Elfi Graf is an Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n Schlager

Schlager

Schlager music is a style of popular music prevalent in Central and Northern Europe and the Balkans and also in France and Poland. In Portugal, it was adapted and became pimba music...

singer.

Biography

Graf was born in Dornbirn

Dornbirn

Dornbirn is a city in Vorarlberg, Austria. It is the administrative center of the district Dornbirn, which also includes the city of Hohenems, and the market town Lustenau....

 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 and then the schlager

Schlager

Schlager music is a style of popular music prevalent in Central and Northern Europe and the Balkans and also in France and Poland. In Portugal, it was adapted and became pimba music...

 singer Gus Backus

Gus Backus

Gus Backus is a former member of the Del-Vikings. He also released a single on Carlton Records in 1958. He later became a popular singer in 1960s West Germany after he was stationed there as a soldier in the U.S. Army at Wiesbaden Air Base from 1957.-External links:...

 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

My Melody of Love

"My Melody of Love" is the title of a popular song from 1974 by the American singer Bobby Vinton. Vinton adapted his song from a German song composed by Henry Mayer, and it appears on Vinton's album Melodies of Love....

, which was a hit for Bobby Vinton

Bobby Vinton

Bobby Vinton is an American pop music singer of Polish origin. In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince".-Early life:...

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

Peters and Lee

Peters and Lee were a successful British folk/pop duo of the 1970s, comprising Lennie Peters and Dianne Lee .-Background:...

. Herzen haben keine Fenster was chosen by Jan Feddersen in 2008 as number three in a list of 'feelings charts'. Later in 1974, Graf won the Goldene Europa

Goldene Europa

The 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...

 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

Grand Prix der Volksmusik

The Grand Prix der Volksmusik is an annual regional song contest for folk music, first held in 1986. The countries taking part are Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy .-History:...

 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

Götzis is a town in the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg, district Feldkirch.The town is well-known for its annual hypo-combined events meeting, the so called Hypo-Meeting, where some of the world's leading decathletes and heptathletes gather in the Mösle stadium...

, Vorarlberg

Vorarlberg

Vorarlberg is the westernmost federal-state of Austria. Although it is the second smallest in terms of area and population , it borders three countries: Germany , Switzerland and Liechtenstein...

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

External links