Drafi Deutscher

Early life and career

Deutscher was born in Charlottenburg, in the western zone of Berlin (Germany). Between 1964 and 1966, Deutscher had a string of hits in Germany, for example Shake Hands (1964 #1), Keep Smiling (1964 #7), Cinderella Baby (1965 #3), Heute male ich dein Bild, Cindy-Lou (1965 # 1).

1965-1967: Marmor, Stein und Eisen bricht and career peak

His best known song was the 1965 Schlager "Marmor, Stein und Eisen bricht" (lit. "Marble, Stone and Iron Break") which sold over one million copies, and was awarded a golden record. 19-year-old Deutscher had ad-libbed the tune during an October 1965 audition at Musikverlag Edition Intro Gebrüder Meisel GmbH by humming the melody and only singing the characteristic chorus line of "Dum-Dum, Dum-dum"; asked by present songwriter Christian Bruhn what he intended to do with it to turn it into a complete song, he replied, "Det machst du! ("I want you guys to take care of it for me!"), so songwriter Günter Loose subsequently wrote the German lyrics to the melody.

In the US, the song was released in 1966 under the title Marble breaks and iron bends with English lyrics sung by Deutscher. This English version entered the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1966, peaking at # 80, and sparking a number of English cover versions by contemporary acts such as The Deejays (under the title Dum Dum (Marble Breaks and Iron Bends)), as well as by the two Australian acts Peter Fenton and Toni & Royce (aka Toni McCann and Royce Nicholas), none of which seem to have charted. The song later featured in the 2006 film Beerfest, during the Oktoberfest scene.

1967 to early 1980s: Trial, obscurity, and working under pseudonyms

After his 1965 hit Marmor, Stein und Eisen bricht, his career in Germany was in full swing when it was shaken by a 1967 conviction for public indecency (Erregung öffentlichen Ärgernisses) after he had urinated from a balcony while drunk, in plain view of a group of schoolchildren watching him from street level. After his 1967 conviction for public indecency, he virtually disappeared from the public eye as a singer for more than a decade, writing and producing several worldwide hits for Boney M, Nino de Angelo and Tony Christie throughout the 1970s under a number of pen names instead.

It took until the early 1980s for him to make media appearances as a singer again, while still going by various pseudonyms such as Mr. Walkie-Talkie (an act which saw notable commercial success particularly in the Benelux countries) and Jack Goldbird. In 1982, a biopic loosely inspired by Deutscher's life was released to German theaters under the title of his greatest hit, 1965's Marmor, Stein und Eisen bricht, in which he appeared in a small cameo role.

Mid-1980s and beyond: Comeback

In the fall of 1986, he achieved success with his duo, Mixed Emotions, together with Oliver Simon, and their single You Want Love (Maria, Maria ...), a collaboration which sparked three more follow-up hit singles in a row by 1987, a TV theme hit in 1988 (Running Wild, used for an episode of the crime series Eurocops), and by its success finally inspired him to release his first new album under his real name in two decades, 1989's Über Grenzen geh'n (lit. "Crossing frontiers"). Deutscher's Das 11. Gebot got some airplay in 1989 on German radio.

Deutscher also worked with Christopher Evans Ironside, collaborating with him in the project named Masquerade, and on their co-written hit "Guardian Angel".

Declining health and death

In November 1998, Deutscher suffered two strokes, followed by a breakdown in 1999 due to increasing diabetes. He nevertheless continued touring, celebrating his 40-year stage anniversary in 2003. Deutscher died from heart failure in 2006 in Frankfurt am Main, at the age of 60.

Album discography