Du (song)

You is the title of a ballad sung by Peter Maffay from 1970, which appeared as the first disk of the singer, became a million-seller and helped him to break through.

Genesis

A trained lawyer Michael Kunze was on Peter Maffay attention in the summer of 1969, when he was looking for young performers for selbstgetextete songs. Kunze's wife discovered him in Munich (Au -Haidhausen ) Musikkeller "Song Parnassus" when he performed there with Margit Kraus. "He convinced me ," said Maffay Kunze, " that the shop everything is different. And I have my lid kept because I wanted to have a record."

The recordings were made in the recording studio " Studio Union " ( here later took Boney M. on ), which was in the back of a large villa in the posh suburb of Munich Solln. When Peter Maffay morning at 9 clock arrived here in November 1969, was sitting there already a full orchestra. Present were strings, brass and a rhythm section with Charly Antolini (drums), who played with Max Greger. In the control room, the producer Michael Kunze sat (text) and Peter Orloff ( music). It took about 14 hours to transfer the music tracks were recorded. Around midnight, came the use of Maffay for the vocal recordings than most musicians had already left the studio. The banal lyrics of the song "You," the Michael Kunze had written to the music of Peter Orloff, fit into the time and was a real hit. In the middle part of the song there was a spoken part. " Ernst and with much feeling ," was this the statement of the music producer. Maffay tried it a few times, but his Romanian origin was undeniable. He could not speak without the "r" to scroll the text. After a few takes Kunze interrupted the shooting and said the text itself It was the spoken part, " You know, I want to tell you something I 've never said to any other girl, no other girl ... I've got love you ... ".

Pop composer Georg Buschor, who was present during the entire shoot, Maffay took after another 4 hours of recording time around 4 clock in the morning in his car in the city and put him there from the Lothstraße where the student dormitory at the University of Applied Sciences Munich was.

Publication and success

Peter Maffay's first official single release you / Every boy needs a girl ( Telefunken 6.1109 ) was published on 15 January 1970. The radio refused at first an airplay of the song off because he had got 4 minutes and 58 seconds of game time too long. Therefore, there was hardly two months of record sales. Only when Maffay on 21 March 1970, his first television appearance in the ZDF hit parade as the seventh of 14 artists, he became acquainted with the ballad in Germany.

After the ballad came in April 1970 in the German charts, where it is listed as the number -one hit for 4 weeks from 23 May 1970. Total copies were sold until the end of 1970 over a million. You became the largest German-language hit of the year 1970, the same time, the song placed in the charts in the Netherlands.; ( Gold Rank 1) and Switzerland ( Rank 2) (Rank 1 Gold Record ), Austria (Rank 8), Belgium. An English version was published under the title You, in South Africa ( gold record ), Belgium and Holland joined in the first place. In addition, a French and Spanish version was put on the market that could be placed in the local charts near the top. A first report in the youth magazine Bravo appeared on Maffay in issue 24/1970 of 8 June 1970.

The copyright of the song was about 50 % in Kunze and Orloff. This team received the GEMA revenues from performance and airplay. The record company Teldec held the rights to the master recording and captured the sales proceeds from each sold plate. Of this she paid the singer Maffay a bonus of 5 % (of the gross wholesale price) per unit sold.

Maffay's first hit was taken into account on the 1970 debut album appeared for the girl that I love. He worked for more than 4 years for Michael Kunze and was signed by Kunze at least 70 titles and / or produce. The early success with a schmaltzy ballad liable coined Maffays Image for many years, and a complete change of style for a rock musician should be a real challenge. Finally, it is Peter Maffay successfully managed by crooner image of its million-selling ballad to break free You and to establish itself as a rock singer.

Cover versions

Co-author Peter Orloff took the song in 1976 for his album I ever ordered the four-poster bed. 1986 coverte the Dutch singer André Hazes Maffays song with selbstgeschriebenem Dutch text as the title song for his album Jij bent everything. He thus reached the end of # 10 in the Dutch Top 40 David Hasselhoff sang the song in the German version in 1994 and also was able to move into the charts again in Germany. Hasselhoff's version was used for the movie Euro Trip.