Zurich musician Mario Feurer died last Tuesday at the age of 82. He was the creator of the song “Grüezi wohl Frau Stirnimaa!”, a hit in dialect, which has become anchored in popular heritage, well beyond Swiss borders.
ATS
After a short stay in hospital, Mario Feurer “died surrounded by his family,” his sister-in-law Brigitte Zaugg told the Keystone-ATS news agency, confirming information from Tamedia newspapers.
Exactly 55 years ago, three traveling musicians in minstrel costumes made a televised appearance during the Olma fair in St. Gallen. The troupe, composed of Mario Feurer, Pepe Solbach and Daniel Fehr, was called the Minstrels (the Ménestrels) and was dedicated to folk, blues and the Alemannic dialect.
A huge success
During this memorable television appearance, they performed “Grüezi wohl Frau Stirnimaa!”. Two days later, the song found itself in second place on the Swiss hit parade. This was the start of one of the greatest successes of a song in the German-speaking Swiss dialect.
Mario Feurer, who grew up in Zurich, was the group’s violinist. After taking lessons until the age of eleven, his playing the instrument was then relegated to the background, as he considered an academic career. However, he returned to the violin at the age of 16, trained as an autodidact, before opting a few years later for a career as a professional musician.
After a detour abroad, Mario Feurer returned to Switzerland. In 1968, he and the two guitarists Pepe Solbach and Daniel Fehr founded the Minstrels, who initially performed on the streets and in cafes. They gave their first concert in Zurich the same year.
Their first album was released in 1971. From then on, they performed numerous concerts and appeared in films and television series.
Echo abroad
Another hit was “Hopp de Bäse!”, which remained in the Swiss charts for four weeks. However, the song falls far short of “Grüezi wohl Frau Stirnimaa!”, which held the top spot for ten weeks and remained in the top 10 for 17 consecutive weeks.
The song also met with great response in Germany (3rd place) and Austria (5th place). The title, which survived the dissolution of the Minstrels in 1974, sold 1.5 million copies in 27 countries. Countless covers have emerged.
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