Penny McLean
Musical artist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
4 November 1948
Early life and career
Gertrude Wirschinger was born in Klagenfurt.[1]
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.[2] 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").[3] By the mid-70s, she was a member of Silver Convention, a group that also included Linda G. Thompson and Ramona Wulf.[4][5] They had hits with "Save me" and "Fly, Robin, Fly".[6] Around mid 1977, McLean left Silver Convention. She was replaced by Zenda Jacks.[7] In October 1976, her single "Devil Eyes" was released on the Ariola label.[8] Around July 1978, her album The Best of Penny McLean was released on Jupiter Records.[9] 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.[10] By late 1980, she was on the Teldec label roster.[11]
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.[12]
"Lady Bump"
By November 1975, the track bw "The Lady Bumps On" was rated # 14 in the New York discos.[13] In January 1976, it was #8 on the Cash box pop singles charts.[14] In July 1976, "Lady Bump" #7 in Australia's 2SMUSIC Survey.[15] The single itself sold 3 million copies.[16]
Writings
As a popular author, she has written on spiritual and numerology matters.[17] [18] 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.[19]
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOR [24] |
SWE [22] | |||
| Success |
|
11 | 16 | |
| The Best of Penny McLean |
|
— | — | |
| Star Discothek |
|
— | — | |
| Profile |
|
— | — | |
| Lady Bump |
|
— | — | |
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [20] |
AUT [26] |
BEL [27] |
CAN [28] |
GER [29] |
NET [30] |
SWE [22] |
SWI [31] |
US [32] |
US Dan. [23] |
US R&B [23] | |||||||||
| 1972 | "Acapulcobanjopolka" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | N/a | ||||||
| 1974 | "A Letter from Miami" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| 1975 | "Lady Bump" | 9 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 48 | 2 | 90 | Lady Bump | ||||||
| "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 108 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1976 | "1-2-3-4... Fire!" | — | 11 | 11 | — | 3 | 20 | 9 | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Devil Eyes" | — | — | — | — | 21 | — | 17 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Nobody's Child" | — | — | — | — | 49 | — | 15 | — | — | — | — | N/a | |||||||
| 1977 | "Zwischen Zwei Gefühlen" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Dance, Bunny Honey, Dance" | — | — | — | — | 26 | — | 17 | — | — | — | — | Penny | |||||||
| "Mambo Mama" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 1978 | "Wild One" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Best of Penny McLean | ||||||
| "Midnight Explosion" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Midnight Explosion | |||||||
| 1979 | "Tut-Ench-Amun" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | N/a | ||||||
| 1980 | "Love Is Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Profile | ||||||
| 1982 | "Words" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | N/a | ||||||
| "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
| Title | Role | Director | Year | Notes # |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Das Wunder | Woman of cards | Eckhart Schmidt | 1985 | Actress[33][34] |
| Lieder gehen um die Welt[35] | Singer | Dieter Pröttel | 1982 | Made for television |
| Bistro | Otto Draeger | 1973 | Television series[36] | |