Gölä

Gölä formed as a Swiss/German rock outfit that secured multiple chart-topping triumphs and major domestic honors before the members abandoned their Swiss German lyrics for English material in 2004, a decision that distanced large segments of their established local following. Fronted by vocalist, songwriter and guitarist Marco “Gölä” Pfeuti, who entered the world on June 7, 1968 in Thun, the group’s founding roster also featured guitarists Zlatko “Slädu” Perica, keyboardist Thomas “TJ” Gyger, bassist René Maurer and drummer Urs Frei, plus backing vocalists Sandra and Barbara Moser. Performing exclusively in Mundart rock, the lineup issued its first recording, Uf u Dervo, on Sound Service in 1998. Two singles from the set—“Keini Träne Meh,” which reached the Top Ten, and “Schwan”—propelled the album to the summit of the Swiss charts by its ninth week; the release ultimately remained on the ranking for 110 weeks and earned the band the 1998 Prix Walo in the rock category. Their next studio effort, Wildi Ross, arrived in 1999 and likewise topped the albums chart while yielding further hits in “I Hätt No Viu Blöder Ta,” another Top Ten entry, and “Scho Lang Verbi.”

Additional releases followed, including the live sets Volksmusig (2000) and Live: 02 (2002), which peaked at numbers two and three respectively, and the studio album Gölä III, which again claimed the top spot and delivered three charting singles: “Gfüeu,” “Nacht” and “Nimm Mi Mit.” After inking a long-term deal with Capitol Records in 2004, the act abandoned Mundart rock, adopted English-language material and effectively reconstituted itself under the name Burn as a trio comprising Pfeuti, Perica and Gyger. The self-titled Burn album reached number five yet produced no hit singles and departed the charts swiftly, provoking strong negative reaction from longtime supporters who felt the move betrayed the band’s working-class roots. In response, the group reclaimed the Gölä moniker, expanded to a five-piece configuration and recruited an entirely new rhythm section—guitarists Ueli Bleuler and John Woolloff, bassist Peter Keiser and drummer Walter Keiser—while continuing to record in English. The resulting albums Gimme a Band (2005) and Rock & Roll (2007) underperformed commercially, stalling at numbers 31 and 25 without generating any singles successes. Seeking to reconnect with their original audience, Gölä next issued the double album Tättoo, pairing a disc titled Best of Bärndütsch that contained newly recorded Swiss German renditions of past hits plus fresh songs with a second disc, So Damn Sexy, devoted to new English-language tracks. The project entered the Swiss albums chart at number one and spawned the Top Ten single “D'Stadt.”