded 6,000 euros. The singer donated the money to an aid project in Africa. Ambros was forced to make a public statement on the same day because of the missing news article of March 8, 2007. In this statement, Ambros made it clear that incidentally elevated PSA levels were found during treatment . A medical bulletin attached to this statement further described Ambros' disease as "early stage prostate carcinoma ". After primary radiation therapy and generally very good chances of recovery, Ambros is on the mend and will attend all appointments in 2007.
In July 2007 Ambros, Dzikowski & director Rudi Dolezal were responsible for the DVD production Ambros Pur! awarded a gold record in Austria. On September 20, 2007, the CD Ambros singt Moser - The Old Sinner achieved platinum status for the first time in almost 20 years. The platinum CD was presented as part of the CD presentation of the production Ambros singt Moser - Die 2nd .
In 2008 Ambros was released ! II and immediately entered the Austrian music video charts. The second edition also stayed at the top of the chart for several weeks. In addition, the concert evenings proved to be extremely popular with the audience.
In summer 2008 the "Watzmann" was played on the natural stage of the Luisenburg near Wunsiedel. The more than 20 performances were completely sold out. This made the "Watzmann" the most successful piece that was ever played at the Luisenburg.
Ambros performed on September 5, 2008 at the Vienna Danube Island Festival in front of around 100,000 listeners. The concert was broadcast live on television. When the light on the stage went out during the show and only a single spot was available, Ambros and the band proved their qualities as experienced live artists and played the concert to the end on an almost unlit stage. At the right time, a concert recording of Ambros' concert on the Danube Island from 2006 was released. This publication also immediately entered the top 10 of the music video charts. Ambros was in the top 10 with two productions.
On June 28, 2009, Wolfgang Ambros played at the Vienna Danube Island Festival with the 70-musician orchestra of the United Stages Vienna under the direction of Christian Kolonovits , this was his first appearance with a symphony orchestra.
At the end of April 2012 his 27th studio album was released, entitled 190352 , which entered the Austrian album charts at number 2. The combination of numbers indicates the artist's date of birth on March 19, 1952 and a reminder that Ambros celebrated his 60th birthday in 2012. In several interviews Ambros has stated that the album was actually called "Birthday". The combination of numbers seemed to him to symbolize the title “less banal”. In the 15 music tracks on the CD, he deals with his children and surviving illness, among other things. The song "Ausg'lacht" was interpreted by some journalists in such a way that it is about a settlement with his wife, from whom he has lived separately since 2004. However, Ambros denied this.
2013 was a problematic year for Ambros. He limped badly and suffered from the consequences of a fall, as he said in an interview. During the autumn tour of 2013, his complaints became so severe that he could only play the gigs while sitting, one appointment (Burglengenfeld, Bavaria) had to be postponed, as can be read on his website. In January 2014, various media reported that Ambros had to undergo an operation on the spine as a result.
In an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung in August 2018, Ambros harshly criticized the FPÖ , Federal Chancellor Kurz ( ÖVP ) and the ruling ÖVP-FPÖ coalition . Numerous hate postings against Ambros on social media were the result. FPÖ politician Christian Hafenecker described Ambros and Rainhard Fendrich , who had also been critical of the FPÖ in the past, as "worn-out musicians". Numerous well-known musicians such as Hubert von Goisern , Rainhard Fendrich or Jazz Gitti , on the other hand, showed solidarity with Ambros. The Ambros song Schifoan reached number one in the Austrian iTunes charts for several days as a result of an appeal for solidarity. Another ten of his songs made it into the top 100.
In 2019 he performed at Lieder auf Banz . The audience sang the song Schifoan almost alone.
Private life
Ambros married Christl in 1972. The marriage lasted until the early 1980s, although the couple had been separated for several years. Ambros was married to Margit from 1982 to the end of 2012. Their son was born in 1982. The couple separated in 2004. He was in a relationship with Anne Reger from 2004 to 2013, and this relationship resulted in twins, a son and a daughter. Ambros has lived in Waidring in Tyrol since 2010 . He married his girlfriend Uta Schäfauer in 2017.
Awards
- 2002: Gold Medal of Honor for Services to the State of Vienna
- 2015: Great Decoration of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria
Negative prices:
- 2004 " Rosa Handtaschl ", awarded by the Austrian women's network Medien
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
|||
| 1972 | Everything else counts more ... | - | - |
First published: February 1972
|
| 1974 | Quirks | - |
AT8 (1 month) AT |
First published: November 1973
|
| 1975 | Long live the central cemetery | - |
AT1 (6 months) AT |
First published: April 1975
|
| 1976 | 19 Class A Numbers | - |
AT6 (2 months) AT |
First published: September 1976
|
| 1977 | Hopeless | - |
AT15 (1 month) AT |
First published: October 1977
|
| 1978 | Conductorless (Ambros • Diving • Prokopetz ) |
- |
AT12 (2 months) AT |
Radio play scenes with music
First published: March 1978 |
| As in Sleep - Songs by Bob Dylan | - |
AT8 (2 months) AT |
10 Bob Dylan songs with lyrics by Ambro
First published: October 1978 |
|
| 1979 | Live (on ana long, dark straws) |
DE-  |
AT10 (1 month) AT |
Double album; First published: May 1979
|
| Never ever | - |
AT16 (2 months) AT |
First published: September 1979
|
|
| 1980 | White as snow |
DE31 (20 weeks) DE |
AT1 (4½ months) AT |
First published: August 1980
|
| 1981 | Augustin (Ambros • Diving • Prokopetz) |
DE62 (1 week) DE |
AT3 (4½ months) AT |
Radio play with music
First published: March 1981 |
| Confident |
DE29 (8 weeks) DE |
AT1 (3 months) AT |
First published: September 1981
|
|
| 1982 | A person I want to stay | - |
AT3 (10½ months) AT |
First published: October 1982
|
| 1983 | The last Dance |
DE44 (6 weeks) DE |
AT1 (27 Mt.) AT |
First published: April 1983
|
| How will it go on ... | - |
AT12 (2½ months) AT |
First published: March 1983
|
|
| Open Air (Ambros + Fendrich ) |
- |
AT4 (4½ months) AT |
Live album with 7 individual appearances and 5 duets.
First published: September 15, 1983 |
|
| 1984 | The best from Wolfgang Ambros | - |
AT3 (4½ months) AT |
Best of album (double LP)
First release: June 25, 1984 |
| The sense of life |
DE49 (2 weeks) DE |
AT1 (7½ months) AT |
First published: September 1984
|
|
| 1986 | No. 13 | - |
AT1 (10 months) AT |
First published: January 13, 1986
|
| Selected - Live | - |
AT4 (2½ months) AT |
Live double album, recordings 1983–1986
First published: November 1986 |
|
| 1987 | thunderstorm | - |
AT2 (2½ months) AT |
First published: September 1987
|
| 1989 | Man And Woman | - |
AT2 (3½ months)AT |
First published: May 1989
|
| 1990 | Silent embers | - |
AT9 (9 weeks)AT |
mainly new recordings of older songs
First publication: September 1990 |
| 1991 | Watzmann - live (Ambros • Diving • Fälbl ) |
- |
AT16 (6 weeks) AT |
Radio play with music, tour recording in Circus Krone in Munich
First published: October 1991 |
| 1992 | The greatest hits from 20 years | - |
AT1 (16 weeks)AT |
Best of album, first published July 1, 1992
|
| equator | - |
AT9 (14 weeks) AT |
First published: August 1992
|
|
| 1994 | waterfall | - |
AT2 (13 weeks)AT |
First published: May 20, 1994
|
| 1996 | Neglected but free | - |
AT2 (16 weeks)AT |
First published: August 1996
|
| 1998 | The (40 of all) best Liada | - |
AT21 (8 weeks) AT |
Best of album (double CD)
First release: November 16, 1998 |
| 1999 | Voom Voom Vanilla Camera | - |
AT6 (10 weeks) AT |
First published: March 1, 1999
|
| Rarities | - |
AT23 (9 weeks) AT |
Compilation
First published: November 22, 1999 |
|
| 2000 | After me the deluge - Ambros sings Waits |
DE100 (1 week) DE |
AT3 (12 weeks)AT |
Songs by Tom Waits with German lyrics by Ambros
First published: October 9, 2000 |
| 2001 | Rarities Vol. 2 | - |
AT9 (9 weeks) AT |
Compilation
First published: November 12, 2001 |
| 2002 | Hopelessly confident | - |
AT9 (17 weeks) AT |
Live tour compilation
First published: June 3, 2002 |
| 2003 | Nameless | - |
AT4th (17 weeks)AT |
First published: June 10, 2003
|
| 2005 | Ambros sings Moser: The Old Sinner (with the Ambassade Orchestra Vienna under the direction of Christian Kolonovits ) |
- |
AT5  (31 weeks)AT |
Songs from the repertoire of Hans Moser
First published: November 18, 2005 |
| 2006 | Stand tall | - |
AT2 (10 weeks) AT |
First published: September 8, 2006
|
| 2007 | Ambros sings Moser: The 2nd ... (with the Ambassade Orchestra Vienna under the direction of Christian Kolonovits) |
- |
AT8 (12 weeks) AT |
Songs from the repertoire of Hans Moser
First published: October 19, 2007 |
| 2008 | Ambros sings Moser: The Complete Works | - |
AT69 (1 week) AT |
Special edition of the two Moser CDs with 2 bonus songs.
First published: November 14, 2008 |
| 2009 | Ultimately symphonic | - |
AT6 (11 weeks) AT |
Re-recording of older songs with Christian Kolonovits and orchestra
First published: August 7, 2009 |
| 2012 | Old & Young - the ultimate song collection | - |
AT4 (20 weeks) AT |
Compilation (double CD)
First published: March 9, 2012 |
| Old & Young - the ultimate song collection | - |
AT5 (12 weeks) AT |
Compilation (double CD)
First published: March 9, 2012 |
|
| 19 03 52 |
DE84 (1 week) DE |
AT2 (8 weeks) AT |
March 19, 1952 is Ambros' date of birth
First published: April 20, 2012 |
|
| Mittens (Ambros • Prokopetz) |
- |
AT59 (1 week) AT |
Radio play with music
First published: 1973 |
|
| 2015 | Austropop legends: Wolfgang Ambros | - |
AT74 (1 week) AT |
Album from a series of 12 artist samplers
|
| 2017 | Top three | - |
AT22 (8 weeks) AT |
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
Web links
- Works by and about Wolfgang Ambros in the catalog of the German National Library
- Wolfgang Ambros' website
- Interview with Wolfgang Ambros from April 1, 2012.
- Interview with Wolfgang Ambros from October 10, 2014.
Individual evidence
- ↑ AustroTOP - The 100 most important Austrian pop songs - page 26 from April 28th, 14th 2020, accessed on April 23rd, 2020 (German).
- ↑ Wolfgang Ambros: WOLFGANG AMBROS press release - March 8, 2007 ( Memento of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 85 kB)
- ↑ Discussion of CD 190352 ( Memento from May 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Website Wolfgang Ambros
- ↑ Wolfgang Ambros is operated on in Innsbruck DiePresse.com from January 16, 2014
- ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung : "I'm sure that there are many brown piles in the FPÖ" , August 6, 2018
- ↑ Der Standard : Hate posters wish Ambros death after his criticism of the FPÖ , August 8, 2018
- ↑ Der Standard : Wolfgang Ambros defies the hate avalanche after criticism of the government , August 9, 2018
- ↑ Vorarlberg Online : Musician colleagues show solidarity with Wolfgang Ambros , August 16, 2018
- ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung : Wolfgang Ambros: "That should give the FPÖ men to think about" , August 14, 2018
- ↑ Wolfgang Ambros - The Biography, p. 76.
- ↑ Wolfgang Ambros married his Uta , Kronen Zeitung, February 20, 2017.
- ^ Wiener Zeitung: Gold Medal for Ambros - A "landmark of Vienna" was honored . Article dated April 12, 2002, accessed July 13, 2015.
- ↑ derStandard.at - Great Decoration of Honor awarded to Wolfgang Ambros . APA notification dated July 13, 2015, accessed July 13, 2015.
- ^ "Handtaschl" to Wolfgang Ambros and Kurt Bergmann . In: derstandard .at of October 8, 2004, accessed on April 21, 2017.
- ↑ Chart sources: AT DE
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ambros, Wolfgang |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian musician, songwriter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 19, 1952 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Vienna |