Urs Alfred "Polo" Hofer (16 March 1945 – 22 July 2017) was a Swiss

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

musician. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Swiss rock music and a ″national treasure″ of Switzerland.

Career

Hofer composed and sang in

Bernese German Bernese German (Standard German: ''Berndeutsch'', gsw, Bärndütsch) is the dialect of High Alemannic German spoken in the Swiss plateau (Mittelland) part of the canton of Bern and in some neighbouring regions. A form of Bernese German is spoke ...

, and was one of the most popular protagonists of Swiss-German rock and pop music, so-called ''Mundartrock''. Co-founding the then-popular Swiss rock groups ''Rumpelstilz'' and ''Schmetterband'', Hofer published 18 music albums and composed about 350 songs. He also published poems, books, acted in Swiss-oriented movies, and was on tour as singer until his death.Tagesschau SRF 1 on 16 March 2015

Rumpelstilz

The pop music group ''Rumpelstilz'' was founded in 1971 by Hanery Amman (piano) and Polo Hofer (vocals, lyrics), along with Jürg Werren (guitars), Sami Jungen (bass) and Hans Jungen (drums). Hans Jungen was replaced soon after its founding by Küre Güdel, and half a year later René "Schifer" Schafer replaced Jürg Werren. The first single ''Warehuus Blues'' (Swiss German, meaning "department store blues") was released in 1973 and was less successful, and in 1975 the first LP ''Vogelfuetter'' (meaning "bird seed") was released. The band's performance at the

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

in 1975 opened the band's sound to a wider audience. The song ''Teddy'' marked the commercial breakthrough in 1976, and shortly afterwards ''Kiosk'' became their greatest hit. Both singles are compilations taken from the LP ''Füüf Narre im Charre'' (five jesters in the wheelbarrow), which was released in a German translation "Fünf Narren im Karren" one year later, and ''Kiosk'' was ranking in the single charts in Germany. The fourth album was published in 1978 as the double LP ''Fätze u Bitze vo geschter u Jitze'', including the film score for ''Kleine frieren auch im Sommer'' by Peter von Gunten, and a live concert from the ''Atlantis'' event venue in Basel. Thenafter, the band members pursued solo projects. In 1989 three concerts were given, followed by a further live album and an acclaimed tour in Switzerland. After that, the band split definitely.

Life

Born as Urs Alfred Hofer in

Interlaken Interlaken (; lit.: ''between lakes'') is a Swiss town and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern. It is an important and well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss A ...

, he had two brothers, and lived in

Oberhofen am Thunersee Oberhofen am Thunersee is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Oberhofen am Thunersee is first mentioned in 1133 as ''Obrenhoven''. The oldest trace of a settlement in the area ...

. He died on 22 July 2017 at the age of 72.

Awards (excerpt)

* 1995:

Prix Walo The Prix Walo is the most important award in Swiss show business. It is known as the " Swiss Oscar". Awards since 1994 Honorable - Walo - awards * 1983: Charly Fritsche * 1991: Eynar Grabowsky * 1992: Willi Schmidt, First Harmonic Brass Ba ...

* 2011: Swiss Music Awards for his lifetime work * 2015: Swiss of the year

References

Literature

* Orlando Geremia: ''Ross’n’Roll. Mit Polo Hofer auf grosser Tour durch die kleine Schweiz.'' elfundzehn, Eglisau 2014, .

External links

* * 1945 births People from Interlaken Swiss rock musicians Swiss pop musicians 2017 deaths 20th-century guitarists 21st-century guitarists 20th-century composers 21st-century composers 20th-century Swiss musicians 21st-century Swiss musicians 20th-century Swiss male actors 21st-century Swiss male actors 20th-century multi-instrumentalists 21st-century multi-instrumentalists {{Switzerland-singer-stub