When the brothers Vic, Alex and Guido Eugster had the idea of singing dialect pop songs at the end of the 1960s, they were laughed at. The Beatles, the Bee Gees and Les Sauterelles dominated the Swiss charts at the time. The language of the hits: English.
The Eugster trio, as the three brothers called themselves, sang “Oh läck du mir”, “Jetzt muess de Buuch weg” and “Ganz de Bappe”. And, contrary to expectations, it was a success.
In 1970, the brothers sell 100,000 records. The “Schweizer Illustrierte” commented: “This is a huge success on the Swiss pop market, it's almost a sensation when you consider that a domestic record production with a circulation of 10,000 copies is already considered a hit.” And the magazine goes on to explain the trio's success: “Everyone can identify with them, every average Swiss person at least.”
The brothers produced 20 albums and sold more than 2 million copies. By 1979, numerous television appearances and tours had followed, making the singing trio famous far beyond Switzerland's borders. The Eugsters are particularly proud of their touring successes in America and Japan. They had their biggest hit with the single “Söll emal choo!” In 1982, the trio even had their own TV show with “Iischtige bitte”. They were regarded as the “first boy band in Switzerland”.
The brothers were already making music as children. Their mother sang and played music with them. And when the aunts and uncles came to visit the Eugsters in Dübendorf, the children had to sing along. The father was a butcher and crane operator. In order to give all six children an education, he worked double shifts. His mother earned extra money as a home seamstress for military dresses and brassieres, and the children had to help and insert the pads into the brassieres.
At the very beginning of their career in 1967, the brothers performed as a foursome. However, the eldest brother Paul dropped out when the Eugsters decided to pursue their music career professionally. He became a hotelier in St. Moritz.
In the mid-1980s, the trio began to cut back. Alex Eugster then wrote songs for other music groups. Vic Eugster formed a vocal duet with Sepp Trütsch. Guido Eugster switched to the real estate business and founded additional trading companies. Vic Eugster took over the Activ record company, whose in-house producer Alex Eugster became. In 1991, Vic also bought Tell Records, while Alex owned and managed the German branch of Activ.
Now you're wondering why I'm honoring the Eugster trio with a blog on my Glarus website. The mother of Vic, Alex and Guido Eugster is Martha Noser (1907-1992), who was also born in Dübendorf, but whose father and ancestors came from Oberurnen. I would like to thank Hermann Bossi for this interesting reference.
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