''Rosenzeit'' is the last studio album by German singer and actor Roy Black. It was released on 23 August 1991 through

EastWest Records East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in London, England. History Upon its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had one hit with th ...

, just a few months before Black's death of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

. The entire album was produced by

Dieter Bohlen Dieter Bohlen (; born Dieter Günter Bohlen, 7 February 1954) is a German songwriter, producer, singer and television personality. He first achieved fame as a member of pop duo Modern Talking in the 1980s, and has since produced numerous German a ...

, with Luis Rodríguez acting as a co-producer.

Background

Dieter Bohlen was first contacted by the

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, Jürgen Otterstein, who asked him if he could picture himself producing Roy Black. Initially, Bohlen refused vehemently, as he considered Black's music as "absolute commercial schmaltz, even for me". Two days after the call, Black visited Bohlen in the studio. During their conversation, Black discussed his life in details, which "moved" Bohlen. Bohlen described himself as having "never been so positively surprised by someone as

e was E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plura ...

by Roy". This meeting left Bohlen feeling that he was unable to refuse to produce Black, and they immediately "began trying some things out". A day later, Bohlen contacted Black and told him he would produce songs for his next album, but that he did not want an advance payment. Indeed, he felt that he would not earn any money from the record.

Recording

''Rosenzeit'' was recorded at the Studio 33 in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Due to his other professional obligations, Black insisted that the recording take place in one day. As he had performed at a gala the previous day and had driven from Southern Germany to Hamburg, he was "exhausted" upon his arrival, and drank a lot of

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

. Bohlen insisted that Black rests before recording, which he initially refused but eventually accepted, and recording began in the early afternoon. Black's extensive drinking made him unable to remember the lyrics and melodies to the songs. As a result, Bohlen gave him a time lead and made him listen to the lyrics and melodies so that he could then sing what he was hearing, which Bohlen wrote "sounded surprisingly good" but made Black "strain himself excessively". The idea of making Black speak some parts of "Jeder braucht 'nen kleinen Flugplatz" instead of singing them came to Bohlen after witnessing that Black was too exhausted to continue following this method.

Track listing

All tracks are written by

Joachim Horn-Bernges Joachim Horn-Bernges is a German songwriter and music producer who has competed in the '' Eurovision Song Contest'' several times and for different countries. In 1989 he competed for both Germany and Austria.Eurovision Song Contest - Joachim Horn ...

and

and produced by Bohlen with Luis Rodríguez. Notes * "Frag Maria" uses the melody of " Lisa Said...", originally performed by

Blue System Blue System was a German pop group that was founded by Dieter Bohlen in 1986 after the break-up of Modern Talking. Career The group consisted of Dieter Bohlen (mastermind creator, composer, writer, producer, mixer, arranger and verse main vo ...

in 1991. * "Warum gerade du?" uses the melody of " When Sarah Smiles", originally performed by

in 1990.

Charts

Certifications

* Gold in 1991 in GermanySale certifications
GermanyAustria
/ref> * Gold in 1991 in Austria * Platinum in 1992 in Germany

References

{{Authority control 1991 albums