Udo Jürgens – Cafe Größenwahn

A red backdrop, a gilded lion throne, and Udo Jürgens in a blue suit, legs casually crossed: in 1993 this image graced what would long remain his last record. The fan site udofan.com puts the LP run of “Café Grössenwahn” at just 600 copies. To us, this last LP feels like his cheekiest.

The title track’s lyrics were written by Peter Wagner with Thomas Spitzer, the mastermind of Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung (EAV), whose anti-nuclear satire Burli was blacklisted by Bavarian radio. Jürgens and Spitzer met for this in Graz, Vienna, Zurich and Portugal; Jürgens called the album more melancholy and more political than usual.

The public did not bite: the album missed the German charts and lasted four weeks in Austria. When the album was reissued a year later, the provocative red cover was replaced by a tamer one – this is the original. The back carries the Mariacron Premium logo, which fits the year: in 1993 Mariacron exclusively distributed his CD “Mild Moments”.

If you only know Udo Jürgens from the white grand piano, you meet him here, we think, at his most biting: essential for anyone collecting his LPs to the very last, and a find for EAV fans.

Record and sleeve are graded vg; the printed inner sleeve with all the lyrics is included.

Label

Ariola (BMG)

Catalogue number

74321 16159 1 · LC 0116 · Code 08-032330-20

Rights notice

℗ 1993 BMG Ariola Schweiz · © 1993 BMG Ariola Media GmbH

Origin

Pressed in Germany · sleeve “Printed in Holland” · distributed by BMG Ariola München

Format

LP, 33 rpm, stereo · printed inner sleeve with lyrics

Production

Peter Wagner / Udo Jürgens for Udo Jürgens Music · engineering & mixing: Peter Wagner · strings of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, arranged & conducted by Peter Schirmann · produced spring/summer 1993, incl. Powerplay Studios Zurich/Maur and Hansa Tonstudios Berlin

Side A

“Was dich nicht umbringt, gibt dir neue Kraft zum Leben” 4:09 (m: Udo Jürgens, w: Uli Heuel) · “Leben in Blue Jeans” 4:05 (w: Michael Kunze) · “Du und ich” 4:00 (w: Gert Zielke) · “Keine war so wie du” 4:08 (w: Michael Kunze) · “Madonna in der Hölle” 4:17 (w: Thomas Christen) · “Stille Nacht” 4:00 (w: Michael Kunze) · “Kurze Unterbrechung” 2:55 (w: Rainer Thielmann)

Side B

“Café Grössenwahn” 4:10 (m: Udo Jürgens, w: Thomas Spitzer, Peter Wagner) · “Vater und Sohn” 4:03 (w: Michael Kunze) · “Wasser unter den Brücken” 3:58 (w: Thomas Christen) · “Näher zu dir” 3:19 (w: Thomas Christen) · “Engel der Melancholie” 4:50 (w: Uli Heuel) · “…und es gibt dich” 4:08 (w: Katharina Gerwens); all music by Udo Jürgens, publisher Aran/MdW