Lee Rodgers blogs:
"I once killed a man. Maybe. Inadvertently. Indirectly.
Fritz Wunderlich was a German operatic tenor with an incredible voice. On a whim, someone at the record company which marketed his work released a single recording of him singing a Christmas song in English. It may have been "Silent Night"; my recollection is not entirely clear.
I was doing a daily radio program in Chicago. The record caught my ear and I began playing it. I was always on the lookout for something unlikely to be heard of any other station or program.
Requests to repeat it poured in and it became a big local hit in Chicago. Some other big-city stations heard about the stir it was causing and also began playing it.
Soon a concert promoter made a deal for Fritz to do what would surely be a lucrative American tour.
The night before he was to fly to the U.S. to begin his series of appearances, he was celebrating at a farewell party with a group of friends. Rumor had it that that beverages were flowing freely. Perhaps Fritz over-indulged.
In any case, he fell down a flight of stairs, broke his neck ... and died. Too young. He was just short of his 36th birthday. An ironic footnote: A few weeks later, I got a very touching letter from his father. He wrote to thank me for all I had done for his son."
Very interesting Lee, but Fritz's father died in 1935 when Fritz was 5 years old. Also, why were you playing Christmas music in September? (Fritz died 9/17/1966)
Also, Fritz was at a rural hunting lodge (go to a rural hunting lodge a day before a trip to the USA? Those flights leave out of Heidelberg in the 60's?) when he tripped on his show lace after answering the phone and the rope banister broke. Here is his freind saying what happened
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOWnWVXjVBg
The silent night is great however: (in German only BTW) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLzqtjR7-fc
"I once killed a man. Maybe. Inadvertently. Indirectly.
Fritz Wunderlich was a German operatic tenor with an incredible voice. On a whim, someone at the record company which marketed his work released a single recording of him singing a Christmas song in English. It may have been "Silent Night"; my recollection is not entirely clear.
I was doing a daily radio program in Chicago. The record caught my ear and I began playing it. I was always on the lookout for something unlikely to be heard of any other station or program.
Requests to repeat it poured in and it became a big local hit in Chicago. Some other big-city stations heard about the stir it was causing and also began playing it.
Soon a concert promoter made a deal for Fritz to do what would surely be a lucrative American tour.
The night before he was to fly to the U.S. to begin his series of appearances, he was celebrating at a farewell party with a group of friends. Rumor had it that that beverages were flowing freely. Perhaps Fritz over-indulged.
In any case, he fell down a flight of stairs, broke his neck ... and died. Too young. He was just short of his 36th birthday. An ironic footnote: A few weeks later, I got a very touching letter from his father. He wrote to thank me for all I had done for his son."
Very interesting Lee, but Fritz's father died in 1935 when Fritz was 5 years old. Also, why were you playing Christmas music in September? (Fritz died 9/17/1966)
Also, Fritz was at a rural hunting lodge (go to a rural hunting lodge a day before a trip to the USA? Those flights leave out of Heidelberg in the 60's?) when he tripped on his show lace after answering the phone and the rope banister broke. Here is his freind saying what happened
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOWnWVXjVBg
The silent night is great however: (in German only BTW) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLzqtjR7-fc
