My favorite loser ever since. After some small hits in 63 and 64, Drafi hit big time with his “Marmor Stein und Eisen bricht" (Marble breaks and Iron bends in the English version) in 1965 - even today, every German can sing this hymn -, followed by more hits in 1966. But then bad luck stroke hard: Two little girls reported they saw Drafi pulling out his **** from his balcony, go figure! (at the trial, it was never been proved he tried to invite the girls, and Drafi stated he just had a piss at a party). Thus, the 20yo singer got sentences to 9 month of jail on probation, plus a 1000 DM fine, but what was worse was the German media, spearheaded by Axel Springer’s Bild Zeitung, started a hate campaign and totally ignored his recordings. Nevertheless, Drafi would soldier on outing recordings after recordings, many published under the most various pseudonyms, often with little success, and he would keep on recording until his death in 2006. Without never really charting it again.
I’ve called this little collection of his best work Drrrafi! as he had the quirk to stress the rrrr in the German speaking which gave him kind of a trademark. You’ll hear a great singer with a unique voice and a strong like for highly commercial sounds, backed by The Magics who where one of the sharpest bands around, progressively sounding like The Creation. Commercial meets Garage. More that the pinnacle of German Pop music, Drafi is the epitome of Germany. Hail to my hero!
Trrrrrrr-äume in comments
