GERMANS CAN BE VERY WEIRD

The Tagesspiegel article on the crowded events schedule in Berlin the last weekend in May (see this morning's post here) set me to thinking about the vast cultural divide between Germans and Americans. No, I'm not referring to Lederhosen or beer or protections for workers or environmentalism or socialism or Heinrich Heine or Heinrich Mann. I'm referring to the Kelly family, that loveable, cute-as-a-Calvin-Klein-ad group of travelling musician siblings that hundreds of thousands of Germans have gone nuts for but I doubt most people on this side of the Atlantic have heard of.

The Kelly family plays to sold-out crowds throughout the Germanophone world, and their albums are among the best selling in German history. Here's their home page. The language is odd because it's translated from the German version.

The Kelly family is apparently an actual family living on a boat in the Netherlands, or they used to live on a boat, or something, and in Spain, and in other places. "Father Dan" and his wife, Barbara Ann (both now passed on), were originally from the U.S. but moved to Europe in the 1960s and became street musicians. By the 1970s, the parents and kids in the family (six, I think) were a travelling music act. By the 1990s they were playing to thousands across Europe.

Their music evokes Irish music traditions, and I think that their appeal springs partly from the echt and rooted feelings associated with Eire. Plus, the Kellys have managed to market their story as one of family triumph over adversity; it's a sort of Horatio Algier tale for German music fans, I think. I know some Germans who have just eaten up the story of early family poverty but dedication to music, the death of the parents and the possible demise of the band, but the collective childrens' determination to make sure that the "show goes on," and all that.

And, perhaps most importantly, they're schlocky. Always a plus unter den Deutschen, for some weird reason that I have yet to pin down and that I'm sure will haunt me to the grave.

NOTE: for Farrellblogger's take on the Kellys, see the fine post here. It's been a while since I've lived in Germany, but as I recall the music scene in Berlin (over a decade ago--my God, I'm getting old), Henry's post is on the mark. I don't want to be too cranky with respect to German popular music tastes: schlock is one of those things that it's often easier to identify cross-culturally, and with the hyper-current nature of the American popular music culture market, we're trained from a very early age not just to dismiss last week's fad, but to despise and ridicule it as well. We're also trained to search for what is "edgy" in music, I think. But I do think that the Germans have a special burden here. After all, we have the Germans to thank that David Hasselhoff didn't just fade away gracefully, but quietly, like most other eighties TV stars.

MORE: Mrs. T over at 6th International has a few barbs for the Kelly Family as well, and discussion of the German love of Irish vacations to boot.