GABRIELE / Susi Ball Onkel Satchmo's Lullaby (CD)

1-CD with 16-page booklet, 25 tracks, playing time 58:26 minutes. -

“Maybe in 3, 4, 5, 6 years they'll want my autograph too,” sings the eleven-year-old Gabriele full of hope and optimism on her debut single, which was released in 1958.

But she doesn't have to wait that long, because she immediately makes it into the charts, and soon the little girl is eagerly handing out lots of photos with her name on them to a steadily growing fan base.

She is celebrated as a new child star in the German pop scene, because 'little Cornelia', who previously held this place, has since blossomed into teenager Conny.

Gabriele Clonisch, born on June 11, 1947, grew up in Kochel in southern Bavaria. Unlike her two older brothers, she was already a music enthusiast as a child. She would spend hours every day in front of the radio, and when the German stations didn't have anything she liked, she listened to AFN. She can effortlessly sing along with the latest hits, especially the songs by Caterina Valente and Doris Day. At a children's carnival party, she is given the opportunity to perform a few songs, and she is so well received by the audience that further performances follow.

“Actually, the girl should sing on the radio,” people keep saying. Gabriele agrees. She dreams of hearing herself on the radio and she constantly badgers her father, a respected building contractor, about it. At least the Clonisch family has a tape recorder, so there's no problem in recording her little daughter's singing talents. And so one day, Mr. Clonisch goes to the Bavarian Radio in Munich with a tape in his pocket. He actually manages to get to the executive floor to see Carl Michalski and play him the tape. Michalski passes it on to the producer Gerhard Mendelson, and just one week later Gabriele receives an invitation to an audition with the composer Werner Scharfenberger. He is so enthusiastic about the cute little girl, who sings with her powerful voice without fear, that everything else happens pretty quickly. In June 1958, the first record with Gabriele was produced in Vienna.

She does not sing children's songs, but modern, rhythmically arranged hits. With the title “Vielleicht in 3, 4, 5, 6 Jahren” (Maybe in 3, 4, 5, 6 years), written by Werner Scharfenberger and Fini Busch, she soon made it onto the bestseller lists, where the recording was able to hold its own for a total of 10 weeks, reaching number 7 as the highest position.

The Hirtenblues, which Gabriele performs with considerable feeling on the flip side of this single, is also very popular with Schlager fans. This is the Swinging Shepherd Blues, which initially achieved high chart positions in an instrumental version and later in a vocal version with Ella Fitzgerald.

Gabriele does an amazing job. She skillfully masters the hiccup singing technique that was fashionable at the time like an old hand. In general, she proves to be quite professional without losing her naturalness.

Lyricist Fini Busch remembers the little girl as a sweet and lively girl: “She was very eager to learn and always made sure that she did everything properly.”

Right from her first record, Gabriele is able to land an appearance in the film 'Mein Schatz ist aus Tirol', and so the charming little urchin with the mischievous smile quickly becomes a favorite with the audience.

“Conny has competition,” writes the press. But that's not true at all. With her pertly bobbing petticoats and hot rock ‘n’ roll numbers, Conny has long since broken free of her image as a child star and is now considered an idol among teenagers. Gabriele, on the other hand, is intended to appeal primarily to adults and children. Although her songs have a pretty cool sound, the content is consistently about topics that correspond to her age. She sings about her love of chocolate ice cream and tells little, touching animal stories.

Besides her career, Gabriele also has a normal everyday life. This includes school, where her activities in show business are not looked upon favorably.

“It was a constant battle with my headmistress,” the singer remembers. ‘She kept calling me to her and lecturing me. But I didn't let it get to me.”

In 1959, Gerhard Mendelson comes up with an idea that causes quite a media stir. He has Gabriele sing a duet with world star Louis Armstrong, affectionately known to fans as ’Uncle Satchmo'. The song is called 'Uncle Satchmo's Lullaby' and was written by Erwin Halletz and Hans Bradtke.

The German-English duet of the unlikely pair receives an enormous response, because the combination of the gravelly voice of the great old jazz musician and the childlike charm of little Gabriele is extraordinarily appealing. Their joint appearance in the music film 'La Paloma' is one of the highlights of this film, which makes the box office ring. Producer Mendelson and the Polydor record bosses are more than satisfied, because the recording rises inexorably in the sales charts, enters the top ten and is listed for a total of 28 weeks.

 Gabriele

Gabriele * June 11, 1947 When little Gabriele (Clonisch) gets the chance to sing with Louis Armstrong in the German-English duet "Uncle Satchmo's Lullaby" in 1959, there are already several recordings on the market with her: with "Hirten-Blues", the cheerful "Vielleicht in 3, 4, 5, 6 Jahren" and with the song about "Schokoladeneis", which is also tailored to her age, the girl had already jumped in the hit parade.

Polydor (in this case represented by her producer Gerhard Mendelson) has thus succeeded in raising a new child star at least for a short time, following the example of Cornelia Froboess, who has since grown up into a teenager.

Cute and cheeky Gabriele from southern Bavaria is becoming the nation's favourite, goes on tour with Max Greger and plays in pop movies. Then she trains figure skating and appears - but now only with moderate success - at the end of 1961 as Gabriela, in 1963 as Susi Ball again on records. Later Gabriele Clonisch studied languages, got married and withdrew from the public.

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