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Freddy Quinn

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Freddy Quinn, born Franz Eugen Helmut Manfred Nidl on 27 September 1931 in Niederfladnitz in Lower Austria, is an Austrian singer and actor who became hugely popular in the German-speaking world in the late 1950s and the 1960s. He grew up in Vienna. There are stories about his youth that are not all certain, but what is certain is that he was discovered in Hamburg, in the St. Pauli district, and received his first record contract in 1954.

Music and breakthrough

In 1956 Quinn sang for Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest in Lugano, with So geht das jede Nacht. He did not win, but Heimweh from the same year was a great success. Hits followed such as Die Gitarre und das Meer and Unter fremden Sternen in 1959, Irgendwann gibt's ein Wiedersehn in 1960, La Paloma in 1961 and Junge, komm bald wieder in 1962. Vergangen, vergessen, vorüber from 1964 was another million-seller. He also appeared in films, such as Freddy, die Gitarre und das Meer from 1959 and Heimweh nach St. Pauli from 1963.

Influence

Quinn took over the image of the restless wanderer who sails the seas but longs for home, as Hans Albers had two generations earlier. His songs are schlagers with guitar and a soft, warm voice, full of homesickness and longing. In this way he became one of the faces of the German schlager in the years of the postwar miracle, when many people recognised their own longing for home in his.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Heimweh and notice how the singer evokes longing with a soft, somewhat sombre voice, accompanied by guitar and orchestra. Which word or which key gives the song that homesick atmosphere?

Discography

Studio albums

Mentioned in other articles

Categories: ArtistsSchlager