# Penny McLean

Gertrude Wirschinger (born 4 November 1948), better known as Penny McLean, is an Austrian vocalist who initially gained acclaim with the disco music act Silver Convention, but also had exposure as a single recording artist. As a solo singer, she is most remembered for her million seller "Lady Bump". She is also an author.

## Early life and career

Gertrude Wirschinger was born in Klagenfurt.
In the early 1970s, under the name Barbra Münzer, she was part of the duo Barbra & Helmut. They released "Hideaway" bw "Stop" on the Telefunken label in 1972. Late she was a member of the trio Tony & Liza & Penny. In 1973, they released a single on the Ariola label, "Öffne Die Tür" ("Open The Door") bw "Der Fremde" ("The Stranger"). By the mid-70s, she was a member of Silver Convention, a group that also included Linda G. Thompson and Ramona Wulf. They had hits with "Save me" and "Fly, Robin, Fly". Around mid 1977, McLean left Silver Convention. She was replaced by Zenda Jacks. In October 1976, her single "Devil Eyes" was released on the Ariola label. Around July 1978, her album The Best of Penny McLean was released on Jupiter Records. In 1979, she released the single, "Tut-Ench-Amun" which was written by Bernd Meinunger, Horst Hornung and Christian Dornaus. Backed with "Child of Egypt", it was released on Jupiter 100 698. By late 1980, she was on the Teldec label roster.

### Hits

Her hit "Lady Bump" sold in the millions. She also had hits with "1-2-3-4-Fire", "Dance, Bunny, Honey, Dance" and more.

#### "Lady Bump"

By November 1975, the track bw "The Lady Bumps On" was rated # 14 in the New York discos. In January 1976, it was #8 on the Cash box pop singles charts. In July 1976, "Lady Bump" #7 in Australia's 2S Music Survey. The single itself sold 3 million copies.

### Writings

As a popular author, she has written on spiritual and numerology matters. Some of the books she has written are Lass los, was dich festhält. Von der Kunst, du selbst zu sein, Numerologie und Schicksal. Ihr Leben ist berechenbar and Schattenspringer - Ein Jacobsweg der Seele.

## Discography
### Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected details and chart positions :
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Album details | AUS | CAN | SWE | US R&B |
| Lady Bump | Released: 1975 Label: Jupiter Formats: LP, CS, CD | 12 | 47 | 3 | 59 |
| Penny | Released: 1977 Label: Jupiter Formats: LP, K7 | — | — | 22 | — |
| Midnight Explosion | Released: 1978 Label: Jupiter Formats: LP, K7 | — | — | — | — |

### Compilation albums

List of compilation albums, with selected details, chart positions and certifications :
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
| Title | Album details | NOR | SWE | Certifications |
| Success | Released: 1976 Label: Jupiter Formats: LP | 11 | 16 | IFPI HK: Platinum |
| The Best of Penny McLean | Released: 1978 Label: Jupiter Formats: LP, K7 | — | — | |
| Star Discothek | Released: 1979 Label: Jupiter Formats: LP, K7 | — | — | |
| Profile | Released: 1980 Label: Jupiter Formats: LP, K7 | — | — | |
| Lady Bump | Released: 1986 Label: Jupiter Formats: LP, K7 | — | — | |

### Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions :
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Year | Title | AUS | AUT | BEL | CAN | GER | NET | SWE | SWI | US | US Dan. | US R&B | Album |
| 1972 | "Acapulcobanjopolka" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1974 | "A Letter from Miami" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1975 | "Lady Bump" | 9 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 48 | 2 | 90 | Lady Bump |
| 1975 | "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 108 | — | — | Lady Bump |
| 1976 | "1-2-3-4... Fire!" | — | 11 | 11 | — | 3 | 20 | 9 | — | — | — | — | Lady Bump |
| 1976 | "Devil Eyes" | — | — | — | — | 21 | — | 17 | — | — | — | — | Lady Bump |
| 1976 | "Nobody's Child" | — | — | — | — | 49 | — | 15 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1977 | "Zwischen Zwei Gefühlen" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1977 | "Dance, Bunny Honey, Dance" | — | — | — | — | 26 | — | 17 | — | — | — | — | Penny |
| 1977 | "Mambo Mama" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Penny |
| 1978 | "Wild One" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Best of Penny McLean |
| 1978 | "Midnight Explosion" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Midnight Explosion |
| 1979 | "Tut-Ench-Amun" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1980 | "Love Is Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Profile |
| 1982 | "Words" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1982 | "Wenn Die Träume Flügel Kriegen" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1985 | "Don’t Ever Leave Me Now" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| "—" denotes the single failed to chart or was not released. ||||||||||||||

## Film and television

Film & television :
| Title | Role | Director | Year | Notes # |
| Das Wunder [de] | Woman of cards | Eckhart Schmidt | 1985 | Actress |
| Lieder gehen um die Welt | Singer | Dieter Pröttel | 1982 | Made for television |
| Bistro | | Otto Draeger | 1973 | Television series |