Georg Danzer | |
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Danzer in 2006
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Background information | |
Birth name | Georg Danzer |
Also known as | Schurl |
Born | 7 October 1946 |
Origin | Vienna, Austria |
Died | 21 June 2007 | (aged 60)
Genres |
Pop Folk rock Blues |
Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, singer-songwriter |
Instruments | Guitar |
Years active | 1967–2007 |
Associated acts | Austria3 |
Website | [1] |
Past members |
Wolfgang Ambros Georg Danzer Rainhard Fendrich |
Georg Franz Danzer (7 October 1946, Vienna – 21 June 2007, 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 streaker at the Café Hawelka) and "Hupf' in Gatsch", both in Viennese German), he always refused to be part of this genre.
Danzer was successful as a solo artist, but also in the group Austria3, along with Wolfgang Ambros and Rainhard Fendrich. Besides his music, he translated two books from Spanish into German, and was strongly involved in highlighting social inequalities, opposing racism and any form of societal discrimination, and the lifestyle of the bourgeoisie for all his life. Danzer was romantic, funny, socially engaged - and often a misfit. Having been a strong smoker for decades, he abstained from smoking after being diagnosed with lung cancer, but nevertheless died from the disease. His legacy includes some 400 songs.
Georg Danzer was the son of a communist Viennese magistrate and a lazy student. After his Matura (high school leaving certificate) he hitchhiked through Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. In autumn 1966 he applied for admission to Vienna's Akademie für Darstellende Künste (Drama Academy), but was not accepted; so instead he started studying Philosophy and Psychology in Vienna. In a 1968 ORF-Interview he stated his intention to study Journalism, to which moderator Gerhard Bronner replied: "Shift to music soon, young man“.