Schlager musik...
 

As much as I love traveling in Germany I will be the first to admit that I am just another tourist who gets giddy when I discover a piece of heaven for the first time. I always feel that I need to share it with everyone else - as if it hasn't been discovered before... A small farm in a hidden valley - a castle ruin on a remote hillside - a Gasthaus that just exudes friendliness and Gemütlichkeit. This note is not only to share a new discovery but to find out how many of you German Fodorites have already found it also. For the three decades that I have been visiting Germany I have also been evolving in my appreciation of German musik. Over the years I have become a fan of Schlager musik - first enjoying the sounds of Roger Whittaker (a man who I was astonished to find out speaks no German - other than what he sings) - then I found the sweet sounds of Angela Wiedl and for several years thought I would never find anyone better. From Angela I moved to Gaby Albrecht - Claudia Jung and finally to the more modern, husky tones of Andrea Berg. For awhile I thought Andrea was the top of the mountain for female Schlager stars. Until a few years ago when I 'discovered' this incredibly beautiful creature with the voice of a real angel - Helene Fischer. I must say that I have been totally enraptured by this gorgeous lady and her musik. She seems to have many German fan clubs but I haven't found an English one yet. I guess that's why I'm posting this on the Fodor's board - to find out if there are those amongst you who are as enchanted by this young lady as I am. I've already sold my Stammtisch group on her. Don't know her?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_xge...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsrFh...eature=related

Sounds like a German ABBA. It reminds me of what I pick up on the radio when driving around over there. She certainly is a looker.

I know them but, sorry, Schlager is not my style of music.

*Ducks and runs*

I'm with quokka on this one. Schlager is not my style, nor is the Dutch equivalent.

What quokka said.

Wow - I guess I stepped in it when I put this subject on the board. I know I should ask the question - but I'm almost afraid of your possible answers. And I think I should remove myself from saying I like 'all' Schlager. I admit that I don't care for most of it - especially the male singers and anything older than ten years. But Helene Fischer? How can someone not like that. Maybe it's a man thing - or an old man's thing. Maybe I fell in love and can't see past her beauty. One of my Stammtischers - an old German - always tells me that he can't stand Schlager. Says it's way too schmaltzy for his tastes. I'm beginning to wonder if I just don't have any taste. I know I don't care for a lot of music and most of what I listen to is considered smooth jazz. So here it is - what type of German listens to Schlager?

LOL... No German under 70 will admit in public that he or she does like Schlager.

As soon as you play these songs to an audience who is a *bit* drunk, however, you'll discover that everyone, no matter what age, knows the lyrics by heart and is able to sing along...

There are some fancy dances on certain Andrea Berg songs...

A decade or so ago, so-called "bad taste parties" with nothing but Schlager music were highly en vogue among people in their 20s and 30s...

Let's discuss this matter after a couple of beers.

I'd much prefer to sit and stare at Helene than endure an evening of listening to a bunch of fat women warble. I know Europeans are so much more sophisticated than us Americans, but opera does nothing for me at all. And that Techno stuff......

Just awful. I'm proud to say I never heard that name.
What you should listen to are things like
"Wir sind Helden"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVmXgOQNtNQ
or "Die toten Hosen" or "Die Ärzte" or...

She is sweet ;-)

Bavariaben,

the majority of Germans is with you. Germany's leading radio station - WDR 4 - is a Schlager station. "Leading" means by number of regular listeners.

However, I have to admit that I personally prefer other music styles.

I'd say that Schlager music is targeted at an older, less urban audience. Think of people 50 or older in rural or small town areas.
The effect of playing Schlager music (with the possible exception of the Bad Taste Parties and a *few* camp Schlager singers) to a more urban audience would be as if you tuned into the Country classics station at a Manhattan or SF vernissage.
The alternative to Schlager is neither opera or techno, but real AC music.

Thanks Cowboy - that's pretty much the only Germans I have contact with anyway (people 50 or older in rural or small town areas). I'm just a country boy from Texas who loves rural Germany. I don't know what I was expecting to find from putting this subject on the board. I guess I'm just a little disappointed that something that I thought was pretty good is not as appreciated as I thought it would be. But hey - that's what makes the world go round. Some folks think I'm crazy for staying on farms when I travel. Different strokes for different folks. Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond... (Just awful Logos? Wow!)

>Just awful
Yeah, it's so horrible, there's just no other word for it. It's inflicting physical pain, having to listen to this "music". (And do try to translate the lyrics into English.)

And wouldn't say it's just aimed at an older or rural audience. It's aimed at "lower working class people".


Did you try "Silbermond" or "Wir sind Helden". Those otoh I believe are really good German songs.

Schlager musik: It's a bit like US country music. I know lots of Swiss who like it too.

My favourite is still: Ein bisschen Frieden and Teddy Bear. (Don't know many modern Schlagers.)

I drove by the Kastelruthspatzen Festival in Castelrotto. I've never seen such a huge tent. And it gets filled to the brim.

Many of these Schlager songs are simply translations of songs in English and other languages - originals that are widely considered acceptable even by Schlager haters. (Someone mentioned ABBA.) I think it's a problem about the German language. The lyrics of many English songs are by no means more intelligent. German texts of, for example, low-level love songs, however, usually sound extremely tacky and kitschy. Much tackier and kitschier than English ever could be.

There is worse than Schlager! Ever heard of Volksmusik, again to be divided into "Volksmusik" (old traditional songs) and "Volkstümliche Musik" (new songs in Volksmusik style). This is really music that caters for the 60+, rural and lower class people who detest 'all that English stuff' by principle because they do not speak English. Everyone else will run.
I don't mind this music in a hut in the mountains or a beer hall in Bavaria - that's where it belongs. But I do not need those almost daily Volksmusik shows on TV - ARRGGHH!

(Silbermond? That girl's voice is completely untrained, she has never learned anything about singing. No I do not like that style, or better lack thereof. There are several bands and singers who use that half-speaking "Nena style" singing and are very popular with the young generation, I have no idea why. To me they all sound alike.)

I have read that opera is an "acquired taste". I suspect that all music is an acquired taste.

A work friend asked me to start carpooling with him. His carpool members all liked different music so they decide on silence. He hated the quiet drive. He thought that I might like 90 minutes a day of "rock-a-billy" music. I politely declined, silently thinking that I would rather be beat with a stick.

Ever notice how the younger generation can sometimes listen to an older generation's music but less often the opposite is true. My kids can sing along with the temptations but I can not name a single artist that they like. It was the same between my parents and I.

Regards, Gary

So is Hansi Hinterseer a Schalger singer?

I always wondered about those German TV shows with the lipsynchers. Volksmusik! They're great for getting a glimpse of the tourist spots.

I'm glad you posted this, ben.

Hansi Hinterseer is a nightmare. He should have continued his career as a downhill skier. I don't know if he considers himself a Schlager singer.. (but he surely isn't)

Schlager died with Dieter Thomas Heck. In the sixties and seventies we had great songs and great Schlagerstars.

I admit I don't know that much about Schlager. Never paid much attention to it when I was living in Germany. Never knew any of the earlier stars that Logos refers to. I do know that I've enjoyed several female Schlager stars and most recently Helene Fischer. She has a beautiful voice and doesn't sing just Schlager. Listen to some of these and tell me it is awful. I just can't believe that my taste is as terrible as you say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxmMf...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djmvu...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FufeI...eature=related

Sounds like "American Idol" with too much echo. It's surely o.k if you like it, but I would just switch away after a few seconds. Does she sing anything that isn't a cover of another well known song?

Maybe you like this :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w9EksAo5hY

Different people like different things and that is great! How boring would the world be if everyone listened to the same music?

LOL @ logos!!! (I don't think so...)

How about this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NErNv...eature=related
(This song is not Bavarian but Saxon, by the way. It is one of those 'everyone' hates but 'everyone' knows by heart.)
:D

After the original, there is also a version by Rammstein:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCcnO...eature=related
:D :D

P.S. Ben please don't take our answers too personally! Just tell us our stuff is crap and you doubt our taste - we can cope with that! No offence intended!!! This is the plain normal way how Germans discuss music...

May I dare admit that I own quite a collection of Australian country music? And my treasured CDs from Malaysia might contain the Malay equivalent to Schlager, I'm afraid. There is hardly anything in German in my CD shelf... except some Swiss rock I brought from Zürich recently, if that counts as 'in German'.

Yes quokka, the Rammstein version is quite good. :D (I'm not clicking on that other link).
I see it has also some images from "Bück dich"

Don't click here if you find Rammstein offensive :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW03c4Vmr0k

Well I don't know what I'm talking about, so I'll jump right in to the discussion. As my mother used to say, "people who are not handicapped by knowledge are usually the most free with their opinions". And I certainly am not handicapped by any knowledge here. ;->

My first encounter with schlager music has been this year through TV commercials we see here in Amsterdam on German stations. The commercials are of the "buy this CD with 400 of your favorite schlager artists" type. From the hairstyles and clothes, the singers in these commercials appear to be from the 70's and 80's. The clips they show of the singers involve lots of schmaltz with overemphasized facial expressions and extremely earnest body language.

From what I can tell the proper analogy with US music is not country music, but rather the likes of Wayne Newton, Tom Jones, etc. At least that's what it reminds me of.

"people who are not handicapped by knowledge are usually the most free with their opinions". What a great saying and so apropos for this thread. Logos has convinced me that Schlager is dead or at least completely awful - so with Frau Fischer by my side I will exit this mess I should never have started. I promise to stick to topics I halfway know something about from now on. Thanks for the education everyone...

Hi Ben. I am just coming back from our neighbourhood drugstore. They have exactly 24 CDs on display, among them one of Helene Fischer, one of Andrea Berg, one of Hansi Hinterseer and one of Geschwister Hofmann. Roughly one third of the CDs they sell are Schlagers.

You might like the Hofmann sisters (quokka and logos certainly not):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIn1BL_mA4o

Well, ben, I'm glad you started this thread. For better or worse, I have now been educated on Schlager musik. Next time I'm in Germany, I'll look in the drug store for some CDs. :-)

wanderfrau... I think you'll get a pack of aspirin for free with every Schlager CD you buy :-)

ben... You take our nagging WAY too seriously and personally. As long as you like it, who cares what others think of it. Just have some sympathy for that part of the local population who gets goose bumps from Gemütlichkeit and Schlager (and wants to beat the reps of the German Tourist Board with a stick for promoting it). There is no middle way here. Noone discusses it seriously as you would discuss the quality of opera or jazz. In Germany, Schlager is a love it or hate it issue.

As a peace-offering here's a list to several dozen web radios:
http://www.surfmusic.de/format/schlager.html

Have fun!

Ben, I'm a long-time fan of your posts and advice, but I would rather shove a railroad spike through my brain than listen to schlager musik.

>shove a railroad spike through my brain
Be careful, I know someone who became a Schlager singer after they removed it in hospital!

I have always had a fondness for Schlager music. It just goes with the memories of my Oma and I listening to it at her home in Frankfurt when I was young in the late 60's early 70's in and it has just stuck with me. Yep... it just makes me happy when I hear it.

Yep, I do recall one evening somewhere in China. There was a Heintje movie on TV. Fortunately, it was dubbed in Chinese, unfortunately whenever Heintje was singing he was actually singing himself. Yeah, we all loved Heintje......

Hi all! I think I am about to drop myself right in it here!! I live in Australia, and only wish I could speak German as I can't get enough of schlager music :) Ben, I haven't been able to stop listening to Helene Fischer since reading your post - she is amazing! Thankyou to Traveller1959 for the Hoffman Sisters too - brilliant! Ben, there is a lot of modern schlager type music, and a lot of it in English as well. Its been a very popular music style in the Eurovision Song Contest, most notably from Sweden. Have posted a couple of songs here to give you an idea. I guess every country has things about it that make its own people cringe. I hate the way they get Australians to speak in international films, as non of us speak like that! A great example is the recent film "Australia" I know it was a big film, but it made most of us here cringe with the way we were portrayed - and Hugh Jackman does not speak like that! I only wish my local drugstore stocked all those CD's! Please anyone feel free to email me if there are sites where I could go to purchase them ([email protected])
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATNgtgi_dSM
This first one represented Sweden at Eurovision 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl3oj...eature=related
This came 2nd at this years Danish National Competition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey5RD...eature=related
...and this one is just for you Ben - a medley from the magical Helene Fischer :)
Enjoy everyone - lovers and haters alike..hehe