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Pierre Kartner
| Biography |
Pierre started his singing career at the age of eight, by winning a local festival.
Together with the band Conny & de Rekels, they sold over 1 million records (LP's) in the 1960s.
He created his well known alter ego, Father Abraham, after writing a Dutch Carnaval song, called 'Father Abraham had seven sons'. He at first used a fake beard, but a real beard replaced this, and would remain as his trademark.
In 1975, he scored his second biggest hit, 'Het kleine café aan de haven'. This song was also covered over 30 times, in various other languages (i.e. in French, German and English).
In May 1977, Pierre was asked to make a promotional song for an animated movie, which turned out to be about The Smurfs. The record company pressed 1,000 copies, since they where unsure about the success of the single. However, they were all sold within one day at a Schlager festival. After a repress, 400,000 singles where sold in a short period. A full Smurfs album (LP) was then created, which also climbed the charts, with 500,000 sold copies. People in other countries also started to notice the catchy tune, and it was released in a several dozen countries, in German, French, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, and even in the Japanese language, all sung by Pierre himself! He scored a number one hit in 16 countries.
Altogether, his 'Smurf' works have about 30 million sold copies (albums + singles). Pierre is currently still releasing new work. |
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