Gilla

Gilla is a singer from Linz, Austria, born in 1950. She is discovered by German producer Frank Farian and signed to Hansa Records in 1974. Her recordings sit mainly in disco, pop and schlager, and she works in both German and English.

Recording career

Her first German cover single, Mir ist kein Weg zu weit, is an unsuccessful version of Marcella Bella’s Italian hit Nessuno mai. Farian then has her record a German disco version of La Belle’s Lady Marmalade. Although it reaches only number 24, it draws attention because it is one of the first German records to include explicit lyrics, with the line “Willst du mit mir schlafen gehn?”

Later in 1975 she releases Tu es, also recorded in English as Why Don’t You Do It. This becomes her biggest hit, reaching number 10 in the German charts and giving Farian a commercial breakthrough as a producer. Her debut LP follows soon after and features a mix of disco, pop and schlager material.

In 1976 she releases Ich brenne, also issued in English as Help Help. The single becomes a hit in the Netherlands but does less well in Germany. Farian remixes the track with his own vocals for inclusion on Boney M.’s Take the Heat Off Me in some territories.

Albums and later singles

Her second album, Zieh mich aus, appears in early 1977. It includes German versions of Boney M.’s Sunny and No Woman No Cry, as well as a German version of Belfast, a song later associated with Boney M. The album performs poorly.

Her first international album, Help Help, is released in the summer of 1977. It collects earlier English-language recordings, their B-sides, and English versions of songs from Zieh mich aus. The single Gentlemen Callers not Allowed, also issued as Herrn-Besuche nicht erlaubt, is promoted with Boney M. dancer Bobby Farrell on television but is only a minor success.

In January 1978 she releases a disco-rock cover of The American Breed’s Bend Me, Shape Me. It reaches number 11 in Switzerland. The track and its B-side The River Sings are added to a repackaged version of Help Help, also titled Bend Me, Shape Me, but the release is still only a modest seller.

Later in 1978 she records a German version of Boney M.’s Rasputin, but it flops and is not included on the later compilation Star Discothek. In March 1979 she and her fiancé and co-producer Helmut Rulofs, who also records as Chris Denning, release another disco-rock cover, We Gotta Get Out of This Place, originally by The Animals.

Her second English-language album, Cool Rock’n Roll, appears in 1980 and includes the title track and Go Down Mainstreet. Gilla and Rulofs also write a song that Farian records with Boney M.: I See a Boat on the River becomes a German Top 10 hit and a European hit single from the million-selling The Magic of Boney M. - 20 Golden Hits. On that release she is credited as G. Winger, a shortening of her surname Wuchinger.

Later work

Her final single, Cigarillo, backed with a cover of Friday on My Mind, is released in October 1981 before she retires from the music business. She makes a brief return in 1982 with Rulofs as Sweet Mix, but their single Susan Don’t Cry for Me does not attract notice. The pair also contribute Video to Precious Wilson’s album All Coloured in Love that year.

She remains largely overlooked in Europe, but she performs regularly in Russia, where her records are popular.