Joan Street wrote ths article for OGAE Rest of the World Facebook page and we wanted to share this with the ESCUNITED readers.
I am Joan Street from the U.K. and have been a big fan of Udo Jürgens since first discovering his music in the mid-eighties.
In 1989 I attended my first concert in Germany and haven’t looked back, experiencing the ‘live’ magic of Udo more than a few times during his bi-yearly tours.
Udo celebrated his 75th birthday on 30th September 2009 with a special T.V. programme, broadcast by the national German channel ZDF. A ‘Best of’ double CD was also released, reaching ‘Gold’ status.
Udo has spent no less than 6 months on tour in 2009, performing to sold-out houses in Germany, Austria and Switerland. Quite a feat for someone of his age! The tour was under the banner of his new CD – ‘Einfach ich’ (‘Just Me’). A DVD has also been released of the show, filmed in Zurich .
It is always hard to pick favourite songs – I have so many! However, amongst those that are special to me are:
‘Das ist dein Tag’ – This is Your Day
’Ich war noch niemals in New York’ – I’ve never been to New York – surely Udo’s anthem and one he has to sing at every concert!
If I Never Sing Another Song
Damals wollt ich erwachsen sein (Once, I wanted to be grown-up)
A musical ‘Ich war noch niemals in New York’, showcasing Udo’s songs, opened in Hamburg in December 2007 to rapt reviews and is still pulling in huge audiences.
Udo has represented his home country, Austria, no less than 3 times in the Eurovision Song Contest. In 1964 he sang ‘Warum nur Warum’ (Why Only Why). Don Black penned English lyrics and the song, recorded in English, as ‘Walk Away’ become a big hit for English crooner, Matt Monro. Udo made a second try for the Grand Prix in 1965 with ‘Sag ihr, ich lass sie grüssen’ (Tell Her I Send My Regards) but alas this still wasn’t destined to win the contest. However, in 1966 ‘Merci Cherie’ won the Eurovision and went on to be recorded by Matt Monro and Vince Hill amongst others.
Udo has recorded 2 songs in Afrikaans:
SOLANG NOCH ZUGE GEHEN as SO LANK DAAR TREINE LOOP (as long as there are trains running) – The Afrikaans version can be found on 2 of his albums – Udo International 2 and Seine Internationalen Erfolge.
WAHRE LIEBE IST GANZ LEISE as DAAR IS NIKS SOOS WARE LIEFDE (there is nothing like true love). I believe this can only be found on a single backed by SO LANK DAAR TREINE LOOP
In 2011 Udo released another album titled “Der ganz normale Wahnsinn” which went to Number Three in Germany and Two in Austria.
At age 78 Herr Juergens apparently has no intention of slowing down so we’re expecting great things from him in the future.
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Sir PEDER ANDERSON
May 12, 2014 at 02:51
It´s Ok, call me for drummer work in Germany and in Europe, I play before with The Santanas guitarplayer and in Casino Estoril in Portugal, ,Liechensten, Swiss, France, Germany, Denmark,Norway, Finland, Spain, Netherlands and in Brazil with one of the worlds most famous musician “Jimmie Woode trio from U.S.A also bassplayer in “Duke Ellington” orchestra,,,, my e-mail adress trummispeder@hotmail.com my phone number +46 (0)707 227834
Yours Sincerely Sir PEDER ANDERSON,,,,,,
Professional drummer/percussion and song, also piano and guitar!!!1
Joan Street
February 27, 2013 at 17:39
Just to say, the title of Udo’s 2011 album is Der ganz normale Wahnsinn, not Der ganz normale grosse Wahnsinn.
rajo
February 25, 2013 at 18:02
Udo, our one and only Eurovision hero, almost forgotten even amongst Eurovision fans. Thanks for the sweet article!
Roy van der Merwe
February 25, 2013 at 06:15
Laurika Rauch, one of the top female singers in South Africa also covered some Udo Jurgens songs like OP BLOUBERG SE STRAND
Roy van der Merwe
February 25, 2013 at 06:14
Many Udo Jurgens songs have been covered in Afrikaans. One singer released a CD with 12 songs and all of them are Udo Jurgens songs. The dup GROEP 2 had many hits in the late 60’s and early 70’s and several were Udo Jufrgens songs – the biggest being DAAR IS NIKS SOOS WARE LIEFDE (There is nothing like true love)
Roy van der Merwe
February 25, 2013 at 06:12
Joan, I hope you read this, great article. It is not always that someone living in the UK is a fan of a singer who almost exclusively sing in German