Drafi Deutscher
b. 9 May 1946, Berlin, Germany, of Hungarian descent, his musical talent was apparent from his youth. At 11 years old, his accordion skills earned victories in local talent contests but, before leaving school, he fronted various rock ‘n’ roll combos—notably the Timebombs and the Magics. After a watershed performance at a 1961 Twist festival in Berlin, the latter group acquired a full and lucrative schedule that took them all over Germany until 1963 when X-factor Deutscher was singled out for a recording contract by the German wing of Decca Records. His chart success was immediate, with two number 1 hits, Shake Hands and Heaute Male Ich Dein Bild, Cindy Lou, before reaching its zenith in 1965 with Marmor Stein Und Eisen Bricht, composed by Deutscher with Christian Bruhn, a member of his backing outfit, the Rainbows. Featuring an emotional spoken interlude, it lingered for nearly three months at number 1, during which time it was re-recorded in English as Marble Breaks Iron Bends. However, commercial breakthroughs in non-German markets were thwarted by cover versions such as that of Britain's Peter Fenton. After 1968, a new chapter in Deutscher's career began with his enrolment at the Berlin High School of Music to train as an opera singer. During his career in the charts he had 13 Top 50 hits in Germany. Additionally under the pseudonyms of Masquerade and Mixed Emotions he sold millions of records with lightweight pop hits and wrote a further 10 Top 10 hits for other artists.