Pierre Kartner
Encyclopedia
Petrus Antonius Laurentius "Pierre" Kartner (born April 11, 1935) is a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 musician who sings under the alias Father Abraham, and who has written around 1600 songs.

Early life

Kartner started his singing career at the age of eight, by winning a local festival. He lived with his family in Amsterdam and worked in a chocolate factory.

Career

He worked as a promoter and producer at record label Dureco with Annie de Reuver, who he played with in Duo X. Together with the band Corry & de Rekels he sold over 1 million records in the 1960s.

He created his well-known alter ego, Father Abraham, after writing a Dutch Carnaval
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...

 song, Father Abraham had seven sons. He at first used a fake beard, but a real beard replaced this and would remain as his trademark along with his bowler hat.

With Wilma Landkroon
Wilma Landkroon
Wilma Landkroon is a Dutch pop singer. At eleven years old, her first top chart success in the Netherlands and Germany was in 1968 the song “Heintje, bau ein Schloss für mich” . After this, Wilma had many successes in Netherlands and Germany during the years 1969 and 1970...

 he sang the Dutch 1971 number one hit single Zou het erg zijn, lieve opa. In 1975, he scored his second biggest hit, Het kleine café aan de haven. This song has been covered over 250 times in various other languages, including The Red Rose Café by The Fureys
The Fureys
The Fureys are an Irish male folk band of four brothers - Eddie, Finbar, Paul and George, from Ballyfermot, Dublin. They have also been credited as The Fureys and Davey Arthur.The group formed in 1978 and consisted initially of four brothers....

.

In 1981 he wrote a song about Wuppies, Wij zijn de wuppies.

Smurfs

In May 1977, Kartner was asked to make a promotional song about The Smurfs
The Smurfs
The Smurfs is a comic and television franchise centred on a group of small blue fictional creatures called Smurfs, created and first introduced as a series of comic strips by the Belgian cartoonist Peyo on October 23, 1958...

. The record company pressed only 1,000 copies of the single, called The Smurf Song, since they were unsure about the success of the single. However, they were all sold within one day at a 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...

 festival. After a repress, 400,000 singles were quickly sold. A full Smurfs album was then created, which also climbed the charts, with 500,000 copies sold. The album was released in several dozen countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Japan, and in various different languages, all sung by Kartner. The album scored a number one hit in 16 countries. Subsequently, Kartner released other Smurf-themed albums, again in various countries and languages, such as Ga je mee naar Smurfenland (Dutch) and Vater Abraham im Land der Schlümpfe (German). In all, Kartner's Smurf works have sold around 25 million copies.

Later career

Kartner wrote the music for the opening and closing credits on the Japanese cartoon adaption of Moomin (1990 TV series). He sang a song about politician Pim Fortuyn
Pim Fortuyn
Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn was a Dutch politician, civil servant, sociologist, author and professor who formed his own party, Pim Fortuyn List ....

 in 2002. He also wrote "Ik ben verliefd (Shalalie)", the Dutch entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010
Eurovision Song Contest 2010
The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th annual Eurovision Song Contest, broadcast from the Telenor Arena in Bærum, Greater Oslo, Norway. It was the third time Norway had hosted the contest, having previously done so in 1986 and 1996. The 2010 winner was Germany with Lena singing "Satellite",...

.

External links

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