German pop music is almost a category of its own. A lot of it is named “schlager” and is mostly commercial pop music with a distinct beat, often also quite march-like.  German music industry is really big business, and in addition to all the great native singers – they have also made “German music stars” out of a lot of foreign singers who otherwise have separate careers in their native countries.

This video is a great example – three girls from three different countries, who for several decades have been really big stars in Germany: Lithuanian Lena Valaitis (born 1943), British Ireen Sheer (born 1949) and American Peggy March (born 1948). In 2013 these three great singers got together on a German TV-show, to sing a dynamite medley of hits from the 60’s. The respective ages then spanned from 64 to 70, but they are all proof that talent is ageless. Lena (dressed in red), Ireen (dressed in brown) and the fabulous Peggy (dressed in silver) sure show you how to-do-it!

 

 

Peggy March was just 15 back in the early 60’s when she topped the US charts with “I Will Follow Him”. She is sometimes referred to as a One Hit Wonder, but that is all wrong; Peggy just relocated to Germany and has released an incredible amount of records there since 1963. The video below was recorded in 2013 also – and shows Peggy doing a brand new version of her old hit – and for once, the new version favourably compares to the original! This is one great lady whose looks and voice remain untouched by time!

 

 

Germany also gave Connie Francis a lengthy career there (making German records from 1960 up to 1992), and then there are all the great Scandinavian girl singers who had German careers: Siw Malmkvist, Wencke Myhre, Lill-Babs, Anna Lena Löfgren, Ann-Louise Hansson, Kirsti Sparboe, Anita Lindblom, Gitte Hænning, Dorthe Kollo….

Seems like I have to get back to the theme of foreign girls in German pop music in another post on this site. For now – enjoy Peggy and the others, and please note that these are not rare, comeback performances – these are girl singers at work in a country you might not have known they were working in!