Gitta Walther was a German singer and author. She released many recordings under the

pseudonyms A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Simone, Jackie Robinson and also Gitta McKay after her marriage to Scottish musician Don McKay.

Life

Gitta Walter was born as the daughter of a baker during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and grew up in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

after the war. There, she first appeared on stage as a singer at the age of 14. At the age of 16, she emigrated to West Germany. Once in Munich, West Germany, she was discovered by Werner Müller who accepted her into his orchestra. She went on to also sing in the orchestra of

Ambros Seelos Ambros Seelos (30 January 1935 – 3 August 2015) was a German music composer, singer, arranger, conductor, whose career lasted from the 1950s to the 2000s. Ambros Seelos was born in Töging am Inn. Seelos and his orchestra performed Big Band so ...

and Arno Flor. Since the mid-1960s, she was an active guest,

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

and

background singer A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

for numerous bands and acts. In 1969, she joined Love Generation, where she met her future husband —

Don Adams Donald James Yarmy (April 13, 1923 – September 25, 2005), known professionally as Don Adams, was an American actor. In his five decades on television, he was best known as Maxwell Smart (Agent 86) in the television situation comedy ''Ge ...

. She was later one of the

session singer Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a t ...

s of the 1970s

Silver Convention Silver Convention were a German Euro disco recording act of the 1970s. The group was originally named Silver Bird Convention or Silver Bird. Career The group was initiated in Munich by producers and songwriters Sylvester Levay and Michael Kunze ...

disco group. The famous scream in fellow group member Penny McLean's

Lady Bump "Lady Bump" is a pop disco song by Austrian singer Penny McLean, released in 1975. It was a hit for McLean, who was formerly with Silver Convention. About the single The single backed with "The Lady Bumps On" was released on the Jupiter record lab ...

belongs to Walther. Further, she was one of the backing singers for

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her mus ...

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance mu ...

and

Joy Fleming Joy Fleming (born Erna Raad, 15 November 1944 – 27 September 2017) was a German singer. She is best known for her performance in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1975. She performed the song " Ein Lied kann eine Brücke sein" and was placed seven ...

. As a solo musician, she released her album "I'm Different" in 1976 under the name ''Jackie Robinson''. It was a success in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and stayed on the Billboard Disco Charts for seven weeks. In 1980, she co-founded

The Hornettes ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

girl band, along with former Silver Convention singers

Lucy Neale Lucy Neale (also known as Lucy O'Day) is an American-German artist, notable for being one of the vocalists of the 1970s Silver Convention disco group. Life and career Neale was born January 24, 1948 in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduating college ...

, Linda G. Thompson and

Jackie Carter Jackie Carter (June 28, 1953 – April 13, 2016) was an American children's author. Her goal was to provide children of all races with images of themselves in the books they read. Early life and education Carter was born on June 28, 1953, in Por ...

. The group was relatively successful. In her final years, she lived in her hometown of

Annaberg-Buchholz Annaberg-Buchholz () is a town in Saxony, Germany. Lying in the Ore Mountains, it is the capital of the district of Erzgebirgskreis. Geography The town is located in the Ore Mountains, at the side of the ''Pöhlberg'' ( above sea level). Hi ...

and sang locally.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walther, Gitta 1944 births 2014 deaths 20th-century German women singers Silver Convention members