Pop in Germany

Sauerkraut, Nudels & Autobahn-Baby
Pop in Germany – International Stars sing in German

Around 1955, German record companies began tormenting their English and American artists to record in German, and until the mid-1970s literally hundreds of bands and soloists reluctantly agreed. Famous stars and aspiring newcomers who – in most cases – were unable to speak German at all gave their best – but only a handful succeeded saleswise.

At the same time German artists were looking for songs (and, in all likelihood, the charts) and a constant flow of cover versions with lyrics ‘translated’ into German) was issued – the Schlager artists even tried their luck with their own takes on garage classic Gloria and Black Sabbath’s Paranoid.
You can explore these fascinating scenes in several series of Bear Family anthologies – they all have lavish booklets with fascinating facts and trivia!