Lolita

Edith “Ditta” Einzinger, born Edith Zuser (17 January 1931 – 1 July 2010), was an Austrian pop singer who recorded under the stage name Lolita.

She began singing in local clubs while working as a kindergarten teacher. Discovered in 1956, she began her recording career in 1957, initially with songs on exotic Latin American or South Seas themes. In December 1959, she recorded her only gold record, “Seemann, deine Heimat ist das Meer” (“Sailor, your homeland is the sea”), which became a hit in the United States, reaching fifth place, and reached number one for two weeks in Canada, as well as in Japan and German-speaking Europe in 1960. It was one of the rare tracks sung in a language other than English to achieve success in the mainstream American market.

Translated under the title “Sailor”, the song was later covered by Petula Clark and Anne Shelton, both of whom had success with it on the UK Singles Chart, as well as by the Andrews Sisters. Clark also took the song to number one in France in 1961, under the title “Marin (Enfant du voyage)”.

Lolita went on to record more maritime and South Seas songs, then, later, songs more typically Austrian and German, including yodels.