King Size Dick (born Heinz Ganss; December 29, 1942) in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, who mainly sings in the

Colognian dialect Colognian or Kölsch (; natively ''Kölsch Platt'') is a small set of very closely related dialects, or variants, of the Ripuarian group of dialects of the Central German group. These dialects are spoken in the area covered by the Archdiocese a ...

Biography

King Size Dick, a

truck driver A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster, or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; a HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...

by profession, began his

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

career The career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work and other aspects of life. There are a number of ways to define career and the term is used in a variety of ways. Definitions The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defi ...

in the 1960s in his home town of

in several smaller musical bands. The first band he was a member of was called "Dick & The Shade". Whilst serving in the armed forces in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, he was a guest singer in a band called Brian Poole &

The Tremeloes The Tremeloes are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, England. They initially found success in the British Invasion era with lead singer Brian Poole, scoring a UK chart-topper in 1963 with "Do You Love Me". After Poole's departure ...

. In the 1970s, he performed together with the

Bläck Fööss The Bläck Fööss ( Ripuarian ''De Bläck Fööss'') are a music group from Cologne, Germany, started in 1970. Name of the band The band's name in Kölsch, a local dialect of Ripuarian, in which the group predominantly sings, means barefoo ...

, whilst also working as their truck driver. He usually took on the role of singing the band's successful song "Linda Lou", which has since been inextricably associated with the name King Size Dick. At the end of the 1970s, he joined the "Formation Dick & Alex", together with guitarist and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

Alex Parche. They played

German rock German rock music (''Deutschrock'') came into its own only by the late 1960s, but spawned many bands spanning genres such as krautrock, Neue Deutsche Welle, heavy metal, punk, and industrial. Rock and roll itself arose in the United States in ...

music songs such as ''Schweine in weißen Westen'' (which translates to '

pigs The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

in white

vest A waistcoat ( UK and Commonwealth, or ; colloquially called a weskit), or vest ( US and Canada), is a sleeveless upper-body garment. It is usually worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wear. ...

s').

Awards

King Size Dick is the bearer of the 2002 Willi Ostermann medal, the highest official award of the

Cologne Carnival The Cologne Carnival (german: Kölner Karneval) is a carnival that takes place every year in Cologne, Germany. Traditionally, the "fifth season" (carnival season) is declared open at 11 minutes past 11 on the 11th of the 11th month November. Th ...

Origin of stage name

While Ganss was stationed in Wales with the

German armed forces The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

, he was asked to perform locally at social events, such as birthdays, which were

potluck A potluck is a communal gathering where each guest or group contributes a different, often homemade, dish of food to be shared. Other names for a "potluck" include: potluck dinner, pitch-in, shared lunch, spread, faith supper, carry-in dinner ...

. In Cologne, overweight people are at times given the nickname ''Dick'', from the German adjective which means 'fat'. Another example of the use of the German adjective as a

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

is for the comedy duo of Laurel and Hardy, which Germans often refer to as "Dick und Doof", meaning 'fat and stupid'. Thus the adjective ''dick'' became a nickname for Ganss. During one of the social gatherings in Wales, someone asked Heinz Ganss his name. He replied "Dick", referring to the German adjective for 'fat', or 'large', or 'bigger'. The person who asked him presumed that this was a German word and asked what the German word "

dick Dick, Dicks, or Dick's may refer to: Media * ''Dicks'' (album), a 2004 album by Fila Brazillia * Dicks (band), a musical group * ''Dick'' (film), a 1999 American comedy film * "Dick" (song), a 2019 song by Starboi3 featuring Doja Cat Names ...

" meant in English. Heinz Ganss replied: "large". "Oh", replied the Welshman and paraphrased: " king size". Ganss stuck to that and thus his stage name remained "King Size Dick" ('big and fat'), with no intended

phallic A phallus is a penis (especially when Erection, erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimesis, mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically— ...

connotation. In the Colognian dialect, the German adjective translates to as opposed to ''Dick'' which in Colognian, like in English, is also regarded a variation of the Christian name "

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

". Back home, his nickname and stage name remained "Dick", even in the Colognian dialect.

Discography (incomplete)

Albums

* ' (1979) * ' (1981) * ' (1990) * ' (1991) * ' (1993) * ''Kölsche Spezialitäten '' (1995) * ' (1996) * ' (2003) * ''Weihnacht'' (2009)

Singles

* ''Macho-girl'' (1990) * ''Wapapapa u.a.'' (1991) * ''Kölle my love'' (1995) * ''Halleluja'' (1995) * ' (1997) * ' (1997) * ' (1998) * ' (2001) * ''Kölsche Evergreens'' (2007) * ' (2010)

References

External links

King Size Dick – official Website

King Size Dick at Musicline.de
*
Agentur Ahrens - Profile of King Size Dick from his Agent

Musical Video Clips featuring King Size Dick
{{Authority control German rock musicians German comedy musicians Musicians from Cologne 1942 births Living people