Penny McLean |
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| Birth name | Gertrude Wirschinger |
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| Also known as | Barbra Münzer |
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| Born | (1948-11-04) 4 November 1948 (age 75)
Klagenfurt, Austria |
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| Genres | Soul, pop, disco |
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| Occupation(s) | Singer, author |
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| Years active | 1965–1985 |
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| Labels | Ariola, Jupiter |
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Musical artist
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.[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 2S Music 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]
