Dieter Thomas Kuhn is a tongue-in-cheek revivalist of schlager music, the European pop genre built around simple, saccharine melodies and sappy sentimentalism. Using the dated and oft-ridiculed nature of the style as a springboard, he embraces the inert cheesiness of schlager, down to utilizing zany costumes, fake chest hair and a ladies' man swagger. After originally attempting to start a few legitimate projects in the early 1990s, the German singer struck a chord with audiences when he jokingly released Lieder Meines Lebens (Songs of My Life), his all-schlager cover debut album, in 1994. Kuhn has attempted to shed his schlager shtick at various points in his career but has yet to find much success for his original, more serious works. Still, his role as one of Germany's winking satirists and musical jesters remains firmly intact.
