Who was/is Joana ? - CDs, Vinyl LPs, DVD and more
Joana
"Her songs are from here and now, she has something to say, and she does it" (Ulrich Roski)
On the cover of her first album was written: "Vocals and Guitar: Hanni Emetz". That was 1968 and the record was called 'Folklore International'. Her first LP with her own songs was released three years later under the title 'Für Dich, Du heile Welt'. Johanna Emetz, born 1944 in Neustadt/Schwarzwald, had already worked as a teacher for one year before she decided to give up her civil servant status in order to work as a freelance singer and songwriter. In her repertoire, Joana shows an extraordinary stylistic diversity and a broad horizon, which for Mathias Henke "are not a late harvest of her career, however, but they run through the singer's career like a red thread" ('Hermes Handlexikon: Die großen Chansonniers und Liedermacher'). Joana sang German and international folklore, chansons by Brassens, Brel, Moustaki and Barbara in addition to her own songs. "It covers an intermediate area", wrote Heinz Mees in 1979 in a portrait of the artist in the magazine 'Folk-Magazin'. "...not as politically serious as Deter, Vargas, Mey. Not as private as Horn. Not as superficial as... yeah, that's when men come to mind again: Insterburg & Co for example. But what is she anyway? I confess, I can't think of a term, a drawer that really fits. Joana seems versatile to me, not so tightly defined, and that's meant positively."
Gretna Green is that small Scottish village directly behind the border to England which has long been a popular destination especially for non-Scottish underage marriages, as here (as in all of Scotland) one could get married before the age of 21 without parental blessing. From 1969 this regulation was unified for the whole of Great Britain (including Scotland) for 18 years. In the FRG, however, the age of majority was only reduced to this age in 1975, and as an escape from parental confinement and embrace, the freedom journey to Gretna Green was for some a 'revolutionary' step. I want to go with you to Gretna Green is a former friend with whom they - apart from their affection - have many intellectual similarities as well as political goals and sympathies (Die Falken, SDS). "After our breakup, we lost track of each other for several years. An accidental reunion turned out to be sobering: He had followed in the footsteps of his once despised father, a real estate agent, and drove through the area in the red Porsche Coupé as an autocratic macho! When I asked him, 'Does your being determine your consciousness?He said to me with an ironic smile: 'Well, you'll never grow up, typical woman ...' The content of the song was thus there, I just had to get it into shape and condense it." "We'd be good - instead of so raw/ But the circumstances aren't like that".
As a woman in the profession Joana wrote in 1980 about her experiences as a young singer and songwriter in the 60ies and 70ies. "So-called newcomer competitions, auditions in folk clubs - where I was sometimes rejected because I sang 'too beautifully' - or with managers, record bosses and music publishers were to say the least so unpleasant that I only found this form of portrayal years later: Only with irony was it possible for me to bring the theme 'As a woman in the profession' into a song. My experiences also speak for themselves, for example with the television editor of the series 'Liederzirkus' on ZDF, which was presented by Michael Heltau. When I asked him on the phone why he had cut the interview belonging to my song from the programme, he replied annoyed: 'Your face was literally looked at and you thought. You can't do that! A woman's got to be a woman!' Or the oh so 'progressive' organizers of the 'Open-Ear-Festival' in Mainz, who engaged me with the snotty phone call: 'Our motto this year is called 'Work-Love-Dream'. We'd like you to cover the area of love as a woman.' And finally my record boss, who moaned me that as a woman I should write more love songs and leave the socio-political topics to my male colleagues. I could still tell you about some very concrete intimacies, overtones and other 'grips' in my private sphere, not only of a spiritual nature, but since almost every woman knows this, I don't have to go into it any further ... It was the constant manipulation attempts of the record company that finally led me to found my own record label."
Thomas Rothschild certifies in his book 'Liedermacher' that Joana is a woman "who was able to assert herself in the German entertainment jungle without making lazy compromises". While Heinz Mees still thought in 1979 that Joana's engagement was limited to the criticism of individual states - "... no revolutionary tones have come from her so far (and they are probably not to be expected for the future either). Her social and societal critique adheres to the social framework of this state, which allows her to do so and which she also allows to do so. Joana won't interfere." -Joana described her political maxim in an interview for the German Environmental Foundation in 1985 as follows: "Everything that happens around me, big and small, flows into my songs, whether it is privately about interpersonal togetherness or about events that I experience at first hand as a committed peace woman and ecology fighter and as an active demonstrator [...] Thus my song and chanson evenings consist of a broad spectrum of themes, ... where, despite all the seriousness and mystery, the cabaret is not neglected, there is something to laugh about; because especially when laughing ... insights and insights follow us: Hermes Handlexikon: The great chansonniers and songwriters').
To date Joana has released more than two dozen albums, of which individual songs have repeatedly been included in the renowned 'Liederbestenliste'. She has also been awarded numerous national and international prizes, including the Mannheim 'Bloomaulorden', the German-French 'PAMINA' cultural prize and the Belgian Radio's 'EhrenAntenne' chanson prize.
www.joana.de
Extract from
Various - songwriter in Germany
Vol.4, For whom we sing (3-CD)
/various-songwriter-in-Germany-vol.4-for-who-who-we-sing-3-cd.html
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