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Peter Maffay

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

Peter Maffay, born Peter Alexander Makkay, is a German singer and musician, born in 1949 in Brașov, Romania. His father was a Transylvanian Saxon. In 1963, when he was fourteen, the family moved to West Germany, and that same year he started his first band, The Dukes.

Music and breakthrough

His first single, Du, became a big hit in Germany in 1970. The album Steppenwolf (1979) made him one of the biggest stars in the country and sold 1.6 million copies. The following year Revanche (1980) sold more than two million. It contains his version of Über sieben Brücken musst du gehn, a song by the East German rock band Karat from 1978. Maffay asked Karat for permission and made a new arrangement with a saxophone solo. Because Karat could not appear on West German television, his version became the well-known one in the West; it reached number four in the German chart. In this way the song became known on both sides of the Wall, and it is now regarded as one of the best-known German songs of recent decades.

Influence

Maffay also created Tabaluga, fairy tales about a little green dragon that grew into albums, a musical and tours. He holds the German record for the most number 1 albums: sixteen. He is also committed to traumatised and abused children, among other things with a farm on Mallorca where they can holiday free of charge. In 1996 he received the Bundesverdienstkreuz.

Listening

Listening tip. In Peter Maffay's version of Über sieben Brücken musst du gehn, listen to the saxophone solo he added to the arrangement. Then compare it with Karat's original recording: what changes in the mood of the song?

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists