III
Veronika Fischer

About:

28 July 1951

Born in the former DDR in the small town of Wölfis, Thuringia she began singing at the Dresdner Musikhochschule Carl Maria von Weber in 1968. she started performing with various bands at the start of the seventies, such as the Fred-Herft combo and the Stern-Combo Meissen. In 1973 she was first heard on a recording in the debut album of the band Panta Rhei (later members of this band founded Karat).

By then Fischer was a graduate to study music as a soloist with the state examination for song and musicals from. In 1974 she founded her own group: Veronika Fischer & Band. This band was Franz Bartzsch (piano, keyboards, vocals) who would be responsible for most of the compositions and arrangements for a long time. On the LP Veronika Fischer & Band also took part, the guitarist and singer John Biebl. Her first solo album was released 1975. Veronika became popular very quickly in Eastern Germany where she would get the petname ‘Vroni’. Her first two albums sell over 1,5 million copies. In 1977 she split up the original band, dedicates herself to acting, only to start a solo-carreer soon after. Co-operator in this project was Thomas Natschinski. The album ‘Aufstehn’ wasn’t the success she hoped for and in 1979 she returns to work with Franz Bartzsch. In the late 1970s she appeared in two albums of Reinhard Lakomy with music for children (Geschichtenlieder 1978 and Traumzauberbaum 1980). In 1979, her son Benjamin was born from her relation with the Hungarian Laszlo Kleber.

In 1981 the family was able to leave the DDR and moved to West Berlin. after Bartzsch already fled to the West. The album ‘Staunen’ was the result of their experiences in the West. To establish a name in West-Germany turned to be less easy then expected on her success in the DDR. In 1983 she took part in the German preliminary decision on the Euro Vision Song Contest. The song ‘Unendlich weit’ ended last but did turn out to be her biggest hit in Germany. After several futile attempts to get hold of the West-German market she returned to the eastern part of Germany after the wall fell in 1990. In 1993 she made a grand return in the charts with the single ‘Sohn meiner Nachbarin’ ( a coverversion of ‘Son of a preacher man’) from the album ‘Was ist dabei’. The single stayed in the ZDF charts until 1995. In 1997 she wrote the score for the children’s musical ‘Das Kind und der Kater’ and released a Cd with Christmas songs. Around this time she also started working with lyricist Gisela Steineckert with whom she records ‘Tief im Sommer’. In 2001 she celebrates 30 years anniversary with a jubilee concert (with several guests) which was recorded for a live-DVD. Always reason to celebrate, the 35th anniversary was celebrated with a 5CD compilation and book. After this she starts working with Andreas Gundlach and Steineckert on the 2008 album ‘Unterwegs zu mir’

On the web:

- Veronika's official website: http://www.veronikafischer.de/

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What do we think:

DB: Famous in East Germany. Veronika embodies the more pop side of DDR rock, or the more rock side of DDR pop. Some might say she has something of her West German collague Juliane Werding but Veronika is not enough schlager to keep that up. Her fate was sad though. The East german public loved every song she made but in West Germany her career slowed almost to a halt. If you like your pop not too daring and of nice quality she is worth looking for. .

Recommendations:

- Veronika Fischer & Band - 1975

♪♪♪♪ - Sommernachtsball - 1976

♪♪♪ - Aufstehn - 1978

Goldene Brücken - 1980

Staunen - 1981

♪♪♪ - Unendlich weit - 1983

Sehnsucht nach Wärme - 1984

Spiegelbilder - 1987

Veronika Fischer - 1989

Gefühle - 1991

Was ist dabei - 1993

Träumer - 1995

Mehr in Sicht - 1997

Tief im Sommer - 2001

Dünnes Eis - 2004

Unterwegs zu mir - 2008

 

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided