Silver Convention were 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
**Ger ...
Euro disco
Eurodisco (also spelled as Euro disco) is the variety of European forms of electronic dance music that evolved from disco in the late 1970s, incorporating elements of pop and rock into a disco-like continuous dance atmosphere. Many Eurodisco ...
recording act of the 1970s. The group was originally named Silver Bird Convention or Silver Bird.
Career
The group was initiated in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
by producers and songwriters
Sylvester Levay
Sylvester Levay (originally Lévay Szilveszter, Serbian language, Serbian: Силвестер Леваи, ''Silvester Levai'') is a Hungarian people, Hungarian recording artist and composer, born in Yugoslavia (now Serbia).
Life and career
Levay ...
and
Michael Kunze
Michael Rolf Kunze (born 9 November 1943, in Prague) is a foremost German musical theater lyricist and librettist.
He is best known for the hit musicals '' Elisabeth'' (1992), '' Dance of the Vampires'' (1996), ''Mozart!'' (1999), ''Marie Antoine ...
. The group was named after Levay, "Silver" being Levay's nickname. Kunze had in the late 1960s been a pop lyricist who wrote protest songs in German; when these tunes went out of style, he began producing pop records and commercials.
Levay had developed a taste for American music while growing up in Yugoslavia, eventually becoming a music arranger and lyricist.
[
Using female session vocalists named Ingrid, Wilma and Monica, they scored a ]successful
Success is the state or condition of meeting a defined range of expectations. It may be viewed as the opposite of failure. The criteria for success depend on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One person migh ...
single in the United Kingdom in 1975 with the song " Save Me", which peaked at #30. They later used other vocalists, such as Gitta Walther
Gitta Walther was a German singer and author. She released many recordings under the pseudonyms 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 b ...
, 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 ...
, Betsy Allen, Roberta Kelly
Roberta Kelly (born November 23, 1942) is an American disco and urban contemporary gospel singer who scored three hits on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart between 1976 and 1978. Her most successful US hit single, " Trouble-Mak ...
, 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 ...
for their first recordings
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, r ...
and upcoming album. Since they were only a studio group, Levay and Kunze realized then that they would need to find professional entertainers for presentation to the public. Penny McLean, Ramona Wulf
Ramona Wulf (born 18 October 1954) is a German singer. Her biggest success as a solo singer was in 1971 with the song ''Alles was wir woll'n auf Erden'' which reached number 8 on the German single charts. She was the public face of Silver Conventi ...
and Linda G. Thompson became the public face of Silver Convention.
They scored two major US and Canadian hit singles. "Fly, Robin, Fly
"Fly, Robin, Fly" is a song by the German disco group Silver Convention from their debut studio album '' Save Me'' (1975). Sylvester Levay and Stephan Prager wrote the song, and the latter produced it. "Fly, Robin, Fly" was released as the third ...
", of which the complete lyrics consisted of only six different words (fly, robin, up, to, the, sky), maintained three weeks at #1 in late November and early December 1975, and won the group a Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance The Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many ...
. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
by the R.I.A.A.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
in December 1975. Initially the song was titled "Run, Rabbit, Run", changed by the writers moments before the recording took place. Their next success "Get Up and Boogie
''Get Up and Boogie'' (sometimes also known simply as ''Silver Convention'') is the second studio album by the German disco group Silver Convention, and perhaps best known for including the song "Get Up and Boogie", which hit #1 on June 15, 1976 ...
", which also consisted of only six different words (Get, Up, And, Boogie, That's, Right), hit #1 in Canada on June 15, 1976, had 3 weeks at #2 in the U.S in June 1976 and also peaked at #7 in the UK, in May 1976. Their next release, "No No Joe," only scored #60 in September 1976. The further singles released by the trio attempted to duplicate the sound that had made them successful briefly, but they were only minor successes. At this time, Linda G. Thompson left the group and was replaced by New Yorker Rhonda Heath, who was chosen over other hopefuls at an open casting call to become the newest singer for the group.
Michael Kunze wrote the lyrics on the first two albums under the pseudonym Stephan Prager. During this time the three singers released their own solo work. McLean and Thompson achieved hit singles with "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 ...
" and " 1-2-3-4... Fire!", and "Ooh What a Night" respectively. Wulf's solo effort was only a moderate success.
Silver Convention represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977
The Eurovision Song Contest 1977 was the 22nd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in London, United Kingdom, following the country's victory at the with the song "Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man. Organise ...
with "Telegram
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
", finishing eighth. The entry had only English lyrics (with considerably more words than their past hits), but was allowed to enter in spite of the language rule being reintroduced this year, because the song was chosen to represent Germany before the reintroduction was announced. In 1994, Rhonda Heath returned to Eurovision, providing backing vocals and keyboards for the German entry "Wir Geben 'Ne Party
Wir, WIR or WiR may also refer to:
Organisations
* WIR Bank, a complementary currency system in Switzerland
* Washington and Idaho Railway
* West India Regiments, a colonial regiment of the British Army
* Wolność i Równość, a Polish politic ...
" performed in German by Mekado MeKaDo was a German girl group that represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 1994
The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 was the 39th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at ...
. This entry did better than Silver Convention's effort, finishing third out of the 25 entries in Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
.
With a new producer, John Davis, and a revised line-up of singers (Suzie McClosky a.k.a. Zenda Jacks, Rhonda Heath and Ramona Wulf), Silver Convention was successful again during 1978 with the album ''Love in a Sleeper''. The 12" single
The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...
release from the LP was "Spend the Night With Me" backed with "Mission To Venus".
Levay also worked with 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 Kunze began work with Jim Steinman
James Richard Steinman (November 1, 1947 – April 19, 2021) was an American composer, lyricist and record producer. He also worked as an arranger, pianist, and singer. His work included songs in the adult contemporary, rock, dance, pop, mus ...
. The solo careers of the three singers ended quickly and they left the music industry
The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...
, since interest in the disco scene was declining during this period. Levay and Kunze later collaborated on the successful Vienna productions of the musicals ''Elisabeth'', ''Mozart!'' and ''Rebecca''.
First U.S. concert for Braniff Airways
Silver Convention's first United States Concert was held at Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...
, in the North Hangar of Braniff International Airways
Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was an airline in the United States that once flew air carrier operations from 1928 un ...
Operations and Maintenance Base at Dallas Love Field
Dallas Love Field is a city-owned public airport northwest of downtown Dallas, Texas., effective April 10, 2008 It was Dallas' main airport until 1974 when Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) opened. Love Field covers an area of a ...
Airport on Wednesday evening, February 23, 1977. The group had travelled from Acapulco, Mexico
Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...
, where they had also performed on February 19, 1977 for Braniff during a special party dubbed Three Evenings To Remember. The airline threw the promotional party to announce its new Ultra Elegance Campaign and debut new air and ground crew uniforms by American fashion designer Halston
Roy Halston Frowick (April 23, 1932 – March 26, 1990), known mononymously as Halston, was an American fashion designer who rose to international fame in the 1970s.
His minimalist, clean designs, often made of cashmere or ultrasuede, were a ...
. Silver Convention penned a song titled "Ultra Ultra" specifically for Braniff to commemorate the carrier's new inflight service; this song they performed in Acapulco and at the Dallas concerts. The day after the Love Field concert, the group travelled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, to tape an interview for ''The Mike Douglas Show
''The Mike Douglas Show'' was an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went into nati ...
''.
Cover versions of their songs
American jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
flautist Herbie Mann
Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet (incl ...
recorded a cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of "Fly, Robin, Fly" for his 1976 album, ''Bird in a Silver Cage
''Bird in a Silver Cage'' is an album by flautist Herbie Mann recorded in 1976 and released on the Atlantic Records label. '', which was co-produced and arranged by Sylvester Levay. The Australian/British string quartet Bond
Bond or bonds may refer to:
Common meanings
* Bond (finance), a type of debt security
* Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States
* Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemical ...
also recorded a version of "Fly, Robin, Fly" for their 2004 album, ''Classified''. In 2003, German lifestyle company Apartment20 produced a version of "Fly, Robin, Fly", which featured Ramona Wulf on lead vocals and in the video for the song.
The Dancing Tolmans And Johnny Brogan covered "San Francisco Hustle" on their album "The Dancing Tolmans And Johnny Brogans Anniversary Album". The song was also covered by Blackbuster in 1976, in their album "Blackbuster 3".
The song "Get Up and Boogie" was also covered by American industrial metal band Static-X
Static-X is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1994. The line-up has fluctuated over the years, but was long-held constant with band founder, frontman, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Wayne Static until his ...
, and released as a bonus track for the album ''Cannibal
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...
'', in 2007.
"Thank You, Mr. DJ", a B-side of the "No, No, Joe" single was sampled by the Australian alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
band Regurgitator
Regurgitator are an Australian rock band from Brisbane, Queensland, formed in late 1993 by Quan Yeomans on lead vocals, guitar and keyboards; Ben Ely on bass guitar, keyboards and vocals; and Martin Lee on drums. Their debut studio album, ''Tu ...
for the track "The Song Formally Known As" from their second album, ''Unit
Unit may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''
* Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation
Music
* ''Unit'' (alb ...
''.
American alternative rock band the Bloodhound Gang
The Bloodhound Gang was an American rap rock band from Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1988 by rappers Jimmy Pop and Daddy Long Legs (now in Wolfpac) as a hip-hop group, before branching out into other genres as their career pro ...
sampled "Get Up and Boogie" for the main riff of their 1996 song "Lift Your Head Up High (And Blow Your Brains Out)", released on their album ''One Fierce Beer Coaster
''One Fierce Beer Coaster'' is the second studio album by American band Bloodhound Gang, released on December 3, 1996. Produced by Jimmy Pop, it was the band's first release on Geffen Records, and the first to feature "Evil" Jared Hasselhoff on ...
''. The sample was played as is during performances of the song with Lupus Thunder
The Bloodhound Gang was an American rap rock band from Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1988 by rappers Jimmy Pop and Daddy Long Legs (now in Wolfpac) as a hip-hop group, before branching out into other genres as their career progr ...
, but Daniel P. Carter
Daniel Philip Carter (born 16 November 1972) is a British musician and radio DJ. He is the former singer and guitarist for hardcore punk band Hexes, the former bassist for A, the former lead guitarist for alternative rock band Bloodhound Gang ...
replaced it with a live guitar part.
Discography
*'' Save Me'' (1975)
*''Get Up and Boogie
''Get Up and Boogie'' (sometimes also known simply as ''Silver Convention'') is the second studio album by the German disco group Silver Convention, and perhaps best known for including the song "Get Up and Boogie", which hit #1 on June 15, 1976 ...
'' (1976)
*'' Madhouse'' (1976)
*''Summernights
''Summernights'' (released in some countries as: ''Golden Girls'') is a 1977 album by German euro-disco group Silver Convention, which at the time consisted of vocalists Penny McLean, Ramona Wolf and Rhonda Heath, along with producer-songwriter ...
'' (1977)
*''Telegram
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
'' (1977)
*''Love in a Sleeper
''Love in a Sleeper'' is the final studio album released by German euro-disco group Silver Convention, which at the time consisted of vocalists Ramona Wulf, Rhonda Heath and Zenda Jacks. The album managed to chart in the RPM 's disco album chart ...
'' (1978)
See also
* List of number-one hits (United States)
This is a list of songs that have peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the magazine's national singles charts that preceded it. Introduced in 1958, the Hot 100 is the pre-eminent singles chart in the United States, currently mon ...
* List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
This is a list of recording artists who have reached number one on '' Billboard'' magazine's weekly singles chart(s). This list spans from the issue dated January 1, 1955 to the present. Prior to the creation of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, ''Bil ...
* List of number-one dance hits (United States)
This is a list of number-one dance hits as recorded by ''Billboard'' magazine's Dance Club Songs chart – a weekly national survey of popular songs in U.S. dance clubs. It began on October 26, 1974, under the title ''Disco Action'' chart. It is c ...
* List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
This is a list of recording artists who have reached number one on ''Billboard magazine's'' Dance Club Songs chart. ''Billboard'' began ranking dance music on the week ending October 26, 1974, and this is the standard music popularity chart in th ...
Notes
References
{{Authority control
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Germany
German dance music groups
Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1977
Eurodisco groups
German musical trios
Grammy Award winners
Musical groups established in 1974
Musical groups disestablished in 1979
German girl groups
Atco Records artists
Magnet Records artists