Kurt Maloo

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Kurt Maloo (born Kurt Meier, April 16, 1953 in Zurich, Switzerland) is a Swiss singer-songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first achieved international success in 1986, as the singer and front man of the duo Double with the hit single, "The Captain of Her Heart".

Kurt Meier was born in Zurich, Switzerland, as the only child of Arnold and Babette Meier. His father's family emigrated to France when Arnold was four years old. During World War II, his father returned to Switzerland, where he met Babette, a daughter of a locomotive driver, and married her. Her family was very musical; each played an instrument and performed at house concerts. When Meier was born, Babette used to play the mandolin and sing and dance for him, and later, when he started to play the guitar, jammed along with her.

The early days
At school, Meier was part of several bands that performed in local competition festivals, playing covers from The Beatles to Cream. From 1969 to 1972, he attended the Swiss Business School, but, after receiving his degree, chose a career as a conceptual artist and painter. He exhibited his works at local galleries in Zurich and founded, along with three artist friends, the performance group MAEZ.
At his own gallery openings, Kurt Meier, who changed his name to Kurt Maloo in 1975, always played the electric guitar. The solo performances metamorphosed into a band, including two other members of MAEZ. But Troppo, true to its name, grew to a nine-piece fusion art-punk band, influenced mainly by the New York Dolls and Funkadelic. After its first show at the Rote Fabrik in 1976, Troppo became a cult act in Switzerland in the mid to late 1970s.


In 1979, Kurt Maloo released his first 7" single, "Giant Lady/Kontiki" on the new wave label, Forum Records. A year later, he teamed up with publisher Peter Zumsteg and released a hybrid format vinyl record with the title Luna, Luna + 7 Notorious Maloo Homeworks. On the A-side was one song spinning at 45 rpm and on the B-side, seven more at 33 rpm. The A-side song was a studio recording, while the B-side was recorded at home on his Revox B-77, using the ping-pong technique to simulate multitrack recording.
Ping Pong[edit]

He continued to play solo concerts until he met Felix Haug, later the other half of Double. Haug used to play drums with the Swiss techno band Yello. He joined Maloo and, with the addition of a bass player, they formed the trio, Ping Pong. With the help of publisher Peter Zumsteg, they got the chance to record four songs at the Roxy Music studio with guitarist Phil Manzanera as producer, but the tracks never got released.

When they signed with Teldec's label Big Mouth, they re-recorded the tracks together with new material for their album From Exile (1982). The band played in numerous European festivals, including the renowned Montreux Jazz Festival.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNPYHwZwb5I