Penny McLean

Singer Penny McLean was born Gertrude Wirschinger on November 4, 1948 in Klagenfurt, Carinthia, Austria. Penny married German Holger Münzer in the late 60s; the couple performed as a duo in that same era. McLean recorded her debut single in 1972. She changed her stage name to Penny McLean for the 1974 single, "A Letter from Miami" (Penny claims she got this particular name from a séance). In 1975, McLean joined the disco trio, Silver Convention; the group not only had massive hits with the classic disco anthems, "Fly, Robin, Fly" and "Get Up and Boogie", in the mid-70s, but also performed the charming tune, "Telegram", at the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest. Moreover, Penny had a big solo smash with the bouncy, "Lady Bump", in 1975. Alas, such additional solo singles as "Devil Eyes" and "Nobody's Child" were undeserved commercial flops. McLean remained a member of Silver Convention until the group broke up in 1979. She continued with a floundering solo career up until the mid-80s. Penny quit the music business in 1985 and went on to write several best-selling nonfiction books on such subjects as ghosts, fate, and numerology. McLean still appears on assorted German music variety TV shows, singing her signature hit, "Lady Bump".