Schlager music, as you may recall from a previous post, is a particular kind of Germanic pop music that’s been around since the 1950s. I find it hard to pin down, and therefore I can’t quite relate it to a particular American music style: it sounds to me like part Neil Diamond, part Bobby Vinton, part country music star (pick your favorite), part something else. Something for everyone, I guess. There are a surprising number TV shows on here that highlight past Schlager hits, usually presenting the original singer, who may now be in their 50s, 60s, 70s. They stand there, in an outfit that I guess harkens back to their heydays, and lip synch a performance to their songs. They never appear to be singing live.

Recently we were clicking around the TV dial one evening and ran across a show with some new Schlager music stars, including an Austrian named Andreas Gabelier. Here’s my quick summary of things to note about this extremely popular young Schlager singer:

– he’s young
– he’s got a slicked back, black, kind of puffed-up-on-top hairstyle
– he performs in Lederhosen
– he performs with some serious hip swivel action
– he sometimes performs in Lederhosen while swiveling his hips and playing the accordion at the same time
– he sings in a regional dialect of German, instead of in high German (which is actually a big part of his schtick)

A U.S. blogger compares him to American country music star Garth Brooks. But personally, I think he reminds me more of Elvis Presley. Well,  at least what Elvis would have been like if he’d had been Austrian, worn Lederhosen, played the accordion and yodeled while singing Schlager songs.

You can click here to see the performance we saw on TV. Alas, there’s no accordion playing in this one, but the performance does include Andreas wearing Lederhosen with a t-shirt, which seems to be his standard attire. He’s also yodeling in this song. Plus, he’s accompanied by skinny female dancers dressed in tight black jeans with red shirts that leave their midriffs bare.

See — there’s something for everyone.

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While looking up that clip of Andreas Gabelier’s performance just now on YouTube, I found a couple more clip worthy of sharing:

– Joint performance by Helene Fischer and Andreas Gabelier: this one captures some of why I’m fascinated with the  Schlager music phenomenon. In this clip, we have one of the biggest contemporary Schlager singers today, Helene Fischer, performing a medley of American songs with Andreas Gabelier. The medley includes songs originally written and/or performed by Johnny Cash, John Denver, Hank Williams, Nancy Wilson, Bob Seger, Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton. Not an obvious combination of styles from my way of thinking. Andreas also plays both the guitar and the harmonica in this clip.

– Live concert performance by Andreas Gabelier: finally, we get to see Andreas playing the accordion (in the opening song). Disclaimer: I did not watch the entire 41 minutes of this clip, so I don’t know what else happens after the opening number. Please report back if you do.

Enjoy.