Heinz Rudolf Kunze

Heinz Rudolf Kunze, the German rocker frequently labeled by commentators as "the singing secondary schoolteacher" owing to his habitually instructive lyrics, reached his commercial peak in the mid-'80s through the chart-topping successes "Dein Ist Mein Ganzes Herz" and "Mit Leib und Seele." Born on November 30, 1956, in Espelkamp-Mittwald, he endured a severe childhood bone ailment that directed his restricted vitality toward reading and music. He initially sought a literary path, securing recognition for short stories such as Zu Karla Übers Wochenende and Romanze den 1. By the mid-'70s Kunze was performing vocals alongside the rock ensemble Provinzriesen while gradually mastering guitar and piano. His 1980 appearance with guitarist Mick Franke at Würzburg's Pop-Nachwuchs-Festival so impressed listeners and panelists that WEA offered a five-album contract. Reine Nervensache, his debut LP, arrived in 1981. Critics hailed the record, which collected several prizes, notably the Berliner Wecker and the Willy-Dehmel-Preis. Der Schwere Mut, issued in 1983, earned comparable praise, prompting Kunze to broaden his scope by writing a Der Spiegel essay on American singer/songwriter Randy Newman and hosting radio programs for NDR and SFB. The title track of 1985's Dein Ist Mein Ganzes Herz delivered his first German Top Ten hit, yet the album concluded his longstanding partnership with Franke, a development many listeners viewed as the close of his most inventive era. Even so, 1986's Wunderkinder swiftly entered the Top 20, spawned the hit single "Mit Leib und Seele," and secured the coveted Goldene Stimmgabel. Kunze continued as one of German rock's foremost figures for the rest of the decade, releasing further singles such as "Alles Was Sie," "Größer als Wir Beide," and "Heul mit den Wölfen." At the height of his renown he pivoted once more, publishing the novel Sternzeichen Sündenbock in 1991. That year also brought Brille, his strongest-selling album to date. Its successor, Draufgänger, incorporated the grunge aesthetic then dominant in the U.S. In 1994 he issued a second novel, Der Golem aus Lemgo, while Kunze: Macht Musik landed on the Bundesprüfstelle index because of the contentious track "Sex mit Hitler." Two additional Goldene Stimmgabel honors arrived in the latter half of the decade, though sales tapered and his non-musical projects drew midlife-crisis accusations from reviewers, claims strengthened by the 2002 novel Wasser bis zum Hals Steht Mir. Kunze countered by enlisting Blumfeld's Chris von Rautenkranz to produce several tracks for the next album, also titled Wasser bis zum Hals Steht Mir. His first stage musical, Ein Sommernachtstraum, debuted in 2003, followed a year later by the sequel POE: Pech und Schwefel. Renewed attention arrived in 2007 when "Die Welt Ist Pop" finished third in the contest to choose Germany's Eurovision entry, behind Roger Cicero's "Frauen Regier'n die Welt." The accompanying LP, Klare Verhältnisse, became his most commercially robust release in nearly a decade.