Heinz Gietz (born March 31, 1924 in Frankfurt am Main; died December 24, 1989 in Cologne) was a German composer, music producer, arranger, and songwriter. Together with Kurt Feltz, Gietz formed one of the most successful songwriting teams in post-war German pop music in Cologne. He received 30 gold records and wrote over 40 film scores.
He began taking violin lessons in 1935 and piano lessons in 1937. From 1941, he attended Dr. Hoch's Conservatory in Frankfurt, where he gained his first experience with jazz through Carlo Bohländer and Emil Mangelsdorff. During the Nazi era in 1941, the young Frankfurt musicians Bohländer and Mangelsdorff formed a jazz band with clarinetist Charly Petri, pianist and bassist Hans Otto Jung, and drummer Hans Podehl, which, according to Joachim-Ernst Berendt, was to become “the nucleus of post-war jazz in Frankfurt.” In 1943, Gietz was ordered to perform labor service and drafted into the Wehrmacht.
On May 17, 1945, the musicians of the Hotclub Sextet received a license from the US occupation authorities allowing them to perform in public. The ensemble, which continued to exist until 1948, included Heinz Gietz (piano), tenor saxophonist Werner Dies, guitarists Heinz Tischmann and Béla Martinelly, bassist Steve Spiegel, and drummer Willy “Bottle” Kühn. The sextet performed mainly in US clubs. From 1948 onwards, the sextet performed with a changed line-up (with Bohländer, Dies, Gietz, Louis Freichel (vibraphone), Jung (bass), and Horst Lippmann (drums)).
With his first composition, Gietz was accepted as a member of STAGMA (the legal predecessor of GEMA) in 1946. After the currency reform in 1948, he worked full-time as a composer and arranger for Hessischer Rundfunk. In 1949, the first title with a Heinz Gietz composition (Scharfe Kurven) was registered, but it was not performed. He made his first arrangement for the title Das machen nur die Beine von Dolores by Gerhard Wendland, which was recorded on June 11, 1951. On March 18, 1952, he wrote one of his first compositions for Gitta Lind, entitled Ein Traum (A Dream).[4] This was followed on February 2, 1953, by his composition Blumen für die Dame (Flowers for the Lady) for Gitta Lind, his first hit.
With the discovery of Caterina Valente, the first test recordings were made in 1953 at Südwestfunk in Baden-Baden. In the same year, a long and successful collaboration with lyricist and producer Kurt Feltz began. Heinz Gietz composed (together with Feltz) and arranged the first recordings for Caterina Valente in Cologne on March 29, 1954 (O Mama, o Mama, o Mamajo; Istanbul; Yes in Madrid and Barcelona with the Kurt Edelhagen Orchestra). Under Gietz, “die Valente” became an international superstar.
On October 14, 1955, the film Liebe, Tanz und 1000 Schlager (Love, Dance and 1000 Hits) premiered with the hits Casanova (Caterina Valente) and Eventuell, eventuell (Caterina Valente and Peter Alexander). This was followed on January 31, 1956, by Bonjour Kathrin with the hits Komm ein bisschen mit nach Italien and Es geht besser, besser, besser (Peter Alexander, Caterina Valente, and Silvio Francesco). Steig in das Traumboot der Liebe (Club Indonesia), released in April 1956 (number one on the German charts), also comes from the same film. In the same year, the films Du bist Musik (September 21, 1956) with the title song of the same name and Das hab ich gleich gewusst, both performed by Caterina Valente, as well as Musikparade (October 11, 1956) with the hits Ich weiß, was dir fehlt (Peter Alexander) and Im Hafen uns'rer Träume (Peter Alexander and Bibi Johns) were filmed. Further cinema hits followed in 1957 with Das haut hin (July 9, 1957) featuring the hits Das tu' ich alles aus Liebe and Ein bisschen mehr, sung by Peter Alexander, and Das einfache Mädchen (August 23, 1957) featuring the two hits Tipitipitipso and Dich werd ich nie vergessen, both sung by Caterina Valente. A year later, the film Und abends in die Scala (February 22, 1958) was made, which contains Gietz's greatest evergreen song, Habanero (released in December 1957), sung once again by Caterina Valente.
Heinz Gietz had arranged for former US soldier Bill Ramsey to be given a singing role in the film Musik im Blut (Music in the Blood), which was released in cinemas on December 20, 1955. At the end of 1957, he asked Ramsey if he would like to record an album. Gietz produced mood songs with the jazz musician Ramsey because Ramsey had only sold just under 35,000 copies of the jazzy recording Go, Man, Go with a gospel background in three years, compared to 500,000 copies of the hit Souvenirs. On January 29, 1959, the film Schlag auf Schlag (Blow by Blow) starring Peter Alexander was released in theaters.
Gietz continued to work for German big bands and was mainly employed by Kurt Edelhagen, for whose albums Kurt Edelhagen Presents (1957) and A Toast to the Bands (1959) he arranged several tracks, as well as the entire album A Toast to the Girls, which Edelhagen recorded in Cologne in 1958 together with Caterina Valente.
In 1959, Bill Ramsey, who had concentrated on humorous pop songs, and the Hazy Osterwald Sextet, for whom he first wrote the arrangement for the clever title Kriminal-Tango (October 1959), became new successful performers in collaboration with Gietz. The hit, originally from Italy, sold a million copies. He officially began his career as a producer in 1960 at the music production company Kurt Feltz, where he mainly wrote lyrics. Heinz Gietz then wrote Telefon aus Paris (May 1960; B-side of Gina, Gina) and the top hit Pigalle (February 1961) for Bill Ramsey, which also became an evergreen with a large number of cover versions.
In 1961, Gietz left the Feltz music production company, releasing his last hit there, the classic Zuckerpuppe (from the belly dance troupe) with Bill Ramsey (August 1961), and then took over as production manager in the pop department at EMI-Electrola in Cologne. His first hit was Hämmerchen-Polka, sung by Chris Howland in November 1961. Under his direction, the hits Zwei kleine Italiener / Lady Sunshine und Mister Moon with Conny Froboess (February 1962), the German cover version of Speedy Gonzales (titled Kleiner Gonzales) with Rex Gildo (June 1962), one of his compositions Ohne Krimi geht die Mimi nie ins Bett with Bill Ramsey (July 24, 1962, Ramsey's debut at EMI after switching from Polydor), Die große Nummer wird gemacht with Ralf Bendix (November 1962), and the Halbstarken anthem Motorbiene with Benny Quick (November 1962) were among the sales hits of the year. His production of Gitte Hænning's song Ich will 'nen Cowboy als Mann (I Want a Cowboy for a Man), with its innovative pop lyrics, became a million-seller after its release in June 1963.
At the end of 1964, EMI in Cologne signed the previously award-winning German beat band The Lords and marketed them as “The German Beatles.” Their first single, released at the end of 1964, was the only German-language track Hey Baby, laß' den Andern / Tobacco Road, produced by Heinz Gietz, who went on to produce all of the group's major hits and LPs.
Gietz produced and/or composed a total of 46 songs for Bill Ramsey (including the big hits Souvenirs, Pigalle, and Ohne Krimi geht die Mimi nie ins Bett), 33 songs for Caterina Valente (including Fiesta Cubana, Eventuell, Bonjour Kathrin, and Wo meine Sonne scheint), 31 tracks for Cindy & Bert, 7 tracks for Howland, 82 for Freddy Breck (including Bianca and Rote Rosen), 50 for the Lords (including all their big hits), 11 for Ireen Sheer since 1979, and 23 for Gitte and Rex Gildo (Vom Stadtpark die Laternen).
In 1965, Heinz Gietz parted ways with EMI again, but continued to produce the Lords until 1967 and built up his own record label, Cornet Records, within two years. The label started in 1966 with the album Big Beat Bombs by the Jay Five, a Bavarian band that often accompanied Graham Bonney and Bill Ramsey. The label's first chart entry was Peter Orloff's Es ist nie zu spät (It's Never Too Late) in September 1967. Further hit releases followed on the label until 1970, such as Monja with Roland W. (December 1967) or Mucho Amore for Jacqueline Boyer (March 1969). In 1970, he opened the label's own recording studios, Cornet Studios.
The label also sought out Cologne carnival greats for its repertoire. In December 1969, Horst Muys recorded Ne Besuch em Zoo, written by Cologne dialect composer Hans Knipp, at Cornet Studios, which earned the Cornet label sales of 100,000 singles. From 1970 onwards, the Eilemann Trio, Lotti Krekel, and Ludwig Sebus recorded here. In 1971, Gietz discovered the Cologne dialect group De Bläck Fööss and produced their first hits Drink doch eine met, In unserem Veedel, and the classic Mer losse d'r Dom in Kölle. In 1971, he began working with Freddy Breck (1971: My Sweet, Sweet Candy and Carola) and Cindy & Bert, who in the following years also released all the hits not composed by Gietz on his Cornet label (including Immer wieder Sonntags, February 1973). Rico Lanza, the illegitimate son of Mario Lanza, entered the charts in July 1973 with the Gietz composition Mama Dolores.
In 1975, Gietz reactivated his collaboration with Caterina Valente. After 16 years with the German branch of Decca, she moved to EMI, and the first newly written title, Wo die Musikanten sind, gave her a remarkable comeback. In July 1975, Der große Zampano became a moderate hit for Freddy Breck. When the Cornet label had to be liquidated in 1977, Gietz returned to work for EMI Electrola as a freelance producer.
In October 1978, Caterina Valente and Manuel made it into the charts once again. This Gietz composition was followed by another hit in 1979. His second composition, Das Lied von Manuel, sung by Manuel & Pony, reached number five in the charts in August 1979. Manuel was the boy who accompanied Caterina Valente in falsetto on her first recording. From 1982 onwards, he produced and composed songs for Andy Borg. The last Gietz composition for Freddy Breck was Im Wind der Nacht in 1985. In December 1988, the Cornet label was discontinued.
He often worked as a musical director or arranger on German television. In 1963, Heinz Gietz took over the musical direction of the Peter Weck Show on ARD television. In 1963, he wrote for the TV series Musik für Sie and, in the same year, Verliebt, verlobt, verheiratet (sung by Conny Froboess and Peter Alexander) for the film Der Musterknabe. In 1975, Gietz became musical director and arranger for Musik ist Trumpf, the most successful ZDF Saturday evening show of its time. Until 1981, he produced the music for over 20 episodes of this Saturday evening TV show, whose theme tune was also penned by him.
On October 6, 1984, ZDF dedicated a gala to composer Heinz Gietz on his 60th birthday entitled “Musik liegt in der Luft” (Music is in the Air), hosted by Harald Juhnke and featuring many stars such as Caterina Valente, Rex Gildo, Bill Ramsey, Werner Schumacher, Andy Borg, Silvio Francesco, the Horst Jankowski Orchestra, the Botho Lucas Choir, and others.
In the years that followed, Heinz Gietz continued to work as a musical director and arranger for entertainment shows on German television. These included Zug um Zug, Und die Musik spielt dazu (1986), and the International Artists' Prize.
Heinz Gietz died on December 24, 1989, at the age of 65 in Cologne. His son Alexander also works in Cologne as a music producer and produces, among other things, the music of his wife Sylvia Vrethammar, whom he married in 2015 after 25 years of living together and who had already worked with his father.
In 2013, the city of Rösrath decided to name a newly developed 120-meter-long street in the vicinity of Auf der Hedwigshöhe 14, where Gietz lived until 1986, Heinz-Gietz-Weg.
