Karl Heinz Schwab (16 August 1924 – 1 September 2014), known professionally as Ralf Bendix, was a German Schlager singer, music producer, composer and songwriter.

Biography

Early on, Ralf Bendix played the modern music of his time in bands, both as a soldier and in American custody. He began his studies - which he financed as a guitarist at the venue of

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

- in order to become a lawyer and economist, and graduated in 1952. He was then appointed head of the Düsseldorf office of the

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with F ...

. He held that position until 1962, although he had been already active as a Schlager singer for seven years. His artistic career began with a performance as a singer in a regional television show in the American city of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

in 1955. In the same year, he was also discovered in a young talent competition for the German music market. His successful performance was rewarded with a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with

Paul Kuhn Paul Kuhn may refer to: * Paul Kuhn (tenor) (1874–1966), German operatic tenor * Paul Kuhn (band leader) Paul Kuhn (12 March 1928 – 23 September 2013) was a German jazz musician, band leader, singer and pianist. He was the band leader of t ...

Electrola Electrola is a German record label and subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Based in Munich, its roster has included Chumbawamba, Matthias Reim, Helene Fischer, Brings, Höhner and Santiano. History On 8 May 1925 the British Gramophone Company ...

. The engagement of the

record company A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...

quickly paid off, when in June 1956, Ralf Bendix, now his artist's name, was noticed for the first time when the title "She was called Mary-Ann" - 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 "

Sixteen Tons "Sixteen Tons" is a song written by Merle Travis about a coal miner, based on life in the mines of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Travis first recorded the song at the Radio Recorders Studio B in Hollywood, California, on August 8, 1946. Cliff ...

" with German text by - was recorded and rose to the second place of the German hit singles chart. In 1958, he played a part along

Fred Bertelmann Fred Bertelmann (7 October 1925 – 22 January 2014) was a German singer and actor. Life Bertelmann was born in Duisburg in the Ruhr area, the son of a chemical industry employee. Aged nine, he became a chorister and later also studied cello, tru ...

in the music film ' in which he performed the hit song "Die Sonne von Andalucia". In addition, Ralf Bendix appeared under the pseudonym "Johnny Guitar" and published a total of four more singles on Electrola. Altogether, in the following years, 24 of his songs, mostly German versions of Italian and American hits, were placed in the German hit lists. His most successful interpretation was the self - produced German cover of the " Babysitter-Boogie", which, after it was issued in April 1961, stayed five weeks at No. 1, and earned him a Golden Record. The original, "

Baby Sittin' Boogie "Baby Sittin' Boogie" is a song written by Johnny Parker and performed by Buzz Clifford. It reached #4 in VG-lista, Norway, #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' pop chart, #17 on the UK Singles Chart, #27 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, R&B c ...

", had been issued in the US in January 1961 by

Buzz Clifford Reese Francis Clifford III (October 8, 1941 – January 26, 2018), known professionally as Buzz Clifford, was an American pop singer and songwriter. His biggest success came with his recording of "Baby Sittin' Boogie" (1961), which peaked at No. ...

and received a German text by . Even the baby voices were newly recorded, Klein-Elisabeth was the daughter of Electrola producer Hans Bertram. With this upbeat tune, he had a lasting success until 1964. Ralf Bendix displayed a more serious side of his activity with the Germanisation of American

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

songs and new spiritual songs; His attempt to create a new danse genre with "Tumba Tumbala" in 1972, however, was not successful. Other activities were more successful: From the end of the 1960s onwards, Ralf Bendix made a name for himself as a producer and talent maker. His discoveries included

Heino Heinz Georg Kramm (born 13 December 1938), known professionally as Heino, is a German singer of Schlager music, Schlager and traditional Volksmusik. Having sold a total of over 50 million records, he is one of the most successful German musici ...

, who was also produced by Bendix. After he retired from

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produc ...

, Ralf Bendix lived in Monaco and Florida and then in Switzerland, where he died on 1 September 2014 aged 90.Arno Ehring
''Heino trauert um seinen Entdecker.''
In: ''

Express Express or EXPRESS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn * '' The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid Music * ''Express'' ...

.'' 7. September 2014 (accessdate 8 November 2016).

Discography

Hit records (singles)

( Musikmarkt Top 30/50) * Airplay Top 50

Films

* 1958: ' * 1959: ' * 1959: ''Haus Vaterland (Tausend Sterne leuchten)'' * 1961: ''

What Is Father Doing in Italy? ''What Is Father Doing in Italy?'' (german: Was macht Papa denn in Italien?) is a 1961 West German musical comedy film directed by and starring Willy Fritsch, Gerhard Riedmann and Peter Kraus.Bock & Bergfelder p.442 It was shot in Agfacolor An ...

'' * 1961: '

Television

* 1985: ''WWF-Club'' (TV series) * 1970: ' (TV series) * 1966:–1970 ''Die Drehscheibe'' (TV series) * 1970: ''

Star Parade ''Starparade'' is a West German music television programme, which aired on ZDF from March 14, 1968, to June 5, 1980, and was hosted by Rainer Holbe, along with James Last and his orchestra who founded his world-wide success on the show. History ...

'' (TV series) * 1969: ' (TV series) * 1967–1974: '' Haifischbar'' (TV series) * 1966: ''Ab morgen haben wir Humor'' (TV film) * 1966: ' (TV series) * 1966: ''Der nächste Urlaub kommt bestimmt'' (TV series) * 1965: several appearances in ' (EWG, Quiz series) * 1965: ''Vom Ersten das Beste'' (TV film) * 1965: ''Deutsche Schlagerfestspiele 1965'' (TV film) * 1965: ''Gala 65'' (TV film) * 1964: ''Show hin – Schau her'' (TV film) * 1963: ''Strandgeflüster'' (TV film) * 1962: ''Deutsche Schlagerfestspiele 1962'' (TV film)

References

Bibliography

* Frank Laufenberg: ''Rock & Pop Lexikon''. Econ Taschenbuch Verlag 1998, , Volume 1, p. 127. * : ''Hitbilanz Deutsche Chart Singles 1956–1980.'' Taurus Press 1987, .

External links

*
Ralf Bendix bei steffi-line.de

Ralf Bendix bei memoryradio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bendix, Ralf Schlager musicians German male singers German record producers Musicians from Dortmund 1924 births 2014 deaths