Inga Rumpf Artist Biography by Frank Eisenhuth
Inga Rumpf is one of the best-known German R&B singers. Her voice often draws comparisons to Janis Joplin, but Rumpf was able to develop her own unique vocal style. Catapulted to stardom in the ‘70s with her band Frumpy, she released a number of highly acclaimed solo works in the ‘80s and ‘90s and came to be regarded as the grand old lady of German R&B.
Born on August 2, 1946 in Hamburg, Rumpf started performing as a teenager with different blues bands in the Hamburg entertainment district of St. Pauli. In 1965, she founded the folk band City Preachers and recorded three albums with them. After a creative crisis in 1969, the band changed styles from folk to a mix of beat and soul. A new lineup reflected this: Jean-Jacques Kravetz (keyboards), Karl-Heinz Schott (bass) and Udo Lindenberg (drums) formed the core of the new band, which one year later was to become Frumpy when Udo Lindenberg left to start a solo career and was replaced by Carsten Bohn. Frumpy recorded only two albums, All Will Be Changed (1970) and Frumpy 2 (1971) -- the latter containing the hit single How the Gipsy Was Born. The band was praised as the best German rock act, and Rumpf was declared the greatest individual vocal talent of the German rock scene to date.
After Frumpy disbanded, Rumpf founded Atlantis in 1972, with Kravetz and Schott, along with new additions Frank Diez on guitar and Curt Cress on drums. The same year, the German music magazine Musik Express selected Rumpf best German vocalist, and her band, Atlantis, "best live and studio band." Several U.K. tours, alone and with Lindenberg, made her well-known in the English-speaking hemisphere as well. Atlantis disbanded in 1975 after three excellent years, and Rumpf released her first solo effort, Second Hand Mädchen, which was heavily influenced by Lindenberg who, two years earlier, had established himself as one of the most promising German rock acts. Lindenberg had shown that German lyrics work in rock songs, and so Rumpf switched to singing in German, too, although on her 1981 album Reality she sang in English again. She wrote all of the songs herself for this, and even produced it. Tina Turner did a cover of [tack artist=Inga Rumpf]I Wrote a Letter which was released as the B-side of her 1984 comeback single "Let's Stay Together" (re-released as a bonus track on the centenary edition of her landmark album Private Dancer in 1998). Also in 1981, Rumpf widened her horizon by accepting a job as a lecturer at the Hamburg Musikhochschule (University of Music). Her 1984 album Liebe, Leiden, Leben, again containing German lyrics, earned critical acclaim and she proved not to have lost any of the power she'd radiated in the ‘70s with Frumpy and Atlantis.
After a short Frumpy reunion in 1991-1992, the ‘90s saw Rumpf experimenting with jazz (with the 1994 album Fifty-Fifty with pianist Joja Wendt) and gospel music. In accordance with the philosophy of gospel, a significant number of her performances took place in churches, her lyrics became more spiritual, and increasingly revealed a Christian context without being preachy, so even atheists should be comfortable with the music of her later career. Critics hailed her 1996 album In the 25th Hour as her best to that point. Among other covers, the album contained her version of Ray Charles' hit Unchain My Heart as her best so far. The same year, the compilation The Best of All My Years So Far was released. Her 1999 album Walking in the Light contained text adaptations of the biblical Sermon on the Mount.
From 2001 onward, Rumpf started to perform rock, R&B, and soul on a weekly basis in her hometown of Hamburg, see also Inga Rumpf & Friends who were recorded live at the German Rockpalast TV show in 2007. 2004 she founded her own record label 25th Hour Music with the release of the live album Live im Michel. Rumpf's work with Frumpy and Atlantis, as well as her solo output of later years, is essential listening for everybody who wants to get to know German rock music.
Love Potion Number 9
Inga Rumpf Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You know that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth
She's got a pad down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
Sellin' little bottles of Love Potion Number Nine
I told her that I was a flop with chics
I've been this way since 1956
She looked at my palm and she made a magic sign
She bent down and turned around and gave me a wink
She said "I'm gonna make it up right here in the sink"
It smelled like turpentine, it looked like Indian ink
I held my nose, I closed my eyes, I took a drink
I didn't know if it was day or night
I started kissin' everything in sight
But when I kissed a cop down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
He broke my little bottle of Love Potion Number Nine
I held my nose, I closed my eyes, I took a drink
I didn't know if it was day or night
I started kissin' everything in sight
But when I kissed a cop down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
He broke my little bottle of Love Potion Number Nine
Love Potion Number Nine
Love Potion Number Nine
Love Potion Number Nine
Inga Rumpf's song, Love Potion Number 9, details the singer's experience seeking romantic success after chronic failures. The singer visits a gypsy with a reputably potent love potion, Love Potion Number Nine, hoping to break his streak of getting rejected by women. After describing his lack of success with chics, the gypsy performs a magic sign and gives the singer the mysterious concoction. The potion's smell and appearance are unpleasant, but despite that, the singer drinks it anyway.
The effects of the love potion are immediately apparent. The singer becomes euphoric and starts kissing anything and everything in sight. Unfortunately for him, he eventually kisses a police officer, who proceeds to break the bottle containing the potion. The song is light-hearted and whimsical, with a catchy tune and a memorable title. However, it also touches on the comical desperation one can feel in their search for romance.
Line by Line Meaning
I took my troubles down to baton rouge
I went to Baton Rouge to find a way to solve my problems.
You know that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth
There's an infamous gypsy who has a gold-capped tooth.
She's got a pad down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
She has a place where she sells her products on Thirty-Fourth and Vine.
Sellin' little bottles of Love Potion Number Nine
She sells small containers of a love potion called Number Nine.
I told her that I was a flop with chics
I confessed my inability to attract women to her.
I've been this way since 1956
I've been facing this problem for a long time.
She looked at my palm and she made a magic sign
The gypsy inspected my hand and made a mystical gesture.
She said "What you need is Love Potion Number Nine"
She recommended that I use Love Potion Number Nine to help me fix my problem.
She bent down and turned around and gave me a wink
She leaned down, turned around, and winked at me.
She said "I'm gonna make it up right here in the sink"
She promised to create the potion immediately in the sink.
It smelled like turpentine, it looked like Indian ink
The resulting potion had an odor of turpentine and the appearance of Indian ink.
I held my nose, I closed my eyes, I took a drink
I covered my nose and closed my eyes before consuming it.
I didn't know if it was day or night
I lost my sense of time after drinking the potion.
I started kissin' everything in sight
I began to kiss anything and everything within my reach.
But when I kissed a cop down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
When I kissed a police officer on Thirty-Fourth and Vine.
He broke my little bottle of Love Potion Number Nine
The cop broke my small container holding Love Potion Number Nine.
Love Potion Number Nine
The name of the love potion.
Love Potion Number Nine
The name of the love potion.
Love Potion Number Nine
The name of the love potion.
Contributed by Camden P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.