Willi Resetarits

Who is Willi Resetarits?

Wilhelm Resetarits, better known as Willi Resetarits and Dr. Kurt Ostbahn, is an Austrian singer, comedian and human rights activist.

Resetarits was born in the Austrian state Burgenland, but his family moved to Vienna when he was three. He studied sports and English studies intending to become a teacher, but his successful career as a musician intervened.

In 1969 Resetarits joined the political rock band Schmetterlinge. They participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977 in London with the song "Boom-Boom-Boomerang", which was voted into last but one place.

In the mid-1980s, together with his colleague Günter Brödl he developed his alter ego Dr. Kurt Ostbahn, an excessive personality with an intense stage presence, which turned out to be very successful. The name was created in the mid-1970s, when Günter Brödl was asked during a radio show what American musicians like Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes would call themselves if they were from Vienna. He answered Ostbahn Kurti & die Chefpartie, which a decade later became the name of Willi Resetarits and his band. Resetarits also introduced the musical form of Favorit'n'Blues, a Viennese form of rhythm and blues. After Günter Brödl died unexpectedly in 2000, Dr. Kurt Ostbahn went on a final commemoration tour and then announced in December 2003 that he would let his alter ego retire.