Munich (dpa) - Pop singer Howard Carpendale, who celebrates his 75th birthday on January 14th, misses a dash of self-irony among his artist colleagues: “That's a bit of a shame,” he told the German press agency, “most of them take themselves too seriously.

It all seems a bit dogged. "

He himself has no problem at all with laughing at himself - which he proved in 1999 in a parodic video clip of Fantastischen Vier.

The young generation of musicians is more relaxed than singers in his age group: "People like Giovanni Zarella or Kerstin Ott also take their job seriously - but they don't forget to have fun."