page_title: Schlager music
section_title: United Kingdom
hierarchical_section_title: Schlager music / Variations by country / United Kingdom
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Tony Christie bei Appen musiziert 2015
context_page_description: Schlager music is a style of European popular music that is generally a catchy instrumental accompaniment to vocal pieces of pop music with simple, happy-go-lucky, and often sentimental lyrics. It is prevalent in Central, Northern and Southeast Europe, and also in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the UK. In the United States it is also known as 'entertainer music' or 'German hit mix'.
  Typical schlager tracks are either sweet, sentimental ballads with a simple, catchy melody or light pop tunes. Lyrics typically center on love, relationships, and feelings. The northern variant of schlager has taken elements from Nordic and Slavic folk songs, with lyrics tending towards melancholic and elegiac themes. Musically, schlager bears similarities to styles such as easy listening.
  The German word Schlager is also a loanword in some other languages, where it retained its meaning of a " hit". The style has been frequently represented at the Eurovision Song Contest and has been popular since the contest began in 1956, although it is gradually being replaced by other pop music styles.
context_section_description: In the United Kingdom, schlager is often categorized simply as pop. The style was especially popular there between the 1950s and 1980s, with singers such as Tony Christie, who enjoyed success among schlager audiences in both Germany and the UK; Engelbert Humperdinck, most notably with schlager hit "Release Me"; and Petula Clark, who gained her first number 1 in the UK Singles Chart with "Sailor", the English schlager version of "Seemann (Deine Heimat ist das Meer)", originally performed by Austrian singer Lolita. 
  Artists from other countries have also had schlager hits in the UK.  American singers Al Martino and Roy Orbison both entered the British charts with schlager hits "Blue Spanish Eyes" and "Only the Lonely" respectively. Within the American popular music lexicon, most schlager music falls vaguely between country music and traditional pop music; the Nashville sound (which produced "Only the Lonely" and the original versions of "Release Me," among other songs Humperdinck would cover in that era) produced numerous songs fitting the schlager sound. Billy Fury's "Halfway to Paradise" reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart. From the Netherlands and the UK, Dutch band Pussycat reached number 1 with the song "Mississippi". German and Austrian singers have also had hits in the UK; German singer Nicole charted in the UK with "A Little Peace," peaking at number 1. That song also won Germany the Eurovision Song Contest in 1982. The UK has itself entered many schlager artists into the Eurovision Song Contest; for example, Brotherhood of Man won for the UK in 1976 with "Save Your Kisses for Me".
  Distinctively German schlager (including Volksmusik and its modern version Volkstümliche Musik), sung in German, has also attracted a small fan base in the United Kingdom, including BBC Radio Manchester commentator Ian Cheeseman. Germany's top-selling schlager singer Helene Fischer released the album The English Ones in 2010, with several English-language versions of her German hits for her Anglophone fans. British schlager singers including Ross Antony, Tony Christie and Roger Whittaker have appeared on shows such as Musikantenstadl and ZDF Fernsehgarten.
caption: British schlager singer Tony Christie
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