Wolfgang Ambros is an Austrian singer-songwriter. He is one of the most important contemporary Austrian musicians and is considered to be one of the founders of Austropop.

Life

1952–1970

Wolfgang Ambros was born in the Semmelweisklinik in Vienna and spent his early years in

Wolfsgraben Wolfsgraben is a municipality in the district of St. Pölten in the Austrian state of Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

. His father ran the

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

there, his mother worked as a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. Later the family moved to Preßbaum. Ambros attended the Bundeskonvikt in Vienna's 2nd district and the Gymnasium Astgasse in Vienna's 14th district, and later trained as a screen printer at the Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt (training discontinued). He first worked as a typewriter mechanic, display arranger and as a record salesman in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and for a year in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Music

His most famous songs are "''Schifoan''", "''Es lebe der Zentralfriedhof''" and "''Zwickt's mi''". "''Schifoan''" is effectively an anthem for the Austrian ski tourism and industry. Many Austrian skiers—but also many others—know the lyrics of this song. His musical styles are

pop-rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, ear ...

and sometimes

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

-elements. His first LP ''Es lebe der Zentralfriedhof'' was very controversial, because many critics accused him of copying and plagiarizing

Georg Danzer Georg Franz Danzer (7 October 1946, in Vienna – 21 June 2007, in Asperhofen, Lower Austria) was an Austrian singer-songwriter. Although he is credited as one of the pioneers of Austropop (most famous are his comic songs "Jö schau" (about a ...

. Ambros also released 3 cover albums (including songs by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

and Hans Moser. His latest album ''Steh grod'' (2006) is very successful.

Cooperations

Since 1978 Ambros has cooperated with the duo ''Tauchen/Prokopetz'', who were very successful with DÖF in the 1980s. Also since 1978 Ambros has sung at live concerts with his band No. 1 vom Wienerwald. In the 1980s Ambros sang together with

André Heller Franz André Heller (; born 22 March 1947 as Francis Charles Georges Jean André Heller-Hueart) is an Austrian artist, author, poet, singer, songwriter and actor. Biography Heller was born in Vienna into a wealthy Jewish family of sweets manufac ...

. One of his biggest concerts took place at the ''Wiener Weststadion''. Another one on the

Kitzsteinhorn The Kitzsteinhorn is a mountain in the High Tauern range of the Central Eastern Alps in Austria. It is part of the Glockner Group and reaches a height of AA. The Kitzsteinhorn Glaciers are a popular ski area. Geography The mountain is located n ...

was the highest place a rock concert ever took place. There were also cooperative efforts with the Viennese blues-musicians Harry Stampfer, Hans Thessink, Günter Dzikowski and DJ Kidpariz. In 1997 he founded with

Rainhard Fendrich Rainhard Jürgen Fendrich (born 27 February 1955) is an Austrian singer, composer, entertainer, and actor. He is one of the most successful Austropop musicians, and his songs are written in Viennese German. He is very popular in Austria, but less ...

and

the public charity "Initiative für Obdachlose" and the project Austria 3. On 10 December 1997 they were playing a unique concert, singing as group their own (solo) songs. The concert was done to collect money for homeless people and their public charity. Because of the success of this concert they continued this project and made many concerts in Austria and Germany and released three live-CDs from 1998 to 2000 (and some greatest hits-CDs). In 2005 he released the Album ''Der alte Sünder – Ambros singt Moser'', which was a cover album recorded with Christian Kolonovits. In 2002 he won the ''AMADEUS Austrian Music Award''.

Discography

Albums

* 1972: ''Alles andere zählt net mehr'' * 1973: ''Eigenheiten'' * 1976: ''Es lebe der Zentralfriedhof'' * 1976: ''19 Class A Numbers'' * 1977: ''Hoffnungslos'' * 1978: ''Wie im Schlaf'' (Lieder von Bob Dylan – Gesungen Von W. Ambros) * 1979: ''Nie und nimmer'' * 1980: ''Weiß wie Schnee'' * 1981: ''Selbstbewusst'' * 1983: ''Der letzte Tanz'' * 1984: ''Der Sinn des Lebens'' * 1985: ''No. 13'' * 1987: ''Gewitter'' * 1989: ''Mann und Frau'' * 1990: ''Stille Glut'' * 1992: ''Äquator'' * 1994: ''Wasserfall'' * 1996: ''Verwahrlost aber frei'' * 1999: ''Voom Voom Vanilla Camera'' * 2000: ''Nach mir die Sintflut – Ambros singt

Waits WAITS was a heavily modified variant of Digital Equipment Corporation's Monitor operating system (later renamed to, and better known as, "TOPS-10") for the PDP-6 and PDP-10 mainframe computers, used at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laborat ...

'' * 2003: ''Namenlos'' * 2005: ''Der Alte Sünder – Ambros singt Moser'' (songs by Hans Moser – sung by W. Ambros with the Ambassade Orchester Wien) * 2006: ''Steh Grod'' * 2007: ''Ambros singt Moser – Die 2te'' (songs by Hans Moser – sung by W. Ambros with the Ambassade Orchester Wien) * 2009: ''Wolfgang Ambros Ultimativ Symphonisch'' (sung by W. Ambros with the Ambassade Orchester Wien) * 2012: ''19 03 52''

Live albums

* 1979: ''Live ...auf ana langen finstern Strassn'' (2 LPs) * 1983: ''Ambros + Fendrich Open Air'' * 1986: ''Selected Live'' (2 CDs) * 1987: ''Gala Concert'' * 1991: ''Watzmann Live'' (2 CDs with 25 Tracks; Re-Release, 2005, 2 CDs with 40 Tracks) * 1997: ''Verwahrlost Aber Live'' * 2002: ''Hoffnungslos Selbstbewusst'' * 2007: ''Ambros Pur! (Duo Konzert mit G. Dzikowski – Live aus der Kulisse/Wien'' (DVD)

Plays

* 1973: Fäustling * 1974: Der Watzmann ruft * 1978: Schaffnerlos (Die letzte Fahrt des Schaffners Fritz Knottek) * 1981: Augustin (Eine Geschichte aus Wien)

Singles

References

External links

Official website

Austria 3 Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambros, Wolfgang Living people 20th-century Austrian male singers Wienerlied 21st-century Austrian male singers Year of birth missing (living people) Bellaphon Records artists