Elfi Graf (born Elfriede Sepp 20 November 1952 in

Dornbirn Dornbirn () is a city in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. It is the administrative centre for the district of Dornbirn, which also includes the town of Hohenems, and the market town Lustenau. Dornbirn is the largest city in Vorarlberg ...

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is ...

) is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n Schlagersinger.

Biography

Graf was born in

and grew up there with her two siblings. She studied classical music, but did not complete the course. In 1971, she won the talent competition ''

Show Chance Show or The Show may refer to: Competition, event, or artistic production * Agricultural show, associated with agriculture and animal husbandry * Animal show, a judged event in the hobby of animal fancy ** Cat show ** Dog show ** Horse show ** Sp ...

'' and then the schlager singer

Gus Backus Donald Edgar "Gus" Backus (September 12, 1937 – February 21, 2019) was an American singer. He started his career as a member of The Del-Vikings and later became a successful Schlager singer in Germany. Life and career Backus was born on Lon ...

discovered her in '' Talentschuppen''. After working as a telephonist, Graf had her first hit in 1974 with ''Herzen haben keine Fenster'', which was rewritten in English as '' My Melody of Love'', which was a hit for

Bobby Vinton Stanley Robert "Bobby" Vinton (born April 16, 1935) is a American former singer and occasional actor, who also hosted his own self-titled TV show in the late 1970s. As a teen idol, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music paid trib ...

, and as ''Don't stay away too long'', which was a hit for

Peters and Lee Peters and Lee were a successful British folk and pop duo of the 1970s and 1980s, comprising Lennie Peters (22 November 1931 – 10 October 1992, Enfield, Middlesex) and Dianne Lee (born February 1949). Background Lennie Peters (AKA Gary Hall; ...

. Its Russian version "''Люди, улыбнитесь миру''" (lyrics by

Igor Reznik Igor may refer to: People * Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name * Mighty Igor (1931–2002), former American professional wrestler * Igor Volkoff, a professional wrestler from NWA All-Star Wrestling ...

) has been sung by

Edita Piekha Edita Piekha (russian: Эди́та Станисла́вовна Пье́ха, ''Edita Stanislavovna Pyekha'', pl, Edyta Piecha, french: Édith-Marie Piecha) is a Soviet and Russian singer and actress of Polish descent. She was the third popular ...

since 1983.''Herzen haben keine Fenster'' was chosen by

Jan Feddersen Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

in 2008 as number three in a list of 'feelings charts'. Later in 1974, Graf won the ''

Goldene Europa Goldene Europa award is the oldest German Television award for artists and entertainers. It was awarded from 1968 to 2003. In the years 1989 and 2001, there were no ceremonies. Since 1981, the gala was broadcast on television. The original sculpt ...

'' and the silver '' Bravo-Otto''. Graf had further hits with the songs ''Am schönsten ist es zu Hause'' (1976) and ''Mozartgasse 10'' (1977). Her daughter Heidi was born in 1982. In 1990, Graf competed in the German preliminary round of ''

Grand Prix der Volksmusik The Grand Prix der Volksmusik (English: Grand Prix of Folk Music) was an annual regional song contest for folk music, held from 1986 until 2010. The countries taking part were Germany, Austria, Switzerland and, from 2000, South Tyrol. History The c ...

'' with the song ''Einen Adam, einen Apfel und ein kleines Paradies'', and in 1995, she competed in the Austrian round with the song ''Lieber Leierkastenmann''. Graf lives in

Götzis Götzis is a town in the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg. The Alpine Rhine valley municipality belongs to the district of Feldkirch. Population Events The town is well known for its annual hypo-combined events meeting, the so-called Hyp ...

and continues to appear in schlager festivals.

Songs

*''Herzen haben keine Fenster'' 1973 *''Wer auf die Liebe warten kann'' 1974 *''Orphelias Traum'' 1974 *''Er ist ein Schatz'' 1975 *''Tango in der Bar von Fernando'' 1975 *''Am schönsten ist es zu Hause'' 1976 *''Mozartgasse 10'' 1977 *''Die Stunde der Wahrheit'' 1977 *''Sommerwind'' 1977 *''Hoffnungslos verliebt in dich'' (Hopelessly devoted to you) 1978 *''Sunday Girl'' 1979 *''Einen Adam, einen Apfel und ein kleines Paradies'' 1990 *''Rote Rosen lügen nicht'' 1992

Discography

CDs (incomplete): *''Herzen haben keine Fenster'' *''Jedes Herz braucht doch nur eine Heimat'' 1994 *''Wenn mei Herz a Fensterl hätt 1994 *''Versprich mir keinen Regenbogen'' 1994 *''Eine Hand voll kleiner Träume'' 1996 *''Aber Dich vergess ich nie'' 2001 *''Lieder und Geschichten zur Weihnachtszeit'' *''Ich hör dir zu'' 2006

References

External links

* 1952 births Living people People from Dornbirn 20th-century Austrian women singers Schlager musicians {{Austria-singer-stub