Za Za

ZaZa (born June 5, 1951 as Peter La Bonté in Munich) is a German pop singer. He became known in 1982 with the song "Zauberstab", which is now considered a classic of the Neuen Deutschen Welle. At the age of 12, La Bonté became a member of the Regensburger Domspatzen. After graduating from school, he trained as a commercial artist and initially worked for Siemens AG, later designing record covers as a freelance graphic artist. He continued his musical career from 1974 as a singer and drummer in various Munich rock groups. In 1978 he joined the reggae rock band The Nighthawks. Three years later, however, he went his own way again. 

 

Under the stage name ZaZa, an androgynous mirror creature, he released the single 'Zauberstab' at the height of the Neuen Deutschen Welle. With it he rose in August 1982 in Germany to number 8 in the single charts. The song's lyrics, which were perceived as salacious -in the chorus ZaZa sings "wenn ich Dich kriege, zeigt dir mein Zauberstab die Liebe"("when I get you, my magic wand will show you love")- led to several radio stations banning the song from their programming. In the film "The Flambé Woman", however, the title was played. For ZaZa it remained the only big hit. The follow-up single only just made it into the charts, further successes failed to materialize. 

 

Probably the most successful re-recording was done by Slađana Milošević. With her project Neutral Design, she re-recorded the title of ZaZa "Licht von Kairo". The title became a great success in Yugoslavia in 1983. "Zauberstab" was re-recorded several times: After an EBM cover version by the duo Klirrfaktor appeared on their album 'Kunststoff' in 2000, the title was revisited by other bands. In 2006, for example, the German rock band Oomph! recorded a cover version of ZaZa's hit for their best-of album 'Delikatessen'. Another cover version was by Atrocity, which appeared on the album 'Gemini'. In 2008, Ralf Donis, former frontman of Love Is Colder Than Death, covered the song. Other versions of "Zauberstab" were recorded by John Starlight, Yü̈ksel D. feat. Flo2Soul & Nic Miles, Yaya, Stiefbrüder and Beborn Beton. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]